Is my cat very skinny??

[Tids13]

Hi im hopingfor advice on my cat i fear he losing weight and i have taken a picture from above to see if anyone can tell me if he looks underweight

 

[Antonio65]

It's hard to say from your pictures if your cat is skinny.
What I can see is that his belly isn't as round as my cats', but to say if he's skinny isn't easy.

Are you able to feel his spine and ribs if you run your hand on him?

How old is he? Is he eating his usual and not gaining weight? Has he been visited by a vet lately?

 

[Tids13]

It's hard to say from your pictures if your cat is skinny.
What I can see is that his belly isn't as round as my cats', but to say if he's skinny isn't easy.

Are you able to feel his spine and ribs if you rn your hand on him?

How old is he? Is he eating his usual and not gaining weight? Has he been visited by a vet lately?

He is 13 he suffers with ibd and is currently on a new food and he loves it but had a flare up latley and he is at the vets tomorrow , i can feel his spine but not the ribs so much, i will attach a side view picture

 

[Tids13]

He also weights 3.6kg

 

[Antonio65]

From the side I can see a belly pouch, not so skinny from the side.
IBD is an evil disease and is painful, so cats are less willing to eat properly, and when they do, they are prone to vomit or diarrhea, and both limit the amount of energy they can get from the food.

I'm glad he wil lbe at the vets' tomorrow, they will be able to assess his body score. The body weight doesn't tell much, it depends on the cat's size, and from the first photos he looks like a medium sized cat, like mine, that weighs 4.1 kg.
My other cat is 3.5 kg, but she's a small sized cat.

Hopefully the vets can give him a hand. Please, let us know what they will tell you tomorrow. Someone could have some experience.

 

[Tids13]

Hi thank you so much for your response , i think im anxious that im going to be told its cancer and it scares me, as i know cats lose weight fast with cancer, i will keep you updated and thanks again

 

[Antonio65]

Hi thank you so much for your response , i think im anxious that im going to be told its cancer and it scares me, as i know cats lose weight fast with cancer, i will keep you updated and thanks again

No need to have bad thoughts beforehand.
Just listen to what they will tell you, I'm sure they will find a solution for your cat.

 

[FeebysOwner]

You might want to take a look at this chart to gauge the condition of your cat - there are additional instructions at the bottom to use when checking for ribs/spine. The one thing this chart doesn't depict is the 'primordial pouch' most cats have once they mature. It is just extra skin/tissue on the underbelly immediately in front of their back legs - and is normal, even in skinnier cats.

 

[LTS3]

Cats with IBD often have a vitamin B12 deficiency which affects nutrient absorption and the result is weight loss. The vet can run blood work to determine B12 levels. The B12 test is not included with regular routine blood work. The vet has to specify the test when submitting the sample. Treatment for low levels is B12 injections given at home at a dose and frequency prescribed by the vet. The injections are easy to give in the neck scruff. The vet can show you how.

 

[Antonio65]

Treatment for low levels is B12 injections given at home at a dose and frequency prescribed by the vet. The injections are easy to give in the neck scruff. The vet can show you how.

Vit B12 injections can sting a lot, just to add this bit of info

 

[Tids13]

It's hard to say from your pictures if your cat is skinny.
What I can see is that his belly isn't as round as my cats', but to say if he's skinny isn't easy.

Are you able to feel his spine and ribs if you run your hand on him?

How old is he? Is he eating his usual and not gaining weight? Has he been visited by a vet lately?

Hi update my cat just come back from vets he maintained weight his upset tummy is his colitis, so we continue with probiotics he said he is quite well for a 13 year old his gums fur rectum exam, couldnt find anything sinister no dehydration, just his colitis that we will always have unfortunatly but nothing worse

 

[Antonio65]

Nothing else but probiotics for his colitis?
Doesn't seem enough to me.

Anyway, the situation is much better than you thought, isn't it?

 

[Tids13]

Nothing else but probiotics for his colitis?
Doesn't seem enough to me.

Anyway, the situation is much better than you thought, isn't it?

Ye because he had a course of prednisolone 2-3 weeks Ago, wich he can be on for life but i opted not to do that and since then im changing his food as he was on rc gastro intestinal he wasnt eating so he is now starting katkin in 100% meat one protein with nutrient mix he loves it i jist have to keep close eye on it to see if colitis settles

 

[Tids13]

Thankyou again for advice and concern it is really appreciated

 

[Tids13]

Hi , im becoming a bit of a pain on this site , but because my cat has changed his food for wet/dry royal canin ( he mainly ate the dry because only licked the sauce off wet food) he now on 100%meat im noticing he urinating extra times a day maybe 2 more than the usual 2, could rhis be due to the diet change ??

 

[Antonio65]

Wet food contains 80-85% moisture, which is water, vs the 6-8% of dry food.
If your cat eats 85 grams (3 oz) of wet food, it's like he's drinking 68-72 ml of water. Plus the water he usually drinks from the bowl.
More water, more pee.

I always add extra water to my cats' wet food, about 20-25 ml per meal (two meals a day of wet food, two meals a day of dry food), so my cats are drinking some extra 40-50 ml water per day, plus the moisture in their wet food, plus the water from the water bowl. This explains why they pee up to 8 times a day

 

[daftcat75]

Hi , im becoming a bit of a pain on this site , but because my cat has changed his food for wet/dry royal canin ( he mainly ate the dry because only licked the sauce off wet food) he now on 100%meat im noticing he urinating extra times a day maybe 2 more than the usual 2, could rhis be due to the diet change ??

When you say he's on 100% meat, are you saying he's on a wet food only diet or that you are feeding him only meat? Meat is not complete. You can feed him meat alone for a few days to a week as an emergency measure. But much longer than that and he will need a calcium source. If it's not coming from his diet, it's going to come from his teeth and bones. And that's just the beginning of the nutritional problems with feeding only meat. You can use a premix powder to make meat into a complete food. EZ Complete will be the easiest as you only have to mix the powder with the meat and water. Alnutrin will be the most flexible as EZ has chicken ingredients. But you will have to add a liver source. If you can't source fresh (or frozen) liver, you can use freeze-dried liver at about 1/3 the called for weight. You can often find freeze-dried liver in the dog training or dog treats section of the pet food store.

 

[Tids13]

No it formulated by a vet nutritionist it added nutrient mix but im going to switch back to old food slowly, he has developed cat flu today hasnt eaten or drank water So im focusing on trying to get him to drink now