Skinny Cat.

One of my girls, Hemi, has always been quite thin. There's never been anything wrong with her (illness wise), she is spayed, and up to date on shots. This has, however, always concerned me; I have read up on possible issues and none of the symptoms I've read so far match up. All of my cats eat dry food, and twice a week wet food. She simply feels too thin and boney, I've tried to feed her a number of different things to fatten her up, but she hates human food and is very picky with her treats/wet food. Any conditions that you know of, or if you have suggestions of things I can cook up/buy for her, please let me know. Thank you

Hi

 Your cat is beautiful. Thin can be caused by many different things. I know you said her vaccines were done, has she seen a vet recently? Did you ever ask them what they thought? How old is she? You really need to do some blood work at least for starters. Thin is a symptom of many different dieseases so there is no way to list them all. Is she drinking allot? How is her appetite? I would get her into a vet for an exam and some lab work if you can.

It's very hard to tell by the pic, with all her fluffiness

Some cats are just that way, just as people. There should always be a bit of thicker skin feel on the back of her neck above her front shoulders though. That determines muscle mass and/or loss of it.

If she is healthy and HAS been dewormed well, her poop is normal, and there is no drastic change or weight loss suddenly, I would call it basically the way she is.

She may just be a very lean cat with no big appetite. Just be sure there is not protruding hip/butt bones that don't have at least some amt of thickness to them.

A truly emaciated cat will seem to have very thin skin over the skeleton.

Just be aware of any changes she has, always. Sudden loss or more pronounced bones, etc as well as an even more decreased appetite is cause for concern.

Hemi is beautiful.

My guy isn't as fluffy as Hemi but he is quite lanky. Like you, I was concerned. Hemi is lucky to be cared for by you!

Clapton's blood work is normal and his health is good. When I met him he weighed just at 7#. My Vet suggested I try to bring him closer to 8#.

It took almost a year but we've gotten his weight up and the Vet is happy. He's still healthy. More importantly for this topic, he's s lanky and slender.

As someone already mentioned, just as people have different body types, so do animals. If your baby is healthy and being properly fed, maybe it's ok if she's not as meaty as another cat.

I'm a nervous pet guardian and tend to check with my Vet on nearly everything. If you're concerned, that's what the Vet is for - to make sure our furry friends stay healthy. :-)

All that to say... I understand your concern and I can hear it in your words. It's a concern I share.

Dohdee

I share your concern.

I have a very picky cat, who's first reaction on anything is stopping eating. Even if he is not particularly thin, he tends to lose body mass very fast. After adopting, finding the food he agrees to eat was the first problem, vet was able to feed him Hill's t/d kibble, it's tasty and cruchy, under curtained furniture (feeling of safety).

Then to feed him the way he agrees to eat more (warmed canned food on the mat or table, small thumb-sized pieces, one at the time, or on raised plate, or in different room. Tanya's Chronic Kidney Disease website has a good info on how to entice cats to eat, even if they don't have CKD, worked for us).

Then trying to find more useful wet food he agreed to eat, slowly adding more high protein, low carbs, no grain canned food. Cat treats (Party Mix) made him become overweight very rapidly, and this is not good for a health, so be careful with treats.

Recently vet suspected that dental pain may add to this problem, and had given injection of 72 hrs lasting narcotic, removing pain and stimulating all organism. He ate then as if there is no tomorrow, but this may be the stimulated metabolism.

I believe that you already excluded parasites and general heath problems that could contrubute to this.

Best wishes to your and your cat!