Cat Chat 2

[Sixx O'Clock]

Hello I have a question for those who know more about cat illnesses
It's not my cat, but my friend's and their cat is having a problem

Their cat eats a lot, he overeats a lot. I googled why cats do this, but he isn't losing weight, he's gaining a lot of weight and he looks like a fat meatball
He also throws up kinda often, it might be hairballs but I don't know. Is this something they should take the cat to the vet for? Or what is something they can do to help with this (other than feeding less)

That's something they should honestly take him to the vet for. He needs a specific diet that the vet will be able to help with.

[Lunarsnow]

Hello I have a question for those who know more about cat illnesses
It's not my cat, but my friend's and their cat is having a problem

Their cat eats a lot, he overeats a lot. I googled why cats do this, but he isn't losing weight, he's gaining a lot of weight and he looks like a fat meatball
He also throws up kinda often, it might be hairballs but I don't know. Is this something they should take the cat to the vet for? Or what is something they can do to help with this (other than feeding less)

The rule of thumb is if you're very concerned about anything your pet is doing or if there's any sudden changes in behavior/appearance, call a vet and tell them your concerns. They'll be able to tell you if it's something that needs an appointment. But yeah frequent vomiting is not normal and something a vet should probably check out just in case it's serious. And if he's gaining weight rapidly then that's another flag.

If he's free fed, he could just be overeating because he's bored (or being fed too much if he has scheduled feeding) and eating too fast which makes him throw up. In that case all you really need is more playtime/stimulation and a slow eating bowl (or even a hunt feeder). But he could have a medical condition or nutritional deficiency or illness that's causing him to eat a lot and random online people on a virtual pet site can't diagnose that properly. Even if one of us were a vet, the pet still needs to be seen in person and any advice from online is just guessing.

[lexthedestroyer]

Hello I have a question for those who know more about cat illnesses
It's not my cat, but my friend's and their cat is having a problem

Their cat eats a lot, he overeats a lot. I googled why cats do this, but he isn't losing weight, he's gaining a lot of weight and he looks like a fat meatball
He also throws up kinda often, it might be hairballs but I don't know. Is this something they should take the cat to the vet for? Or what is something they can do to help with this (other than feeding less)

A vet would be helpful definitely, but one of my cats also does this. He's so excited to get food that he eats way too much, has a knack for finding treat bags and tearing them open and gorging himself, and used to swipe pieces of pizza either from the box or right off our plates! He's also stolen a taco, and once tore open an industrial bag of dry food, despite the fact that we had a bowl always filled for him. A slow feeding might be a good option, or scheduled meal times instead. Chances are, he's just overeager to get to the food.

[Maplefire309]

Hi! I have two cats, Hope, a female dilute tortoiseshell, and Ollie, an male orange tabby.

Yesterday they both weren't at the barn where I keep them. There's a lot of spots to hide there, but we heard Ollie meowing after we walked past the old barn to check on our chickens. We soon found him. This barn blew over about 2 or 3 years before, and there are old boards with nails everywhere and rusty shingles. Ollie was acting weird, and staying in one spot by me feet meowing, and went underneath and kept meowing, so I crawled down to look, and Hope was underground. I didn't pick her up, because that is probably where she'll have her kittens. I'm going to check tomorrow, and post if there are kittens!

[oakhearted]

Hello there, I have two adult cats and one small baby kitten, Her name is Ginger, She's the one in my profile picture <3
Anyways, My kitten ginger has finally got used to wearing a collar lol, She eats around two slots of wet food (morning and dinner), She's starting to enjoy cat biscuits, Also, She's been meowing and purring lately, mainly to go outside, But mum says no because she doesnt come back until 5 hours or so has gone past, or sometimes not even that! Also, when she's inside, she likes to chirp at birds at the window (this is during the daytime) and sleep, The dogs and her also love to play and have fun c: So far things have been going great, but there is some downsides but yeah, Welcome to owning a kitten maturing to an adult cat!

[crescent knight]

I'm a bit worried. Me and my mom were packing her car (going on vacation tomorrow) and we saw a cat. He was a very sweet, friendly cat. We were petting him for a while, and when I pulled my hand up to look at it. my hand was covered with dirt. Not only was my hand covered with dirt, but I could feel the dirt on his fur. What should I do? I'm not sure if he's owned by anybody. My mom was wondering if he was owned by anybody too. See, the thing is that a lot of people in my neighborhood let their cats outside. This could be a simply be the case of an ignorant cat owner who always lets their cat out, but it felt like the cat had not been washed in months. His paws were also black with some sort of soot. Should I get him checked to see if he has a chip?

[ohcrow]

I'm a bit worried. Me and my mom were packing her car (going on vacation tomorrow) and we saw a cat. He was a very sweet, friendly cat. We were petting him for a while, and when I pulled my hand up to look at it. my hand was covered with dirt. Not only was my hand covered with dirt, but I could feel the dirt on his fur. What should I do? I'm not sure if he's owned by anybody. My mom was wondering if he was owned by anybody too. See, the thing is that a lot of people in my neighborhood let their cats outside. This could be a simply be the case of an ignorant cat owner who always lets their cat out, but it felt like the cat had not been washed in months. His paws were also black with some sort of soot. Should I get him checked to see if he has a chip?

personally, i would ask around to see if anyone owns the cat, and if you don't find anyone, ask your local vet if you can borrow a TNR trap, or if he will let you, use a cat carrier. you can trap him, get him to the vet, and yeah, i'd see if he has a microchip. he may be a feral, and in that case, you may want to go through the TNR process with him. in other cases, he may be a stray, since he's friendly, but is still living in the wild. my sister's doing a TNR project on a feral colony not far from our house, and this sounds a lot like a friendly feral. <3

[crescent knight]

I'm a bit worried. Me and my mom were packing her car (going on vacation tomorrow) and we saw a cat. He was a very sweet, friendly cat. We were petting him for a while, and when I pulled my hand up to look at it. my hand was covered with dirt. Not only was my hand covered with dirt, but I could feel the dirt on his fur. What should I do? I'm not sure if he's owned by anybody. My mom was wondering if he was owned by anybody too. See, the thing is that a lot of people in my neighborhood let their cats outside. This could be a simply be the case of an ignorant cat owner who always lets their cat out, but it felt like the cat had not been washed in months. His paws were also black with some sort of soot. Should I get him checked to see if he has a chip?

personally, i would ask around to see if anyone owns the cat, and if you don't find anyone, ask your local vet if you can borrow a TNR trap, or if he will let you, use a cat carrier. you can trap him, get him to the vet, and yeah, i'd see if he has a microchip. he may be a feral, and in that case, you may want to go through the TNR process with him. in other cases, he may be a stray, since he's friendly, but is still living in the wild. my sister's doing a TNR project on a feral colony not far from our house, and this sounds a lot like a friendly feral. <3

Ah, okay. Me and my mom were actually in the market for a cat, so If it turns out he has no microchip and he has no diseases or anything, would it be safe to adopt him? I'm not sure if he's feral or not, but he sure is friendly!

[ohcrow]

hello everyone! my family owns three cats currently, but we're fostering two kittens, so we're up to five. we have a lot of other animals in our house but i won't go into that, ahaa..

this is ozzie, the youngest of the bunch. he's my baby, and he's watching me type this and wondering why i'm not in bed yet. he also gives fist bumps if you reward him.
this is rosie, and i just realized i don't have any pictures of her on my laptop! i'll edit this later probably. she's an adorable tuxedo babe. she's an absolute sweetheart and will cuddle any chance she gets
this is juniper, she's the adventurer of the group, as well as the oldest. she's a sweetheart but will kill for treats or food. we don't call her 'closet demon' for nothing (that's where her treats are stored). she sits and gives high fives if you reward her.

we've had them all since we moved into our current house, so they're all around seven years old. oof, time flies way too fast.

[ohcrow]

I'm a bit worried. Me and my mom were packing her car (going on vacation tomorrow) and we saw a cat. He was a very sweet, friendly cat. We were petting him for a while, and when I pulled my hand up to look at it. my hand was covered with dirt. Not only was my hand covered with dirt, but I could feel the dirt on his fur. What should I do? I'm not sure if he's owned by anybody. My mom was wondering if he was owned by anybody too. See, the thing is that a lot of people in my neighborhood let their cats outside. This could be a simply be the case of an ignorant cat owner who always lets their cat out, but it felt like the cat had not been washed in months. His paws were also black with some sort of soot. Should I get him checked to see if he has a chip?

personally, i would ask around to see if anyone owns the cat, and if you don't find anyone, ask your local vet if you can borrow a TNR trap, or if he will let you, use a cat carrier. you can trap him, get him to the vet, and yeah, i'd see if he has a microchip. he may be a feral, and in that case, you may want to go through the TNR process with him. in other cases, he may be a stray, since he's friendly, but is still living in the wild. my sister's doing a TNR project on a feral colony not far from our house, and this sounds a lot like a friendly feral. <3

Ah, okay. Me and my mom were actually in the market for a cat, so If it turns out he has no microchip and he has no diseases or anything, would it be safe to adopt him? I'm not sure if he's feral or not, but he sure is friendly!

probably! i'm not an expert on that, but yeah, if he's not got a microchip and he's friendly, i'd get his vaccinations up to date and you could most likely adopt him!