Can you help my weird cat?

I just found this site and I am totally new to it, so please forgive me if this is a repeat issue.  It's about my cat Clark, who is about 2 and a half years old.

The issue is that she is too thin and doesn't eat enough.  But here's the thing -- she's always been this way.  She's never eaten enough.  From the time I got her (at around 6 weeks) until now, she has never cared much about eating and has always been super finicky and thin.  She eats daily -- that's never a problem.  But when she does eat, it's only a little bit.  She eats about 1/4 cup of dry cat food and about 1 tablespoon of wet cat food every day.  That's it!

I want to make a point of this because the only answers I can get about this are about cats that quit eating or are losing weight.  That doesn't help me because Clark has always been too thin and has never been a good eater.  She's not losing weight.  She doesn't have worms.  She acts normal and healthy.  She is very playful and doesn't seem sick at all.  She just doesn't eat enough and is extremely thin as a result.

I have tried every trick I know to get her to eat more.  She always has access to dry cat food and water.  Honestly, she likes dry cat food better than anything else.  It's the only thing she eats with any consistency.  Everything else is hit an miss depending on her mood.  I give her canned cat food every day (a variety, because God forbid she has the same flavor 2 days in a row!).  Sometimes she doesn't eat the wet cat food at all.  I try to give her human food, but that doesn't seem to help because it's all the less cat food she will eat.  I give her tuna, tuna juice, sardines -- sometimes she will eat it, sometimes not.  She rarely eats chicken.  She won't touch liver, beef or any kind of pork product.  She is finicky to the point of madness!

I have also tried to trick her into eating -- heating up her food, hiding it in her "safe" places (like under the bed), etc.  I have no other animals, no kids, no one else in the house but me.  She doesn't go outside.  She has a completely calm and stress-free life where she never feels like she's in danger or in competition.  She a happy cat in every regard.  In fact, she's spoiled rotten, which may be part of the problem.

Everyone tells me that if she's happy and eats every day and acts normal, to just leave it go.  But it does bother me how thin she is.  All her bones are exposed.  She has no fat on her whatsoever.  Should I be worried about this?  Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

The first thing I would advise is a thorough vet check up.  The vet will determine if she is too thin for her build (some oriental type cats appear very thin but it's normal for their build and they have good muscle.)  If the vet thinks she is too thin, he may recommend a blood test to ee if all her hormones are balanced properly.  There are some conditions that can cause problems with eating and absorbing food.  He may recommend trying a different kind of food, additional food, worming, probiotics, any sort of things that might help.  If not, and he says she's just fine, then you just have a thin cat, a supermodel.  You can call her Twiggy.  Let us know what the vet says after you have taken her.

It could just be the way she is but I can tell you the experience I had with my kitty.  He was the same way, ate very little and stayed very thin.  At 18 months he had his first IBD flare, his flares were anorexia, vomiting bile, and constipation.  I don't know if that is what is going on with your kitty or not.  It's very difficult to diagnose IBD, it's usually a process of elimination.  They can check for B12 absorption now.  It's a fairly new test and it's a very good indicator for IBD.

I assume she has seen a vet and what does the vet say?

I know my vet  says, when my two go for their annual wellness checkup," If they are eating ,drinking, going to the bathroom and playing, I would say they are in good shape.

Does she drink water? Does she eat treats?