question about appetite..

ut0pia · Feb 12, 2010

Jake's appetite has decreased, he has been eating about 80% of what he typically eats for the past few weeks.
I am scared because he also looks thinner, he is typically chubby but he looks like he's lost some weight.
I might make an appointment for him on Monday just to be sure nothing's going on.
Otherwise he is playing like normal, his energy level is pretty high. What do you make of this?

Oh, and at the moment he is 17 pounds and eats 320 calories. Typically he eats around 400.

blueyedgirl5946 · Feb 13, 2010

I certainly don't want to alarm you. How old is your cat. If he is a cat who normally eats good, I would be concerned enough to take him to the vet.
Decreased appetite was the only thing that alerted me to the fact my cat, Speedboat, had something wrong. Needless to say we were devasted when all his bloodwork was fouled up. He went downhill quick. I would give him whatever he will eat and make an appointment in the meantime to have him checked out by the dr. Hugs to you and prayers for your cat that all will be okay.

ut0pia · Feb 13, 2010

Originally Posted by blueyedgirl5946

I certainly don't want to alarm you. How old is your cat. If he is a cat who normally eats good, I would be concerned enough to take him to the vet.
Decreased appetite was the only thing that alerted me to the fact my cat, Speedboat, had something wrong. Needless to say we were devasted when all his bloodwork was fouled up. He went downhill quick. I would give him whatever he will eat and make an appointment in the meantime to have him checked out by the dr. Hugs to you and prayers for your cat that all will be okay.

Thanks.
I am so sorry for Speedboat

How much was he eating, was he not eating at all?? I am a bit confused because Jake was really chubby, and I phased him from eating dry food to eating all wet because of his weight issues. I don't know if that has anything to do with it at all. He is 1 year and 5 months old.
He doesn't look too thin at all, but you know how it is with overweight cats their skin stretches and stays that way so they always retain the overweight appearance.
I tried feeding him dry food now and some treats and if I see his appetite sparking I'll skip the vet visit, because it could really be due to the change in food. When I looked up how many calories a cat needs, I found out that 320 calories is acceptable for a 17 pound cat. Maybe as a result of the wet food he's finally getting closer to his normal weight

I can only hope so...

carolina · Feb 13, 2010

Hi ut0pia... The calorie amount is usually calculated by the ideal weight... If 17lbs was his ideal weight, then 320 calories is too little. In fact, 320 is too little even for him to lose weight... Not by much, just a bit less than what he needs...

This is what I know from research:
There are two ways to go about this - if you want to go by his current weight, then you multiply 17lbs x 20calories = 340. This is what he should be getting a day in a safe diet.

You can also calculate the amount of calories based on his optimum weight. Say your vet tells you his weight should be 14 lbs. Then you multiply 14lbs x 25 calories = 350calories/day.

Basically, this is the guideline:
20 calories/lb to lose weight
25 calories/lb to maintain - you usually use this one when calculating on optimum weight.
30 calories/lb to gain

How quickly did he lose weight, and how much did he lose?
Be careful, go very slowly with him...

ut0pia · Feb 13, 2010

I have no idea how quickly he lost weight, I didn't notice anything until Tuesday of this week. I don't have an accurate scale either so the weight is an estimate, he could be 16 or 18 pounds or it could be off even as much as 2 pounds

I am going to watch exactly what he eats today and see how many calories it is. I know for sure that when he was free fed and gaining he ate 400 calories. I didn't really decrease that, I just substituted for wet instead of dry, but I feed him 2 meals a day and I just give him more whenever I notice that he's finished with the first meal so I wasn't keeping track..
The past few days when I realized he looks thinner I sorta kept track and the estimate from that was 320 calories in 24 hours, but today I am going to pay real close attention and see exactly how much he will eat in 24 hours with no question about it.
I can't wait for 24 hours to go by now..

carolina · Feb 13, 2010

Originally Posted by ut0pia

I have no idea how quickly he lost weight, I didn't notice anything until Tuesday of this week. I don't have an accurate scale either so the weight is an estimate, he could be 16 or 18 pounds or it could be off even as much as 2 pounds

I am going to watch exactly what he eats today and see how many calories it is. I know for sure that when he was free fed and gaining he ate 400 calories. I didn't really decrease that, I just substituted for wet instead of dry, but I feed him 2 meals a day and I just give him more whenever I notice that he's finished with the first meal so I wasn't keeping track..
The past few days when I realized he looks thinner I sorta kept track and the estimate from that was 320 calories in 24 hours, but today I am going to pay real close attention and see exactly how much he will eat in 24 hours with no question about it.
I can't wait for 24 hours to go by now..

Don't panic though... 320 calories is really good! I would be worried if he was eating like 150... or 200....
But for us with chubbies... we need to go slowly... I will never forget my vet telling me: "Go very slowly with his diet, you rather have a fat cat then a dead cat" (due to Hepatic lipidosis, but that is for rapid diets... Jake should be eating 340-350 calories though... It is GREAT that you were able to change him for all wet for this, it will keep him fuller.
Unfortunately wet food bothers Bugsy's teeth (he has resorptive lesions and it gets stuck in it), so he doesn't eat much of it... So for now I am working really hard at keeping his weight... He also weights 18lbs... Can't wait to have him all fixed up, hopefully then he will be able to lose some!

ut0pia · Feb 13, 2010

Originally Posted by carolinalima

Don't panic though... 320 calories is really good! I would be worried if he was eating like 150... or 200....
But for us with chubbies... we need to go slowly... I will never forget my vet telling me: "Go very slowly with his diet, you rather have a fat cat then a dead cat" (due to Hepatic lipidosis, but that is for rapid diets... Jake should be eating 340-350 calories though... It is GREAT that you were able to change him for all wet for this, it will keep him fuller.
Unfortunately wet food bothers Bugsy's teeth (he has resorptive lesions and it gets stuck in it), so he doesn't eat much of it... So for now I am working really hard at keeping his weight... He also weights 18lbs... Can't wait to have him all fixed up, hopefully then he will be able to lose some!

Thanks. I am trying not to panic

It is hard to deal with weight issues, one day the weight is too high the next I'm worried he's lost it too quickly..
Bugsy and Jake are both chubby in their young age too...(from your profile I saw that Bugsy is year older than Jake)
I hope his dental issues go away soon, I know you've been through a lot with that.

carolina · Feb 13, 2010

Originally Posted by ut0pia

Thanks. I am trying not to panic

It is hard to deal with weight issues, one day the weight is too high the next I'm worried he's lost it too quickly..
Bugsy and Jake are both chubby in their young age too...(from your profile I saw that Bugsy is year older than Jake)
I hope his dental issues go away soon, I know you've been through a lot with that.

I know! I can't wait for his one month check up on the 16th... whew! Really, I can't wait for his surgery, and for the whole thing to be done... Very scary though, because he doesn't eat a lot of wet food, and I am afraid of what can happen when he has his extractions, and he HAS to go on all wet for a month or so... You know how it is with out boys... We need to be careful with rapid loss, and this is kind of freaking me out...
So I am doing my best to feed him wet as much as I can, to get him ready for that day... Pretty scary...

ut0pia · Feb 15, 2010

Originally Posted by carolinalima

I can't wait for his one month check up on the 16th...

That is tomorrow, good luck!!!

As far as Jake's eating he has been eating about 350-360 calories now that I added some treats, and I got him some different flavored food. I really think he was getting tired of the same food every day (chicken alternating with turkey and giblets). I bought him some salmon and shrimp varieties, which he loves but I normally stay away from because I'm paranoid of peeing issues since he's a boy..
I think he hasn't exactly lost his appetite, because as soon as I open treats he comes running...he must have just been bored with his food. So for now we're good, although I haven't stopped watching him like I'm paparazzi

...he is so sick of me feeling his ribs, back and tummy every day to make sure that he hasn't lost any more weight..

carolina · Feb 15, 2010

Thanks for the good luck... I am already freaking out... He might have some extractions tomorrow, which makes me very nervous with him eating wet only...

ruby35 · Feb 15, 2010

Do you have your own scale at home that you use for yourself? What I did when I needed to weigh my cat was step on the scale holding him, write down the number, weigh myself, write down the number and subtract. That's how I kept track of his weight loss.

Perhaps it's not perfect, but it will do for getting a reading.

question about appetite..

ut0pia

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