Weight Loss

I adopted these two cats, Harry and Misty, in late February. I took them to the vet a little over a month later (early April) to have a check-up. At that time, the vet weighed them out at 13 pounds for Harry (they said he was a touch overweight) and Misty at 9.25 pounds (fyi, she's 3-legged, so however much a leg weighs, she'd weigh that much more if she had 4 legs, not that it matters, but I thought I'd mention it). FYI, they are 5 and 6 years old this year.

So I noticed recently that the cats seem to be more skinny (or less chunky as the case may be) than they used to be. I have a baby scale at home, so I weighed them last night. Harry was 12.25 lbs and Misty was 8.75 lbs. So Harry has lost about 3/4 lb and Misty about 1/2 lb.

They are now going outside a lot since it is summer, and I presume they are running around more (and hunting, etc) than when they spent all of their time inside.

As far as the food goes, their previous owners fed them dry food only, Purina One, and they gave me a bunch of leftover food they had, which I think maybe lasted about a month.

Since then, I've switched them to Premium Edge Adult Cat dry food (free feed), plus about 1 6-oz can per day of Wellness (for both of them together). They are certainly eating plenty.

They aren't exhibiting any health problems as I can see, and they still have soft fur, are running around, etc. And I figure that it is probably healthy for Harry to have lost that extra weight.

So I was wondering if maybe this is a good thing? or might indicate a problem? Thanks.

The weight loss may mean nothing...but it's always a good idea to check with the Vet. If they are running around outside..then they are probably eating more to make up for the use of calories.

I wouldn't accept a nothing answer from the Vet, either.....have some concrete evidence as to why they may be losing weight. The fact that two of them are losing...isn't as scary as if only one was losing weight, though.

A cat losing weight for no reason..is a good enough reason for a Vet visit....please go, and ease your mind.

VET check is in order ... they are a bit young but you may want to add kindey and thyroid checks

I agree with the vet check. Since they are outside and hunting, the could have worms--that too could cause the weight loss.

I thought of the possibility of worms.

I'll call the vet and see if they want me to bring the cats in.

Thanks, everybody, for your responses.

FYI, the vet said that both cats were very healthy. They probably lost the weight like lots of indoor/outdoor cats do in spring and early summer. And don't be surprised if they gain the weight back in the Fall. It could also be that I'm feeding them better food than their previous owners.

So everything's fine and the cats are doing great.