Could this be worms?

kitcatmeow

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I have 2 male cats, both just under a year old. My older one (older by 3 months) is normal looking, he looked a littl plump at one point, but I upped the can food and limited the dry and started multiple feelings a day vs just leaving dry out all day, and he looks like a normal weight now. My other cat is very skinny, I can't see his ribs, and when I feel them they really don't seem to stick out anymore than the other cats. However his hip bones stick out a lot. He is very playful, but when it come time to eat he acts like he is starving. Sometimes when I measure the dry food I will just leave the blows on the floor and he will start eating before I'm done (I use a small measuring cup so I need to scoop more than once) sometimes he tries to bat it from my hands. He is always done first, and sometimes I catch him eating the other cats food. I have to shoo him away and take the other can back to the dish and he finishes so it's not as if he was full and walked away. They split a 3.5 oz can (or each get 1/4 of a big can) in the morning, they get around half a cup of dry food (Merrick) at lunch time, and for dinner canned again, then before I go to bed I will give them a little more dry or they come scratching at my door for food before I'm ready to get up!

I would like to give more canned but the one cat doesn't always finish a whole can so I have to figure out if I want to give them half a can 4 times a day or still give them a little dry, since my budget for cat food isn't huge.

Anyway he was treated for round worms when we first got him, but only had 1 treatment (which I thought was odd.). He doesn't have a bloated belly, and I have not seen worms of any kind in the litter box. He also had fleas when I first got him, so I'm wondering if he could have a tape worm I'm not seeing?
He was at the vet not too long ago to be neutered and they didn't say anything about his weight. I wasn't worried then, but I didn't realize how hungry he acted when he was being feed. I also think he's the cat that keeps getting in my counters looking for food scraps. One day I caught him up there and he was trying to get into a dish that goes on my grill and has hamburger great drippings in it.
 

di and bob

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If you can see his hip bones I would say he isn't getting enough to eat. I personally would increase the dry food, it's the most likely to put the weight on. I know that wet is the best to feed, but when your income is limited you go with what you can afford. I mix the wet into dry with a little water for my ferals, it makes it go further. As for worms, I order Profender over the internet on Amazon, it is applied to the back of the neck as a topical and takes care of tape worms as well as others in one dose. Just make sure you get it high enough on the neck, if he can lick it it will cause his mouth to foam badly! All the luck!
 
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mingking

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Aside from calling the vet to ask about your concerns (they might just tell you to bring your kitty in, but it doesn't hurt to call!), I would, like Di and Bob suggested, up his food intake. He's a year old so he's still growing. And some cats just need more food than others. 
 
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kitcatmeow

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If you can see his hip bones I would say he isn't getting enough to eat. I personally would increase the dry food, it's the most likely to put the weight on. I know that wet is the best to feed, but when your income is limited you go with what you can afford. I mix the wet into dry with a little water for my ferals, it makes it go further. As for worms, I order Profender over the internet on Amazon, it is applied to the back of the neck as a topical and takes care of tape worms as well as others in one dose. Just make sure you get it high enough on the neck, if he can lick it it will cause his mouth to foam badly! All the luck!
I was giving him extra treats, but I think maybe I will add some dry to his bowl when I feed him the wet. Yesterday I gave them both half of a large can of food, took my kids out to play, and came in to a huge pile of cat puke on the floor. So I think I'm going to stick to small meals, but add a little extra to his and maybe leave a bit more at night.
 

pharber-murphy

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When we first brought Bertha home (1-1/2 years old), she had serious food issues. No matter how much food we put down, she'd lick her bowl clean in minutes. When she finally got free run of the house, we heard rustling in our bedroom one night. We switched on the light to find that she had dragged a bag of English muffins off the kitchen counter into our bedroom and was planning a midnight snack! Hubby suggested filling her bowl to convince her that she didn't have to eat everything at once. It took several weeks, but we finally got over the "I'll starve if I don't eat this immediately" hump. She's a plump cat now - although she looks much larger, she's only a pound overweight - and will leave food in her bowl.

Cats with food issues will vacuum up food so fast that they throw it up again (and some will lick up what they just threw up - ugh!). Try giving them each a quarter of a large can several times a day and leave the dry food out for them. Eventually, your kitty should get the message that he isn't going to starve to death if he doesn't eat everything in sight.

If you're still concerned, discuss his weight with the vet. But I imagine he's just a hungry little kitty.

Best regards.
 
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kitcatmeow

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Well I just gave them their dry food for the night and gave them another half cup instead of a quarter, and he only ate half! Go figure. I'll just keep giving him a little extra for a while to see if it helps. It's hard to take a stool sample to the vet when I'm not sure who's is who's. Our litter boxes are in the same room, so I would have to move one and lock one cat in a room for a while and chances are it will cry the whole time.
 
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