My Kitten is Looking Skinny

sirius1

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Hi everyone!

Looking for some advice on my 5 1/2 month old kitten. He's been recently dewormed and all that, so it's definitely not worms. 

I'm currently giving him free access to dry food which is a mix of Royal Canin Baby Cat and Hills Kitten. He goes through about 3/4 of a cat bowl a day. He's also getting wet food twice per day which is either Applaws, Encore or Feline Fayre. He also gets a meat chew stick once a day. We also feed him fresh chicken, beef and a little tuna a few times a week. 

He has boundless energy bordering on psychotic (though pleased to report the biting/scratching has calmed down A LOT in the past few weeks) and his coat is very shiny. However, he's looking skinny. 

Are there some higher calorie foods I can be giving him? He refuses point blank to eat any "cat pates" which complicates the feeding a bit. I know these are supposed to be more nutritionally complete, but he just refuses to eat them. 
 

stephenq

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Hi

Has he ever been seen by a vet?

Can you get an accurate weight on him (baby scale)?

Can you take a picture of him from above pointing down so we see a top view of him while standing?
 

momto3cats

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Has he had a recent growth spurt (taller/longer)? Sometimes kittens go through a thin and lanky stage around this age, kind of like teenagers. 

The dry foods you're giving him are already high calorie. I'm not familiar with those wet food brands, though.

If you're feeding him as much as he will eat, and he doesn't seem sick or lethargic, he may just be going through a normal skinny phase and will fill out as he grows.

Do have him checked by a vet though if you're worried, especially if he's really bony and excessively thin.
 

chromium blues

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Try a canned food that's made just for growing kittens - he's going to get a little extra eating that. Royal Canin makes excellent canned kitten food, as do Wellness and Performatrin. Some of the grain-free options are good, but not all are conducive to putting weight on an active kitten. Weruva, for example, is quite low calorie. You might try Go! or Merrick.
 

catdawg23

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Same thing with our kitten, he is 5 months and seems like he is getting longer but skinnier. He weighs slightly over 4 lbs and eats and drinks fine but his back legs are long and lanky, doesnt seem to have a ton of muscle but can walk and run and jump fine.
 

therese

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Hi everyone!

Looking for some advice on my 5 1/2 month old kitten. He's been recently dewormed and all that, so it's definitely not worms.

I'm currently giving him free access to dry food which is a mix of Royal Canin Baby Cat and Hills Kitten. He goes through about 3/4 of a cat bowl a day. He's also getting wet food twice per day which is either Applaws, Encore or Feline Fayre. He also gets a meat chew stick once a day. We also feed him fresh chicken, beef and a little tuna a few times a week.

He has boundless energy bordering on psychotic (though pleased to report the biting/scratching has calmed down A LOT in the past few weeks) and his coat is very shiny. However, he's looking skinny.

Are there some higher calorie foods I can be giving him? He refuses point blank to eat any "cat pates" which complicates the feeding a bit. I know these are supposed to be more nutritionally complete, but he just refuses to eat them.
I know that this post is from last year, but I too have a kitten right now, two months old, and she is on the Royal Canin wet and dry...she is quite thin and the vet had me bring a stool sample...she has coccidia, which is a kind of worm or parasite and she is on meds for this. So hopefully by now, you have gotten to the bottom of it. But check for worms, guys, and make sure a vet runs the stool sample and blood work.
 
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