Malabsorption in Cats

My 5 year old girl has steadily lost weight over the past 3 months. She eats, but still looses weight. She has had x-rays, blood work, ultrasound. Her intestines are thickened and we are just waiting on GI blood work and Urinalysis, before moving forward. I have been told by the vet that it is either IBD or GI Lymphoma. However both seem to have vomiting and diarrhea as symptoms. My cat has neither of those things. I'm feeling like there has to be something else going on. Help!!

My cat who recently about two moths ago had kittens. She seemed fine after she had her kittens, but she started to want to eat a lot of human food and it got to the point where she didn’t want her cat food anymore, because she was feeding her cats and I didn’t want her to lose weight or get sick I feed her human food. Now recently she has been throwing up and has diarrhea. She has become really skinny and I’m worried.

We have a 6 yr old Siamese rescue that we got about 2.5 months ago. Her name is PJ .She has diarrhea , since she came to us, and has been seen by the vet twice. We have very limited info from her previous situation. We thought initially it may be due to stress since she was in a rescue/ foster situation for several months that before we adopted her. Symptoms include extreme diarrhea in a large amount, often resembling pudding or curdled milk, color appropriate to color of food she is ravenous. I feel that there is an urgency to her diarrhea and she often defecates just outside on partially in the litter box . She has gained 3.5 pounds since she came to us. She also drinks huge quantities of water at one time, up to 3/4 cup at one time. We have another cat ( a 16 yr old Tortie) and PJ eats her food as well. Hence the weight gain.
On our first trip to the vet bloodwork was done , all normal including WBC, liver function, renal function and heamotology panel. Stool specimen negative for parasites etc, urinalysis all normal. Placed in Metronidazole for 14 days , probiotics and the introduction of royal canin Hypoallergenic dry food. The other cat has been switched to the same food to try and limit the types of food being ingested.

We rescued a kitten the was feline FIV/LEUK neg, and the vet did all worming, and vaccines. His fecal sample came back negative. However when we adopted him he was 3 pounds and we have had him for about 2 months and he is now 2.7 pounds. He does not poop in the litter box anymore, and his stool looks as they he is not digesting his food.

Hops is 10 years old. He’s been steadily losing weight for the last 6 months (at least). He’s eating but is not gaining. His gut will get big but his spine and hip bones are sticking out. He’s incredibly underweight and very weak. I’ve taken him to 2 different vets. Blood work was normal accept for mild anemia. Stool sample was negative for parasites. The other vet determined he has pancreatitis, prescribed him a week on cerenia, but there wasn’t any significant improvement. (Her next recommendation was to test for toxoplasmosis. But we’ve since moved to another state so I need to pick back up with a new vet that will probably just want to run all their own test $$$) It seems whatever he eats just goes right thru him. Dry food results in dry stool, wet food results in horrible smelling diarrhea. I’ve adding supplements (extra vits, mins and cal) to his food just to do anything to help him gain weight but he’s just not doing better. Im frustrated with dumping money into these tests with no results. I’m already $400 in. But I really want to see him get better. I’m really afraid he’s going to die if it doesn’t change soon.

My 14yr old cat kept sneezing over months. The vet could not find cause and extracted his canine tooth. After the anaesthetics he suddenly lost weight rapidly and developed congestion and his 'cold' continued. He has constant runny nose, although this and the congestion seems to have improved. The vet wanted to do major teeth extraction but I could not allow this so soon as he had hardly recovered

Roxy is about ten years old. We adopted her two years ago. She's a domestic shorthair calico, and the sweetest little girl. She started having loose stools about a year ago. It seems as though she is suffering from malabsorption. We had her feces tested. The test came back negative for parasites. We also adopted her brother and he has no sign of malabsorption or any distress - so we can rule out environmental factors, as both cats would have been suffering from parasites. She is gassy, prone to diarrhea now that she isn't vomiting any longer. She has an increased appetite and is an energetic girl. She loves climbing, she purrs constantly, and she's always looking for belly rubs and love. Depression is definitely not her problem. She always uses her litter pan to pee, however she often poops outside the pan. We hope that whatever ails her can be fixed with medication or diet. We've moved both cats onto healthier foods - Whole Earth Farms, Blue Buffalo, Whole Hearted, Merrick, etc. Her brother eats a normal amount, drinks water on occasion, and is a healthy, active boy. Roxy over eats, doesn't gain weight, but her coat looks good and she seems content 95% of the time.

Our 18 year old boy has High Blood pressure, Valvular Heart Disease Or Murmur, and Chronic Renal Failure. His heart issue is under control with medication. His CRF just slipped into the State 2 Level. He has lost weight steadily over the years. He was once a healthy 12 pound cat; is now a frail 5.25 pound shell of himself. He is on SubQ fluids daily. Check for heperthyroid, FELV, FIV, and FIP . . . all negative.

They beleive he has an malabsorption issue or possibly a tumor and would like to do an ultrasound. We are considering skipping the ultrasound, as his frail body will not likely handle further invasive diagnostics or treatment for a tumor. We've been through small cell lymphome before, but that as for a healthy cat.

Are we cheating him of a better life at this point? We would like to pursue Renal K, prednisolone, and B12 in lieu of the ultrasound. We want to provide comfort and love as long as he is willing. He still jumps on the bed, gets underfoot, and picks on the dog.

My cat Tigger just turned 10. For the past 2 months he has been vomiting but when it started it wasn't often. But in the last two weeks it's been getting worse. When he does it looks like his food that he's bringing up. His food has orange pieces in it and that's what colour he's vomiting. A couple days ago I decided to put him on a different kind of food. He ate some right away and the next morning he did vomit a little. The vomit was Brown and that is the colour of his new food.Tigger eats and drinks often and uses the litter box daily and is still active. also when he's laying next to me I can hear his stomach make loud noises. And I can feel bubbling when I touch his stomach. Does anyone have any idea of what's wrong with my fur baby???

Our Elder Cat has always had a sensitive stomach, so he was never fed grocery store food and is generally on James Wellbeloved. So when he developed diarrhoea, we kept an eye on him but usually this would correct itself and he'd be fine. Now however it has continued so he was taken to the vet and was given Canigest, a tablet to 'line his gut' and was put on Royal Canin GI food. We got one semi-solid stool and now things are worse however in that he has very water diarrhoea with some of it appearing like undigested food. He has lost weight, which could also be his age as he's about 15 or 16, but I have a feeling it's malabsorbtion and his sensitive stomach was IBS. I wonder how likely being able to get him to a point where he has solid stool and feels more comfortable will be. Another vet trip is planned but I don't want to do more than is best for him considering his age and whether or not I want to put him through expensive treatment if he's not able for it.

Hello, my cat (Scottish fold, 2yo female, 7lbs) has had visible allergies (balding patches on her coat, itching, excessive brown wax accumulation in her left ear, etc. Ringworm, fleas, etc. have been ruled out). Additionally there is always blood when she defecates. There is no blood in the actual stool, just a discharge that follows the process. She isn’t constipated. Multiple vet visits, and she continues to have elevated total Calcium levels but her iCa levels are not above the normal range - but it’s on the higher end of the range, the top number. Also, her urine is highly concentrated with oxalate crystals, but no stones were shown on the x-ray. Vet prescribed hypoallergenic diet that might help with malabsorption but two months later and the results are still the same. Dr says it’s the right diet for her yet I disagree and think my cat needs a urinary care diet instead. She is currently on Hills z/d diet which she absolutely hates; I tried Royal Canin Ultamino which she loved but her symptoms came back on that food; severe vomiting. Any thoughts? Anyone experienced similar episodes/diagnosis?

Hi, my cat Roxy is 13 years young and had been throwing up for a few weeks. I took her to the vet and they suggested an X Ray. The X Ray revealed an object in her intestines and they offered us 2 suggestions.. to either let her expel it in a week or remove it as it may cause damage. We agree to the surgery for the next day.. the object a chicken bone was removed and a few days to monitor her. We bought her home a few days later as they thought stress there would not benefit her but she was puking again. They recommend a particular food and gave us free samples. We continued with the food and her stool became watery and more frequent. We keep bringing her in as we were concerned and he suggested she needed to lose a few pounds from 18pd.. by 10pds we ran her in and asked when can we stop the food so she can not have watery stools and urinate so much.. they suggested a lil more time but now she was not able to make it to the liter box so we got wee wee pads.. fast forward.. I ran her to the emergency clinic at another place and they found her sever dehydrated. I took her from the emergency place as we gave them a deposit for $2000 for any test needed but they called 7 hours later asking for more money without preformed tested agreed.. I took her to her first vet ever and they think she has malnutrition obsortion.. from a surgery resection gone wrong.. can we save our baby please and thank you for any advice

My 4 month old male manx kitten is not gaining weight. He eats like a pig. His ribs are showing. He is active. He is on no medication. His sibling is normal. He is always hungry.

I'm looking after a stray cat.she is so skinny and vomits most of the time. Some days before she got some wound and now it's infected. I took her to the vet. They gave blood test. But she doesn't have much blood. So they couldnt collect it. Her back legs r so weak.she can't walk with them properly. What foods can I give her to increase blood?

Hi! My kitten is about 2-3 weeks old. He's tummy is currently swollen and he also has been pooping white poop for three days. I thought it was normal since he's on KMR and he's peeing really well. However, I found worms in his poop earlier which makes me think that something is off. Is there any home emergency remedy that I could give him? I'm currently working during the day so I can't take him to the vet until Saturday. Any help would be great.

I have an 11 yr old cat. He's basically indoors, but goes out in the yard for about an hour about once per week.
He has lost a lot of weight over a year. He eats like a horse. We give him moist cat food as a supplement.
We have other cats..one which hangs around feral cats outside.

My Cat Matylda had been ravenous but would lose weight and had loose stools (lighter than normal). She had CBC - all showing everything to be completely normal. Did GI Blood workup and her B12 level was <150 and her pancreatic enzymes were on the low side of normal. She got her first vitamin B12 shot a few days ago and there is a marked difference in how she seems to feel, her energy level, how she's eating (not as ravenous) and most definitely in her stool. Only once/day and it is darker and well formed. My question is regarding her weight (she went from 14 to 9 lbs and is a 4 year old PB Maine Coon) - how quickly do they gain their weight back as things improve? Although 9 lbs might now sound small, it is very thin for a cat her size. She was not overweight at 14 lbs.

My 16 year old female Siberian cat has been diagnosed with Lymphoma a year go but we never did the biopsy as we didn't;t want to put her through a rough surgery as when this happen, her weight loss was drastic and she was really weak. She has been on steroids and Chinese herbal medicine for almost a year and doing well but she is super skinny and always hungry. I always assumed she is always hungry due to steroids but reading other posts about malabsorption cats do make me wonder if steroid has nothing to do with it? Anyway, she drinks a lot and pees a lot. She also has not been using litter box for almost 2 years and uses weewee pads that are infant of the other litter boxes (3 in total and I have 2 other cats). She has been peeing her life away for years and suddenly 2 days ago, she started peeing in the kitchen floor corner (where she may have peed a year before but we put a big box there and that discouraged her. we recently moved the box out and she started to pee on that spot. I did all the enzyme cleaning). Now, she is peeing around/near that area. Smell isn't so bad as her pee are diluted with so much water but know I am afraid she may go into peeing on other areas of the house. Recently, she had an infection on her cheeks so we had the opportunity to do a blood test and my regular vet said she may have diabetes but wasn't;t sure if it was stressed related from traveling to the vet. we tried to do fluctosamine test(something like that) but there wasn't enough blood so I was to collect her urine and bring it in to the vet. my ultimate question is, is her peeing related to being diabetic (possibly) or just being old? or is it a behavior issue? We only have 3 options - try to retrain her by putting her in a cage (as told by ASPCA), or put a diaper on or put her to sleep. I don't even know if training her at this point will help. I don't want to put diapers on - what happens when she poops in it? trying to clean her up will be a mess. I can get a super large cage so she can live in there, peacefully for rest of her life. no matter what choice I decide to take, I am not sure any thing will make me happy but I also want to do what is good for her. so what should I do? any advice please?

hi i have a 1year old domestic cat- about 3 months ago he started to get very skinny and hungry all the time - he is has regular flea and worming treatments. He often will poo outside his litterbox and sometimes the faeces looks undigested. Sometimes it seems like the need to poo comes upon him all of a sudden and he'll just poo on the floor, its not diarreah So i took him to the vet - they did a number of tests with bloods and urine, we gave him antibiotics in case it was a bowel inflammatory issue but no improvement. Hes happy enough, just skinny and hungry - i feed him twice a day and he has access to dry biscuits all day. The vet costs were substantial and the next set of tests are over $800
Do gooders in my street are threatening to call the police for neglect he looks so skinny
What can i do

I have a rescue kitten (approx 9 mths) however looks more like 4 mths. She isn't putting on weight and so is not growing, upon advice we got tests done, no issues regarding liver/kidney function, no protein in urine, stools are normal, she doesn't have diarrhoea, nor is she constipated. The only thing that the lab suggested was that it 'looks' like she could have malabsorption. She would eat you out of house and home, her appetite would rival any adult stray cat but weight doesn't stay on her.

Based on the malabsorption theory, the vet recommended trying her on specialised wet and dry food for this and sachets of granules specific for malabsorption, for 2 weeks we separated her, gave her smaller portions more often, but she wasn't eating much and no evident weight gain, I then put her onto her usual shop food but still gave her the granules and kept her separate from the other cats to keep track of her intake, she seemed to be bulking out a little, however some says she still looks very thin.

She has no energy, except when food is put down in front of her, she takes colds easily, I can see she is run down, but I am not in a position to get test after test done in order to keep ruling things out. Is there anything else I can try to build this kitten up, she looks miserable, they also ruled out dwarfism.

Regards

My cat is 16 years old and is always ravenous, wants to eat constantly and yet is not gaining weight. His thyroid has been checked and is fine but we can't afford all the expensive tests. Is there something we can give him in his diet that will help him absorb the food and nutrients?

My kitten (10 months) is a Bengal. He eats like a little pig and has diarrhea occasionally. He has not gained any weight in the last month or two. He does not show any signs of having a parasite such as a tapeworm. He was just prescribed metronidazole by the Veterinarian but am not sure if that will help any. I am unsure of what my next step with him is.

My boyfriend and I are looking to move in soon, and he wants to bring his cat with him. And I've been concerned for this cats health since day on. She was around 8 years old when I met him (she's 10 now) and she was so small and skinny I thought maybe he neglected her. But she eats fine .
Unfortunately soon after meal time, she has to use the bathroom . And it's horrible. Her stools smell so awful your eyes water, you start to gag and you have to flush it down the toilet or you throw up. She also vomits a lot. They've just accepted it but I'd like to get her back into decent health before we live together because I can't handle her litter box visits. I would love an opinion about where to start.

I have a 19 year old cat who eats very well and is active but is getting thinner and thinner. Is it possible that she isn’t absorbing nutrients from the food? What can I do?

My 15 year old female cat had loss her appetite and in turn lost weight. She is hyperthyroid but managed with tapazole for a little over 2 years. Vet did a full blood panel and all came back in normal range. She suspects GI cancer but does not feel any masses. I declined sonogram and just figured we would monitor her for the time being. Since a month ago when syptoms started, she has now regained appetite but still not gaining weight. Now that she is eating again she is now having diarrhea. It is tan in color and very smelly(no blood). No vomiting. She is still drinking and eating well even though she is having the diarrhea. Vet suggested either b12 shot or antibiotics with a probiotic. I am going to try the antibiotic and probiotic first and she said if no improvement in a week to come back for b12 shot. The confusing thing is that she lost appetite but is now eating well. She is frail looking but still meows for food and looks like her self except for being so tiny. Is it possible that it was something else and never GI cancer? Is there something else we should look at or try? I didn’t want to do the sonogram because she has always been a temperamental cat and they would probably have to put her under anesthesia to do the sonogram and in her frail state I don’t think it would be good.

So I took my cat to the vet, he was de-wormed cause he had tapeworms for about a year, but the deworming didn't change the outcome: he's always hungry and he is skin and bones, even losing some fur/fur thinning. He use to have blood in his stool as well, the blood stopped when we put him on salmon cat food but he's still not gaining and still always hungry. I feed him 4 1/2 cans a day... no improvement. The vet also gave him a blood test and found that his blood is normal (and hasn't been much help since then). The cat is fine in every other area (energetic, ect)
P.S. he has to be on urinary tract food because he has had blockages a few times.
Also if he eats a new type of food, or even over eats reg food he will have diarrhea and vomit. Oh and his rectum swells up when he goes, but it goes back in when he's done

My 13 yr old cat Ginger has been steadily losing weight for several months. He lost two more pounds in the last two months and weighs 6.8 lbs now. He eats, but not as much as when he was younger. I started to put out less food about a year ago because he and his brother were throwing up, but I have gone back to leaving out a full bowl of kibble and a plate of wet food all day. Ginger cries a lot at night and walks up and down the halls wailing He also has been biting/pulling out his fur. He has large patches of fur missing from his belly and legs. His tummy rumbles quite a bit and he has gas but no diarrhea. We did a fecal test for parasites, two rounds of blood work to rule out diabetes and thyroid issues, X-rays of his heart, lungs and stomach. I tried giving him probiotics and digestive enzymes. We don’t know what could be wrong with him. Next I’m having his blood tested for malabsorption and the vet thinks we might have to do a sonogram too, but no guarantee of a diagnosis. Anything else you can suggest? I’m getting desperate to find out what is wrong with him. Thank you!

My 14 year old kitty ,started chewing on white phone charging cords a year ago . I took her to the vet . She said she had a severe hyperthyroid . She has been on meds for it ever since ,she is now taking the highest dose possible . Mid way through she developed malabsorbtion. The doc has tried everything from antibiotics to steroids. She has frequent diarrhea, and a voracious appetite along with drinking water constantly. Nothing is working . I asked my vet if she could possibly have a cancer . All she did is shrug hershoulders. I am at a loss . I feel the only thing left is to put her down . She is suffering. Please advise..

my cat is 20 years old and has developed an urge to eat constantly. i am concerned that this might be a sign of her getting ready to die? when she urinates it is a large amount. she also vomits on a regular basis

My 10 month old cat has suffered from mild to severe diarrhea for 6 months. In that time he's lost a significant amount of weight and is often lethargic and cold. He has sustained a great appetite, but he just doesn't get better. We've tested for parasites, he's been on several courses of antiobiotics, he's on daily probiotics, his blood work is inconclusive. The vet says it points to FIB but that test is inconclusive as well. For the past week he's been listless and weak. He still eats well but I've also stopped him from eating cat litter. What do I do next?