# What is a healthy weight for a domestic long hair?



## AliDenise (Nov 22, 2017)

My cat Yoshi has been underweight for quite some time and had been continually losing weight for the past couple years. After a full exam by the vet, we couldn't find what was causing her weight loss, except for her just not eating enough. I used to feed her dry food and just leave it out for her since she never ate a ton in one sitting, but once I actually measured how much she was eating, it was way less than what she should be.

Anyways I changed her food as per her vets' request to a high calorie wet food that is gentle on the tummy and she loves it. She has been eating 1.25 cans (each can is 5.8oz) a day, which is the recommended amount for underweight cats.

Last Wednesday she weighed in at 6.7 pounds, and this morning she weighs 8.4 pounds! I'm super happy that she is gaining weight and eating the right amount. 

My question is, at what weight should I go down to just 1 can a day, which is the recommended amount for a normal weight? How much should she weigh when healthy? Or is this something that is determined by her vet?


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## smoda61 (Oct 4, 2017)

IMO this is super individual to the cat. On a long hair, I think weight is harder to see. Basically, I would first see how the cat "feels". Are you feeling a lot of bone still, or are you feeling a lot of jiggle. Our cat who passed away 3 years ago at 18+ had a "high" weight of around 9. She was always a lean structured cat. We have a boy at the moment, who we adopted at 8.25 lb. He is now 9.75 lb, but still all lean hard muscle. If he had it his way, he would be eating 12 ox wet food a day ATM. Limiting him to about 10 oz. 

Congrats on turning things around. What is the cat food you vet is suggesting? Han's digestive system is still a work in process, so I am always looking for ideas.

Oh, also, you can google images on how to tell if your cat's weight is right.


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## SilverSageClev (Sep 21, 2016)

That should be determined by your vet. Each cat is different. For example my cat Whiskey is huge. He is 13.5 pounds and is at a perfect weight for his huge frame. He is happy, healthy, and his vet recommends no changes.

My friend's cat on the other hand is also 13.5 lbs and she is morbidly obese.

Some cats are healthy around 5 lbs, but can you imagine my huge cat who is a perfect weight dropping almost two thirds of his body weight? I'm not sure he could be ALIVE at 5lbs!

In short, that's something you need to call the vet for. I'm sure they will be happy for you and your cat and able to give clear guidance.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Nuliajuk (Oct 25, 2014)

Your vet should be able to tell you what sort of weight your cat will be healthiest at, based on frame size. For example, my large male cat is slender at 15 pounds, while my little female cat is healthy and trim at only 9 pounds.
Many vet clinics have this chart hanging up somewhere:
Obesity - Countryside Veterinary Clinic, LLP - Lowville, NY


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## AliDenise (Nov 22, 2017)

Thanks for the comments! I think I'll take her to the vet once she reaches 10 pounds. She still looks a little bit on the thin side to me, even though it's hard to tell since she's so fluffy.

Also smoda, my vet recommended Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy canned food. I know that a lot of people say that it isn't the greatest ingredient wise, but it's the only thing so far I've found that Yoshi will eat a ton of and it has solved her diarrhea problems and helped her gain weight. As far as I'm concerned, I think it's better for her to be eating and not be going to the litter box every 15 minutes instead of having the highest quality food that gives her stomach trouble (she's tried LOTS of the "best" foods out there, all of which her stomach was sensitive to).


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## smoda61 (Oct 4, 2017)

Alidenise - Han's internal medicine guy gave us some samples of the Royal Canin Selected protein to try. So far Han will kind of eat it (first time this morning). I think it is the texture that he does not like and I had to blend it with some FF kitten to get him to eat more than an ounce (mind you yesterday breakfast was two 3 ounce FF pate)


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## Nuliajuk (Oct 25, 2014)

Absolutely, AliDenise! When my old brown tabby was at the end of his life, starting to succumb to kidney problems, we'd feed him whatever he was willing to eat. If it works, it works.


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## AliDenise (Nov 22, 2017)

I hope that Han starts to feel better smoda! I think Royal Canin does have some other styles of wet food if Han isn't taken to that kind; Yoshi loves the pate but I know they also have the chunky gravy stuff that some cats prefer. 

I agree Nuliajuk! Sometimes the cat just knows whats best for them more than we do


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

The way to tell if a cat is a proper weight is to wrap your hands around their rib cage with your thumbs along the spine (cat should be standing and you should approach from the back). You should be able to feel the ribs and spine with a thin layer of fat over them. If you can feel bones without using any pressure, the cat is underweight. If you have to dig your fingers in, it's overweight. 

There is also this chart that can help visually (of course with a long haired cat you'll have to make allowances for all the fur):

http://www.thecovevets.com/files/9514/4685/7883/PetSmart-weight-chart1.jpg


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## smoda61 (Oct 4, 2017)

doodlebug, thanks for that "test". Since our adopting Han, he has gained almost 1.5 pounds and like Alidenise, the new worry is when does one try to limit further gains. Using that "thumb on the spine" rule, Han is now is at a good weight. Will continue to watch and see if he should naturally be any bigger or not. Our only wonder has been that is head has been "too large for his body". That is the main reason, I would consider letting him continue to gain for a bit. We had joked when we adopted him that we were going to change is name to "Big Head". 

Alidenise - Yesterday was day 1 for try Royal Canin. Han was not impressed. We had to add in some of the FF classic pate that he has been stable on. I still do want to see what this does for his system. Yesterday was the venison and today was the duck (he was even less impressed). Meanwhile, I have spent the morning looking at more wet food options. First thing I noticed about the Royal Canin Selected Protein, is the high level of carbohydrate (almost 20%) which is something I will consider for the short run, but I am trying to do better than that. So with Han's resistance and the % carb, I will not push his eating unless I see litter box benefits in the next 24 hours. I then started looking at other LID diets. I looked at Instinct grain free line up, only one, the chicken, was under the preferred 10% carb with all but the salmon just over the 10% so not bad except for their price. Tried the Natural Balance LID lineup and the only one under 10% was the duck and green pea, and I feel like people keep saying to avoid pea protein.  Then I went to the Halo site and looked at the Sensitive stomach lineup, regular grain free lineup and Gluten free lineup. The numbers made the calculator go crazy, so I called the 800# and the carbs are the lowest I have encountered in a wet cat food and for me, there is the sensitive stomach 4 product lineup. The CS rep said that a lot of diabetic cat parents use their food to handle the disease. The ingredients to my eye looked good. Price point is pretty much like a prescription food. Anyhow, I think I am going to check some of these out.

As a little bit TMI comment, Han finally used the little box today and I was shocked. I think he is borderline constipated now. Looked like giant rabbit pellets. I guess foods do make a huge difference with him.

Just called Young Again for info on their dry food, incase I would like to include that and they surprised me with offering to send two samples. For down the road when we travel and have a pet sitter, I would like dry to be part of the daily feeding, but have found none I am willing to use and Han will eat and not have digestive upset.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

smoda61 said:


> doodlebug, thanks for that "test". Since our adopting Han, he has gained almost 1.5 pounds and like Alidenise, the new worry is when does one try to limit further gains. Using that "thumb on the spine" rule, Han is now is at a good weight. Will continue to watch and see if he should naturally be any bigger or not. Our only wonder has been that is head has been "too large for his body". That is the main reason, I would consider letting him continue to gain for a bit. We had joked when we adopted him that we were going to change is name to "Big Head".


Yeah, I had the opposite problem with Misty (who is a very furry Maine ****)...she was overweight when I got her. Put her on the amount of food I thought was appropriate for weight loss. But then after a couple months I did the 'test' and found she was getting too thin. Upped her food and she's perfect now. The difference between too thin and perfect is 1/8 cup of kibble per day. 

Unneutered males get very large heads....if he wasn't neutered as a kitten that may be the reason for a big head.


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## smoda61 (Oct 4, 2017)

Doodlebug - that is amazing that 2 TB makes such a difference in a cat's diet.

On Han's head, I thought for the longest time trying to decide if you were making a joke about male cats and concluded it was not. Han's history is a huge unknown. The area where is was caught is know has an area with a lot of transient residents who buy kittens for their children and then release them to the wild. Han though found in the wild, he is great with people and, as for neutering, every vet double checks whether Han is actually neutered due the decorative nature of his back side (hopefully you get my point). We have wondered if that might indicate he was older at the time of neutering.


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## AliDenise (Nov 22, 2017)

Thanks doodlebug, I'll try that test out with Yoshi as soon as she stops playing with a piece of yarn she found and isn't so rambunctious 

Smoda, the Royal Canin food that Yoshi is on is prescription, so it's possible that the selections they have available just at stores isn't as great for tummy issues. Yoshi also has a fortiflora probiotic spinkled on her food and she enjoys the taste of that as well and it helps her with litter box issues- have you tried probiotics for Han yet?

If Han is constipated pretty badly then he should probably go for a vet trip. When Yoshi was straining to go #2 her vet was pretty concerned and scheduled an ultrasound. She luckily went back to normal the day before the ultrasound was supposed to happen, so her vet decided not to do it and cause stress if it wasn't necessary.


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## AliDenise (Nov 22, 2017)

I just saw your thread "Soft stools" smoda, and if Han went from having diarrhea to being constipated, it could be because his system is just so inflamed from the diarrhea that it now is painful for him to go #2. This is exactly what happened with Yoshi; diarrhea for a little bit which then turned to constipation. Her vet explained everything to me and as soon as we got her the proper treatment and healed her tummy, the issues went away.

(couldn't edit my original post, past 5 minutes)


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## smoda61 (Oct 4, 2017)

AliDenise - The Royal Canin cans I was given to test were prescription as well. I also have a box of fortiflora which is one of the probiotics I have used. I also have a basic human blend with no flavor enhancement like the fortiflora (neither cat actually liked the fortiflora taste despite all I have heard) and have another recommended probiotic coming in this week. Those are the basic probiotics. Additionally, I consistently use the S. Boulardii which I swear is helping a ton. As for the constipation, it has only been the one time and it was today. It was such a contrast to every other stool preceding. That is interesting that Yoshi swung from one extreme to the other. Can you repeat what the vet told you was going on with Yoshi? In 9 days, we have a followup with the internal medicine vet.


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## AliDenise (Nov 22, 2017)

Oops, sorry, I didn't realize that it was prescription. Hopefully you find a food that he likes soon!

We never actually figured out what was "going on" with her. I changed her food from dry to wet about 2 months ago, and she immediately started having horrible diarrhea. I assumed that the change in food was causing her tummy troubles so I switched her back to her old food and the diarrhea stopped. The diarrhea in total lasted about a week. I didn't take her to the vet during this time because the timing was so coincident with the food change and I figured it was just the food causing it. However, after the diarrhea stopped, I noticed that she was still going to the litter box frequently - like 5-10 times in an hour! I followed her in a couple times and noticed that she was straining to go #2 and barely anything would come out of her. I waited a few more days to see if the issue was just caused by her tummy being hurt by the food change, but at this point it had been almost three weeks since the food change & that just seemed too long to still be causing problems in my opinion. 

I took her to the vet and they did blood work and a urinalysis, and found nothing wrong with her except for slightly elevated thyroid levels. They weren't high enough to be classified as hyperthyroid though, so my vet was hesitant to say that that was the issue (since hyperthyroidism can cause diarrhea- she was also continually losing weight during this time as well, which is another symptom). The vet decided that an ultrasound should be done to figure out what was causing her problems. She thought that the timing with the food change was just a coincidence and that the new food didn't actually cause all this (she had been on the wet food a few years prior when she had dental work done and there were no problems). My vet is super busy though so the ultrasound wasn't scheduled until a few days later.

Anyways, the vet gave me Metronidazole to help her with the pooping problems while we waited for the ultrasound. Unfortunately, Yoshi is one of the rare few who cannot tolerate this antibiotic and had the first seizure in her life after three days of being on it. The vet said that it's rare, but can happen. We stopped giving it to her (obviously), and she had another seizure a few days later. Apparently it can take 1-2 weeks for the neurological effects to go away (we're 1.5 weeks since stopping it now and she hasn't had a seizure since one week ago today. Hopefully they're gone for good now). 

After all this, my vet decided to try the Royal Canin food just to get her to eat something while we waited for the ultrasound. She was eating maybe 1-2 tablespoons of her old dry food A DAY, still straining to go #2, and losing weight incredibly fast. A week ago today, we started giving her the Royal Canin food and she ate 1.25 cans in one sitting. She absolutely loves it and is still gobbling down 1-1.25 cans a day. She has gained 1.7 pounds since then, her coat looks much better, and she is way more active and playful. Best of all, her poops are back to normal. I called the vet to tell her and they cancelled the ultrasound, thinking that it could all have possibly been caused by a sudden sensitivity to her food and that she just needed the right kind for her. 

It still is possible that all of this was caused by her thyroid levels being a bit high, but my vet recommended to avoid treating it for now since the medication has pretty rough side effects and we already know that she is really sensitive to medications. I'll be taking her in to get her blood tested at least every year to keep an eye on it for now.

But yeah, the vet told me that the sudden swing from diarrhea to constipation was because her intestines were so irritated and inflamed from all the diarrhea that it was actually hurting her to use the litter box, so she couldn't squeeze out more than a little bit at a time.


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## smoda61 (Oct 4, 2017)

Sounds like quite the rollercoaster you have been on. I know in Han's case, we and the shelter owner felt that Han's diarrhea was diet and stress induced with the change to our home. It was only after it remained a month later, with no improvement or maybe even a worsening, that we returned to the vet. To be honest, that visit was virtually no help.

I find it interesting that your vet's first step was to go a medication route. I don't know anything about the medication but I have seen your posts discussing it and member's responses to you. I feel like most of the time I see constipation and miralax or psyllium mentioned, but I am no vet.

That is amazing and great that diet alone is taking care of your Yoshi. In Han's case, I am thinking that diet is his solution as well. I just have to figure it out. You should see my daily log. On the food changes, after my initial fiascos I decided to go with FF classic pate to try for a stabilizing state (cheap and easy to get) as certain ones in their lineup are grain free and low carb and my instinct is there is a connection for him. I also took away all dry to remove another variable and added the S. Boulardii I read about. That got him to the 90% point - then the drontal was given, I allowed Han access to dry food, and the doc told me to add psyllium. One of those too many variables caused a return to pudding poop. So i began again with the probiotics and FF alone. Trying to see if I can get to 100% through the foods. I will attempt the psyllium to see its value again before the re-check with the Dr. next week.

Thyroidism is a pain in the neck, but I will say not fatal. My beautiful girl, Duchess was diagnosed around the age of 8 or 10 (like is a blur) and she lived a very happy like to the age of 18+. At times, we did pills and at other times of her life it was transdermal through her ear. I wonder if there is some holistic advice out there for you to help with the thyroid levels.

Your Vet's comment is interesting and in a way is similar to IBD descriptions in that IBD can manifest as diarrhea or constipation. So odd..

Glad things are going well, good luck!


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