Diet Food

Has your cat lost a good amount of wieght on diet food?

I have had my cat on diet food for about 8 months now and he keeps gradually loosing wieght. I'm starting to think he's loosing to much. He was kinda fat and now he's maybe average or below average. Do you think the food is main reason or maybe he has tape worms? Does heartworms make cats loose wieght? He never goes outside either, he is strictly an indoor cat. I can't get an appointment until Friday. I'm a little worried.

Cats are infected with heartworms by the bite of an infected mosquitoe. Mosquitoes live in swampy areas where the water is still. Do you live near a place like that?

As for the tapeworms, they come from fleas. Kitty grooms himself and ingests a flea. The tapeworm cycle begins. Fleas are everywhere..dry areas and wet areas. Even if kitty doesn't go outside, you or your family can bring fleas in yourself, they can come through open doors and windows.

Does kitty eat well, just continuing to lose weight? Loosing weight is a sign for many illness. The vet will draw blood and maybe urine for analysis and check his thyroid, kidneys, liver, blood sugar levels and CBC.

If the vet is concerned about the heartworms, he can use a few drops to examine under a microscope for microfilaria (heartworm larvae). And also perform inhouse antibody test. Outward signs of heartworm can be similar to other illnesses, but coughing and rapid/difficulty breathing are two signs that make the vet consider heart problems.

I have attached a link with good information on heartworms in cats, plus a map of the US showing high concentration areas.

Also, what kind of 'diet food' do you have kitty on? Many of the diet foods are dry and generally dry food does not have the best nutrition for kitties. Cats are carnivores and need meat. The diet formulas are full of corn and grains, but no meat. I will attach another link to cat nutrition written by a veterianarian and cat lover.

The third link is to a cat body condition weight chart. You can compare your kitty to this chart to see if he is at his ideal or underweight.

Purrs to you and kitty.

---