Weight Loss

Question	Answer
What are the main general causes of weight loss?	Muscle atrophy, inappropriate caloric intake, palatability of diet, or systemic problem.
What is the normal caloric requirement for small animals?	Approximately 40-60 kcal/kg; lower in large dogs, higher in small dogs/cats
How are weight loss problems divided into categories?	Weight loss with decreased appetite; Weight loss with normal/increased appetite
What are some reasons why a pet cannot eat?	pre-hension difficulties; painful mouth: dental disease; dysphagia: inflammation, ulceration, FBs, neoplasia
What are some reasons for true anorexia in SAs?	Primary CNS; Secondary CNS: toxins, pyrexia, electrolyte disturbance, hepatic disease, neoplasia, psychic factors
What is maldigestion and what are its causes?	Maldigestion: inability to digest food consumed, mainly due to loss of enzymes; Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, secondary enzyme deficiency, deficient bile acid, or loss of brush border enzymes
What is malabsorption and what are its causes?	Malabsorption: inability to absorb digested nutrients; Primary GI disease: infiltrative disease of gut wall - IBD, lymphangiectasia, GI lymphoma, bacterial overgrowth, dry FIP; Secondary GI: hepatic disease, RS heart disease, hyperthyroidism
What is malutilisation and what are its causes?	Malutilisation: inability of the body to utilise absorbed nutrients; diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, dirofilariosis, neoplasia, hyperthyroidism, hepatic?, renal?

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	Created by sportycanine about 10 years ago