How do I know if my cat is too thin?

[TimmyCat]

I'm worried my baby girl might be sick or malnourished since she seems to have lost weight. She's 5 months old and feeds on chiken, steamed potato, and cheeze, but we had her for about a month and a half now and she's not gained a pound. Should I be worried, or is she fine?

 

[verna davies]

She needs to eat a complete cat food, it will have all the vitamins and minerals that is essential for every cat, without them cats will become ill. They are carnivores so shouldn't eat potatoes. Are you able to buy wet cat food, that would be best for her.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

If you MUST feed her from the table, then keep the carbohydrates very low, mostly meat, and order Taurine to add to her food. Without it, she will get sick and die.

 

[Ashanti]

She looks ok for her age. She wont be for long if she's not being fed an actual cat food. The things mentioned as her food arent great for cats to eat all day everyday and should only be used if they're sick and wont eat anything else.

There's all kinds of foods at all price ranges. So if you're not already pick up the best quality food you can afford. Look for one that has meat of some kind in the first 5 ingredients listed at least. First 3 is better and says complete nutrition on it.

Table food is also ok as a treat but never should be part of the main diet.

If she seems like shes getting sick or losing weight its likely because of nutritional deficiencies and adding cat food into her diet should stop her from getting worse and after a few weeks improve her health. She'll also need to be seen by a vet if she hasn't been recently.

 

[tabbytom]

I'm worried my baby girl might be sick or malnourished since she seems to have lost weight. She's 5 months old and feeds on chiken, steamed potato, and cheeze, but we had her for about a month and a half now and she's not gained a pound.

Your cat is very much a kitten at 5 months old. She should be fed with wet food (canned food) meant for kittens as kitten food is formulated for their growth. All the proteins and minerals are in there to aid their growth. After her one year old, you may slowly transit her over to adults' food or you may feed her with wet food labeled 'For All Life Stages' now till she's an adult and you don't have to switch her over to adult food later.

Home made food formulated wrongly without the actual vitamins and taurine is detrimental to their health and cats do not need potatoes.

If you kitten is not eating well and is constantly loosing weight, a vet's visit is in order.

 

[LTS3]

I'm worried my baby girl might be sick or malnourished since she seems to have lost weight. She's 5 months old and feeds on chiken, steamed potato, and cheeze, but we had her for about a month and a half now and she's not gained a pound. Should I be worried, or is she fine?

Your kitten needs to eat cat food, not food from your dinner plate. Are you able to get commercial cat food where you live?

Chicken can be fed but only if properly supplemented. See Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food for more info on raw and home cooked diets. Potato and cheese are junk useless foods in a cat's diet.

A trip to the vet is ideal if that has not been done yet. Kittens need their first shots, a rabies vaccination if required, and deworming. The vet can also (mostly) advise you on general cat care.

 

[Nice Loki]

Well done for doing the responsible thing and monitoring her weight then reaching out for help when you felt concerned.

Is there a specific reason for why you are feeding her this particular diet? You don't indicate where in the world you live, is this a common food for cats where you live?

Not gaining weight is an easy indicator that she is not getting all the right nutrients, but what isn't easy to see is the harm that you are doing internally. If you continue with this diet then her bones will become thin and brittle. This short thread says it all, although it is talking about raw feeding the same outcome will occur if you just feed her cooked chicken.
Tragic example of not feeding a balanced diet.

In the US, UK and Australia as well as most of Europe, canned cat food formulated specifically to meet all the nutritional needs of cats is readily available.

If this is your first time caring for a feline then the main thing that you need to know is that cats are 'obligate carnivores' which means they are only able to process animal protein. They are not able to process vegetable protein or any carbohydrates (like potatoes, rice, or grains) at all.

Feeding just chicken might sound like you are doing a good thing, but as the other members have said it just does not provide all the nutrients that cats need.
When a cat hunts for their food (like mice for example) they will eat just about the entire creature, crucially including the skin and bones.
The meat of the mouse (including organs) provides the animal protein, the bones supply much needed calcium and the skin supplies fat.
This is a very simplified version of their requirements (there is a lot more to it than this), but it is an illustration of why feeding chicken is not helping your little girl. Especially during this crucial stage of her development.

This site has lots of excellent articles for you to read up on better ways to care for your kitten.

Here's some to get you started

Unbalanced diets
Canned cat food
Food that is harmful to cats

And an excellent external website that I encourage you to read is Catinfo.org

If you are still full of questions then this place has lots of experienced cat owners willing to share their knowledge.

 

[vince]

Looks like she could gain just a little. Since she's still a kitten, she should get food labeled "for kittens" or "for all life cycles." Kittens have high metabolic rates in addition to having to provide for all that growth. Keep her on that until she's a year old at least, after which you can transition to food for adult cats. Maybe a little KMR once in a while wouldn't hurt, either, to help with bone growth.

Not all cats are fully-grown at one year, so you might need to keep giving her more until she stops growing. I have a three year-old moggy that is still growing in little spurts. She's a bit skinny too, but she won't eat much, no matter what kind of food she gets.

 

[TimmyCat]

Rn

Well done for doing the responsible thing and monitoring her weight then reaching out for help when you felt concerned.

Is there a specific reason for why you are feeding her this particular diet? You don't indicate where in the world you live, is this a common food for cats where you live?

Not gaining weight is an easy indicator that she is not getting all the right nutrients, but what isn't easy to see is the harm that you are doing internally. If you continue with this diet then her bones will become thin and brittle. This short thread says it all, although it is talking about raw feeding the same outcome will occur if you just feed her cooked chicken.
Tragic example of not feeding a balanced diet.

In the US, UK and Australia as well as most of Europe, canned cat food formulated specifically to meet all the nutritional needs of cats is readily available.

If this is your first time caring for a feline then the main thing that you need to know is that cats are 'obligate carnivores' which means they are only able to process animal protein. They are not able to process vegetable protein or any carbohydrates (like potatoes, rice, or grains) at all.

Feeding just chicken might sound like you are doing a good thing, but as the other members have said it just does not provide all the nutrients that cats need.
When a cat hunts for their food (like mice for example) they will eat just about the entire creature, crucially including the skin and bones.
The meat of the mouse (including organs) provides the animal protein, the bones supply much needed calcium and the skin supplies fat.
This is a very simplified version of their requirements (there is a lot more to it than this), but it is an illustration of why feeding chicken is not helping your little girl. Especially during this crucial stage of her development.

This site has lots of excellent articles for you to read up on better ways to care for your kitten.

Here's some to get you started

Unbalanced diets
Canned cat food
Food that is harmful to cats

And an excellent external website that I encourage you to read is Catinfo.org

If you are still full of questions then this place has lots of experienced cat owners willing to share their knowledge.

Hi! I'm actually from Algeria, so wet cat food is a bit difficult to come by which is why we mostly feed our cats table food. It works decent as far as I've noticed, but I understand that cats have specific needs that cannot fully be met with only that kind. As for why I feed her this way is because potatos are the only thing she seems to like? (I only add on a small serving as a compliment to the chicken because I was told felines need fibers added to their diet lol seems I misunderstood) I brought her dry food; however I was advised to use it sparignly? It's because "organic food" is considered healthier than commercial food I was told. Also, yes! She is my first furr baby, and she's very sensitive and picky with what she eats, so I naïvely hopped on the first thing she seemed to tolerrate. Anyway thanks for your help!

 

[TimmyCat]

Your kitten needs to eat cat food, not food from your dinner plate. Are you able to get commercial cat food where you live?

Chicken can be fed but only if properly supplemented. See Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food for more info on raw and home cooked diets. Potato and cheese are junk useless foods in a cat's diet.

A trip to the vet is ideal if that has not been done yet. Kittens need their first shots, a rabies vaccination if required, and deworming. The vet can also (mostly) advise you on general cat care.

Hello, I did take her to the vet, but she did not get her shots yet because vaccines are not yet available due to the pandemic. I am however deworming her. The vet also advised me to not give her to much potatoes, but they did not reccomend commercial cat food, so I assumed her diet was fine. I never serve her raw meat because she suffered from intestinal worms before with her previous owner, and the portions of potato (in my little head) were ment to give her fiber, but I'll try to get her some wet food as soon as possible! Thanks for replying!

 

[TimmyCat]

Looks like she could gain just a little. Since she's still a kitten, she should get food labeled "for kittens" or "for all life cycles." Kittens have high metabolic rates in addition to having to provide for all that growth. Keep her on that until she's a year old at least, after which you can transition to food for adult cats. Maybe a little KMR once in a while wouldn't hurt, either, to help with bone growth.

Not all cats are fully-grown at one year, so you might need to keep giving her more until she stops growing. I have a three year-old moggy that is still growing in little spurts. She's a bit skinny too, but she won't eat much, no matter what kind of food she gets.

Yeah she's a European breed, so I was told she wouldn't get too big, and my baby is a picky eater, but still I felt worried when i saw her lil hip bones from above.

 

[LTS3]

Doesn't sound like your vet has any clue about pet nutrition.

Can you get this brand in Algeria? For Cats – Bonacibo Cat & Dog Food The company is based in Turkey so I imagine the brand is available in that general part of the world. If not, go to any pet store and buy kitten food in both dry and canned / wet. Or buy online if that is an option. Kittens eat a lot of food so don't be surprised if you need to buy food often.

You don't have to feed raw meat. You can cook meat plain and then add in supplements to make it a complete diet. Sourcing the supplements might be hard in your part of the world, though. A natural / organic food type store would likely have most of the supplements needed.

As for why I feed her this way is because potatos are the only thing she seems to like? (I only add on a small serving as a compliment to the chicken because I was told felines need fibers added to their diet lol seems I misunderstood) I brought her dry food; however I was advised to use it sparignly? It's because "organic food" is considered healthier than commercial food I was told.

Cats like a lot of things but those things aren't always good for them. Pet food companies do put potatoes (and other things) in dry and canned food as cheap fillers and as a way to market the food as healthy and wholesome etc etc.

Many people foods are harmful to cats. Here's a list of what not to feed: People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets The raw meat and raw bones is debatable.

Dry food isn't good for a cat's health long term for many reasons. Catinfo.org goes into all the reasons why. Growing kittens should have some dry food in their diet because they need all the nutrition they can get and feeding only canned can get expensive.

 

[Nice Loki]

Rn

Hi! I'm actually from Algeria, so wet cat food is a bit difficult to come by which is why we mostly feed our cats table food. It works decent as far as I've noticed, but I understand that cats have specific needs that cannot fully be met with only that kind. As for why I feed her this way is because potatos are the only thing she seems to like? (I only add on a small serving as a compliment to the chicken because I was told felines need fibers added to their diet lol seems I misunderstood) I brought her dry food; however I was advised to use it sparignly? It's because "organic food" is considered healthier than commercial food I was told. Also, yes! She is my first furr baby, and she's very sensitive and picky with what she eats, so I naïvely hopped on the first thing she seemed to tolerrate. Anyway thanks for your help!

If you are struggling to locally source proper kitten/cat food then can you buy online?
Another option might be to consider making your own cat food at home. While this might sound scary, there is lots of information readily available as long as you can get hold of appropriate supplements.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

If you cannot manage canned kitten food, then dry kitten food supplemented with chicken from your table will do. Dry food does tend to have carbohydrates as fillers, but it also has those additives (tarine, etc) that table food will not, unless you can order them. And the chicken will up her protein intake nicely. Cats do tend to get overweight on dry food, but this is not an issue in a kitten. It is almost impossible to overfeed a kitten until it is around a year or so.