How to fatten up a cat

[Millymollymandy]

for Xmas!

No, only joking! One of my cats has got very skinny, and is so small now she can just squeeze through the wire fence into my veggie patch! I need to fatten her up but she only eats the amount she wants to eat so I'm wondering about changing her biscuits/food. I haven't ever actually looked to see if there is cat food for underweight cats.

She's currently eating Royal Canin 'Fit' biscuits (and the occasional mouse). She is 11, is fit and is spending a lot of time outdoors, hunting, at the moment. She is wormed regularly. She drinks kitty milk too (special lactose free milk for cats).

(My other cat weighs in at 7.9kg and is on a diet. Who said cats were easy? )

Any ideas?

[Camile]

Hi 3M,

If your cat is doing plenty of exercise, hunting and all ... that might explain the loss of weight.

Try giving her some tins with gravy (KitEKat or something simillar) .. Royal Canin is for dog ! one of my cats would just "leak" the gravy and only eat a bit of the food ... and I believe that might be fattening a bit ..

Good luck ..
Camile

[hattwich]

few ideas only here :) cats natural diet is meat, cat (and dog) food contain cereal to bulk them out, it could be your cat has a wheat allergy. also cats do not and should not have milk (even lactose free), they do not need and cannot take anything from it, any more than humans can!
hth

[Batfink]

WARNING: if your queezy, or you feel it's too early in the morning for a discussion about worming, please skip this post!

She is wormed regularly.

Might be worth giving her a quick dose now - despite regularness of worming, a tape worm can grow quite big between doses. This is particularly true if she's out and about hunting and scavenging - they can pick them up quite easily there.

Our cat thinned considerably over a relatively short period of time - and a couple of fat tape worms were found to be the cause!

Give her a dose of wormering, some meat based food, and leave her to it.

It could just be that she's getting old of course!

[Millie]

2 of my 4 cats are skinny things too, and I do worry. One is circa 14, and I put his down to old age (and cant say how he was as a young cat, cos hes a rescue cat), but my other one has been skinny from the word go. I havent worried about her as much, as she is the same build as her mum, so I always put it down to that. Amazingly, a neighbour once told me I should try feeding her occasionally Cheeky cow!!!!!

Anyhow, I dont tend to worry too much, as they are active and eating plenty, so I guess its just how they are. My moggies have a pouch of cat food in the morning, and a bowlful of a "complete" cat food in the evening, and water. Once a cat is weaned from its mother, it has no need for milk.

My other 2 cats on the otherhand are very sensible, and have a number of other houses lined up, which they go and eat at (the hefalumps!!!)

[Millymollymandy]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

1. She was wormed 10 days ago!

2. Royal Canin do food for dogs and cats, Camile! (when were you last in France? )

3. She lurves her kitty milk and will shriek the house down if she doesn't get it, NOW!!! (she's a tad spoilt and she rules the roost).

Well I had a look in the supermarket and I've bought something for active older cats. These packets all say that older cats need a different diet from younger or middle aged cats....... or is this just a marketing ploy? If she doesn't go for that I'll try some gourmet tinned stuff!

Anyway, maybe a change is a good thing and she might eat some more. Maybe it is the hot weather or the fact she is out more than normal, she even stayed out all night last night which is unusual for her. Also the reason my fat cat is so big is because he just doesn't want to go outside at all! Ruddy animals.

[Tigerhair]

MMM There are many reasons why your cat could be losing weight but if she is losing weight on the same diet as before then there could be a problem Regular worming is excellent - we recommend every three months at least - more often (with a good quality wormer) if the cat is hunting. A large proportion of older cats with weight loss probs have thyroid problems, which can be easily dealth with. RC make good food (for dogs and cats) and yes, older cats need different stuff to younger ones. I hope you sort it out. My cats tend to be skinnier in the summer and less active, therefore fatter, in the winter.

[ina]

Frankie needed worming again after a month last time... She was out most of the time, and kept the rabbit population down - and still kept "her figure"! At the moment she's in a lot more, eats enough for three cats (tinned and dry food), and still doesn't get fat... I've given up worrying!

There's one cat around here who's just skin and bones - but that seems to be a breed thing. He's partly Siamese, and well looked after.

[Millymollymandy]

Well she is tucking into the new biccies with gusto so I will wait and see. She is normally a lot slimmer in summer than winter, only we have never seen her so skinny before. I will keep an eye on her.

We did have fat cat tested for thyroid, diabetes and other things because of his weight problem but it came back negative.

I have only ever wormed twice a year, which seems to be the norm in France (and was when I lived in England). Nowadays it seems to be the norm in Britain to worm more frequently - I hear the same said about horses!

[ina]

Maybe there's more worms about? Mine really needed it again after a very short time... Worms were kind of saying hello out of her backside .
I have left it for half a year before when it didn't seem necessary - don't believe in overdoing these things (and in wasting money on them , either!).

[Millymollymandy]

Update - I changed her biscuits, she scoffed them for a bit, then went off them. Since then I have tried every kind of tinned food, which she mostly turns her nose up at, but will lick the gravy/jelly bits off.

She is now just a bag of bones and she isn't her normal self either.

This morning we took her to the vet who has taken a blood sample to be tested. Should find out later today or tomorrow.

Poor little thing was bundled in a funny bag like thingy with a muzzle like thing over most of her face and had her leg shaved and the blood taken. Much better than in England or Holland where they knock them out with general anaesthetic to do blood tests.

The funniest thing is that my husband stupidly watched the vet taking blood then came over all faint and had to sit on the floor for about 10 minutes, white and sweating, whilst the vet brought him sachets of sugar and a glass of water!!!!!!

I, of course, know better, and didn't look at the blood!

[Tigerhair]

MMM We don't knock em out here! We hold them (carefully), shave their leg or neck and do the thang with the needle! MOST cats are great... one or two draw blood back!

Hope you get a result quickly and sort this out.... poor puddy!

[Millymollymandy]

Well I'm glad to hear it! I've only ever had a cat blood tested once in England and once in Holland, and each time they knocked them out with a G. anaesthetic! I really don't like that being done unless really necessary as I lost my dear old English cat under anaesthetic. The vets said they always lost a few otherwise healthy animals each year as it was such a risk for small animals.

[Shirley]

Hope the results reveal nothing untoward and that you get kitty back on track.

Poor M3 hubby!!

[Millymollymandy]

Got the blood test results yesterday which showed nothing wrong and they recommended some multivits/minerals for the senior cat.

However she ate nothing yesterday and this morning was incredibly weak and could hardly walk. I syringed water into her mouth and got her to the vet asap.

Her temperature is below normal (which I've never heard of) and is not a good sign.

She is being kept in on a drip as she is too weak for further tests at the moment, which are needed as the vet has no idea what is wrong with her.

I am just praying she will pull through.