Bony, sort of skinny

So, my cat Hufflepuff is a happy healthy cat.
She is constantly hungry and spends the majority of her time begging me for food. She acts like I don't feed her!
I feed her twice a day, I fill her bowl up all the way, she gobbles it up and asks for more.
I feed her Natures Variety Instinct Raw, she's just never full and I feel that she is underweight.
Her hip bones, sternum and spine are very easy to feel. She's a very fluffy cat as she's a Norwegian Forest Cat. I feel like a bad mom that she's underweight. I feed her normal, and I even give her a little more than her sister since she's a bigger cat.
I cannot switch food, as we've tried EVERY food out there and it all makes her sick. All brands, flavors, ect. It makes her bloated, gassy, sick..
At a loss.
This is her, she doesn't look it with that fluff but she definitely feels it to the touch.

misstufts said:

So, my cat Hufflepuff is a happy healthy cat.
She is constantly hungry and spends the majority of her time begging me for food. She acts like I don't feed her!
I feed her twice a day, I fill her bowl up all the way, she gobbles it up and asks for more.
I feed her Natures Variety Instinct Raw, she's just never full and I feel that she is underweight.
Her hip bones, sternum and spine are very easy to feel. She's a very fluffy cat as she's a Norwegian Forest Cat. I feel like a bad mom that she's underweight. I feed her normal, and I even give her a little more than her sister since she's a bigger cat.
I cannot switch food, as we've tried EVERY food out there and it all makes her sick. All brands, flavors, ect. It makes her bloated, gassy, sick..
At a loss.
This is her, she doesn't look it with that fluff but she definitely feels it to the touch.
 

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The most common condition that is associated with underweight and very hungry cats who eat a lot is Hyperthyroidism.  It is fairly either to control with medicine, or a special diet (Hills y/d), but medication is the most common route to go.  It's a lifelong illness, unless you have the radiation therapy which is a 100% cure, but expensive upfront (possible cost effective over the course of a cats life when comparing to a life of medication.

Obviously i'm not saying that is what your cat has, but when you hear about a cat who is both super hungry and  skinny, that is the first illness to come to mind absent other symptoms.  A simple blood test will tell you if its that.  A vet visit is in order.

She recently had a blood test to see a cause for her Seizures and it didn't come up, so I'm thinking it's not the case. I worry about taking her to the vet, then putting her in a prescription diet and get getting sick from the food. Typically, when a food makes her sick she will never touch it.
There's just no meat on her bones whatsoever, I can have my fingers touch through her in the area above her hip bones, below her spine.
I feel awful!! I do feed her, I sometimes feed her 3 times a day just because she acts like she hasn't eaten all week. Her sister is a good healthy weight, not overweight but perfect and healthy. I think if she had more weight she would be more active.
I can ask to have her blood re screened for any abnormalities

You might just call your vet and ask if the blood test checked thyroid levels or if hyperthyroidism would have shown up with the previous blood work. It's obvious that you love and take great care of your kitty and that your instincts are telling you to dig deeper to find out what's not quite right with her. Sometimes doctors get focused on the one thing they are looking for and hyperthyroidism may not have even been on their scope while searching for a cause for seizures. Just a thought, hope everyone stays healthy and happy

LotsofFur said:

You might just call your vet and ask if the blood test checked thyroid levels or if hyperthyroidism would have shown up with the previous blood work. It's obvious that you love and take great care of your kitty and that your instincts are telling you to dig deeper to find out what's not quite right with her. Sometimes doctors get focused on the one thing they are looking for and hyperthyroidism may not have even been on their scope while searching for a cause for seizures. Just a thought, hope everyone stays healthy and happy

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That's very true, I may take her in after the holiday to get her a fresh screening. I'm hoping there's nothing serious, I just feel awful she's constantly hungry and there's nothing I can do for her. Thank you very much!
I read that hyperthyroid is most common in older cats, she's only one. Could it still be possible?

Yes it's true hyperthyroidism is more common in older cats but it's still possible. Bottom line is something is medically wrong with her.

StephenQ said:

Yes it's true hyperthyroidism is more common in older cats but it's still possible. Bottom line is something is medically wrong with her.

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I will be getting her into the vet as soon as I can, atheist walk in to have her Bloodwork done again. She was incredibly bruesd the last time and still is so I worry there might be something wrong with her blood too

It's possible that she has malabsorption syndrome.  In most animals, this would cause diarrhea, but, naturally, cats are different and don't always have this symptom.  But not being able to gain weight when eating an adequate amount could be a sign.  If her thyroid checks out, you might ask about this.  And you might ask about the use of Digestive Enzymes.  They might help...not sure. 

Be sure to mention that bruising...that's very odd

You said your cat has seizures... Someone mentioned something about Rosemary extract in pet food and seizures. They posted a link http://www.thedogpress.com/DogFood/Rosemary-Neurotoxin-10032_Liquorman.asp

This may or may not have anything to do with what's going on with your kitty but you might want to check your pet food ingredients and go from there.

mrsgreenjeens said:

It's possible that she has malabsorption syndrome.  In most animals, this would cause diarrhea, but, naturally, cats are different and don't always have this symptom.  But not being able to gain weight when eating an adequate amount could be a sign.  If her thyroid checks out, you might ask about this.  And you might ask about the use of Digestive Enzymes.  They might help...not sure. 

Be sure to mention that bruising...that's very odd

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She doesn't have diarrhea, only when a new food upsets her. But I'll definitely be asking the vet about it to help figure it out.
I posted a separate thread about her bruising here
It's sort of hard to see but her whole leg was bruised.. It is strange. She sits perfectly still for shots while her sister jumps away from the needle and has to be poked several times, she didn't even bruise.
But thank you very much for the helpful information!

LotsofFur said:

You said your cat has seizures... Someone mentioned something about Rosemary extract in pet food and seizures. They posted a link http://www.thedogpress.com/DogFood/Rosemary-Neurotoxin-10032_Liquorman.asp

This may or may not have anything to do with what's going on with your kitty but you might want to check your pet food ingredients and go from there.

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All clear of Rosemary extract in my food, thankfully. The vet never really did any tests to see what causes it other than Bloodwork. It took us over 5 months for her to actually put her on pills!
But thank you for the heads up, I'll definitely keep an eye out for when I get treats or a new food for her.

Constantly being hungry and losing weight could also be a sign of diabetes. Diabetes is common in senior cats but can happen in younger cats. Sometimes you will notice a big change in the litter box - huge clumps of sticky smelling urine. The vet has to do a fructosamine test (blood work) to determine if your cat has diabetes or not.

misstufts said:

I feed her Natures Variety Instinct Raw, she's just never full and I feel that she is underweight.

 

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Is that one of the dry foods? Or the frozen / freeze dried raw? How much food do you feed? A measured cup full? A couple raw / freeze dried raw nuggets?

LTS3 said:

Constantly being hungry and losing weight could also be a sign of diabetes. Diabetes is common in senior cats but can happen in younger cats. Sometimes you will notice a big change in the litter box - huge clumps of sticky smelling urine. The vet has to do a fructosamine test (blood work) to determine if your cat has diabetes or not.




Is that one of the dry foods? Or the frozen / freeze dried raw? How much food do you feed? A measured cup full? A couple raw / freeze dried raw nuggets?

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Oh no! I haven't had issues with pee but she does occasionally choose not to poop in the litter box. I moved them around in her favor and it seems to be working for now.

As for the food it's the frozen variety, I give her 1/4 a cup for breakfast and 1 cup for dinner. I was told they need 1 1/4 daily? I also end up giving her an extra 1/4 a cup if she's really bugging me with the begging.
Her sister is super healthy and has good weight being fed the same amount.

misstufts said:

As for the food it's the frozen variety, I give her 1/4 a cup for breakfast and 1 cup for dinner. I was told they need 1 1/4 daily? I also end up giving her an extra 1/4 a cup if she's really bugging me with the begging.
Her sister is super healthy and has good weight being fed the same amount.

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You must be feeding the Raw Bites. They're about 190 calories per cup. It seems like you're giving close to 300 calories per day which is plenty for most cats. How much is your cat supposed to weigh?

Ask the vet if you should give a high calorie supplement and / or some high calorie canned food to get some weight onto your cat. Canned kitten food is generally high in calories as is prescription canned like Iams MaxCal.

Her breed should meet the 12 pound mark as a female (Norwegian forest cat) and she's around 8.

Other foods do make her sick so I feel she will lose weight from being sick