Fluctuating weight issue

brina · Feb 13, 2015

I am not sure if I should be worried about my 2 year old Calico cat, Cali. She is small in stature and I have noticed since I rescued her in November of 2013, she tends to gain 2-5 pounds then goes to a normal weight and about 2 months later she will gain 2-5 pounds again. It is constantly going up and down like that. It is very noticeable because she is small in stature.

She eats hard food (orijens) daily and a half a can of wet food every other day. She is drinking water normally and I have not seen any issues in her stool. I do have another cat, my boy Shadow, that keeps her busy with play chasing and such. He is at normal weight.

Just to give a small background about her. She was found on an average ( more like dropped off) and brought to a local cat rescue here. She was full term pregnant at 10 month old. Before they could determine how many babies she was carrying, her body ended up rejecting them due to some drama and stress she had been through( we think she was also was kicked in her stomach). So she lost all her babies. Soon after, they had found that she had some infection of her uterus ( she also had an upper respiratory infection) and she had an emergency spay. I ended up getting her after she healed from her spay surgery.

She has had fluctuating weight ever since I have adopted her. Usually it goes up every 2-3 months, then goes back to normal. So my question is, is this normal or should I be concerned and go to the vet? Also, could this be the result from being pregnant and losing her babies? Is there anything I could do at home, without going to the vet, that I could do? I just am wondering if I should really be worried or not here.

stephenq · Feb 13, 2015

Brina said:
I am not sure if I should be worried about my 2 year old Calico cat, Cali. She is small in stature and I have noticed since I rescued her in November of 2013, she tends to gain 2-5 pounds then goes to a normal weight and about 2 months later she will gain 2-5 pounds again. It is constantly going up and down like that. It is very noticeable because she is small in stature.

She eats hard food (orijens) daily and a half a can of wet food every other day. She is drinking water normally and I have not seen any issues in her stool. I do have another cat, my boy Shadow, that keeps her busy with play chasing and such. He is at normal weight.

Just to give a small background about her. She was found on an average ( more like dropped off) and brought to a local cat rescue here. She was full term pregnant at 10 month old. Before they could determine how many babies she was carrying, her body ended up rejecting them due to some drama and stress she had been through( we think she was also was kicked in her stomach). So she lost all her babies. Soon after, they had found that she had some infection of her uterus ( she also had an upper respiratory infection) and she had an emergency spay. I ended up getting her after she healed from her spay surgery.

She has had fluctuating weight ever since I have adopted her. Usually it goes up every 2-3 months, then goes back to normal. So my question is, is this normal or should I be concerned and go to the vet? Also, could this be the result from being pregnant and losing her babies? Is there anything I could do at home, without going to the vet, that I could do? I just am wondering if I should really be worried or not here.

Hi

Has she been spayed yet?

Also do you have a baby scale to record her weight accurately? If not I would start with that. What you describe is unusual, but if you aren't monitoring with a good scale you may not be entirely correct about the weight....

brina · Feb 13, 2015

As I said in the post, she had an emergency spay right after she lost her babies and they found the infection in her uterus. So yes, she is spayed. Maybe I am just being over worried. Just want the best for her. I will invest in a baby scale when I have the funds. I am guessing on the weight gain, all I know is she does gain something and it is small and it is noticeable that even my family and friends say something to me when they see her.

stephenq · Feb 13, 2015

Sorry i missed that. I see well it's very odd, usually we look for trends, cat is gaining and gaining, or losing and losing. i assume her appetite isn't changing and the quantity of food that she is eating isn't changing. Does she go outside?

brina · Feb 13, 2015

Nope she and her brother are indoor cats. Would be bad if she was outdoor with the cat colony we have in the back of my building. These two still manage to chase and play with each other a few times a day and I play with them also. She loves the laser light. See I knew this was weird because I had in my distant past cat that would gain and gain and she had to go on a special diet. I have never seen a cats weight go up and down like this. I am friends with the owner of the rescue she came from and we are planning a visit to her original vet who spayed her and vaccinated her. Good vet and cheaper than the local ones here. He is a half hour away. Hopefully it isn't anything but at least she will be weighed and we can get this figured out.

nora1 · Feb 13, 2015

Does she get the same amount of food everyday? Do you measure out the dry food, or just fill the bowl? Do both cats share the food from the same dish? Maybe he is eating most of it, while she gets the left overs, which is when she would lose the weight.

Very interesting! What's the brand of wet food? Is it always the same, or do you switch it up?

brina · Feb 13, 2015

They eat out of the same bowl. Has to be this way because my boy cat is a pig and thinks all food is his. If I fed them separately he would eat his and then hers. I would have to practice defence if I fed them separately. Trust me I tried this when I first got her. It seems that he feels like he is getting enough food with them sharing one bowl between each other and the dish is filled every other day. I see her eat about three times a day and not a big amount, maybe a cups worth each time.

As for the half can of wet food every other day, I feed them shredded friskies. I tried the pate but Cali has a very small mouth and she had a difficult time eating it so I switched to the shredded kind. They have been on that for over a year now, tried fancy feast before that, and we had #2 issues. Friskies seems to be working and they only get had a half can each, every other day. I would feed them the wet cat food daily but once again, we would have #2 issues.

nina augustine · Dec 9, 2016

Hey there Brina,

Any breakthrough on this? My cat Lillie has had the same thing going on for quite a while, and I am just now realizing it is a consistent pattern! I'd be so grateful for any pointers/info you may have as I continue to research this!

- Nina (& Lillie

)

orientals · Dec 9, 2016

Hi Brina, With her stool being fine, appetite good, playfull and being happy, I would not worry about this.

I would get her a separate spot to eat in though so you can monitor gow much she eats. I also think cats eating from the same bowl can definitely be a source of (unseen) stress. So for that reason I would stop doing this as well. You may in fact she an improvement in her jo-jo weight when you this.

Keep us posted!

Fluctuating weight issue

brina

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stephenq

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brina

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stephenq

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brina

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nora1

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brina

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nina augustine

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orientals

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