Cat loosing weight

[cr2009]

I have 3 cats, though only 2 of them with me as I moved about 24 hour drive away from where I used to live. All 3 were with my parents for about a year until I was settled. My dad then drove 2 of them out to me as one of them cannot handle driving and will have to be flown out with sedatives.
Well the 2 they drove out here were the 2 that spent the most time together. The 3rd would sleep alone all the time and not been seen much.

Well since the 2 came out one of them has started to loose weight where you can really feel the back bones, but her attitude is the same (playing and friendly and not overly sleeping) and as far as we can tell is eating fine. We have recently switched her to wet food (about half a can a day) with her dry food as the other cat does not eat any type of wet food, does like anything except dry cat food, so will not be stealing food. We wonder if that is what has been going on. Since putting her on the wet food she has started to gain a bit of weight again. We figure it will take some time to gain it back.

We also have the one who is loosing weight on a De-wormer regiment to make sure she does not have any worms. She was about 10lbs or so a year ago (was fat) then about 8lbs or so when she came here in Sept and now about 5lbs. The other cat is fine with her weight. She is getting on the chubby side so we are watching her food intake.

We got this one cat who is loosing weight and the one my parents have back in 2004 from a pound. They estimated that they were about 2 and a half. Now we are wondering if they are actually older then we thought. The other one we got in 2005 as a kitten.

I am trying to figure out if there is anything else we can do then we are now or if now it is just a waiting game and if she is hungry give her more food.

Thanks for any input.

[cr2009]

or wondering what else we can add to her diet to help her gain weight. She is starting to gain a bit at a time and suspect it will take at least 3 months to gain it back again if nothing is wrong.

[cr2009]

Well my parents cut down her food when she was there a bit as she was over weight.

This is about 3 pounds since Sept though I suspect part of it was from the 2 day drive to get out to my place.

Have not had a chance to take her to the vet as I have had to have some surgery lately and had to take time off.

Her peeing and bowel movements are all the same as before. Her coat is fine and she is cleaning herself. Feeling her stomach and petting her she does not pull away and actually wants her belly petted, like normal. She is not overly sleeping or overly active. She is basically her same self except a bit thinner.

That is why we were thinking she is older then we thought or that the other cat was stealing her food so it looked like she was eating.

[opus88]

to loose 50% of her weight in approximately a year there has to be something serious going on with her. Have you taken her for a Vet appointment recently? She needs to be examined and have some bloodwork done to get a diagnosis....
Has she been peeing more than usual too? given her approx age I would seriously be concerned about diabetes or CRF (chronic renal failure) but thats just a guess it could be many other possibilities that need medical attention.♥

[cr2009]

I have read those. I know a bit about pet food as I sold it for a bit, but this is what my cats like and we have to be careful when changing food with the one who has lost weight because when we first got her she got really sick with the food change even though we did it gradually.

Well one cat will not eat ANYTHING except dry food. Also this is only recently. We have made no change in food except add wet food to the one cat's diet to get her to gain weight.

[opus88]

also a link to a previous post I made on pet foods.....just trying to help out your kitty and I hope this doesn't offend you....we're all here for the good of our pets.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Cats/Best-to-Worst-Pet-Foods/show/1662153

[opus88]

sorry didn't mean to offend you, I was only trying to reply to your question.
sometimes its not the quantity but the quality of the food. Whiskas is not a great food in fact its probably one of the worst offenders for meat BY-PRODUCTS and not real meat...cats are carnivores and need high quality protein in their diets. not by-products and grains.
Perhaps this is why she is not thriving?
This isn't my own opinion, I can share many sites with you about good food...and I stress not dry food.
I will send you a couple sites to read and then you can decide for yourself.

www.catinfo.org

www.catnutrition.org

[cr2009]

1, I am doing the de-worming because she lost weight while still eating the same as before. I am doing the one time treatment following the instructions given to me.
2. It is half a 156g can plus dry food. We tried a whole can, but she does not eat it all. We give her more if she eats it. We are giving the same amount of dry food as they have always had.
3. The wet food is friskies.whiskas dry food.

Also please note that I am not a new cat owner. We have had these cats since 2004 and I have had cats all my life. I know how much to feed them.

[opus88]

I would stop the dewormer to start with, this isn't something they should be on continually...only a one time thing, its hard on their systems and could be why she is losing weight.
also you say half a can per day....what size can?
a 5lb. cat would need at least 5ounces per day....I think you are feeding her too little.
whats the name of the foods you are feeding?