What's wrong? (Brittle fur and lethargic)

I'm currently babysitting a few cats whose owner is temporarily homeless. They are staying with me while it's hot. One of them, Ooguly, does not seem to be well. They've been here for a week now and she's been spending most of her time laying in the same spot while the other cats come up to greet me when I come into the room and seek out contact. At first I thought that she may just not handle heat well. Although we have AC the room these cats are in does get hotter than the rest of the house and despite having a fan in there too it's 80 degrees when it's hot outside. Ooguly did in fact seem a bit more spunky when we had a couple of cool days last week but she's still not as active as I would like her to be. The cats, all five of them, have been living with their owner in the back of his pick-up truck for a few months and he says that Ooguly has spent most of that time inside a carrier so apparently she's been on the mellow side for a while.

There are a couple of other things that concern me as well. One thing is Ooguly's coat. On her lower stomach her fur is very thin and short, almost to where she appears bald in that area. It's somewhat similar to what a nursing cat will look like but not exactly. Her fur on her back half is very short and a bit coarse. It looks okay but it doesn't feel like it should and according to her owner she used to have a thicker, softer fur. Her stomach is also a bit distended, in my opinion, but it could be normal.

She is eating and drinking well and her stool looks normal.

Ooguly did go to the vet last Wednesday for an exam and the vet thought she looked fine. She did not think her stomach was abnormally distended. She believes that Ooguly's lethargy is due to stress and/or depression due to her circumstances and thought that the thin fur on her stomach is caused by stress related licking. However, I've never seen her licking her stomach and neither have her owner so I'm not so sure that's the cause. The vet did comment on her brittle fur but didn't expand on it (Ooguly's owner took her to the vet so I'm just going by what he told me).

At first I thought that the vet is probably right - Ooguly's symptoms are caused by stress. But the more I see of her the more I start thinking that there is something else wrong with her. The fact that the vet didn't find anything during the exam doesn't really mean anything. What do you guys think? Could brittle fur and thinning fur be caused by stress? Or does someone know what could cause the kinds of symptoms Ooguly has - the brittle, thinning fur, mild lethargy, and a possibly distended stomach? Ooguly is a 6-year old spayed female.

We are planning on getting some blood work done on her within a few weeks as soon as her owner has the money.

Any input would be appreciated.

She sounds very depressed to me and that could very easily be causing her symptoms. Have you changed her diet at all?

I think it's wonderful you are taking these babies in while their pet parent gets back on their feet.

When my Lucas started licking his fur uncontrollably and pulling out his hair the vet  first thought he had food allergies, then another vet thought it could be  hypertiroidism and then we discovered it was stress.  But every cat is different.  It seems like that girl is really depresses, poor baby! But if you think it could be something else you should have her checked out.  I hope she gets better soon.

What food is she on? Maybe it's really low-quality since the owner is low on funds? Low-quality food doesn't affect all cats the same way but I have seen poor coats caused by poor diet.

The cats are eating Purina Cat Chow so, yeah, they are not getting the best diet. Changing their diet would probably be a good place to start. For some odd reason I hadn't even thought of that. The owner is working now so I'll see if he can afford something like Taste of the Wild or Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul. Those aren't too expensive. Even though the guy is pretty broke and doesn't have much he really wants to do what's best for his cats.

I really get the feeling that it's something more than depression going on with Ooguly though. The look on her face reminds me of what a cat looks like when they aren't feeling good or are in pain. She often keeps her eyes half closed. I was petting her a little while ago and felt her stomach a bit and she hissed at me. She's never hissed at me before so I wonder if her stomach hurts her. I feel so bad for her. Stress or not, she's not herself.

I think bad fur is almost always a sign of illness of some sort, yes it could be poor diet but the other cats are not showing the same symptoms. 

I'm not sure what you can do about it given her owner's situation- so sorry to hear about it. And you are an angel to help out this way. I think the bloodwork is a very good idea. 

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