Is my cat too thin?

[librarylady]

I can't tell if a new cat I got is too thin or not. I've had him for about 2 months and I can easily feel his spine when I pet him. There is a little padding over the ribs but not much. He is medium hair and he looks fine but it concerns me to feel all those bones. He doesn't seem to eat as much as my other cat. I don't expect him to eat as much because she is over weight but if I give him 3 oz of food he'll only eat half of it. I thought there might be something wrong (maybe his mouth was sore and couldn't eat)so I took him to the vet and she said he was ok and we are just use to seeing overweight cats. My average size cat (in length height ect) is 12 lbs and I've been trying to get her to eat less. I feed them the same about but like I said he will only eat a small bit and she will eat the rest. While they are both beta he is more alpha then her and he does get first dibs on the food when I put it down. If she tries to eat his food while he is eating he will nip her ear. He weighs 9.2 which is about what my female cat should weight but he is longer and taller then her. When he is sitting down I can fit my fingers pretty deep in his hip bones. I've seen the charts on how to look for an overweight or underweight cat but it's hard to tell with his fur. He's just so bony.

 

[vball91]

He does sound a little underweight from what you describe, but if your vet said his weight is fine, I wouldn't worry too much. I would keep an eye on his weight and maybe weigh him regularly. If he loses any weight, I would consider some blood tests. How old is he?

 

[roguethecat]

you could perhaps post a picture of him taken from above... what are you feeding him?

sometimes a topper (fortiflora, crumbled treats) can entice a cat to eat more.

and I know exactly how you feel.

My Grisou is about 5 kg = 11 lbs, while the Rogue weighs in at roughly twice that (they're the same age!). So I constantly worry that my sweet Grisou is fading away and keep running after him with food. I even went and bought the Hound and Gato brand to tempt him with but he turned his nose up at that.

But he's running around like crazy, his fur is shining ridiculously, and he doesn't leave a shoelace unplayed... then I worry that the Rogue is too fat (but he's been at the vet recently, who didn't say anything despite his assistant barely being able to lift the carrier)

 

[aoi chan]

That doesn't sound like he is eating enough to sustain his weight. Has he had a current blood test to make sure he is okay? Have you tried other brands of food that he might eat? You can get freeze dried treats like Whole Life and crumble it onto his food.

 

[erikaremmington]

I agree, it sound like he isn't eating enough to sustain his weight.

 

[librarylady]

They are both about the same age. 3.5 and 4. I've gotten 3 brands of food. Evo friskies and wellness. I know when he was being fostered they just left dry food out all the time but with my current overweight cat I know he'll just eat a little and she'll eat the rest. I put a picture in but just by looking at him He looks ok because of his fur. 

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• librarylady
• Jun 4, 2014