My Cats Eat a LOT but are very skinny

I feel like I'm constantly having problems with cats, ever since we adopted our shelter-rescue, Domino. Our other cat, Tazo, was about a month older than Domino, and she was a stray kitten that followed us home. She never had any problems. Domino seemed fine, but shortly after having him home from the vet (the shelter mandated he be neutered prior to becoming adopted, at the young age of 3 1/2 months.) he had worms, ringworm, and I believe feline herpes. Tazo got sick and infected with ringworm, which was an 11 month battle. The entire time, however, Domino has had issues withe the litter box. He was fine until he was 8 months old. He started pooping and urinating everywhere. We've dewormed him, and it hasn't changed the behavior. He became an outdoor/indoor cat and that solved the problem, until winter. We kept him indoors and he urinated next to the litterbox the entire time until we moved the boxes to another room. Then he decided the middle of the room was a great place to urinated and defecate. Letting him be outside and inside by spring didn't help anymore. When he'd come inside for food, he would only be in for a half hour to an hour before leaving a mess. Now we've moved and he's been inside for the most part. He continued his habits. He began to lose a LOT of weight. Ate a lot. But he became skin and bone. I took him and Tazo, who seemed perfectly fine, and put them in another room so I could treat both for worms. He continues to urinate and defecate anywhere but the boxes.

He's been slowly, SLOWLY gaining weight, but he's still skin and bone. He lost a lot of hair, too. There's a bald patch between his shoulder blades and his hind legs. We thought he was having a flea allergy, and so we took him and Tazo to the vet. They said he was fine, but just in case, gave both of them a steroid shot. And I've noticed nothing different since then. 

And over the weeks, Tazo has lost some weight, despite her aggressive craze over food that seems to never end. She's clumsy and knocks things over all the time now. She is looking gaunt between her hips and ribs, despite seeming to weigh a healthy amount. With the amount of food I've been feeding both cats, with their low activity level and being fixed, they should be overweight. 

I've done all kinds of google searches with absolutely no conclusive results. Do I try deworming again? Searches on the web tell me that the roundworm medicine I've bought from the store is ineffective, and so they may still have roundworm and we just don't know it.

A vet visit seems obvious, but this month and probably next we are going to be very tight. It won't be until November that we can even consider taking them in. Not that we're too poor to have animals, it's just we got hit by a surprise financial burden that's shaken things up a bit.

A vet visit with some basic blood work is mandatory even if you have to get one of those medical credit cards, or work out something with the vet.  @catwoman707 had a impossibly skinny cat and she turned out to have a serious condition that could only have been found by specific blood work.  These cats may not have two months to wait.  Get a diagnosis at the very least and then use something like GoFundMe or Crowdrise to help with the funds.  Until you know what you are dealing with, you can't move forward.  I would suggest your next appointment should be at an AAHA approved hospital that has a feline practitioner on staff, as you will have a better chance of coming up with an accurate diagnosis.

I agree.  I know that it may be difficult with the funds but in the long run probably cheaper to get on the issue early. 

Can you give more specifics? What dewormer you used and when, what are their ages and are they both fixed and vaccinated?

What type of litter do you use, what is the food brand and type they are fed, how many boxes do you have, and do you ever notice repeated visits to the box but climbing out and using the floor instead?

What flea med was given and when was that, and what ringworm treatment was used?

Red Top Rescue said:

 
A vet visit with some basic blood work is mandatory even if you have to get one of those medical credit cards, or work out something with the vet.  @catwoman707 had a impossibly skinny cat and she turned out to have a serious condition that could only have been found by specific blood work.  These cats may not have two months to wait.  Get a diagnosis at the very least and then use something like GoFundMe or Crowdrise to help with the funds.  Until you know what you are dealing with, you can't move forward.  I would suggest your next appointment should be at an AAHA approved hospital that has a feline practitioner on staff, as you will have a better chance of coming up with an accurate diagnosis.

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This is what I'm thinking too. Time is of the essence.

My first gut reaction is that this might be an overactive thyroid. Appetite is good, but they lose weight. A pill will often be the treatment. Please, please, please, get them checked out by a vet!   

If they're outside, it's very possible they have worms again, unless you're treating them monthly.  You need to get him to the vet sooner rather than later, as it sounds like something major might be going on.  Could be allergies, but a good check up and bloodwork is needed to know for sure.

I couldn't agree more, and I am not one who runs to the vet often, in rescue, we have meds and see so much of the more common issues and fix them ourselves, no problem, but this is not something to be taken lightly, or to delay too long, not that you are by no means! Just saying, I really think a good thorough check up and blood panel is needed here.

BTW, worms will not make his fur thin, it sounds like an issue with malabsorption for some reason. which will cause thinning fur and big weight loss/emaciation. 

I agree that they should see a vet, and sooner rather than later.

Even if the roundworm liquid dewormer was effective, it doesn't eliminate tape worms and other kinds of worms. Tape worms can come from fleas. Tape worms will be shed in the poop, so look at his poo when it is fresh and you might see some white, rice-grain-like worms in there. Those are tape worm larvae.

As to the litter habit: does he have his own box? Is it an open box? Is it big enough? Have you tried switching litters? Some cats prefer a coarse litter, others prefer a very fine, sandy texture. Are you putting too much litter in the box? Cat litter companies recommend 2-4 inches of litter, but most cats prefer less litter. Imagine stepping into a sinkhole every time you had to use the bathroom! Try putting only a very thin layer of litter in the box? Are you using scented litters or litter additives that he might find unappealing?

I would get a very large, open box and put a thin layer of unscented litter in it. Move any feces into the box so he associates it with his own scent. Make sure to clean any messes thoroughly and use something like vinegar to be sure to get rid of the scent. I hope you find a solution to the problem, and I hope you get some answers from your vet!