a kitty question

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I know a lot of you are cat owners, so hopefully you can offer me some advice. I've had my cat Jack Flash since June of last year. He was a little chubby when I got him (a little over 12 pounds), but until this past spring, he stayed a fairly consistent weight. He's about 3 years old, and splits his days between napping, getting petted, looking out the windows, and running around like a nut and playing.

Over the summer, we stayed with a friend of mine, and he seemed to do just fine at my friend's house. Since the summer, though, he's been losing weight. He eats fine, uses his litter box fine, and has been acting like his normal self, so I haven't been too worried. I thought he was doing better, in fact. I had him at the vet yesterday for his checkup, and he's gone from 10.95 to 10.75 pounds since September.

The vet wants me to feed Jack more and to bring him back for a weigh-in during the first week of December. If he's lost more weight, they're going to do bloodwork. I can't help it but be worried. He's looking quite healthy now--the vet said he's actually at about his ideal weight--but I can't figure out what might be going on.

Any suggestions on what I might do to help him stay at his current weight, or maybe gain a little? I'd really appreciate some reassurance.

Here's Mr. Flash at play:

Maggie

 

[Liesje]

Hi Maggie, I have the opposite problem: keeping my cats at their ideal weights. It's hard b/c I have three and they're all very different sizes/body frames so one should weight no more than 8 lbs while the other is fine at 10 or 12, etc. Anyway......I'm sure Beth or Sicy will have a good suggestion....

 

[Sicy]

Luckily that amount of weight loss is not too drastic for a cat. If you would have said a pound or more then I would be very worried. Did you (or your friend) change his food or anything? Just that alone could do it. My Zoey was a pretty plump girl at about 12.3 pounds on Innova and now she has to be on a special diet because she has a tendency to have a high PH and crystals in her urine, so she is on a special food to keep her PH low and since she's been on it (about 6 months) she's trimmed down a bit to around 11.8 or so. She actually looks more healthy now and her attitude has not changed. Try not to worry too much. You can always get the blood work done whenever you want, just for reassurance!

 

[bonosloveslave]

Does he have food out all the time so that he can eat whenever he wants? I get more worried about a medical cause of weight loss when cats have free access to food and yet their weight is creeping down - most cats stay fairly steady over the years (or have a tendency to gain weight if they are indoor cats). But I would probably have done the same thing your vet did and see what he does given a bit more time, especially if he seems happy and palyful. For extra calories, kitten food is a good choice, most adult cats really like it.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

Thanks for your responses. He's been eating Friskies Dental Diet for as long as I've had him. He seems to enjoy it, and he has a very nice coat and good teeth because of it, too. I leave a bowl out for him all the time, but he seems to prefer eating when I'm at home. He usually runs to the door to greet me, then has a snack not long after that. Maybe he doesn't like that I'm at school a lot more this semester?

Like I said, he's been acting perfectly normal--eating, being cuddly, playing and running around--but he's my baby, so I'm still a little worried.