Anorexic cat?

I think my cat has an eating disorder. She is extremely finicky and very skinny. She hates meat, despises fish, and runs away from canned cat food. The ironic thing is that my other cat will eat anything (even broccoli and orange juice) and she's super fat. Anyway, back to the skinny cat...unfortunately she also suffers with hairballs, but I bought a tube of Laxatone and she loved it! I think it actually helped her appetite because she gained half a pound. Now here is the weird thing...we went through one tube and I bought another. Now she won't touch it. Does anyone else have a cat this finicky?

So now I have to smear the Laxatone on her paw and then she looks at me like this:

Nice cat :) Have you checked her for worms? Cats are usually pretty sensible creatures that eat whatever or whenever they need to.

Hyperthyroid? I saw a methusalemic cat at a friend's who is soooo skinny, she says he is hyperthyroid.

My cats always seem to eat too much, and since they are indoor cats the weight just keeps adding up, at least on my orange male.

I feed mine Iams Indoor Weight and Hairball Control. If your cat would eat it it might help with the hairball problem. A weight control food would be better than nothing. Sophie rarely gets a hairball, even though she is obsessed with grooming herself AND Eddie too:)

Iams hairball formula is a great idea...currently I'm mixing Iams kitten food in with their regular CostCo food to try and get her weight up a bit. And she's eating it so I guess she doesn't hate the taste of Iams. Of course, the kitten food is heaven for my other cat...she's just getting fatter!

It's just really funny to have one cat who is basically a living garbage disposal and another cat who won't eat anything. She does like popcorn of all things. Maybe I'll have to start making that for her every day!

Maybe it's a territory thing? My cats won't eat out of the same bowl. They won't share the same sunny spot, and get in nasty fights over territory (then sometimes they're all lovey-dovey curled up around each other on the bed). Maybe you can separate the fat cat and let the skinny one eat first.

And I'd definitely have it dewormed.

Karen

Have your vet check the cat for kidney disease. Non-eating is the first obvious sign. Dehydration follows, even though they typically drink excessively in early kidney failure stage.

yeah, that's what i was thinking too. how old is she?

I don't think animals can have eating disorders! They are psychological in origin and unique to our freakish human culture. Definitely have your cat checked for hyperthyroidism, kidney/liver function, etc. Something is going on...

Good luck -- keep us posted.

Emily

I would have to agree with the others regarding a visit to the vet. Bloodwork and even an urinalysis is probably a good idea. Kidney disease, IBD, hyperthyroidism, dental disease, etc all come to mind. Check her water consumption, watch her litter box happens (frequency and volume), food consumption. If she does have some medical issue it is best to catch it early then to allow it to progress untreated. If the vet checks her out and all is normal then I would suggest visiting your local pet store and asking for sample bags of the foods they carry.

I'm kind of going back and forth on the vet thing. Poor thing was very sick about 8 weeks ago, throwing up bile and very lethargic, and I took her to the vet and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. We decided maybe it was just a humongous hair ball and they gave her fluids under the skin and told me to give her as much Laxatone as she'd take. He recommended blood work, but I took her home and within 48 hours, she bounced back to her old self.

Ever since then we've been doing the Laxatone, which she loved up til the second tube. She's gained about half a pound, which is actually kind of a big percentage gain because she only weighs 6.5 pounds. She very energetic and alert and looks/acts healthy (except for the skinny part). So we haven't been back to the vet. She's only 9years old, which the vet says is early for kidney problems, but he was suspicious. I'm not noticing any difference in water consumption or the litter box. For now, I just want to wait and see. She's always been thin...her name is Quinn and we call her Thin Miss Quinn.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I don't have any kids so my cats are like my children. I actually think having pets should be required for anyone who is going to become a parent!

Rollie: How old is your kitty?
As a vet, I have to agree with the need for bloodwork and urinalysis. She could possibly have a little kidney problem going on -- it often can cause finicky eating as a first clinical sign. Hyperthyroid often starts as "overeating, yet losing weight"... later it can lead to not eating as well, but not at first.

Either way, with the history of vomiting, and weight loss, I'd highly recommend bloodwork. At least you will have a basis on which to rule out other problems, and concentrate on whatever else may be going on. And an x-ray can SOMETIMES be very useful, and other times not so much. Unfortunately, you don't know if they help until you've taken a look at them. So keep this open if no other answers show up.

And obviously, if she is outside / hunter, have her stools checked for worms, and consider routine deworming for roundworms and tapeworms just to cover your bases.

I hope you come up with some answers soon and that she is feeling better. She is a sweet looking girl!
Jes

RP, I've had cats who have developed early kidney disease at a young age. Both Scooter and Saw were diagnosed at age nine. If you catch kidney disease early there are a lot of things you can do for your buddy. If you let it advance treatment becomes more difficult.

Go for the blood work. I have one kitty with hyperthyroid, one with diabeties, and one young and overweight (Bonnie, Herald, and Calypso respectively). Three cats, three different diets. I get my exercise keeping Herald (diabetic cat) from eating out of Bonnie's bowl.

I'll have to try Iams for Bonnie. She doesn't seem to like Science Diet anymore, but tries to steal Herald's SD prescription food all the time. I try to tell her that she can have the high calorie food, doesn't need low fat!

Hope your kitty gets to feeling better.

i second, or third or fourth - the idea of going to the vet. the not eating thing can be any number of medical issues. one of my cats, it was dental in nature. the one i have now, i figured the same thing, and turns out, he has cancer. we're at 5 months after that appt and he's still here, but the clock is ticking loudly on him.

i used to joke that the other one was bulimic, as she'd eat like a pig, then vomit. in hindsight, some of it was furball related, but when it got more frequent, it was actually the start of CRF, which i then treated with her for another 6 yrs until i had to put her down.

good luck, your kitty is quite beautiful!