Is this normal ?

[shorps]

Good afternoon ! It's my first time asking a question in a site like this, so apologies in advanced if it's been asked / answered before, but I kinda need this answered. This nearly 2 year old boy has been acting slightly more strange than usual for being a quirky little guy. He's been meowing for food much more often ( more than the usual begging for a little more scraps ) & for no reason in general, & I don't know if it's my imagination or what, but he seems to be losing some weight ? & added to that, today while he was licking his paws I saw that they were blunt / broken, as seen in the pictures attached. He's a tree climbing cat that enjoys going outside, so it doesn't seem unusual enough to warrant panicking over, but I'd sure appreciate a second opinion.

Of course, I'm planning to go to the vet once the quarantine starts to lift ( as I'm currently living in Spain ) or sometime soon for a check up, & will absolutely try to get an hour with the vet if it starts to worsen-- but I wanted to know if I should be more worried about this.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Welcome!!
Are you able to obtain goat milk? Adding that to his diet can be helpful. Does he get canned food?

The broken claws may be completely unrelated but if it were me, I'd try and keep him inside until you have a chance to talk with a vet. If his new behavior is health related it could mean he's more vulnerable outside, and the condition of his claws might be from being chased by a possible predator.

 

[gilmargl]

Is he a good mouse catcher? Maybe, being an outside cat, he has a tapeworm This will mean he is hungrier than normal and is perhaps lacking in some essential minerals etc. causing his claws to break. In my experience a tapeworm causes a cat to loose weight. They are easy to get rid of with an appropriate deworming paste, tablets or injection but ......some cats are susceptible to catching these parasites, and as soon as one has been eliminated the next one appears.

Can you contact the vet by phone or email? I recently had to take a cat to the vet. Only one patient allowed in the building at a time. When I had to go back to take the cat in for an operation, the vet met me at the front door.

I hope it's nothing serious.

 

[shorps]

Hi! Welcome!!
Are you able to obtain goat milk? Adding that to his diet can be helpful. Does he get canned food?

The broken claws may be completely unrelated but if it were me, I'd try and keep him inside until you have a chance to talk with a vet. If his new behavior is health related it could mean he's more vulnerable outside, and the condition of his claws might be from being chased by a possible predator.

I don't have any at hand right now, but I could try getting him some next time I go shopping ! He eats sterilised cat food that the vet recommended he should eat, so he doesn't get canned food ( at least, not until special occasions ! ). But yeah, that sounds like it might be a good idea-- at least until the vet gets a look at him ! He gets impatient when he's not allowed outside pfft.

 

[Furballsmom]

Let us know how things go

 

[shorps]

Is he a good mouse catcher? Maybe, being an outside cat, he has a tapeworm This will mean he is hungrier than normal and is perhaps lacking in some essential minerals etc. causing his claws to break. In my experience a tapeworm causes a cat to loose weight. They are easy to get rid of with an appropriate deworming paste, tablets or injection but ......some cats are susceptible to catching these parasites, and as soon as one has been eliminated the next one appears.

Can you contact the vet by phone or email? I recently had to take a cat to the vet. Only one patient allowed in the building at a time. When I had to go back to take the cat in for an operation, the vet met me at the front door.

I hope it's nothing serious.

He's never caught mice before ! He's killed birds & bugs-- but hasn't done that in a couple months ( specially since we're careful to not let him out when there's birds nearby in fear he might kill them ), nor does he bring them inside. From him being hungrier than normal I was fearing that might be the case, but didn't wanna jump to conclusions without a second opinion. Do they happen often ? Because the vet once gave him a pill to fight tapeworms after a check up as a just in case. I've never called the vet by phone before, but I have their card so I might try calling them soon to check if they're still open.

Hoping it's nothing serious too ! He still seems to be the biggest, cuddliest baby around & is still willing to play, so that's good at least.

 

[gilmargl]

He's never caught mice before ! He's killed birds & bugs-- but hasn't done that in a couple months ( specially since we're careful to not let him out when there's birds nearby in fear he might kill them ), nor does he bring them inside. From him being hungrier than normal I was fearing that might be the case, but didn't wanna jump to conclusions without a second opinion. Do they happen often ? Because the vet once gave him a pill to fight tapeworms after a check up as a just in case. I've never called the vet by phone before, but I have their card so I might try calling them soon to check if they're still open.

Tapeworms occur often in outdoor cats, but they are not considered a serious danger to a cat. Weight loss is often noticed without any other symptoms. Fleas are also carriers although the direct connection flea to cat was never explained in my school biology lessons.

I had an outdoor black cat and I knew whenever he had a tapeworm because I would find "slow moving grains of rice" attached to his back legs. These are the proglottids, egg-filled tapeworm segments. I only saw these on my black cat though I assumed both cats were affected.

Tapeworms don't sound very appetizing, to say the least, but they are a common complaint and, as I said before, easy to eliminate but it is not so easy to prevent a cat from becoming re-infected.

Still, I would rather your cat had a tapeworm or two, rather than something more serious!