My cat doesn't put weight on.

by Steffy
(Pittsburgh, PA)

I have 2 14 month female short hairs. One is normal weight, but the other has been worrying me lately. Shadow eats, uses the restroom, and plays normally, but since the summer, she only weighs about 4 pounds. She takes vitamins and her coat is shiny and smooth. It's her weight that bothers me. On the chart at the vets, she is about a 4 out of 10 when compared to the cat diagram. She is very active, and seems to be ok. I just don't know where she puts her food. I can feel her ribs, but I can not see them. I can feel her spine when I pick her up, but I can not see it. She just seems skinny to me. She is not skin and bones like some of the emaciated cat photos that I have seen online. She does not have fleas and she does not have worms. It bugs me that she is so skinny. What could be her problem? I'm worried about her. Thank you.

Reply

Hi
Well i have the same issue myself. I have two brother cats who are two.

One is a normal cat shape and weight maybe even a little over weight s he does like his food.

However his brother has always been thin. He eats but not as much as his brother and he is very active. His weight was 4.3 last time we took him to see the vet. You can feel his backbone but not see it too.

As far as the vet is concerned he just is one of those cats who burn off their calories and are naturally thin.

I know how worrying it is, I am always trying to coax him to eat more but he just is the way he is.

If you are really concerned all you can do is ask your vet to do some blood work tests to make sure he hasn’t got some condition which keeps him thin. But as I say she is young and very active and kittens even from the same litter can have very different biological systems.
Shadow looks like a beauty from the picture very regal too.

Here are my two cats http://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-photos-byron-shelley.html

Kate