I have an elderly male cat who is very thin has a very dull coat which is dry and tends to tangle. We've just put him on medication for a hyperactive thyroid, so hopefully the weight problem will ease. However, my family and I are at a loss as to how to improve his fur coat, no matter what we feed him, nothing seems to help.

We feed him either Bench and Field dry cat food, Science Diet (Adult) cat food (since he's so skinny, he needs as much fat as possible), and Friskies canned cat food.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

-- Anonymous, January 19, 2000

Answers

Is this a condition that he has had for some time or is just recently happening? Is he a good eater and still thin? Has the vet tested him for worms? Is he a indoor or outdoor cat? Is he active and playful? Does he have fleas?

I would keep him indoors and get some sort of dietary supplement such as Nutri-Cal. It's a high calorie supplement which cats seem to like the taste of. Also, I heard that mixing a little vegetable oil in with their wet food would improve the coat along with frequent brushing. Make sure he is worm and flea free and I think you'll see some improvement. I hope so.

Linda

-- Anonymous, January 19, 2000

Linda,

Platinum (the one which is affected) has always been thin, but the past few months his weight has plummeted. I don't think it's the diet either because our other four cats are all well-fed (in fact a bit too chubby) and coats are shiny and sleek. All of the cats are indoors, but we did bring in a stray and "convert" him into an indoor cat a few months ago.

All of our cats are flea-free and I believe worm-free too. However, there is a problem with earmites, but I've been treating all of our cats for this. Platz seems to be the only one with the weight loss... He does have bursts of energy, and still plays occasionally, though I'm not quite so concerned about that because of his advanced age (15 years). Thanks for the advice about the Nutri-Cal and the veggie oil, I'd have never thought of that. I certainly hope it does work, because the hamburger "snacks" I've been giving him are getting expensive, and I'm leery of adding raw egg to his food (I was told that this would help add nutrients to his food, but I'm afraid of giving him samonella). I brush him almost every day and he loves it, so the brushing routine won't be a problem at all.

Thanks again!

-- Anonymous, January 20, 2000

Deb M. Has your vet ruled out Diabetes? One of my MC's had the same problem. He had weight loss, even though I fed him extra. He lost his coat and what coat he had, looked dull. My vet did a blood sugar test and sure enough the cat was diabetic. I have to give him an insulin shot every day. He has gained weight, his coat is coming back and it feels soft and has a good sheen to it.

-- Anonymous, January 20, 2000

Rosemary,

I believe the vet did test Platz for diabetes, in fact he did $150 worth of blood tests, and they all came back negative except for the hyperactive thyroid.

Since giving him the thyroid medicine, I've noticed that Platz is putting on weight, but his coat still isn't any better. I guess I'll have to change his diet a bit?

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2000