How do I help my cat put on weight?

[claws n purrs]

I wouldn't worry too much about having a thin cat as some are just naturally that way. Freya is small and thin for her age but that's because her mother had two litters in a very short space of time and Freya was part of the second litter (We also adopted her sister, Morgan who is slightly bigger but not by much). They are nine months old now but look much younger. They don't eat a massive amount but enough to keep them happy and healthy so I it doesn't concern me.
I would take a trip to the vets to have her checked out, given the recent weight loss, but I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.

Dee

[Millys Mum]

4.5 isnt so dainty! 600g lost is quite alot in such a short time so i would go to the vets for check up. If you use a collar you could put a note on it requesting she isnt fed.

[Linda (Bengalbabe)]

I'd definately get a vets opinion.  Could be she is just naturally petite bless her.

Hills AD is one of the best things i have found for putting weight on my bengals.  Its a fab product and they dont need to eat much to get nutrition from it.  It can be served as is, heated, mixed with water etc.  Its a bit more expensive than normal foods but well worth it.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I would be a bit alarmed by the weight loss so would recommend a vet visit to rule out any medical cause.  Some cats are just small and don't eat much, but if she's lost over half a kg, that's quite a significant proportion of her body weight.  It may just be the time of year, and she may put some weight on during the winter, but I would get her checked out by the vet.

Is she eating adult food? You could try her on kitten food, esp as she's still young.  It contains more calories than adult food.

[Desley (booktigger)]

Moses is like this, but cos she is so active, I am not concerned, but do supplement her with cat milk and meat when Rolo isn't about (he has got to a perfect weight now). Maybe giving her treats will help put your mind at ease, but some are naturally dainty.

[Gwen]

I am a tad concerned about Rammy too,well not too concerned but he is a lot more active (in the garden all day really) and eating 3 pouches a day and the tiniest amount of dry food,he's is very skinny (my sister said this the other day) but like I said he's a lot more active so he's burning it off,he's got the dry food there if he wants it 24 7 but he prefers to wait til pouch/tin time,I wouldnt worry too much about it,I'd be more worried if a cat was very overweight and not able to exercise JMO

[Kittybabe (Ruth)]

Cats tend to naturally eat less when its warmer. Lexy did the same so I leave her a little amount of wet food in the morning and mostly dry so she can nibble. And then late at night she gets the rest of the pouch (about two thirds) and she eats it all.

If you are worried, still take her to the vet just to eliminate anything that might possibly be wrong. It will put your mind at rest and you can then see that in winter she will more than likely pop on a bit extra.

[Lily]

Lily is 18 months old and still fairly small, I think this is because she was a stray and had a litter when she was under a year old.  I've had her 6 months and she doesn't seem to be growing any more and I've just bought her a new collar and it's a kitten size as her neck is so small.

She doesn't eat much, I started off giving her half a pouch of wet food morning and evening and leaving out some dry for her, but she never finished it all.  So I changed to a third of a pouch morning and evening and dry left out all day but she never finishes that either.  So I changed a few weeks ago to just giving her a third of a pouch once a day and leaving out more dry.  Now she hardly touches it at all.  I was away the last two nights and left her with plenty of food in her timed eating thing, came back and she's hardly touched anything.  So I gave her half a pouch of wet food and she ate half of it.

I tried her with lots of different wet food when I got her and settled with Nature's Menu as she seemed to like that best and also tried lots of dry food and settled on Nutro which she happily ate for a while.

I weighed her this morning and she has lost weight, she was 4.5kg a few months ago and now she's 3.9kg.  Is this a summer thing?  Should I be worried?  She's very happy in herself, very purry and playful, she goes out a lot which makes me think that maybe she's getting fed elsewhere but I'm not sure.

Any advice?