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Hi everyone,
I'm new here and I'd really appreciate any advice I can get. She goes to the vet in 2 weeks but I'm wondering what to do in the meantime.
I have a 16 month old tortie named Magic who has always been on the small side--she looks no bigger than a 9 month old kitten. She was always a tad underweight and the vet has never been concerned about it. But lately I'm very worried about her weight even though there may be nothing to worry about. I don't have a scale so I don't know how much she weighs, but I'm guessing less than 5 lbs. She may just be a small cat. She's very active and inquisitive and when she's not sleeping, she's playing. My daughter's friend has her littermate (another tortie) and apparently that one is also a small cat.
Just to be clear: I can't feel her ribs unless I push and they are not visible, but she just looks bony to me. Not a lot of fat on her at all. Can cats still grow at this age? She is nearly as tall as my older cat and she is longer, but she's just so thin it's scary. To me she looks like a teenager who's grown a lot in a short amount of time but whose weight hasn't caught up yet.
Does that happen in cats at this age?
Just some background:
She's always been a picky eater, but she DOES eat. She just eats like a bird. I feed her twice a day and leave dry food out for her to eat throughout the day. I recently switched her back to kitten food to try to up the calories and she's been eating that just fine. She won't eat certain textures of wet food (she will not touch the pate, but she likes shreds and chunks). But she's a carb junkie. Loves her treats, and she'll eat people food like cereal and vegetables, although she doesn't get those very often. Just like our food, they're just fillers and she won't get the needed nutrients from them.
Compounding the issue is my other cat (named Itty Bitty). We've had this one only for about 9 months, and she is easily twice Magic's size. Actually, I'd say she borders on overweight. I finally noticed that when Itty is around, Magic will not eat. In fact, I found out that Itty would try to hog in on Magic's food, and Magic wouldn't growl at her or anything--she'd just walk away. So I started feeding them in separate rooms and putting Magic's food where I know Itty won't go: up higher. That seems to be working out better, but still she won't put on weight.
I'm going to switch to a higher quality food for her. I think that may be part of the problem. Not enough fat and protein and too many carbs.
A trip to the vet is in order, but the last time she was there at around 8 months she wasn't even 4 lbs. and they weren't worried at all. I wonder if she's just a small cat. My mother had a male cat who never, ever went over 5 lbs soaking wet., and he lived to be 21.
So, that's the story. ANY help or advice anyone can give would be very much appreciated!
I'm new here and I'd really appreciate any advice I can get. She goes to the vet in 2 weeks but I'm wondering what to do in the meantime.
I have a 16 month old tortie named Magic who has always been on the small side--she looks no bigger than a 9 month old kitten. She was always a tad underweight and the vet has never been concerned about it. But lately I'm very worried about her weight even though there may be nothing to worry about. I don't have a scale so I don't know how much she weighs, but I'm guessing less than 5 lbs. She may just be a small cat. She's very active and inquisitive and when she's not sleeping, she's playing. My daughter's friend has her littermate (another tortie) and apparently that one is also a small cat.
Just to be clear: I can't feel her ribs unless I push and they are not visible, but she just looks bony to me. Not a lot of fat on her at all. Can cats still grow at this age? She is nearly as tall as my older cat and she is longer, but she's just so thin it's scary. To me she looks like a teenager who's grown a lot in a short amount of time but whose weight hasn't caught up yet.
Does that happen in cats at this age? Just some background:
She's always been a picky eater, but she DOES eat. She just eats like a bird. I feed her twice a day and leave dry food out for her to eat throughout the day. I recently switched her back to kitten food to try to up the calories and she's been eating that just fine. She won't eat certain textures of wet food (she will not touch the pate, but she likes shreds and chunks). But she's a carb junkie. Loves her treats, and she'll eat people food like cereal and vegetables, although she doesn't get those very often. Just like our food, they're just fillers and she won't get the needed nutrients from them.
Compounding the issue is my other cat (named Itty Bitty). We've had this one only for about 9 months, and she is easily twice Magic's size. Actually, I'd say she borders on overweight. I finally noticed that when Itty is around, Magic will not eat. In fact, I found out that Itty would try to hog in on Magic's food, and Magic wouldn't growl at her or anything--she'd just walk away. So I started feeding them in separate rooms and putting Magic's food where I know Itty won't go: up higher. That seems to be working out better, but still she won't put on weight.
I'm going to switch to a higher quality food for her. I think that may be part of the problem. Not enough fat and protein and too many carbs.
A trip to the vet is in order, but the last time she was there at around 8 months she wasn't even 4 lbs. and they weren't worried at all. I wonder if she's just a small cat. My mother had a male cat who never, ever went over 5 lbs soaking wet., and he lived to be 21.
So, that's the story. ANY help or advice anyone can give would be very much appreciated!
