Webber OTJ 2 months - lost one pound since last month

Hello All!! Webber is doing great......but I just weighed him b/c DH mentioned that he looked "leaner" and he has dropped from 12.5 to 11.5 since last month. One thing I should mention is that he is very very active now that his BG are normal *antijinx* and plays almost constantly. Is this anything I should worry about or is it normal for a cat to lose weight if active?

He is eating well and everything else seems good, except for constipation (which we have dealt with forever).

ETA - I have also switched diet from FF to LC Wellness in the last month. Could this have changed his weight?

Thanks!!!

 

Hi Paige!

It could just be the food. I've been trying to get one of our heavier ones to drop some weight and I thought by just moving to LC would help, but it hasn't made a dent with him. It has leaned out the other ones and they haven't significantly changed their play behavior.

What do you think he should weigh?

 

Hi Amy! Honestly I have not the slightest of what he should weigh :lol: He started out ~14 pounds before his diagnosis but he lost 2 pounds and was down to 12.5 once we got his BG stable. I hope it is the diet and activity. He doesn't look bad at al and DH said that he looked "lean".....so I don't know if that means he is just more "fit"? Thank you for your input. I had forgot that I switched their food since a month ago. Hmmm

ETA - oops! I meant he started out at 14 pounds!!!

 

I think that is the very VERY top end of weight to lose in that time period.. if you weren't checking his BGs on a regular basis.. I'd say get the cat to the vet asap for a blood panel..

But.. if BGs are good.. and cat seems fine.. that's a "decent" indication that the cat is probably ok.. probably be worth weighing him more often.. once a week perhaps.. try to do it at the same time of day.. as like in people, cats weights fluctuate a lot throughout the day.

 

Hi Dawn - I realized that I made a booboo and said he weight 24 pounds! :lol: I have been testing him on a regular basis. I just hid that SS so that everyone wouldn't know how I still test him about every 5 days. :roll:

Thanks!! I am going to weigh him more often. And after I started thinking....the Wellness cans are smaller than the Sophisticat that I used to feed them and Webber does wake me up every morning hungry. Maybe he (and the others) are not getting enough to eat. I opened an extra can just now for overnight and we will see what is left in the morning. :mrgreen:

 

Yeah I assumed the 24 pounds was a typo haha.. I posted based on him going from 12.5 to 11.5 in a month (8%).. 2% body weight per week is the most aggressive guidelines I've seen.. either way.. 2% is pretty aggressive for not trying for it..

Comparatively.. if you weigh say 130 pounds.. at the same rate you would be losing 2.5 pounds a week.. which is entirely too fast to do on purpose for people.. and most certainly "by accident".. an average person would have to eat 2 or 3 days worth less of food in a week to drop that fast..

I assume cats are slightly different.. because on Dr. Lisa's site she says:
"A safe rate of weight loss is 1 - 2% of their current body weight per week." (http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.h ... eight_Loss)

and I assume she knows what she's talking about . Still something to keep an eye on since you weren't trying for it..

I figured that you're still testing once in a while.. I think any BG home-testing maniac probably runs for the meter any time they think something might be "off".. I suspected you did the same and would have posted something much different if there was a BG problem..

 

Hmmmm. Arnie was dx Feb 1 and went OTJ after 2 wks. He's gone to all wet food and has only lost 1# I think it is. He was 15.2# today. The DR wants him down ideally to about 12#. He's going slowly but we're getting there.

 

I don't know Paige, it seems like a lot to lose in a short period of time. Boomer has also lost weight since his DX in November, but I'm not sure how much because I don't remember his weight then. Does Webber seem okay other than constipation? Does he have IBD? Boomer has IBD (the puking kind) but there is a constipation kind too.

I really don't want to go to the vet for a while. if Boomer makes it through his GUM trial I hope to have a nice summer, ya know what I mean? ;-)

 

I know exactly what you mean. Now that we get them OTJ I am afraid that the stress from the vet will send him back. :mrgreen:

I forgot that I changed all their diet about a month ago and one other cat has lost one pound too. Maybe it is just the food. They do seem to eat more and the cans are a little smaller. I am going to start leaving out more food. Bad mommy!! :roll:

ETA - no IBD (knock on wood).