Substantial Weight Gain

[sydney]

My cat Charlie is 11 months old, about two months ago I noticed he was putting on weight, but since he is not very active I didn’t think much of it until recently, he has gained a substantial amount of weight, most of it happening this last month, yesterday I went to feel his stomach and it seemed to firm to me, so I brought him in to the vet. The vet also agreed his stomach was abnormally firm and we did an ultrasound, she said one kidney seemed small and she couldn’t find the other one, she also said there was some weird shadowing on the intestines that she was unsure what that means. I had to leave him there since I had appointments today and he is staying over night cause I don’t have time to pick him up. They did X Rays after I left and there was a lot of fat around the kidneys. They are sending out the x rays to a specialist for a second opinion. In house blood work came back normal. So now I’m just waiting. Anyone ever experience this? Any ideas what this could mean? Thanks!

 

[duckpond]

I dont have any ideas. just wanted to say i hope it is nothing too bad, and that the vets can fix him right up. Keeping you guys in my thoughts. keep us updated.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - what happened? What did they say?
Are they talking a food change, or more than that?
By the way, thank you for being so sharp eyed about your furbuddy!

 

[sydney]

Well turns out he is just fat! Thank goodness! However the doctor agreed with me that it was really weird cause all of the fat is in his lower stomach and it’s lop sided fat making him look pregnant, most pets don’t gain weight that way but I’m just thankful it isn’t anything serious. So I’ll be starting an exercise program for him.

 

[FakeGourmet]

My cat Cleo is like that. She puts weight on in one place and looks like an actual football with everything else skinny. The two other tubbo cats put weight on fairly evenly everywhere. So glad it wasn't something more serious.

 

[di and bob]

Thank goodness he's just fat! Start getting him to move more with different toys, even a tree if you can get one to encourage climbing. Mine love corrugated cardboard scratchers, they really workout on them.Keep some shaved deli turkey around for low cal snacks and switch his food gradually to a weight management one by mixing more in slowly. I wish I could motivate mine more, I have a couple of lazy ones that really need more exercise too, they don't even want to chase a ball anymore!

 

[sydney]

I tried playing with him yesterday with the pole with the string and feather on the end. He didn’t seem to care but the dogs loved it! Lol

 

[KarenKat]

Glad Charlie is fine! What are you feeding him? Our tabby lost 3 pounds when we switched his kibble from Purina Cat Chow (mostly corn) to Natural Balance (pea and chicken protein). I was shocked how much difference it made.

 

[duckpond]

Food can definitely help, or hinder in weight loss. High protein,moderate fat, and low carb is what we want to feed most of the time. It is easier to find wet foods that have this type of profile than dry. My cats do eat wet, and dry. for dry i feed Dr. Elseys chicken, very low carb.

For wet foods you may want to check out this list. has good information on a lot of brands.

http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf