New cat's state of health?

Hi all,

First time poster from the UK here  .

My husband and I recently took a cat into our home, as the family who used to own her had several chickens, house rabbits, several cats of their own, plus three young children! (Basically, she has come into a new big, quiet home from chaos!). She is a three year old black and white short-hair, quite small built and dainty. 

We have renamed her "Whisper" and she has really begun to respond to her name!

My question is around her health; since we got her we have taken her to the vet where we got her spayed (sorry, kitty), de-fleaed and they also gave us some worming tablets. They told us she could do with gaining about 400-500grams when we got her, as she was very bony as she had been too nervous to eat in her previous household. I tried to crush the worming tablet and mix it in with a wet meal. However, she didn't eat much of it at all - she was obviously able to smell it or something. 

I have noticed her putting on more and more weight since we got her - she is now pretty rotund and actually looks overweight to be honest. We are feeding her 3 sachets of Purina Gourmet wet food a day plus unlimited dry Iams food. She seems very happy with this regime but I fear she is getting bigger and bigger and it's no good for her health. Any advice on how much we should feed a small framed little kitty?

Secondly, she has recently got a lot of dandruff in her fur?Lots of white specks throughout, especially on her tail. I brush her every day - what might explain the dandruff?

Thirdly, she has always shed A LOT of white and black fur plus whiskers since we got her. However, this has not slowed down and she stills sheds LOADS every day and all over everything - i find her fur over everything we own. Is this normal?

Finally - her poo has looked REALLY nasty recently - it has gone from quite well formed and solid to really wet stools that smell AWFUL. It is truly awful, pretty much like cat diarrhea. When she has gone in her tray, we can smell it to stories up.  My husband was almost sick when trying to scoop the poop this morning. Also, I have started to notice small amounts of blood in her poo after she has been. I am worried this change in the bowel movements might be a sign of something. I was worried it could be worms but the internet seems to suggest she would be losing weight if this was the case.

Any advice on her various health "problems" would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Whisperthecat

Hello @Whisperthecat....and welcome to TCS (the Cat Site).

Good on you, for adopting your 3 year old 'Whisper' cat. (lovely name for a cat, too.)

For her health questions: they may be related to the cat food she is eating,

and also the fact that you may not have been able to give her all the dosage of the wormer medication, if she did not eat much of her wet food, at the time.

Some intestinal worms, mainly roundworms, due cause a cat's tummy to look bloated, so I would mention what happened to your Vet, about not being able to get all the deworming into her,  and ask them if another round of worming medication would help. 

Especially, since you mentioned seeing small amounts of blood in her poop, too.

It's true that tapeworms seem to make a cat skinny, but I'm not sure if that is true in all cats, or with all parasites.

If you can, the best way is to just put the pill down the throat (depending upon the pill size), and chase it with a needleless syringe of water, in the side of the mouth...

or if she will eat a 'pill pocket' then hiding meds inside would help.

Some cats notice the meds, and spit out the pill.

 [article="32724"]Pilling Cats Must Know Tips For Hiding Pills​[/article]  

I'm not sure how many calories the 3 sachets of Purina Gourmet wet food per day, plus unlimited Iams dry, would add up to per day?

There is a calorie calculator here: http://petsci.co.uk/feline-calorie-calculator/

Except that it might be a bit off, ...since members have mentioned that weights above 5kg or 11 pounds seem to require too many calories, that would put a cat into being overweight.

The best person, again to ask, about your cat's 'ideal target weight' would be your Vet,..(though my old vet always told me my cat was too big at 12-13lbs)

I think it depends upon the individual cat, and like you mentioned, their frame and activity level, too.

The dandruff can be from the ingredients in the food that Whisper is eating. Try to find a food with some Omega oils in it, and see if it makes a difference.

(I know that one of my previous dogs developed dandruff while on Iams, ...and I thought it was due to the corn,...but really I don't know. We switched foods, and his skin got better.)

Having said that, just yesterday, I was on a thread, where the OP has two cats, aged 19 and 21 eating Iams,..so I really think it depends upon the cat, too.)

Dandruff can also be from hydration, parasites, health, and allergies. Plus, I think that dry air can cause it.

Shedding is normal in cats, depending upon the time of the year, and change of seasons.

It may or may not be food related. And when a cat is ill or stressed, I do find they shed a bit more.

You may just have to brush her more. (I'm not sure about he shedding of whiskers, though. I've never noticed that in my cats.)

The main concern is her poop, right now, because the blood and nasty smell is not normal...and going from well formed to loose and wet, is not good.

If this only happened during her deworming time, then I'd think it would go away,...but if it happened by any food change, then I'd feed her what she was eating before, and slowly transition her to any new foods.

Do ask your Vet about the blood in the poop, though, since that is serious.

Hi catnap,

Thank you for taking the time to write such a comprehensive reply.

We will definitely look to take Whisper back to the vets soon for a checkup (she is part of the "Healthy Pets Club" scheme at our vet so is entitled to health checkups). We are concerned about the blood in the poo too - I have been checking regularly and it still seems to be every time she goes.

The hair loss seems to have slowed down at the moment and she now seems to have a very sleek and silky, very bushy, new coat on her - perhaps for winter? Maybe she has literally changed her coat since coming to us as she had coarser and dirtier coat before and it was also less bushy. I have been continuing to brush her daily. I think this might have helped things too. 

Since starting her on her diet about a week ago, she has perhaps lost a tiny amount of weight. It's really hard to tell though. She still looks overweight but without scales or knowing how much she should weigh then it's really hard to be sure. Again, another question for the vet. The vet was initially quite unhelpful about giving guidelines for how much she should be eating so thanks for the calories counting app, I will try and plug in her details!

Kind regards,

@Columbine can give you some suggestions on UK brands of food to feed

Dry winter air can cause dandruff. Using a humdifier can help. Brushing your cat's fur daily will help spread the natural skin oils throughout the fur which can also help.

You should be able to feel your cat's ribs easily without pressing on the skin. Here's a body condition chart: http://charlotte-harris.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Body-Condition-Score-Cat.jpg Some cats are naturally thin due to their particular breed and may have slighlty visible ribs. If you just have a "moggie" of unknown background, you shouldn't be able to see the ribs.

Whisperthecat said:

 
Hi catnap,

Thank you for taking the time to write such a comprehensive reply.

We will definitely look to take Whisper back to the vets soon for a checkup (she is part of the "Healthy Pets Club" scheme at our vet so is entitled to health checkups). We are concerned about the blood in the poo too - I have been checking regularly and it still seems to be every time she goes.

The hair loss seems to have slowed down at the moment and she now seems to have a very sleek and silky, very bushy, new coat on her - perhaps for winter? Maybe she has literally changed her coat since coming to us as she had coarser and dirtier coat before and it was also less bushy. I have been continuing to brush her daily. I think this might have helped things too. 

Since starting her on her diet about a week ago, she has perhaps lost a tiny amount of weight. It's really hard to tell though. She still looks overweight but without scales or knowing how much she should weigh then it's really hard to be sure. Again, another question for the vet. The vet was initially quite unhelpful about giving guidelines for how much she should be eating so thanks for the calories counting app, I will try and plug in her details!

Kind regards,

Click to expand...

Hi @Whisperthecat, that "Healthy Pets Club" scheme, at your vet, sounds like a very good thing to have.

Are you able to bring in a 'stool sample' from your cat, on its own,...so that your vet can analyze it, or have it sent out to be analyzed.

That way they could possibly due an analysis on the stool, and look at the blood, mucus, or any parasites they are seeing, and perhaps give you an indication as to why Whisper is having blood showing up in her stool.

Having blood show up so regularly, is worrisome.

I think it would be best to take her in sooner, to your Vet, if you are noticing blood every time she goes.

I think the other posters here have covered pretty much everything I'd have to say

Regarding food, the single easiest way to control her weight is to stop free feeding the dry food. All dry foods are more calorie dense than canned foods, so it's much easier for a cat to overeat when fed in this way. I know my girl puts weight on very easily if dry food is left out, but it also comes off just as easily as soon as the dry food only goes out at mealtimes (and in measured amounts - in her case, just a little as a treat each day).

If you ARE interested in changing brands, these are some of the foods I (and my cats) like, along with where to buy them:-

From Zooplus

Wet foods (mostly grain free):-
Grau
GranataPet
Catz Finefood (they also have a range called Purr that is limited ingredient/novel protein)
Bozita tetrapacks (in jelly or sauce - both grain free). Great budget option. I believe their 'Sterilised' food is lower calorie than many here
Animonda Carny
Feringa
Terra Faelis (low phosphorus)
Thrive Complete
Smilla (another great budget option- probably the cheapest food in this list )

Dry foods:-
Applaws
Feringa
GranataPet (standard Adult range)
Orijin
Purizon

Additional wet/dry food

Wet brands not from Zooplus:-
Nature’s Menu (www.naturesmenu.co.uk)
Meowing Heads - www.barkingheads.co.uk / Pets at Home and others
Wainwrights (Pets at Home own brand)
Hi Life Tempt Me (Pets at Home and various retailers, including some supermarkets)
Forthglade - www.forthglade.com and various online retailers (now available from Zooplus too)

Dry brands not from Zooplus:-
Aatu - www.aatu.co.uk / Pets at Home
Thrive Complete - www.thrivepetfoods.com / Pets at Home/ various other online retailers


Do be aware that, being grain free, the dry foods here are all pretty calorie dense - even for dry foods. The advantage is that, because they have a higher meant content, they're generally more satisfying for the cat, but the downside is that they're MUCH easier to overfeed

Thanks, all, for your replies.

Columbine - I will definitely aim to cut down on her dry food. In fact, we have already begun trying this. We now give her two wet meals a day and a small amount of Iams to keep her going overnight (otherwise, she comes to our bedroom door and scratches and meows until we wake up).  At the moment we are happy using the Gourmet wet food and the Iams dry food but thank you for the ideas of alternatives. We may investigate further at some point. 

We called the vet yesterday and they gave us some "spot on" wormer treatment, given that she hadn't taken the tablet - so that is peace of mind for us. We will also take her in soon to be weighed and checked over.

The vet nurse I spoke to on the phone didn't seem too concerned about the blood in the stools, given that her overall demeanour is good and that she is still eating and drinking. I am hoping that the worming treatment will get to work if there are any parasites in her  ! They said if she declines they will request a stool sample.

I have been working on brushing her every day to keep her coat dandruff free. Thanks for the tip, LTS3.

Kind regards,