Skin problems, weight, diet

So I went and visited an old friend in my hometown and her cat had had several issues in the past (I think she's over 10 now?). She's so overweight that she can't groom herself appropriately, and frequently has gunks of poop hanging from her butt fur that my friend would try to clip out. I didn't see any this time, but she was lying down when I visited and her diet has since been changed.

Aside from being overweight (she has a relatively small frame, but I think when I went with her to the vet several years ago, she was 16lbs or something. She never plays -- or rather, is never played with -- and only runs for Temptations treats, of which friend's mother used to give minimum five a day, and felt I was cruel - jokingly I hope - when I petsat and only gave her one treat, split into quarters and tossed around the house for her to run after), she has some skin problems. She had a patch on her side where the fur wouldn't grow back fully and it looked like she'd overgroom. Eventually it did grow back, but recently she's been having a recurrence but in a few patches rather than the same one. My friend switched her to a grain free food (from Science Diet to Performatrin grain-free) and that hasn't helped. She's tried Pet Naturals of Vermont Skin + Coat chews, but her cat had absolutely no interest in them. She gave the treats to me, and unless I mix it with their kibble, my cats don't like them either (apparently the dog formula gets good reviews for dog preferences, but not much difference in coat condition anyway...). She also has a liquid supplement for skin and fur she's tried to add to food without luck.

I've advised switching to a wet food in case her skin is feeling itchy and she just needs more moisture, and that it's easier to mix supplements into wet food than it is to top dry in most cases. She hasn't been back to the vet, but my friend is really considering taking her again. She's afraid the vet will dismiss it as the same issue as last time - fleas, and a flea bite allergy because they saw some black dots on the skin on her back. If fleas were the case, her cat (strictly indoor) would show more signs, her dog would show signs, her rabbit would show signs, and since the dog and cat are always sleeping in bed with my friend, my friend would also have bites. I told her to seek a second opinion and consider whether a protein source within food is the culprit. I learned in that Reddit thread, though, that diet and allergy trials are very time-consuming and require consistency - something my friend doesn't always have.

It's hard to ensure anything gets done when I'm so far away now, and I can't be a support system and a source of real-time knowledge when my friend asks. She's paranoid and I don't think she has any other friends who actually care about animals as much. Is there anything more I can tell her? This cat was born to a stray her family let stay in their garage, and I've seen this cat get declawed and forgotten about... cats are largely a lie-around-and-people-will-infrequently-pet-them part of the family, whereas dogs tend to trump them. The cats didn't have any toys, just treats.

Here are some old pictures I took, I think 2 years ago, when I petsat. You can see the old bald patch.


And my favourite:

Aww   that last picture. So is your friend unwilling to take the cat to another vet for a second opinion? Considering it's not your cat I don't see how you can help anymore than you already have.

She is a pretty cat but, yes, she is too fat. It's a shame your friend isn't being more mindful about her health. She needs to stop free-feeding if she is doing that, and use set mealtimes, get rid of all dry food in favor of low-carb canned food (if not raw), and only use treats once in a while, like after doing a procedure the cat doesn't like to have done (I use them after nail trims because Shelly hates having them done! And I only feed Purebites.).  She needs to be played with, like a good session with a wand toy if not once a day, than several times a week.

My Shelly was over 14 pounds when I adopted her 3 months ago, but she has dropped over a pound so far due to my walking into cat ownership with 4 months of consistent study about care and nutrition.

My cat had been quite tubby on his kibble (I also free fed him), and he started to lose fur on his inner thighs. Removing him from the kibble and replacing it with specific mealtimes of wet food and a teaspoon of The Missing Link Supplement seemed to do the trick. He's much more playful now. I've told myself that I would never feed him kibble again. It just doesn't agree with him. However, I am now finding it difficult to keep weight on him, but I'm working hard at that one. 

I think she's just really nervous about taking her to any vet. She's always expecting the worst and doesn't want to receive bad news (which if you wait until something goes wrong to take them to the vet, you will receive!). I told her she should try what we're doing - meal feeding wet, leaving some kibble out between feedings (we went away this weekend, so all the cats had for a day and a half was kibble and I know she always runs out very short notice and leaves her dog with friends or her parents, whereas the cat and bunny just sit alone at home). Explained that even the cheapest wet is better than some of the best dry, told her she can go to CostCo and get 48 5oz cans of Friskies wet for $25. I think price speaks well to her too.

In terms of getting her to a vet, or a different vet, it's more that she needs someone to hold her hand. The cat is extremely anxious in a carrier and doesn't fit in the one they had anyway... last time we took her to a vet, she was loose in the car, and I was holding her burrito'd in a blanket. We almost lost her in the parking lot when we put her down for a second so my very anxious friend could throw up. She doesn't handle doctors or vets very well at all either. My being there and willing to push her and go with her was one of the bigger things. She takes her dog to the vet without issue, but something about having to take the cat holds her back. Maybe the embarrassment of the poopy bum and weight? The potential for lots of work ahead?

If I can at least push a diet change, that's a good start. That my friend was willing to switch from Science Diet shows a willingness, which is more than I saw before. I can stop by a dollar store and grab a cat wand next time I visit and see if she'll be tempted.

On that note, does anyone have tips on how to teach an older cat to play? She was very excitable as a kitten, but once she went into the house, claws came out, the other cats were totally chill, and she just settled into a life of more or less becoming part of the decor. It doesn't help that she spends a lot of time alone too.

I really am headed to bed now, but wanted to get back with this tmrw so I will get an email update

Looking forward to it!