Is there something physically wrong with my cat?

January 2, 2005 11:44 AM

I have a cat that's about 8 years old. She's a bit large and lazy. Well, in the past two months or so, she's noticeably dropped some weight and is running around, playing like a kitten and super-vigilant... it's been fun, but I'm wondering if her change may be physiological. [+]

I had a cat with a thyroid condition who sort of had similar behaviors, but she had lots of negative side effects as well, which were obvious for her breed. The Queen of the Universe in my lap seems to be in top-notch shape. I am going to take her to the vet for her regular check-up and I'll get some blood work done. But until then, and for the sake of curiosity, has anyone else seen anything similar, or do you have any armchair guesses as to whats-a-happenin'? Thanks in advance.

posted by moonbird to Pets & Animals (9 answers total)

Cats can be prone to hyperthyroidism (which creates an overactive metabolism), which can cause the changes in her behavior that you have noticed. A visit to the vet and some blood work should determine whether that's the case.
posted by vers at 11:48 AM on January 2, 2005

I didn't notice my cat's hyperthyroidism until it manifested in bladder infections and she started peeing on the couch. Other than that she was just extra chatty, hungry and sleek. I think I would have gotten alarmed with more weight loss anyway since she was never particularly fat in the first place, but I never really saw any other negative side effects. By the time she got the infections she was just starting to look bony. I'm glad it got caught when it did because now, after treatment, she's 100% better and has no long term fallout. If you wait for (or get) more negative side effects, they may not be reversible.
posted by dness2 at 12:10 PM on January 2, 2005

I'm betting on hyperthyroidism, as well. Go ahead and get her checked out now.
How significant is the weight loss? If it is a large amount of weight, the hyperthyroidism has been present for a long while or something else is going on.
posted by kreinsch at 12:19 PM on January 2, 2005

Response by poster: The UTIs were what got it noticed in the previous kitty (she passed on from unrelated hereditary issues). Right now, Ursula seems normal in all regards, except for her spazouts, vigilance, exceptional playfulness, and that she's lost around 1-2 pounds (from about 11 pounds).

She was at the vet about 3 months ago and her blood work was totally normal. She's due for some shots in a few weeks and this will be looked into then.
posted by moonbird at 12:22 PM on January 2, 2005

Yeah, that's about where Max was before she got sick. When I took her to the vet, she was down to 8.2 pounds which had the vet very alarmed. Weight loss in cats is a serious thing, as you know, since they don't just decide nows the time to look good in a bathing suit. I would move the vet appointments up if you can, since it seems to be progressing quickly, whatever it is.
posted by dness2 at 12:34 PM on January 2, 2005

Response by poster: Unfortunately, I'm out of town this next week, but since the consensus seems to point to physiology, I'll try to get a friend to take her in for me. Thanks, all.
posted by moonbird at 1:06 PM on January 2, 2005

Even for cats that are not showing any overt symptoms, it's good to take them in to get a complete "senior" blood/urine workup when they around 8 years old. You might detect some conditions early and be able to treat them more effectively. The late great Mel The Cat lived for 8 years with kidney failure because we caught it early through blood tests and supplied various treatments in the meantime.

Best of luck with Queen of the Universe, moonbird.
posted by matildaben at 3:00 PM on January 2, 2005

I'll go with the majority opinion and express relief that you're having your Queen checked out ASAP because this certainly sounds like thyroid to me.

Two out of our three cats wound up hyperthyroid. The first cat showed symptoms like yours and didn't appear obviously sick, but after she was diagnosed, we opted to pill her twice a day for a year. For a cat, she was amazingly cooperative, but it meant that we couldn't take a vacation without boarding her, she started hiding away in the mornings so I couldn't pill her before the workday started, and, most importantly, despite our vet raising the dosage twice, she started getting worse.

We finally paid CDN$1000 for radioisotope therapy and got brilliant results. It was no fun boarding her at the special facility for the week after her treatment, provincial laws about radioactive materials meant that we had to store all the used litter in a safe corner of our apartment for a few weeks before sending it out in the regular trash, and she wasn't allowed to sleep with us for 4 weeks after treatment. (OK, we broke down after a week and let her back into the bedroom. My husband and I haven't grown any extra heads yet. Anyway, various states and provinces have different guidelines -- Ontario is very much on the over-cautious end.) But we were so pleased with the results that when cat #2 was diagnosed, we shocked our vet by immediately asking for the same treatment, even though she was still in very good shape.

They're 15 and 16 years old now, still skinny, still bounding around like kittens (cat #2 still chases her tail and catches it), and very, very healthy. Radioisotope therapy is a hell of an expensive immediate cost, but pilling costs more in the long run and is generally much less effective. And isn't this why God invented Visa cards?
posted by maudlin at 9:03 PM on January 2, 2005

A few months ago I was talking to a vet about one of my cats, whose thyroid reading was up, but not extremely high. She said that one of her cats had a thyroid problem, and she had taken it in for a relatively new (my impression) surgical treatment. I think she estimated the cost at around US$400 (in Seattle). In any case, she was quite happy with the results (particularly since the alternative is pills, pills, pills).
posted by WestCoaster at 1:23 PM on January 3, 2005