Fat cat slim

[whethertheweather]

Has anyone else's cat had a dramatic thinning this hot summer? My ginger floof ball kept staying out for days at a time and started refusing to eat the dry food he's happily eaten for the past 10 years.

Took him to the vet and he's lost about a kilo from where he is normally (5kg was normal and now he's 4) so he had an appointment for blood tests just in case it's something more than just being out on the prowl. Typically, having slept in for 3 nights in a row he didn't come home the night before so missed said appointment. I'm not too worried though as I've caved in and bought some incredibly expensive Sheba mini tin things and he's started to eat again. Hope that's cracked it but will need to find something just as yummy but cheaper....

Thyroid problems often cause cats to lose a lot of weight and are common in older cats. Our cat had hyper(or hypo? Can't remember the difference)thyroidism and was as thin as a rake, he would eat and eat and not put on weight. He was fussy too so my mum just ended up buying whatever he would eat and feeding basically on demand. He was medicated for it later on in his life and lived happily with it for probably 8/9 years?

I wonder if that's it then. He usually loses a bit in the summer - say 200g, but this is far more than that. You can feel all his vertebrae and ribs. His luscious tail has gone all thin and straggly too!

Awwww poor pusss! Is he treated for worms regularly? If it is his thyroid he will need the blood tests rebooking, if it's untreated it can affect their kidneys and heart. Our cat didn't need treating for years but had to be monitored regularly with blood tests (blood tests in older cats are so much more expensive for some reason), when he finally needed treating it was just one little pill every day.

He is so handsome by the way! Gorgeous little face!!!

Ours has lost weight over the summer, but perhaps not as drastically. She needed to lose a bit though as she'd been in a rescue centre for months before we got her so was having not a lot of exercise. Now she loons around all over the place and I'm sure it's made her become more of a sensible shape.
Your boy is beautiful- he looks nicely proportioned in the photo, but worth getting his thyroid checked.

@whethertheweather

I would definitely get those bloods rebooked. That is a significant weight loss, and especially given his age it could be a sign of a health issue. Better to know asap to avoid further issues from lack of treatment, as pp has suggested.

He was wormed a couple of months ago. Was due to get Broadline at the missed appointment as vet wouldn't give me some before the bloodtest. I'll definitely get him to the vets as soon as I can.

He is beautiful, but less so at 5am when he was crying to go out as he needed the toilet and had forgotten where the litter tray has stood for the last 10 years. Apparently he needed me to go down and stand over him. He then went back upstairs to sleep leaving me wide awake downstairs. Lucky he's so handsome!

I finally managed to get Sox to the vets for a blood test. Results show nothing materially wrong with kidneys, thyroid, diabetes etc so vet thinks he's just not eating enough and his fur has gone scratty like a farm cat who spends all their time outdoors. He's been Broadlined which should get rid of any fleas or worms if he has them.

I've been told to try to get more calories into him. At the moment he only turns up every few days when I can keep him in overnight and get him to eat. He might have a couple of Sheba pouches - the recommended quantity is 3 per day but he just wont eat that much. Any ideas for high calorie food? Vet has suggested kitten food so I've bought some to try but I'm happy to cook fresh if that would be better.

Shredded chicken, flaked fish are all good for cats. Would the vet suggest a high calorie food.

Good news on the blood tests. I’d go for quality rather than quantity while his appetite is poor. No point breaking your back trying to get him to eat 3 pouches of Sheba when the nutritional value is so poor. Try foods like Bozita, smila, animonda carny, applaws etc from zooplus or bitiba. My cats all go wild for lick-e-licks, zooplus do a pouch of something similar by ‘Gimcat’. Lots more options on there too.

Cooking fresh is fine as an extra treat but be careful it doesn’t form the bulk of his diet as he’ll become deficient in important vitamins etc. Same for cat food, his main food should be ‘complete’ not ‘complimentary’. Kitten food often only has marginal nutritional differences to adult food.

Thanks - I'll have a look at those brands as haven't heard of some of them.