Thin kitty

For the CFers happily owned by cats...what would you say constitutes a low body weight for a female cat? My girl Caspurr seems to have lost a little weight off her already tiny frame and looks to be about seven pounds, and I can feel her rib cage and spine. My mother thinks she has worms, but I have never seen any worms stuck to her bum or in her catbox...and she has eaten like a garbage disposal for years, so that's nothing new.

Mom wants me to try some roundworm treatment in her food to see if it helps, and if not, it's off to the vet. I'm just wondering how thin is too thin for a spayed female cat.

Take her to the vet. They can do a stool test to determine what type, if any, parasites are present, and they can do blood work if no other external symptoms present for a diagnosis.

I hope you don't have one of those outrageously-priced vets that just do every test in the book in order to hustle you for money.

If you had time, I could mail you a Drontal pill, which is a broad-spectrum wormer and COSTS only a few dollars a pop, but vets charge anywhere from $10-$25 a pop, and that's not including the office visit, check-up, and testing.

It is quite possible that there is something else going on, and of course I am not a vet. Usually, when worms are present, and by the time they have lost weight as you describe, their abdomen also becomes distended, and they look "fat" except for the fact that their bones stick out. This would not happen suddenly, but rather gradually over a period of 2 or 3 months.

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"I have learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is easy and fun as hell"

:eatu

See that's what I noticed, Poofy...Caspurr doesn't look bloated or pot-bellied. I've seen infested kittens and cats and Caspurr's belly isn't distended. She's scrawny and doesn't have much fat, if any...she's seriously skin and bones, but doesn't seem frail or weak. Plus she is an indoor-only cat and doesn't eat dead things outside that might give her worms, though it's possible a fly or something laid eggs on her food and got her sick.

I'll give her the roundworm medication soon and see if it helps. If not, I have some Giftmas cash I received that I'll use to take her to the vet. I can't really find much online as far as information about weight loss beyond feline leukemia and worms...worms seems like the more reasonable cause, but as said previously, her belly isn't distended. I know vet visits here are very expensive around here, usually upwards of $50 simply to go into the office and before any testing is even done. When my boy Rolly had a bladder stone and had to stay overnight at the clinic, I think the bill was something like $600.

If you lived in New England, I could get you an appointment with a vet at a very reasonable price. At least you seem to know the symptoms of various things. The problem is, there are more worms than round-worms. The good news is that if you give a cat a de-worming pill, and it doesn't have worms, the medication does not hurt the animal.

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"I have learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is easy and fun as hell"

:eatu

Yes, I know...there are tapeworms, heartworms and...hookworms? Do cats get those?

After doing more research, I am wondering if maybe my girl has hyperthyroidism or cat diabetes. I don't think either of those is deadly, thankfully, but both are characterized by a big appetite and weight loss,among other things. Part of me hopes it's nothing that will require lifetime medication because my mother loses her temper after about two seconds when trying to give cats pills. She does well caring for my kitties in my absence, but I've seen her almost strangle one of them when trying to give him a pill and he spat it out after the first try. Sooo, pills are totally uncool, though I know if it is diabetes, odds are it will involve an injection. The question, though, is where I can find the money to do this. It also eludes me because diabetes almost always occurs in obese cats, and my girl has never been fat.

I really hope it's just something that can be cured with one-time medication.

I've also been hearing some conflicting things about over-the-counter de-worming meds. I've been told they are very bad for cats and de-worming should only be done by a vet. But, if it was so bad, why the hell would they be sold OTC?

Worms or it may not be worms..
What kind of immunizations do they receive??

two cents ¢¢

CERTIFIED HOSEHEAD!!!

people (especially women) do not give ONE DAMN about what they inflict on children and I defy anyone to prove me wrong

Dysfunctional relationships almost always have a child. The more dysfunctional, the more children.

The selfish wants of adults outweigh the needs of the child.

Some mistakes cannot be fixed, but some mistakes can be 'fixed'.

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. Leo J. Burke

Adoption agencies have strict criteria (usually). Breeders, whose combined IQ's would barely hit triple digits, have none.

I think it could be thyroid. Diabetes you would have noticed from the beginning, although it's possible. Only blood-work can tell for sure these two.

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"I have learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is easy and fun as hell"

:eatu