Thread: Maine Coon not putting on weight

Test results were negative for Giardia.

They are waiting for the other test results and could take several more days. They said it would be best to book a consult next week and take her in.

I was actually hoping it would come back positive so we would know what we are dealing with and we've done the right thing, but now I just don't know what could have stunted her growth so much and keep giving her diarrhea :(

Diarrhoea full stop will stunt her growth no goodness being absorbed into the body plus dehydration,still think a lot of it will tie in with the food being too rich & perhaps too many bikkies,a lot of the time with animals {luckily}it is nothing life threatning just basic husbandary & of course a big worry to "parents",we find more poo samples come back negative than positive for anything & with worming & diet change things sort themselves out so although I know you want a positive of some sort fingers crossed it is nothing too hard to put right.
Is she still putting on weight ...?

Thanks for the advice.

She was 1.72kg's this evening, but that was after some dinner, first thing this morning after she had done two poops at night and two in the morning she was 1.62kg (so I am hoping failrly empty). When we took her to the vets on Saturday she was 1.35. At the moment she doesn't have a pot belly, but the middle of her body under her middle to lower ribs has got very round. I'm hoping the filling out will spread around her soon or she will look like a little football! I need to pop into work tomorrow, my wife will see her at lunch time and we will be with her Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday and I will be working at home Monday and wed to keep an eye on her (I've been religiously cleaning out the tray, the noise even woke me up at 4:30am so I took it outside to clean it).

The vet said that the adult food is the same as a kitten eating a 'big mac' not very nutritious for her and she will naturally like the taste more. Looking at the content of the adult food though as we did a few days back it has pretty much the same apart from less fat? I hope I am not doing her any harm by feeding her it.

I got a small pack of nutricat for kittens the other day too but she turned her nose up at that, so we have left her eating the adult food for now.

Her eyes look brighter to me, I also groomed her today as normal and 'fluffed' her up. She looks a lot healthier, but she is a little stumpy at the moment bless. I hope the weight is actual weight gain and it will start spreading out.

I think she will be pooping for england tonight, she is nearly 1.8kg's. I guess I need to let her rest and see if the growth hormone kicks in and uses up some of those callories she has been eating!

I'm not sure if I mentioned in my original post, but when she had diarrhea she also had watery eyes and waxy ears which I had to keep cleaning out. No sign of ear mites or anything though.

Also, does anyone use talc on their Maine Coons fur when grooming? The breeder always did but I'm not sure if it's ok seeing as they clean themselves and will ingest it.

Its not so many years that there has actually been food especially for kittens & puppies,someone cottoned onto the luv of animals getting bigger & saw a nice niche in the market & boy have we lined their pockets. I wonder how the babes coped before all these options were open to us.In all the years I have worked at a vets we get more food related problems from cystitis,stones,obesity,tummy upsets,skin problems,diabetes then we ever did 20 or so years ago,as I said earlier a bonus for the vets but perhaps not so good for our pets. If she is doing better on adult food then it has to be better for her then something that is potentially upsetting her tum,perhaps if they can find something wrong once that is sorted then she will be able to cope more with the kitten food if that is what you would prefer to feed her but as to doing her harm on adult food just look at my boys in the gallery,all brought up on cheepo Felix but with the added vitamins while they were younger,don't think they have come to any harm. If she is looking healthier thats got to be good & don't forget MC babes go very leggy & scrawny looking,all due to their quick growth rate but then they have a period of filling out then off they go all scrawny again,its good that she isn't pot bellied any more,that can tie in with a worm burden as can the diarrhoea,just trying to picture what she does look like with her rounded middle ! Fingers crossed she will very soon be sorted & you can really start to enjoy her rather than being worried & your work routine can get back to normal,although she most probaly won't appreciate it...x

Well, I'm sorry to say that I don't think it's a parasite. With regular Advocate since we took Martha home and now having treated her with Panacur her poops have not got back to normal. They started to firm up a bit and get darker, but they have gone backwards again and are yellow, very loose, and have mucus with them today.

She seemed to have perked up a bit, but she doesn't seem to be thriving like she should and her system clearly isn't getting back to normal, so not sure what else it could be other than something more serious.

We've made an appointment with the vets for Wednesday and will see what they say, no doubt the next step is blood and the more waiting :(

Dear Quass,
I'm sorry I can offer no knowledge or expertise in your case, but just wanted to write how sorry I am to read about poor Martha and the stress you are going through. Wishing you lots of luck for Wednesday at the next vet's appointment x

Originally Posted by brightlight23

Dear Quass,
I'm sorry I can offer no knowledge or expertise in your case, but just wanted to write how sorry I am to read about poor Martha and the stress you are going through. Wishing you lots of luck for Wednesday at the next vet's appointment x

Same here - but am keeping Martha in my thoughts, poor little thing.

Originally Posted by quass

Well, I'm sorry to say that I don't think it's a parasite. With regular Advocate since we took Martha home and now having treated her with Panacur her poops have not got back to normal. They started to firm up a bit and get darker, but they have gone backwards again and are yellow, very loose, and have mucus with them today.

She seemed to have perked up a bit, but she doesn't seem to be thriving like she should and her system clearly isn't getting back to normal, so not sure what else it could be other than something more serious.

We've made an appointment with the vets for Wednesday and will see what they say, no doubt the next step is blood and the more waiting :(

Results from blood tests should be pretty quick,ours are picked up by a courier at 8pm & we start getting the first faxes back by lunchtime the next day so hopefully...???
Just feel soory for little Martha having to have them done,I hate when we have to vampire little furries so give her cuddles from me & tell her to be very brave it doesn't last long...xxx