Claudia sees the Vets today *Tomorrow Vet's Again* I'm really worried now

[Catlady711]

I'm assuming your cat is an older one from how you worded things.

It's far more common for an older cat to have a HIGH thyroid not a low one. Unless there were other indicators for a low thyroid doing a test would have just wasted your money.

If your cat is having a difficult time getting around it could be arthritis. Ask your vet about a glucosamine supplement. Dusty used to take Cosaquin for cats for years, it did help. If your cat is having a difficult time jumping or getting around it would cause them to burn less calories and would result in a weight gain which is harder on aging joints a vicious circle. Ask about the glucosamine at your vets, and also if your cat is over 7-10 years old make sure you are feeding a senior cat food, they have less calories, unless your cat is already on a special or prescription diet.

[KittyGurl]

Prayers for Claudia. Hope she feels better soon.

[Anikaca77]

Claudia actually just turned 5 years old last month.

I'm assuming your cat is an older one from how you worded things.

It's far more common for an older cat to have a HIGH thyroid not a low one. Unless there were other indicators for a low thyroid doing a test would have just wasted your money.

If your cat is having a difficult time getting around it could be arthritis. Ask your vet about a glucosamine supplement. Dusty used to take Cosaquin for cats for years, it did help. If your cat is having a difficult time jumping or getting around it would cause them to burn less calories and would result in a weight gain which is harder on aging joints a vicious circle. Ask about the glucosamine at your vets, and also if your cat is over 7-10 years old make sure you are feeding a senior cat food, they have less calories, unless your cat is already on a special or prescription diet.

[Catlady711]

Claudia actually just turned 5 years old last month.

At that age then it's probably not arthritis, could be limited jumping simply from the weight gain.

Has your vet suggested a light or weight reducing food? How much food are you feeding per day? Are you free-feeding? Does the cat get any treats or people food?

Sorry for all the questions, just wanting to help out if I can. My mom currently has an obese cat and I'm working with her to get her cat's weight down before she ends up with a diabetic cat.

[Freedom]

Hi Claudia!

Sparkle here. I am glad to here all went well at your vet check. Get rid of that nasty cold quickly, ya hear?

Now about this full figure situation. My vet told my Meowmie that one year. Next thing I knew, I had a light food diet, and a harness and leash to walk on daily exercise. YUCK! But in a few months I was looking like my old slender self and I felt lots better. I could even jump up onto Mom' s bureau again and swat off all the stuff! That is SO fun! You have to do that at about 2 AM to wake up those sleeping hoomans.

Best wishes!
Sparkle

[Anikaca77]

No I appreciate your questions, please ask away.

My vet is a very country doctor and older ways. She did suggest that once my kitten reaches 1 year old to start feeding all of my guys weight management food.

My other cat though Hermes has a very sensitive stomach so I'm not sure if that will work for him or not.

I'm not free feeding anymore I use to. I have 6 cats so I have 6 cat food bowls and each cat gets a handful of food twice a day.

They don't get any treats only once in a blue moon....most of my cats don't care for treats so we limit them.

Also, she is one that hates people food so we don't share our food with her. There is really only our one cat in the house that really enjoy's people food.

My vet says she doesn't think it's her thyroid and that means I'll probably end up taking Claudia to a more modern vet so I can get her treated better so she doesn't have that bulge around her hips as you can see in the one picture I took of her sitting next to 2 of my other cats.

At that age then it's probably not arthritis, could be limited jumping simply from the weight gain.

Has your vet suggested a light or weight reducing food? How much food are you feeding per day? Are you free-feeding? Does the cat get any treats or people food?

Sorry for all the questions, just wanting to help out if I can. My mom currently has an obese cat and I'm working with her to get her cat's weight down before she ends up with a diabetic cat.

[Catlady711]

No I appreciate your questions, please ask away.

My vet is a very country doctor and older ways. She did suggest that once my kitten reaches 1 year old to start feeding all of my guys weight management food.

My other cat though Hermes has a very sensitive stomach so I'm not sure if that will work for him or not.

I'm not free feeding anymore I use to. I have 6 cats so I have 6 cat food bowls and each cat gets a handful of food twice a day.

They don't get any treats only once in a blue moon....most of my cats don't care for treats so we limit them.

Also, she is one that hates people food so we don't share our food with her. There is really only our one cat in the house that really enjoy's people food.

My vet says she doesn't think it's her thyroid and that means I'll probably end up taking Claudia to a more modern vet so I can get her treated better so she doesn't have that bulge around her hips as you can see in the one picture I took of her sitting next to 2 of my other cats.

I tend to agree with your country vet that it's probably not the thryroid. It's not impossible but improbable in cats, in dogs it's more common. But I'd think that if you insisted on spending the extra $$ for peace of mind on the blood test that your vet would at least accomodate you.

Two handfulls of food a day is rather subjective, I have large hands so my handful could be ALOT of food for a cat. Try getting a cheap or old measuring cup and measure out your fat cats food for a week and see how much your 'handfuls' really are per day. Compare that with what your bag of food says to feed. Remember most food bags have a slightly elevated chart for feeding, so you'd want to shoot for just a bit less than it says.

If that doesn't get some weight off try feeding your fat cat a light or weight reducing formula. You've already said you feed the cats separately so it shouldn't be alot of extra work to feed one cat something different.

I feed 3 different lifestages of food for my 7 cats, and one has to have medicine in his food, so for me feeding different things to different cats at the same time seems normal. lol My cats get fed 3-4 times a day and the bowls are only down until they are empty (for the fat kitties) or when they walk away (for the kitties that know when to stop eating) then I pick up their bowls till the next feeding time.

Feeding twice a day is good. It usually makes cats less hungry on a diet than just feeding once a day, and is better for their metabolism to have it spread out at least twice a day.

Good luck.

[kimlovescats]

I'm glad to hear that Claudia's check was a good one! I would also just try a "lighter" diet and see if that helps her "fluffiness"!