Is my Cat underweight?

[DireWolf0384]

I recently noticed that our cat feels skinny.You can feel her back but not her ribs. Her tail is sorta bony and her legs are skinny too. Should I be worried? Should I send her to a vet?

 

[sharpfang]

Oh, Don't make me Cry

I just rescently lost my Cat of 17 years....she thinned for a few though...

Would need more details to give Any advice....I hope your kitty is O.K. for what it's worth....Was gettin' some Dog food the other Night...and grabbed a bag of Cat Food 2, from Reflex....

I gotta go get some Kleenex now

Will check thread soon - Night - Jason

 

[DireWolf0384]

Shes less than a year old and we adopted her from a friend. We changed her from Iams to "Taste of the Wild". I know she is eating some because there is feces in her litter box and there is always a fresh supply of them every night we change it. I'm just worried shes not eating enough. With all the crap that happening in my Life right now shes all my Wife and I have right now. I lost one of my jobs. (80% of my income).

 

[DrAce]

She could have worms. They'd take the nutrients out before she had a chance to get them.
Has she been wormed?

 

[Kathy]

Jeremy, can you post a picture?

 

[blacktara]

Agree with the concern for worms

 

[jbm150]

Definitely bring her to a vet, if nothing else than to get a baseline on her. She may have worms or some other ailment. She also may be a naturally skinny cat. We have two brothers, one is a stocky tank, the other is skinny with bird bones. The skinny one has had a few issues through the years but both are extremely healthy. But I'd recommend a trip to the vet, just in case something may be wrong.

 

[DireWolf0384]

I'll post a Pic of her up tonight. We had some Lab Work done when we had her declawed a couple weeks ago and they said it came back normal. Do they test for worms too when they do declawing?

 

[Kathy]

No I don't think they would check for that. It's good her tests came back fine. It could be she is just a thinner built cat. If she looks like your picture on facebook she looks very healthy. Has she lost weight since then?

 

[DireWolf0384]

Here are some pics I took with my Blackberry so they are not perfect quality pics. She does not hold still very long either.

 

[sharpfang]

Ahhhhhhh - She is Purty


And has great, Grey Ghostly coloring. How long ya guys had Her in your Household ? And how many Dry Diet changes has she experienced rescently :? She does Not look especially Skinny from the Pix - Certainly unlikely to be Feline Leukimia or anything of that sort. What did the Vet say, as Far as Over-All Health

 

[Jaymz Bedell]

nice cat, i have a soft spot for blue animals. if she was under anesthesia in the last few weeks that could explain some weight loss. anesthesia has some lingering side effects, including weight loss. still not a bad idea to have her checked for parasites. keep us updated.

 

[kingrattus]

Jeremy, I got your IM but I was away so I wasn't ale to reply to it. I saw you tried to get a hold of me last night but I was lost playing WoW again lol I'm such a terrible friend at times

Anyways, I think she looks fine. Your gonna feel the hips on a slimmer cat. Its when you feel the spine & deep grooves in the ribs is when the cat or dog is under weight & then it needs a trip to the vet! Ignore the tail when doing a fat check.

As for worms, they only check with a "fresh" stool sample. If its more then several hours old, it might be no good. Most vets typically check for worms, or if its a new cat, they just give it the meds as chances are, it has worms. Did your friend get the cat dewormed when they had it? if not, then it might have them.

However since she just had an operation, her eating might be less then normal for few weeks & I believe she was declawed a week ago?

Cam lost weight after her spay, but shes now starting to eat more & has put on a wee bit of weight.. but she needs a good pound or 2 more to cover her bones... Silly cats...

Now if only Digi could store body fat I'd be thrilled. Shes been laying on me more & more lately & I really dislike the feel of her pointy boney body on me.. its pretty gross, but I love her <3

 

[jebbewocky]

Looks healthy to me. You should bring it to a vet if you feel really unsure about it, just for the peace of mind, but it looks perfectly healthy to me. Might have lost weight from the diet change.

 

[DireWolf0384]

They are saying they need a stool sample and checking that will cost me $18 and the Appt. will cost another $35. I hope I can afford this. The Vet Tech on the phone said shes got all the symptoms of a worm infestation so we will need to get her in as soon as I can, or as soon as I get the money.

 

[kingrattus]

find a vet that'll just give you the meds... the vet I go to up here doesn't charge for visits... When I brought cam in to get her shots I paid 40$ & he was gonna deworm her too.. without checking... if its always been an indoor cat, its highly unlikely it'll have non-kitten type of worms... so find a vet that'll sell it to you

 

[kingrattus]

here we go

http://www.1800petmeds.com/HomeoPet+Wrm+Clear-prod3305-3305.html

 

[Shell]

here we go

http://www.1800petmeds.com/HomeoPet+Wrm+Clear-prod3305-3305.html

Being a vet tech for years, I can tell you that you need to be really careful with what type of dewormer you use if not purchased from a vet.

I am not familiar with this brand but the ones sold "over the counter" don't work, they do not contain the same medications as the ones sold by the vet and they don't fully kill the worms. The ones sold by the vet are stronger and actually kill the worms and those meds can't be sold over the counter.

By law the animal must be seen by a vet to dispense medications, however here in Canada, a vet will dispense meds without an appt to an animal that is already their patient.

I understand the frustration over the money, but if you use over the counter worm meds, it very well could take forever and much more money to get this cleared up, as they just don't work as effectivly.

One of my clients was trying to worm her cats "cheaply" she bought a bunch of over the counter stuff from the pet store, treated her cats. She was still seeing worms, she bought another type etc. By the time she finally caved and brought them to us she had spent $250 on over the counter worm meds that didn't fully get rid of the worms. The meds from the vet really aren't that expensive, and it sounds like you have a great vet. I understand money is tight, but the prices you were quoted are good ones.

 

[kingrattus]

the site also sells prescription meds...

I know Jeremy will do a lot of research on this before doing anything, hes good for that

 

[Shell]

Ok so I looked at the ingredients of the one linked. They are as follows

Arsenicum Alb, Nux Vom, 8x, Calc car, Nat Mur, Nat phos, Silicea Mar, Sulph, 6x, Chenopodium anth, Filix mas, Gran, Kamala, 3x,3c, Cina, Naph, Spigelia anth, Teucrium marum, Thymol, 4x, Cucurbita pepo, 2x,4x, Ferrum Phoas, 6x, Triticum, 3x in 20% USP alc. in purified water

Here is where the problem lies, most over the counters look pretty similar in this to make up.

The prescription meds, with ingredients that do kill the parasites contain: praziquantel, pyrantel, pamoate and febantel. These four drugs work against round worms, tapeworms and hookworms as well as the other ascarids.

While some of the over the counter will "thin out" the worm infestation so to speak, they just aren't as effective in killing the entire infestation. The only meds that contain the above ingredients that are, are only available through a vet due to being stronger and needing a proper weight to determine a dosage that will not be detrimental to the cat.


I am NOT trying to knock anyone who has tried to help, not at all. Just wanting to give my experienced advice as when it comes down to it, meds aren't always as clear cut, and the stores pass off these over the counter meds as being just as effective when they just aren't. I just don't want to see you spend more money then needed because you wanted to try it cheaper. I know how frustrating it is, vet care is not cheap and it sucks sometimes, I just wanted to help out, since this an area I have a lot of experience in.