It It Possible For A Cat To Be Too Active And Lose Too Much Weight?

[Aszira]

Woof is 3 years old now. Over the winter he put on about 3 pounds. He's now lost that and more. He's very, very active. In order to get out of our back yard he has two options. He can either hike up a ladder and jump down onto an AC, or jump the fence on the other side. Either one involves a lot of climbing. We also have a raised garden bed he jumps up to. He's also fond of jumping into windows to watch. If he hears us outside he comes running full speed from three houses away.
The last few weeks he's lost a lot of weight. His hips are now skinnier than his head. I can feel his spine when I pet him. He's still very, very active though. He greets us when we enter the room. He runs around happily. He's just skinny. I have seen him eat at the food dish. Not often since he's usually outside.

Is it possible for him to be TOO active? He seems very healthy. Just active. I've seen him eat and drink. In the three years I've had him I've never once seen him pee or poo, so I can't check if his stool is normal.

(Sorry about the messy floor. My bird cage fell.)

 

[esco98]

Is he an inside cat or does he just stay outside? It probably best to make him stay inside if possible so you can monitor his stool or take him to the vet to check for worms. Also if he’s jumping fences there’s always that possibility of him getting into the street and getting hit/:

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Welcome!!

The last few weeks he's lost a lot of weight. His hips are now skinnier than his head. I can feel his spine when I pet him.

It probably best to make him stay inside if possible so you can monitor his stool or take him to the vet to check for worms.

I agree, he needs to stay inside until you determine what is going on, and also that it would be very good if you can get him to a vet.

The timeperiod of that much of a weight loss is too fast, and concerning.

 

[Aszira]

He's free to go inside/outside at will like my other cats. He usually wears a bright green vest during the day. Much like a construction worker. I also have a tag attached to the back of his vest that begins flashing when the sun goes down. He has that specifically because he roams so far. My other cat has one as well since she crosses a busy road now and then.
I'll see if I can keep him inside for a few days. My family doesn't support my wanting to make sure the cats are healthy. They think I'm paranoid and will let him out.
Is it possible for worms to make him so skinny? I'm going to add a food bowl out front for him to snack on. I can't do canned food due to the heat. Do you by chance know of a (cheap) dry food that would be good for him? There's five cats in my household who all have different dietary needs so I can't spend a fortune on food.

 

[Furballsmom]

My family doesn't support my wanting to make sure the cats are healthy. They think I'm paranoid and will let him out.

I'm sorry, this makes things challenging. Worms can make a cat skinny. Hang in there!

EDIT: Depending on where you're located, you could try Nutro Essentials or Fancy Feast dry. Try to find a kibble that has meat as the first ingredient rather than corn or whatever

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but can't they give him kitten food? More calorically dense that regular cat food.

 

[Aszira]

Thank you! I've heard horror stories about fancy feast killing pets. Do you happen to know if there's any truth to that? I'll watch for worms. He just came running in at full speed and slammed into a wall like he loves to do so at least I know he's active and not in pain. I'll see if I can convince my parents and family to keep him in for a few days. The weight loss began around the time it warmed up. Whether they're related or not I dunno. Non of my other cats are getting skinny like him.

It's not literally a wall, btw. There's a hallway from the back door straight to the front door. We have a cat tree next to the front door. And the floor is tile. He likes to streak in through the door, skid across the tile, and use the cat tree to stop himself. His backside often hits the wall, but not hard.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

If I had a dollar for every time Dexter slid into a wall chasing my other cats, I would be rich...lol!

I feed Fancy Feast Classic pates in my rotation. Dexter ate FF Kitten when he was younger and absolutely loved it- in fact, I keep a case of the kitten food on hand as a special treat for him, Emerson, and Evie. I like the ingredients in their new Gourmet Naturals line too. That being said, I think the risk of *something* going wrong is present with any food, whether it be human or animal, high quality or low quality. You can't allow yourself to be consumed with the "what-ifs."

 

[Furballsmom]

I agree with emersonandevie, and some of my boy's favorite foods are fancy feast wet and dry, and friskies

 

[Furballsmom]

He likes to streak in through the door, skid across the tile, and use the cat tree to stop himself. His backside often hits the wall, but not hard.

What a fun cat LOL

 

[Aszira]

What a fun cat LOL

He's a clueless guy. He often falls off the cat tree. He's fine with it. He doesn't understand lasers. He thinks the only way to play is to run, get the toy between all four feet, and roll to catch it. He never catches it.

I'll try fancy feast with him. There's being skinny, and then there's SKINNY. I don't like cats that skinny. It worries me.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[Furballsmom]

Can you talk to a vet about a dewormer?

over the counter dewormers aren't advisable, per this;
Best Otc Dewormer?

Good Budget Dewormer? Biheldon?

 

[EmersonandEvie]

You could also have his thyroid checked. Hyperthyroidism can make cats skinny.

 

[Aszira]

If he doesn't fatten up with a change of food I'll get him into a vet somehow. I'm glad he's at least not in pain.

In case he turns out fine, is it possible for a cat to lose so much weight if he's on the wrong type of food? Just to cover all my bases.

 

[Furballsmom]

is it possible for a cat to lose so much weight if he's on the wrong type of food?

It could happen even with an outside cat, if he doesn't like what he's getting/finding and is literally not eating enough.

Sending you all the best of luck with this situation, and THANK YOU for caring about this guy!!

 

[Uncled]

Best of luck with your cat, for what's it's worth my two male cats were raised in Fancy Feast classic pate without any issue,. I now feed Friskies pate style and Paws and Claws pate style from Tractor Supply, they love both brands and both are very economical.

 

[MissClouseau]

I'm late but worms absolutely can cause weight loss like this and most dewormers don't cover everything. I think Profender from Bayer is the only household name that's also effective against tapeworm for example. (You don't have to get Profender. Just to say you might need more than one dewormer to cover everything.)

I agree it's also possible he gets less calories than he burns. It's not uncommon for outdoor cats! I suggest not being too strict with the food amount, but weighing the cat the same day every week. That's what I do with my Hima as well. She goes outside daily and outside or inside, sometimes she just sits there and runs around maybe like 15 minutes a day, some other times she runs around literally for hours in total. Of course she doesn't feel full with the same amount of food on those two different days.

I don't have an info but I have a hunch the calorie reference on the boxes of cat foods are determined with indoor-only cats in mind and that's with assuming they wouldn't be very active inside the house. (And perhaps also assuming the cat would also get treats.) Because that amount has never been enough for my Hima. If it was just her, I would suspect of a metabolism difference but all the stray cats around my yard also eats more than what the box says and all but one are slim. They get dewormed too.

 

[Aszira]

We have been outside doing car repairs all day. He was in sight in the yard with us the entire time. Either sleeping in a bush or on the porch. He hadn't eaten in about 6 hours. My other cats had eaten twice in that time. I took a bowl of the higher quality food out for him with some water. He ate nearly half of it in an hour. Then passed out again. I'm going to keep the dishes full for now to see if that helps. I'll talk to my family about a vet. I'm thinking right now he can eat all he wants to bulk up right?

It's nearly 100f outside. He loves lounging in it. Maybe he's too lazy to go eat? I'm going to lock him in my room tonight to check stool.

 

[Furballsmom]