My Cat is so thin - worried?

Alfasudcrazy

My little cat Tina recovered from a severe viral infection a few weeks back and now 'seems' to be back in full health but I worry that she has not regained much of the weight she lost during the illness and sometimes seems so thin she looks unhealthy.

I feed her Burn's cat food and she always has food and water available 24/7.

Im tempted to start feeding her whiskers as she loves that so much - but I am afraid it might not be such a good food for her. The cat is now about 1.5 years old.

peasant

Assuming that she has a clean bill of health, I'd see no harm in spoiling her a bit.

Canned tuna or salmon (the cheap cans without any flavouring, just oil or brine) could spice up her food to the point where she takes to it with gusto.

Plus all the omega three fish-oil thingies are supposed to be very good.

Wouldn't feed whiskas, tbh

carwash_2006

If you want to spoil her Hills do a pouch food that is somewhat better than whiskas.

I would steer clear of tuna, tends to be a bit high in mercury and might not be very good if they get too much. salmon or sardines are fine. A bit of cooked chicken is usually a winner for most cats, especially if it's warm out of the oven. When my cat was sick and not eating I cooked a chicken specially for him to try and tempt him to eat.

Feelgood

Shes probably just trying to lose the pounds to squeeze into that bikini she wore last year

Sigma Force

A sudden change in diet might upset her tum, if you give her things like chicken she might hold out for that and not eat her dry food and it might be hard to get her back on the dry after. The food she's on atm should have all she needs in it if she will eat more of it then give her more than what you usually would. If you think she will eat her food as well as something like chicken then some chicken or ham when she's finished her dry food might be an option. They always know if something nicer is coming lol.

Other foods like some nice steak or a little salmon or tuna once a week or better still perhaps fresh irish caught fish not sure how high mecury levels are in irish waters but once a week would be fine.

Alongside her regular Burns food some fresh rather than tinned or processed food may benifit her more, fresher the better. As she's a cat you only need a bit every day so it shouldn't be too expensive.
Also regular small meals rather than one big one, cat will normally eat a mouse sized meal at a sitting.

Drink wise mabey give her some Whiskas cat milk every day, she should put the weight back on slowly if you mabey weigh her twice a week and keep track of her weight whilst feeding her extra if she hasn't put on any after about 2 weeks talk to your vet.

Alfasudcrazy

She eats about a medium sized sugar bowel of Burns dry food each day in as you say small lots at a time.
I agree its hard to get them back on the dry food if you give her something else.

That cat milk idea sounds good - might give it a try.

Will bring her to the vet anyway to see what he thinks.

Could it be its just her summer 'light' coat of fur?

I could perhaps be judging it wrong comparing her to our other cat who has the opposite problem - he is too fat. :rolleyes:

carwash_2006

If you run your hand down her back, can you feel her hip bones sticking out? If she has muscle covering her hips you really don't need to worry. I don't like using the whiskas milk, I've had several of mine get sick on it. If you only give them a small bit of chicken or whatever as a treat and still leave the dry food out as normal it shouldn't affect how well they eat the dry. Or the pouches can also be given in small quantities as a treat.

Themadhouse

I would mix ina bit of rc baby cat into her regular food, they love it and tend to eat a bit more when it's available. Or as carwash said, the hills pouches are great, you dont need to change her diet drastically, just give her a half or a third mixed in with some of her dry food. The kitten pouches are great. The kitten food is good for adding the extra into the cats diet to help them gain weight, I wouldn't use it long term for the cat but no harm for a wee while to help her gain the weight back.

MsFifers

It wouldn't be worms by any chance would it?

Are her coat, eyes, ears in good condition? They would be a good indication of her general health. If she is looking good apart from the low weight, I wouldn't worry too much - its probably a good thing she gains weight slowly.

If she is overly boney though - dry kitten food has v. high levels of fat and protein, so maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to mix a little of this in with her regular dry food for a short while as Themadhouse suggests.

But maybe run it past your vet first just to be sure - or even just call the vet nurse there and get advice.

carwash_2006

Actually Royal Canin Sensible can be very good for putting a bit of weight on thin cats, but you'd need to feed them seperately to stop the other guy becoming dangerously overweight.