How heavy is your pet? Do you notice any weight loss recently?
Obviously if your pet is on a diet for being overweight, weight loss is expected.
If your pet has unplanned weight loss, there are a few
simple things to check at home:
1. Have you changed your pet's diet?
- Different quality pet food contain varied amount of nutrients. One cup of diet A does not necessary provide the same energy to your pet compare to one cup of diet B.
- Your pet could also be a bit fussy and does not like the new diet as much as the old one.
2. Do you have any new additions to the family?
- New pets in the household can cause stress to some animals. Sometimes your pet is just too stressed to eat around the new comer and they might even compete for food.
Decreased appetite is the most common reason for weight loss. Dirty food bowls, change of diet or dental problems may cause inappetance. Stress in the environment could also be another cause. Assess your pets' environment and daily routine carefully may give you a lot of valuable clues.
If there are no changes in the routine and your pet has noticeable weight loss, you should bring your pet to see a vet. There are a lot of diseases that can cause a pet to have lost weight, to name a few:
- Dental disease
- Overactive thyroid glands in older cats
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Liver disease
- Tumours
Simply wait and see is not the recommended approach for any pet with noticeable weight loss. Animals with significant weight loss are weak and could deteriorate very quickly. If you notice any weight loss in your pet, please make an appointment with your regular vet to investigate the problem. Relatively simple problems like dental disease could be treated with dental procedures and prevented with prophylaxis. Others may require blood, urine or other tests for diagnosis depending on what your vet finds on physical examination.
"My pet is thin simply because he/she is old; I don't think we need to see a vet"
Remember, getting old does not cause one to lose its weight but diseases would. In most cases, there are treatments to control the disease. If the problem is incurable, there may be something we could do to help your pet live comfortably for the rest of their life.
