Skinny Cat, eats A lot

Hi peeps. My cat Tom has lost about half his body weight over the last 2 years or so. The other day he was really sick. Very tired, didn't want to be touched, wouldn't eat or drink anything. He looked like he was in a lot of pain whenever he moved. We just made him a comfortable bed and waited to take him to the vet the next day. The next day rolled around and my boyfriend took him. The vet looked in his mouth and he had bloody sores on his gums. She was afraid to a blood test figuring his blood wasn't clotting properly. We were moving in a couple of days and advised us that taking him on a road trip may be the end for him, so we decided that I would fly him home and my boyfriend would drive. The 2 days before I left, Tom (my cat) started coming around. Was up eating, hopping up the steps. I couldn't believe it. I took him on the plane, and kept checking him. He was nervous, but fine. Heart beat kind of high but I figured it was nerves. We arrived safely home, still fine. He has had more energy than ever. He eats a ton but doesn't seem to gain any weight. Took him to the vet here and they put him on pills to help his blood coagulate so that they can do a blood test in 2 weeks. He had an X-ray done and we seen a benign Tumor that the vet said don't worry about. All other organs were normal size. They also gave him an antibiotic shot incase he was getting an infection in his mouth. I should say that his teeth aren't the greatest rather. He had a few removed a couple of years ago and has had bad teeth since we had him.
He had a little bit of a rough morning yesterday, very tired and fast heartbeat again, but by late morning, he was up running around, whining and talking as usual. Loves cuddles.
I'm so distraught. I really thought we would lose him the other day, and he totally came around. I'm still so scared because the vet doesn't know what's wrong yet. Does this situation sound familiar to anyone? I'm sick of researching on the web since nothing seems to answer my questions. 2 weeks is a long wait knowing that something may be getting worse with your cat. Oh my. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kayla

What kind of food do you feed him?  Wet or dry or both?  How often?  What are the ingredients in the food?  That is a good place to start with a skinny cat that eats a lot.  The ideal cat diet is something close to what they would eat in the wild, mostly meat, moderate fat, and very little carbohydrates (i.e. grains, fruits, starches).  Cats get their water from their prey, which is about 78% moisture.  Dry food is only 8-10% moisture and they dont drink enough to completely hydrate themselves.  If he's getting proper food, then we look for other possible causes of his weight loss,but do start with the food.

Did the vet do any bloodwork? If not, that's one good place to start looking at possible underlying health issues that may be causing your cat to be skinny. How old is your cat? Senior cats are prone to health issues but even younger cats can sometimes have a health issue that may only be detected through bloodwork.

Seek out another vet opinion if you don't feel that the vet is getting to the bottom of why your cat is not well. Where are you located? There may be someone here on TCS who knows of a good vet there.

Red Top Rescue said:

What kind of food do you feed him?  Wet or dry or both?  How often?  What are the ingredients in the food?  That is a good place to start with a skinny cat that eats a lot.  The ideal cat diet is something close to what they would eat in the wild, mostly meat, moderate fat, and very little carbohydrates (i.e. grains, fruits, starches).  Cats get their water from their prey, which is about 78% moisture.  Dry food is only 8-10% moisture and they dont drink enough to completely hydrate themselves.  If he's getting proper food, then we look for other possible causes of his weight loss,but do start with the food.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your response! I feed him both wet and dry food, although since his teeth have been worse lately, he eats mostly wet food. I try and stay away from grains or anything strange for cat. Since we've been home, he's eating what my parents had there, just regular friskies food. I can't believe he's eating the dry food at all. He eats a little bit of meat if we have it for supper. Either being chicken, beef, fish, liver etc. There has to be something else up with his body. Just patiently waiting now for the blood test

How old is Tom?  Have you checked for thyroid levels?  Parasites even?  Is litter box usage normal?  Does he stay inside?  Neutered?

Sorry for all the questions!

Hi talkingpeanut. No, no that's fine. He is around 8 years old. Thyroid levels will hopefully be checked when I can get his blood checked in about a week, Litterbox is normal, eating is normal. He is an inside cat and he is neutered. He had these bleeding sores on his gums but I noticed today that they're hardly there anymore. Which is awesome. He's eating more dry food since we moved. It's the crappy Friskies brand but he just wouldn't eat the many different expensive brands of dry food we bought in the good pet stores. I don't even care at this moment because it seems like he's actually putting on some weight. 

Thanks so much for the details. I would say bloodwork should definitely be your jumping off point here, since everything else seems well. Let us know what the vet says!

Oh thanks, and yes I will definitely keep you updated. -K

Cats often prefer the kitty junk foods, just like kids prefer cookies, because these foods are flavored to attract, i.e. "animal liver flavor" in the Friskies dry food. 

Friskies Dry Seafood Sensation Ingredients: Ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, meat and bone meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), soybean meal, animal liver flavor, phosphoric acid, calcium carbonate, salt, potassium chloride, oceanfish meal, albacore tuna meal, salmon meal, yellowfin tuna meal, crab meal, dried seaweed, choline chloride, taurine, zinc sulfate, added color (Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 2), ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, calcium phosphate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

I'm glad he's gaining weight, but he needs MEAT.  The Friskies canned foods have meat, and if you only use the PATE versions, you don't even get the wheat gluten that all the ones with texture (chunks, slices, bits, etc.) have.  Use the dry food for "dessert" after he has eaten his fill of wet food.