Weight loss

Weight loss is a decrease in body weight, and when it happens without trying it is a symptom that warrants medical evaluation in both people and pets.

Clinicians generally consider a loss of five percent or more of body weight over six to twelve months without intended diet or exercise change to be significant. Causes range widely and include reduced appetite from depression or medications, cancer, overactive thyroid, diabetes, chronic infection, inflammatory bowel disease, malabsorption, and in older adults, dental problems and social isolation. In dogs and cats, unexplained weight loss is a common early sign of kidney disease, hyperthyroidism in cats, diabetes, dental disease and cancer, and is best caught by regular weighing.

Assessment begins with a careful history of appetite, diet, mood and symptoms, followed by physical examination, basic blood and urine tests and further imaging or endoscopy guided by the findings. Intentional weight loss in people with excess weight is assessed differently, by body mass index, waist circumference and metabolic markers. THC is known to increase appetite, and cannabinoids have been studied for appetite loss in illness; CBD has been associated with reduced appetite in some trials, and neither has an established role in weight management.