If he's scrawny...

ghosthunterbeck

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Okay, another thread sparked this question, so please bear with me while I post in a burst of several threads today *sigh*.

I need to get Whisper to put on some weight. I don't think he's necessarily underweight (ribs and spine aren't poking significantly at this point) but he definitely needs to gain some weight. Before we moved here, he was on the chunky side, but the stress didn't do him any good.

His stools are normal, he eats like a horse, and he's clean for worms.

Would feeding kitten food help? I've already switched him to a higher-quality wet food.
 

cloud_shade

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How old is Whisper? How much are you currently feeding him? Are you free-feeding or meal feeding?
 

momofmany

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Ask your vet before you try to put some weight on him. My Scarlett is very tiny and I'm always concerned that she is underweight, yet the vet assures me that she is at an ideal weight for her size.
 
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ghosthunterbeck

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He's a little over a year old and he's free-fed. I'm pretty sure that it's been a food quality issue, so we've been feeding a wet food that is lacking in fillers and by-product now.

I will do that, Momofmany. I think he weighs only about six pounds, but he's pretty small. I can't remember how much he weighed the last time he went to the vet, but he's lost weight.
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by ghosthunterbeck

He's a little over a year old and he's free-fed. I'm pretty sure that it's been a food quality issue, so we've been feeding a wet food that is lacking in fillers and by-product now.
I used to think that I could fatten up Scarlett by giving her wet food, which she loves. But wet food can actually cause them to slim down, particularly if you are giving one without fillers. Their bodies use it more efficiently. My Scarlett weighed in at 6.9 pounds at her last vet visit. Keep a running log of their weights at each vet visit. It comes in really handy if they ever get sick.
 
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ghosthunterbeck

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Well here's the thing:

He's an indoor-only cat and has been for a year. Indoor-only cats are often overweight due to a lack of exercise. Of course, he *is* on an "indoor formula." Maybe that's what we need to look into changing. These cats do *not* lack exercise except for Molly, who is still in hiding most of the time. She's on the slender side, too, but mostly because she's afraid to come out and eat if the TV is on (food bowl used to be near the speakers D'oh. We've moved it now!).

Whisper eats like a pig, by the way. I think I'd mentioned that, but it's true. He and Baloo both eat constantly. Baloo is a bit on the heavy side (not overweight, just pushing it), and Whisper is teeny. Reagan is the only one who seems to me to be a perfect weight, and that's mostly because of the amount of muscle mass she has.

Feeding them all the same food, in particular with Whisper and Reagan, what could be making the difference if everybody's healthy?
 

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He might be naturally on the small size. I have a small female that I had to hold back on getting her fixed because they would not take her until she was at least 6 pounds. At 5.11 they finally said they would fix her!!

But now, she has gain but still under 7 pounds and eats like a pigget. We free feed as well she loves cheese. Wonder why<G>

Fluffee
 

cloud_shade

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Each cat has its own metabolism. Zek's is very fast--I had to add dry food because he lost too much weight on canned alone. He actually eats a little more than the amount recommended for his weight on the dry food (Orijen) plus some canned food just to maintain his current weight.
 

arlyn

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I'd get him off the indoor formula.

I had been using indoor food and I have cats that are heavy (not fat) and cats that are lean and ideal.
Indoor really did nothing for my heavy cats, but my two lean cats lost too much weight on it.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by cloud_shade

Each cat has its own metabolism. Zek's is very fast--I had to add dry food because he lost too much weight on canned alone. He actually eats a little more than the amount recommended for his weight on the dry food (Orijen) plus some canned food just to maintain his current weight.
Yep.. Zoey is like that she is very lean ... I free feed her a kitten food but it is with VETs okay .... Only at age 3.5 is Zoey slowwing in her eating... but she still eats 1/2 times what is recommended
Originally Posted by Arlyn

I'd get him off the indoor formula.

I had been using indoor food and I have cats that are heavy (not fat) and cats that are lean and ideal.
Indoor really did nothing for my heavy cats, but my two lean cats lost too much weight on it.
Yes indoor formula s are ideal for many slightly pudgy cats but the l carnitine can cause wt loss in thin to ideal cats

WHAT did the vet say about the wt issues???
 
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ghosthunterbeck

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He's not been back to the vet since shortly after we moved, so we haven't heard anything about it. It's not a huge loss of weight, just that he went to slightly underweight from slightly overweight. He *is* a tiny cat.

I'm loathe to take him in for an appointment over a pound or so (which is where we're at -- he's a TINY cat: seriously looks about six months old and he's a year old).

I'd like to try changing food to something that works better before we take him in right now. The only veterinary concern would be worms and he was clear two weeks after we moved here, so I doubt that's it, right?
 

sharky

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realize a lb on a 6 lb cat is 15% of total body wt so it is a BIG amount

10lb cat a lb is 10%
 
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ghosthunterbeck

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I'm not sure of the exact amount since we don't have a set of scales at home. AND I realized after posting this morning that he's actually begun to put some weight back on (which is awesome).

We bought food today and I went ahead and got a regular adult formula this time, so we're going to see how that goes. I'm still trying to convince DH on getting the Nutro. He thinks that "Friskies" is the best cat food out there
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by ghosthunterbeck

I'm not sure of the exact amount since we don't have a set of scales at home. AND I realized after posting this morning that he's actually begun to put some weight back on (which is awesome).

We bought food today and I went ahead and got a regular adult formula this time, so we're going to see how that goes. I'm still trying to convince DH on getting the Nutro. He thinks that "Friskies" is the best cat food out there
can you get DH to read some stuff on here??

Friskies for wet is not great but far better than friskies dry
 
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ghosthunterbeck

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DH used to work for a veterinary hospital that filled his head full of crap. So that being the case, he's probably going to trust the vet he worked for above anything that he reads here. I've *almost* got him convinced on the Nutro since we've managed to price it and the prices really aren't atrocious. I just tend to wonder if the small size isn't due to improper feeding from the beginning.

We're also considering a raw diet. My mother had some suggestions that might keep costs lower than if we switched to a premium-brand dry food. It would obviously need to be a gradual switch though, and the hard part is that we have two cats with one set of dietary needs, and two who have totally different needs from the other two.

I.E. Baloo is pretty big for his suspected age, Reagan is small but wirey (very muscular), and Whisper and Molly are both slender (but Molly's still being fattened up from coming in from the outdoors, too).
 
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