Anyone who has been following my posts knows about my herd of kitties. for those that don't, here's the run down.
Prissy -- 10 yrs Black tux dsh. My permanent kitty.
Loudmouth-- abandoned dsh cat that has had mulitple litters, part siamese.
Yellow -- 7 month old dsh torbie girl from loudmouth's first litter
Cuddles -- 7 month old dsh grey tabby boy from loudmouth's first litter
Smudge -- ~12 wk old black dsh boy from loudmouth's last litter
So, now to the problem. Prissy is at a healthy weight for her size, varying between 9 and 10 lbs. However, Loudmouth and her kittens are all very thin. Loudmouth is the biggest, at 9 lbs. However, Cuddles is only 7, and yellow is only 6. Smudge is only around 2 lbs (depending on how long it's been since he's eaten, he can weigh anything from 1lb 11 oz to 2 lbs 3 oz).
I'm feeding 2 large cans of wet food a day, divided between them, and they get free fed dry food all day and night. They always have clean water. The dry food is a store brand, but the first ingredient is chicken in both the sensitive systems formula and the kitten formula. It seems to be a decent quality for the price. I mix the two formulas 1:1 since Prissy is older and with her arthritis, she can't stand to gain a lot of weight.
The cats have all been to the vet, and have had the fecal test, and there are no worms. Just to be safe ,though, the vet wormed them all with Stongid, just to be sure. That was about 2 weeks ago but no one is gaining weight. Other than being thin, everyone is healthy. No infections at all, bright eyes, high energy, very alert, soft coats... But they just seem so thin.
Do I need to switch to a higher carb diet? Is there something I can do to further supplement them? Or is their thinness a trait passed on from the siamese in Loudmouth? I don't have any experience with siamese, so I don't know how thin they should or shouldn't be. I just worry because though I don't believe cats should be FAT, I also don't believe they should look like they're starving.
Thanks to everyone who reads and posts.
Prissy -- 10 yrs Black tux dsh. My permanent kitty.
Loudmouth-- abandoned dsh cat that has had mulitple litters, part siamese.
Yellow -- 7 month old dsh torbie girl from loudmouth's first litter
Cuddles -- 7 month old dsh grey tabby boy from loudmouth's first litter
Smudge -- ~12 wk old black dsh boy from loudmouth's last litter
So, now to the problem. Prissy is at a healthy weight for her size, varying between 9 and 10 lbs. However, Loudmouth and her kittens are all very thin. Loudmouth is the biggest, at 9 lbs. However, Cuddles is only 7, and yellow is only 6. Smudge is only around 2 lbs (depending on how long it's been since he's eaten, he can weigh anything from 1lb 11 oz to 2 lbs 3 oz).
I'm feeding 2 large cans of wet food a day, divided between them, and they get free fed dry food all day and night. They always have clean water. The dry food is a store brand, but the first ingredient is chicken in both the sensitive systems formula and the kitten formula. It seems to be a decent quality for the price. I mix the two formulas 1:1 since Prissy is older and with her arthritis, she can't stand to gain a lot of weight.
The cats have all been to the vet, and have had the fecal test, and there are no worms. Just to be safe ,though, the vet wormed them all with Stongid, just to be sure. That was about 2 weeks ago but no one is gaining weight. Other than being thin, everyone is healthy. No infections at all, bright eyes, high energy, very alert, soft coats... But they just seem so thin.
Do I need to switch to a higher carb diet? Is there something I can do to further supplement them? Or is their thinness a trait passed on from the siamese in Loudmouth? I don't have any experience with siamese, so I don't know how thin they should or shouldn't be. I just worry because though I don't believe cats should be FAT, I also don't believe they should look like they're starving.
Thanks to everyone who reads and posts.
