My cat has lost hair and weight?

Question

She is approx 4yrs old. Just recently, about a week ago, we noticed she has lost hair on her neck and she has lost weight also. she used to be quite big but now you can feel her spine and the rear part of her is quite skinny. I hardly see her eat and when she has food in front of her, she does not seem interested. She sneaks into my sisters room and goes in the closet to lay by the water heater. She has not had any health problems before this. My mom says it is anxiety because we have a puppy now who is very active. I'm scared she will die. What do you think is wrong? I'm going to take her to the vet but I just want some ideas to what it could be...thanx

Answer 1

My elderly cats all died of cancer and lost a lot of weight before they passed. But since your cat is young I don't think it's as likely she has something that serious. One of the cats was last in the pecking order of things, and would never eat or play if there was another cat around who may want to have that privilige first. So, maybe your cat thinks the puppy is "head cat" and she is backing off from the food, hiding in the closet to find safety and comfort with the water heater. Either way, the vet can probably tell if there's something physically wrong - and if there isn't, give you peace of mind that she's healthy - or make suggestions about ways to make the puppy transition more smooth for her.

Answer 2

It sound like mange, but she can be feeling anxiety as well from the dog. In the mean time (while your waiting to take it to the vet) give a bath *can help with the mange* and keep it isolated away from the dog. Give it a heating pad. If you don't take it to the vet with in 3 day the out come can be fatal so hurry. Good luck.

Answer 3

And why haven't you taken her to the vet?

Answer 4

well there is such a thing called cat povo the simptoms include lose of appitite lazyness and weight loss another thing your cat might have is lucemia my best advice is to take your cat to the vet good luck

Answer 5

when a pet loses their appetite its usually something fairly serious

if it was an older cat, i might have some ideas, but since she is pretty young, then I'm sure she has something and it's not just anxiety

I know older cats love to lay by warm objects because they have sore bones and might have arthritis

I know an older cat that lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time because his metabolism  to high (a sympton of being older i think)

I have a cat that doesn't like to eat because she has gingivitis and i think eating the dry food hurts her teeth

I used to have a cat, and she lost weight and appetite and energy because she had a tumor, but she was 17 when she got her tumor

please bring your cat to the vet, they will know much more then people on the internet