My lost cat is back! But in a sorry state :(

[Oscha]

He went missing for over two months and has just shown up again-I’m completely in shock and delighted! He’s long haired and is very matted, and his fur feels really coarse. (He used to be silky smooth.) He’s also absolutely starving, and while we’re trying to feed him small meals on the advice of the vet who scanned him, he’s positively wolfing them down.

Is there anything we can give him to help his coat? I’m guessing fish would be good? We’ve only ever given him cat food-should we give him actual fish? If so, what type? Any other tips?

Oh how lovely when did you realise he was back??? Do you use Zoopla? Plenty of good dry food on there

How lovely that he’s come home to you, you must be so relieved.
We rescued an absolutely frightful looking cat a few months ago. He’d been a stray for a while but must have had a home at one point as he was already neutered when the rescue place took him in. He’d lost an awful lot of fur on his legs, belly and shoulders due to a flea allergy. What fur he did have was coarse and dry and full of white hairs - he’s a black cat.
We began giving him salmon oil in his wet food twice a day and groomed the remnants with one of those silicon gloves with the little nodule thingies. Within a week hit coat was soft and he began to get shiny pretty quickly. He still over grooms sometimes and groomed his front legs bald again recently. I wondered if this may have been the heat as it has been much cooler here the last two weeks and his legs have gone black again with new fur. When he started with the bald legs again we upped the salmon oil to two scoots twice a day.
I don’t know if this oil has been the trick but I do know he is silky black now with barely any white hairs. His coat is very dense and sleek. He is beautiful.
Salmon oil is not expensive from Amazon and well worth a go. Good luck!

Before and after!

Oh bless him!! He looks so handsome and proud now ❤️ Have ordered the salmon oil as well as some much posher dry food, and am giving him kitten wet food today. He’s grooming a LOT so I’m hoping he doesn’t worry himself bald.

Aw he does, doesn’t he? Such a change in him.
I bet your boy is loving being back at home. I wish they could tell us what has happened to them. I’m sure he’ll be sleek as anything soon. Best of luck!

Oh, Oscha! It is super isn't it. My little girl cat has this very evening come through the catflap after being missing for over two months. I couldn't believe my eyes or ears.

She is also long haired and just skin and bones. She had some lick e lix and is grazing on the dried Royal Canin. She had a good drink as well. There is so much plant material in her tail alone.

My trouble is that she is growling at her brother and he is growling at her. He had the place to himself for two months. I have put her into a room on her own with litter, food and water for tonight as I don't want a fight. I am not going to let her out for a while. They worry was that the wrong person got a hold of her.

I hope they don't do that again.

Cailleach1 I’m so glad for you! We have a similar situation in that we also have two kittens, who our cat had been learning to live with for about a month before he vanished. They had been doing really well (lots of little nosy kisses, playing etc) but now of course he’s been gone for two months, the kittens are teenagers and have basically forgotten him, and god knows what he’s been exposed to out in the wild because now he’s growling at them through shut doors 😫 so far we’re keeping him completely separate, in our bedroom, so he can have a chance to recuperate and hopefully stop feeling so anxious. I’m terrified he’s going to attack the kittens when we eventually let him out 😣

@Cailleach1 That's amazing. I'm very happy for you. Was there a particular person you suspected?

My Mr Cooper had been feral before we ended up getting him, and his coat was like straw. I still gave him tinned sardines in oil occasionally, and turkey - a turkey leg from Asda is about £3, and I cook it in the slow-cooker all day, in a bit of water. He loves it.

My goodness that is amazing your cat is back after 2 months!

How wonderful that your cat came home!

I’d recommend a high protein diet, we use applaws wet food and it’s really good quality tuna, chicken etc. Our current cat was very scrawny when she came to us as she’d been feeding a big litter of kittens and is a small cat anyway and this food got her up to fighting weight in no time.

Oscha, they do remember. A little time to acclimatise and I hope suspect when all the personal smells meld, it will be a little less fraught. And feeding in different places for a while. The missing cats obviously had to fight their corner and will be hair trigger defensive until they can relax. The size difference in mine is now so different. He is somewhere 6 and 7Kg. I would be surprised if she is more than 1 and a half or 2Kg. She is a spitfire at the moment, though. Scar on nose and a torn ear from her wanderings. When are you going to let your boy outside again? It is a little awkward if the others can go out. I'm very apprehensive about letting her wander. She is off to the vet tommorrow for the once over. And her annual vaccinations she missed in July.

thecatneuterer, I don't have anyone in particular in mind. I was saying I hope the cats don't do it again. As in going missing. It is just there seems to be so much casual brutality around. Both thoughtless and intended. I'm in London and there are posters up for that Cat Killer. We had knocked on doors, dropped leaflets in the surrounding roads. We put posters up. She was chipped and the chip people send alerts to vets around etc. I have no idea where she was. 10 weeks.

1 pouch of Felix agail is fine with 80g (read the bag for weight ) of a good high protein biscuit. We used Applaws, but now use Purina. It lasts around 3 months for £15.

Glad your DCat is back, maybe he was locked in somewhere?

The kittens don’t go out yet-they’re about 5mo at the moment. I expect we’ll keep them all in for the next few weeks and then let them all out at about the same time, as we were planning to start letting them out at about 6mo.

I’ve got feliway friends on the go, and catnip on a scratch post I’ve moved upstairs for him. We pretty much have an upstairs/downstairs situation at the moment!

My fluffy boy has Arden Grange ( and lots of brushing) and has a beautiful, soft, glossy coat.
You could also maybe look at some of the long haired breed specific foods e.g. Persian, Maine Coons as coat condion seems to be one of the things they are specifically formulated for.