Expert: Brandy - 3/1/2007

Question
i have a DSH, female, fixed, indoor cat. born in mid april of 2006. shes currently eating Nutrience kitten food, whiskas as treats, and using Yesterday's news as liter.  For the past couple weeks i've noticed that she doesn't eat as much as she use to. and she doesnt seem to be pooping as regularly (aprox. once a day).  her daily life hasn't changed at all.  i cant say for sure how much she eats in a day now, but her pooping routine is aprox. every 2nd day or 3rd.   i'm just curious to know if this is normal for cats, or should i be worried and take her to the vet?

Answer
My first reaction would be to not worry - too much - as long as her poop looks normal, and she doesn't seem to strain or go off either her food or water. Since she's also almost a year, you can start to wean her off kitten food (which has more calories, anyway, and is more nutrient-rich), and start her on adult food. Since you're not too sure how much she is eating, I'm assuming she's on a free-feed basis.

This may seem like an odd suggestion, but try to weigh her dry food every day. If she has a large feeder, replace it with a bowl with about a cup or two of food, weigh it every morning, to see if she is still eating, just not as much.

I'll go out on a limb and say that there's not too much to worry about, but I can understand wanting a pet you obviously love to stay healthy. If there is still a concern, and since she's reaching a year (just in time for her annual visit to the vet), I would take a sample of the rare poop with her to the vet just to rule out any type of parasite (yup, even the indoors-only may get them).

Good luck, and I hope it's just that she's smarter than the rest of us and is watching her figure ;-)