Snowflake eats, but is not "healthy"

Hi all

I'm a little concerned about my Snowflake. Whenever i put his and Buttercup's food down, he eats like its his first meal for the week (but of course if I leave the room they follow after a few minutes). Both of my cats eat pretty good (and yes they have their own bowls). Aside from the major shedding problem he has, he doesnt look like a greedy cat should. He has long hair, but he still looks "bony" to me. My brother suggested deworming him, but I dont know if this is in fact the problem.

I feed them Cat Chow Indoor Formula, but i'm thinking of changing to Science Diet (Buttercup could stand to lose a few pounds )

Is there anything that I should be concerned about?

Originally Posted by Buttercup

Hi all

I'm a little concerned about my Snowflake. Whenever i put his and Buttercup's food down, he eats like its his first meal for the week (but of course if I leave the room they follow after a few minutes). Both of my cats eat pretty good (and yes they have their own bowls). Aside from the major shedding problem he has, he doesnt look like a greedy cat should. He has long hair, but he still looks "bony" to me. My brother suggested deworming him, but I dont know if this is in fact the problem.

I feed them Cat Chow Indoor Formula, but i'm thinking of changing to Science Diet (Buttercup could stand to lose a few pounds

)

Is there anything that I should be concerned about?

Click to expand...

My understanding of the situation is that all cats should be wormed reguarly - certainly this is the case if the cats go outside. I don't know about indoor only.

Like people, cats all have different body types and metabolisms. My Ellie is naturally long and thin, Dushka is shorter and more rounded, yet they both eat the same. But as you say Buttercup is a bit overweight, are you sure that some of Snowflake's food is not finding its way into the wrong stomach? Just a thought.

I have been told (by people on here) that science diet is not a very good food despite the price and they have also told me not to feed cat "chow" because its a lower grade food. I just switched to "spa select" (petsmart) and I like it so far. I was just told its a pretty decent food. Everyone on here usually recommends california natural (which i cant find and havent heard of before this site) they also seem to fave maxximum nutrition (supposedly available at walmart. i couldnt find that either)

How old is snowflake???

When was Snowflakes last checkup? Her last fecal?
It's a bit impossible to speculate about her digestion/metabolism without knowing whether she has been tested for parasites lately.

FWIW I don't like either Cat Chow or Science Diet. I'd look for a higher quality wet food, or at least a premium dry.

If you are speaking about deworming the cats yourself, do not do that. Take your cat to the vet and they can check for worms and then give you a safe medicine to get rid of them if she has them. The ones they sell otc are dangerous, and especially if you don't know if that's what's wrong.

Maxximum nutrition is an okay food if that's all you can afford, it's certainly not one recommended if you could buy better food, which nearly everyone can since the more "expensive" foods the cats eat less of and they end up costing less than Wal-mart brand food that the cats have to eat a ton of to get any nutrition they can use. And they poop more so you spend more on litter too. The same is true of science diet and cat chow.

Originally Posted by Buttercup

Hi all

I'm a little concerned about my Snowflake. Whenever i put his and Buttercup's food down, he eats like its his first meal for the week (but of course if I leave the room they follow after a few minutes). Both of my cats eat pretty good (and yes they have their own bowls). Aside from the major shedding problem he has, he doesnt look like a greedy cat should. He has long hair, but he still looks "bony" to me. My brother suggested deworming him, but I dont know if this is in fact the problem.

I feed them Cat Chow Indoor Formula, but i'm thinking of changing to Science Diet (Buttercup could stand to lose a few pounds

)

Is there anything that I should be concerned about?

Click to expand...

Does he act like a normal cat... or whatever normal is for him? If anything is out of the ordinary, I'd take him to the vet.

Teddy is about 13 pounds, but he looks less. He's a naturally very long, lanky cat, with beautiful long limbs. When you look at him, he looks skinny, but it's just how he wears his weight. We got him when he was 8 pounds which was WAY too little for such a long body frame; we asked the vet what a cat with his shape should look and feel like so that we can judge how well he is.

Both Snowflake and Buttercup eat the same food, his age is really a tossup, but I do believe he's approaching a year old soon, like September or so. I dont use different foods for each of them because I know I will never be able to separate them to their own bowls. He's very normal with behaviors, he's actually pretty active. He has habits different from Buttercup. For example, Buttercup is such a wuss, everything scares her, especially the vacuum. If I get up from the chair too fast she takes flight. Snowflake? He'll lay right in front of where i'm vacuuming, and i'll use the on board hose with the attachment and "vacuum" him, he loves it plus that's a good way to pick up some hair. I've gone thru a few lint rollers already this week. Both of them have one thing in common tho....cat stalking. I cant go in any room in this house without them being there. Buttercup is in the chair next to me, Snowflake is playing with my toes. If I get up and go in the front room, both will follow. What's up with that?

as far as new food, I said i was gonna goto petsmart and get some quality food. Theres one commercial i saw one time thats for multiple cats that will fatten a slim cat and slim a fat cat, but I cant remember the name of the food.

When I first got Snowflake I took him for a checkup and things were fine, I dont think they dewormed or anything. they basically just checked him. I had already called around for a vet and will take him within a week. I just hate seeing clumps of hair at a time. Buttercup sheds but not like him.

The multicat food you're thinking of is probably Iams. My sister put her two on it and the formerly average weight one got fat and the fat one got fatter. My kitten was also eating it while visting for a little while and she, a very slender thourgh well-fed cat, started to get a little tubby (she's a kitten and grew out of it fast). I think all it does is make cats fat, and I usually like Iams.

Try a high-quality food designed for all life stages. It'll say "for cats and kittens" or "for all life stages" on it. There will be several at petsmart.

Most cats have worms until they've been vetted. Alot of vets just assume that a new kitten has worms and deworm them, esp if they are a rescue, from a shelter, from an accidental breeding, etc. It is just a medicine given by mouth.

To be safe a good vet check in needed --- with bloodwork if that was not done before.
Then with the help of your vet...you can decide what to do next.
Without bloodwork & complete check-up you are just guessing.
That could be costly to your kitty's health and your money.
PS...as the others have said, never worm a cat yourself.
A vet must do it.