Concerned with young cats' weight
I feel like all my posts are about cats, whether they are mine or someone else, so my username is becoming more fitting:
Anyways, I have two cats (litter-mates that are almost 2 years old). One has always been skinny and the other has been a big boy, although both are fed the same amount. Lately, I have noticed the bigger cat has become skinnier (without putting him on a diet or increasing play time) and it has me concerned because it is a noticeable difference in size where I can see his hip bones and he stomach almost "indents" in. Both cats have been taken to the vet recently for blood work and everything has came back normal (no diabetes, thyroid, etc. and no parasites). I have to add that his playfulness and energy has not changed, only his size. I was just wondering if this may be something minor and I am over thinking or if anyone has had a similar situation. Thanks!
helpthekitty 
animal lover 
mohepinoke I give 3/4 cup of food a day. 1/2 is dry Purina Plus One that I was prescribed from my vet and 1/4 is Fancy Feast Classics wet food.While 3/4 is what I was told is a good average to keep these cats from developing any severe weight or health issues, they are ALWAYS hungry and would eat all day if they could. I am a recent college grad so before anyone suggests any higher brands, these were what my vet told me would be good for my cats based on my budget which is very limited--just so anyone is aware that I did my research on what was best for my cats based on my income. Thanks!
I'm no vet, but I have personal experience with cats that are thinner...the vet never did give a reason other than higher metabolism. Check out the internet...here is one link (if it works) http://www.pethealthandcare.com/askquestion/2928/how-do-i-help-a-cat-gain-weight.html. Maybe it will help.
Everything checked out at the vet, so perhaps the cat has just become more of an adult and it's normal.
Is it fixed yet? If not, that's what's probably going on and is normal. It's just time to get that taken care of.
GC He is fixed. Both cats were fixed when they were of age. Obviously I just wanted to see if anyone had input because most people say unexpected weight loss is cause for concern, so I am trying to figure out why he has lost weight-especially because he is a young cat. Thanks though for the input guys.
Yes, unexpected weight loss is a cause for concern. You mention that cat had recent blood work and everything was normal. How recently and what sort of blood work? There are issues that are tested for based on symptoms that may or may not be part of routine blood work. It also depends on the age of the cat what is tested for.
If the blood work was done in response to your noticing the weight loss, or is very recent and the vet was aware of the weight loss, then I would say it's not something to worry about. If not, I would take the cat back in to be checked.
Aquarius It is so strange how so any vets differ on a cats diet. My vet told me to stay away from dry food altogether especially with a mail cat. He said about 1 1/2 friskies size cans (the 5 oz. one) is a good amount. If u r on a budget fancy feast is rather high price. An article I read this weekend said Thais friskies is just as good as any food. I also took care of a cat that just past away at the age of 21. That cat ate plain old friskies her whole life.
Helpthekitty- do you stay with the cats while they eat. Is it possible the one cat is eating more than his/her own food?
If weight loss continues I'd consider an X-ray.
Animal lover- I just read the link you posted. It seems to go againstost of what I have ever heard or read about. The majority of vets, etc. usually say to stay away from milk and 2 cups seems like a lot for a cat. The rest of the article regarding what to feed ( human food) also goes against the norm. While some homemade food is probably ok cats must have taurine in their diet and they will only get that in cat food. I don't know who wrote the article but after the initials at end of piece there was no hint that a vet was writing this.
Nellejoy Nellejoy I agree with you about that link. Many cats are lactose intolerant once they grow up - and milk will give them diarrhrea. Re weight loss - if it's that noticeable I would be returning to the vet. My kitties, as they have aged, have gained - not lost with one exception. The oldest - around 18 - is definitely quite thin. He is checked regularly, given thyroid meds and now occasionally kitten food because it is high in calories.
No I don't over vet - but I recently noticed a significant new loss. I do think, if your kitties always seem hungry, you may be underfeeding them. My 5 go through either 4 cans of regular size friskies plus a bit of dry for one who loves it - and a small can for an extra treat a day.
5catmom Since you said they are almost 2 years old, could it be they have grown and need more food now? Although they may be done growing by now. Especially the larger one, if the size difference is significant, it may be showing more on him.
If it is only one cat and not the other and you are sure they are each eating their own food, I would take the one who lost weight to the vet. If the weight loss seemed to happen suddenly, I would also get the cat checked out since that is a sign that something is wrong. Cats who lose large amounts of weight are at risk for fatty liver disease, so it is important to try to keep their weight stable.
Lynnada I have taken them to the vet and they received a clean bill of health (liver, kidney, diabetes, etc. --see above). I watch them eat and they both get equal portions so that's why I am so perplexed. Thanks
up the food-- I'd split a friskies can in the am and another in the pm - plus a bit of dries
5catmom. That's what I do. Half a can for afternoon, and half a can for bed. plus two 1/4 portions of dries for breakfast and dinner.
--by half a can I mean half of a 3 oz. can so 1.5 oz for each feeding.
Alright, thank you. Ironically, my vet says I am feeding them too much and actually wanted me to go down to 1/2 a cup of food a day (both wet and dry combined) but I stick with 3/4 because my cats are active for indoor cats (I play with them 30 minutes a day where they run, jump, and actually move around--plus they play around with each other).
If there are any more comments, I kind of wanted to get back to the focus on the post, although all comments were helpful and appreciated. The original point I was trying to make was I have fed my cat the same amount of food since I got them at 8 weeks, minus the change from kitten to cat food and a slight change in the amount simply based on age. During that period he got up to 17 pounds, and without changing the diet he began to visibly look thinner. I just didn't want to start a thread about portion sizes because the feeding has been the same and nothing has changed except his weight. Thanks
I agree with 5catmom. They are not getting enough. Ialso had several cats that made it into their mid-20s on friskies. You can get a 5 oz can for the same as a 3 oz fancy feast. I have 1 cat that gets fancy feast now because he is 16 now and has turned into a picky eater.
Dansker helpthekitty - we can only comment on what you present - so some of us said we thought a return trip to the vet is in order - if only to weigh the kitty and see how much was really lost (I"m sure they wouldn't charge for that) - and others of us felt you were not feeding enough - adults certainly need more than kittens.....hope that we've helped
Good luck, I hope you find the cause of kitty's weight loss and that he's ok. Maybe you should weigh him at home just to keep track of his weight to see if he continues to lose. He may just be a big boy and needs more calories to fill him out or maybe he's also active when you're not home and burning more calories than you are aware of.
You might want to do some searches on healthy weight for cats to determine if he is actually too thin. I found this one where you enter your pet's weight and also click the description and picture of how they look. http://www.petmd.com/healthyweight
As your vet said, it may be fine, but I since you are concerned, I would regularly check his weight and keep a record. Call the vet if he continues to lose.
Just curious if the vet checked for diabetes? The symptoms are eating a lot (in your case the food is limited so hard to tell), excessive thirst, and weight loss. I assume the vet checked that but just wanted to put it out there . Good luck!
RAS Pancreas issues also come to mind. One of my cats had it and first symptoms were increased appetite and weight loss. Stools also started getting off but that came a bit later.
I can check. Like I said, I just took them to the vet and everything came back normal (both with blood tests and stool sample). To be specific, by recently I mean I took them last week. Also, when I said I haven't changed their diet since they were kittens, I meant I haven't done anything different in terms of food change and whatnot, the portions are obviously different because they are adults. My vet thinks he is overweight because with my feeding he made it up to 17 pounds but I haven't changed the amount which is why I am confused. Thanks for all the comments, as I will consider all ideas you spoke of.
We just had an issue with our cat losing weight. She was hardly eating and stopped having bowel movements. We took her into the vet and saw she was running a fever and lost about a half a pound in week (she was only 7 pounds to begin with). They had her on antibiotics for about a week. Her stomach looked a little bloated so they took a sample and removed fluid. They did some tests on the fluid (I believe they said a gravity test) and the results appeared to be that the cat had F.I.P. I believe it was. I guess the only way to confirm the disease is after they put it down and test it but all signs pointed to it in the vets eyes. We had to put the cat down as there is no cure for it. I believe what our cat has was very rare and hopefully not what yours has. It was such a tough time for us because we only had the cat for a month. My 6 year old daughter volunteers each sunday at an animal shelter by us and she had really bonded with this cat. We adopted the cat for Christmas and 5 weeks later we had to put it down.
M & K helpthekitty - one of mine is 17 pounds and he is in perfect condition - not an ounce of fat on him ---another weighs 25lbs and he is definitely quite overweight - the body size etc tell you - not just he pounds - whether a cat - or anything else - weighs an appropro amount --
Are you saying you had the cats to the vet after the weight loss? If so I'm sure you told the vet and got an opinion one way or the other..............if not maybe you need a different vet???
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