Do your cats lose weight in the Summer?

[lemonsunshinecake]

My usually quite chubby male cat seems to have skimmed down quite a lot recently, he's still eating well but has lost quite a bit of weight. Is this normal?

Slimmed down not skimmed

So weird to read this. I picked up my female Russian black today and she feels skinnier. She’s very slim line anyway. I think it’s summer and she’s out all the time rather than inside in the colder months... I did think this eve I’d keep an eye on her in case she’s poorly

My very lazy, slightly over weight cat is usually a bit lighter in the summer. She was weighed last week and vet was happy she has lost a bit of weight but I feel sure it will go back on in the winter. She eats more in winter and sleeps all day.

I think it's the other way round. In the Winter my cats do nothing but sleep and eat as they don't want to go outdoors so they get pretty chubby and we tease them about it - the looks of affronted dignity are hilarious.

In this lovely sunny weather they are out all the time climbing trees and trying (and failing) to catch birds so the weight is coming off them and they are back to their slender svelte selves :)

I'm my experience with our cat, yes. In the winter she's about 3.8kg and in the summer she's 3.4 - 3.5kg. She eats the same but is far less active in the winter.

A significant weight loss is not really normal if he's eating well. How old is he?

He's 5

Yes mine do. And they eat less.

I was thinking the same! My Russian boy is looking very slinky lately; no change in eating or drinking habits (though he has pooped on the floor in the new nursery - baby due in 4 weeks!!!) but he’s definitely lost weight. It has happened in other years, but not all - usually very hot years. Maybe it’s extra shedding???

Yep all of mine seem a bit skinnier and not eating as much as they used too. Except Graham he still resembles the number 0.

One of mine does - significantly. We worried the first time it happened but we expect it now.

@Beaverhausen Graham sounds fab

My cat looks so much smaller in the summer. I think it's their fur they lose, I find clumps of it everywhere.

Mine have been much less interested in food on hot days, but as the weather has been so up and down, they have made up for it on the colder days. The old boy is getting a bit bony now but I think that's consistent with him generally slowing down. He's still happy and still meows for food, just doesn't eat so much of it.

@lemonsunshinecake he is he is a feral I took in with one eye missing. He is such a chubby monkey, when he rolls on his back for a tummy tickle I have to roll him back. Vet told me he needs to go on a diet. :/

I have a 5 month old kitten he sleeps all day in summers just adopted him 3 months ago and
First when he came he gained weight then all of sudden as in my country the temperature increased he sleeps all day and just eats when he wants to he actually ask for it but has lost weight. Vet say he's perfectly all right

Yeah, it's pretty normal. They tend to be much more active in the warmer months.

Even my indoor only cats tend to be a bit lighter in the summer, maybe a couple of hundred grams. Not an awful lot though in the grand scheme of things, bearing in mind Girlcat is around 4.5kg & Boycat around 6kg!

Our Vet always tells me the cats are too heavy when he vaccinates them, admitedly it is Dec/Jan time of year .

He is not convinced they shed their winter coats and winter fat and go slinky in Summer . Don't know about the weight bu they feel slimmer and trimmer .
Even our chubby guinea-pigs used to lose Winter Fat/Fur and conversely double their coats when weather dictated .

If the Whisker:Width Theory worked my cats would get away with being the size of a small brick shed with their long whiskers .