Cat weight loss

Last February our cat flew with us to Florida and back in late March. During that time she went from 6 lbs. 7oz to just 6 pounds. The vet has no explanation. She flew with us in the cabin and we were able to take her out of her carrier and hold her on our laps. The flight was about 5 hours. She refused water during the trip but ate and drank well on arrival. She seemed to like being in Florida and was at ease. She is not losing but is not gaining the weight back. Vet says she is healthy except for mild kidney disease.  

Does anyone have any thoughts on how she could have lost this much weight. Ate the same stuff in FL as here, K/D dry and commercial wet. I will say she didn't seem to eat as much wet food in Florida. 

My thoughts: K/D dry is not good nutrition for cats. I understand that you're using it because of the kidney issue, but especially in a mild case, I would be using good quality protein, low phosphorus wet foods. Dry food can cause chronic mild dehydration which is tough on the kidneys. If she wasn't eating a lot of the wet in FL (possibly due to heat and stress of travel/new environment), I would think that K/D as the main food source is just not providing the nutrition she needs. I'm not sure how old your cat is, but older cats actually have higher protein needs in order to maintain muscle mass.

A great site that can help you find good protein low phosphorus foods is www.catinfo.org.

Thank you!! It wasn't hot in FL, but although she seemed to enjoy looking at the birds, she easily could have been stressed. One of the problems is we don't know how old she is. She was a rescue cat and we were told she was 1.5 years old 6 years ago. But 2 vets have told us she has signs of being a much older cat. She had been declawed front and back when I found her and has a spot on her ribs which could be an old fracture. In short, our poor baby was possibly neglected and abused then tossed away. She was declawed so she could be a companion cat for a sick person (who probably couldn't give her much loving) and when the sick person died, the family dropped her off at the Humane.

She's a very fussy eater, but what you say makes sense. I will look at the link. We are very grateful. 

Wow that was interesting. I wish I could feed her minced mouse. Let's see how it goes to transition her to all wet food. I will do it gradually of course. I weigh her on a food scale which she will sit on long enough to get a good reading. Also feed her catnip which seems to stimulate her appetite. Thank you again. 

There are places you can order ground mice from, but apparently it's not a big hit with the kitties!

An update: for about a week now I have been feeding her wet food more often and she is eating it. Her stools have been more regular (daily) and better quality. But she has lost one ounce. I was distressed to see that. I am going to get her some turkey baby food today which she loves. I know another mistake I made was to feed her gravy wet food instead of paté, so from now on all she is getting is the paté as well as gradually lesser amounts of dry k/d. 

Other than the weight loss she seems happy, perky, grooms herself, but is a little dehydrated this morning (sticky gums not slippery). It has been very hot here so we have been running the A/C which dries out the house. She has 2 water bowls and always makes a routine of going from one to the other. 

If anyone has any other advice, I would be happy to hear it. The vet is only mildly concerned about the weight, she says "monitor it."

I did read the articles from vball, tysm.

I think you're doing all the right things. The ounce lost is a little troubling but since all her other behavior is normal, I wouldn't worry too much and just keep an eye on her weight like your vet suggested. It could also be from the slight dehydration. You could try adding a little extra water to her wet food to get her a little more hydration. If she likes gravy, she might like the pate foods mixed up with water to make it more gravy like. If she really likes the turkey baby food, it could be a good topper for the canned food she doesn't like as much.

Thank you. She loves the turkey baby food and I have been busy with chores so haven't gotten to the store yet. She is very skillful at licking off all the baby food, leaving the wet cat food underneath untouched.   But sometimes she will eat paté with a bit of water or baby food mixed in. Your article mentioned sprinkling wet food with cheese or ground up dry kitty junk food. I can try that too. 

One of the things my husband mentioned to me is that she is very sensitive to my stress. She will totally ignore food I have put down for her, then, if I leave the house, or at night, she will eat. I have to learn not to be so stressed about her. 

My final update, I promise. Shortly after I wrote my last update, I found her chewing on a rubberband. It was in pieces. We work very hard to keep rubber bands away from her; but somehow she had found one. I looked at all the pieces and it looked like I had got them all before she swallowed any. She ate some baby food that night but then Saturday and Sunday almost nothing. So I was going to call the vet Monday a.m. for an emergency call. But Monday morning she hacked up a hairball and sure enough in it a piece of rubber band. Since then she's had 3 days of good eating, mostly wet cat food, and her weight is back up. Oh, yes, I have been adding warm water to her pate and she eats it very well.

I wish I knew why she eats rubber bands; our other cat did too. We can't have them in the house, they go in the covered trash bin.

Thank you for your help.