By definition, skinny means underweight and thin with bony arms and legs. Skinny was originally used to describe people that were impoverished and could not afford to eat well or purchase much food for themselves or their families. This would explain why skinny cats starve easily without proper nutrition. This definition can also hold true for kittens, though they may not be impoverished but rather malnourished if their mother is refusing to feed them properly or if she has run out of cat milk.
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Although skinny is not seen in the dictionary as skinny cats, skinny dogs, or skinny people to describe skinny body type. It can be inferred that skinny cats are skinny because their bone structure is visible under their thin layer of skin. This makes them look thin and frail similar to impoverished thin people.
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It can be attributed to malnourishment coupled with other disorders such as feline leukemia or ringworm. Skinny also describes a narrow shape like skinny jeans for example, where skinny means thin to the limit of looking anorexic, emaciated, and unhealthy.
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Table of Contents
What are the main problems that might result in skinny cats?
- Milk fever in nursing mother cats during lactation due to calcium imbalance from malnutrition. It causes seizures, convulsions, and even the death of the cat. A lactating skinny cat must be on a steady source of high-quality nutrition, otherwise she will not produce enough milk for her kittens. It can lead to skinny kittens and skinny cats.
- Feline leukemia (FeLV) is a common cause of skinny cats where FeLV attacks the bone marrow cells and destroys them resulting. It results in malnourishment because there are not enough healthy red blood cells circulating in the body. The skinny kitty has no energy and can’t move around much which results in skinny cats and skinny dogs.
- Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is another common disease associated with skinny cats. Its caused by an immune system dysfunction resulting in skinny kitty having no energy and skinny cats.
 What are skinny kittens’ symptoms?
- Unexplained fever, weight loss, pale gums, diarrhea, prolonged or repeated infections especially respiratory ones such as allergy induced bronchitis and pneumonia from parasitic ringworm infection called dermatophytes which causes skinny cat sickness.
- A skinny kitten will have a dull grey-blue gingiva tissue color under its teeth. This is due to low-grade continuous bleeding from the gums that won’t clot like skinny kittens. There will be a strong odor from them that will make their owners feel nauseous because of the stench from the skinny cats. Skinny cats can transmit the diseases through their saliva and skinny dog drool.
- Ringworm infection called dermatophytosis in skinny kittens due to malnutrition and the immune system attacking its own body cells. Skinny kittens can get ringworm parasitic infection right after birth before they are old enough to have a mature immune system. It is more common for older skinny kitty whose immune system has gone downhill due to disease. Also, it can be caused by being malnourished all his life, making him anemic and skinny. Skinny kitten’s symptoms will show up as a ringworm infection with skinny kittens spread by skinny dog drool and skinny cat drool. Demodectic mange is also seen in heavily loaded colonies of feral cats. Skinny cats can transmit to kittens through drool.
- Anemia from malnutrition, which skinny cats are prone to get even though they eat all the time. This happens because a skinny cat’s digestive system can not absorb enough nutrients due to the damage. This could be as a result of diseases such as FeLV, FIV, or skinny kitten ringworm infection making skinny kitty anemic. At this point, the skinny kitty has no energy, so they lie around all day. After a short period, they become skeletal appearing with yellow gums, pale lips, and pale under skin color called cyanosis.
What are the remedies and solutions to skinny cats’ problems?
Veterinary advice
 The skinny cat has to lay off the snacks and only eat the food they need to get better. They would benefit from veterinary treatments including antibiotic therapy, deworming, and ringworm treatment. The skinny cat also needs a healthy lifestyle, such as plenty of rest in a quiet area where there are no skinny dogs or skinny kitten activity.
Feeding them properly
Feeding them with canned food that is easy to digest will help the skinny kitty’s digestive system absorb enough nutrients. This will make them more muscular, appearing with pink gums, red lips, and skin color getting back to normal.
Feeding skinny cats is not so easy. Because skinny cats are often picky eaters, trying to tempt them with an assortment of food won’t necessarily result in success. No matter how skinny they became, they always considered themselves fat. They would refuse to be tempted no matter how delicious the food was or what meow it produces when you open the can.
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What skinny cats require is delicious food that would tempt them to eat. Always keep skinny cats’ feeding schedules stable. These cats love variety, and it’s also not good for skinny cats to become overweight quickly. The secret of getting skinny cats to gain weight is to help them come back to their ideal size gradually by increasing the feeding amount.
How do you feed skinny cats?
Feed skinny kitty with canned food right from the can or make skinny cat soup. You can mix up canned food and plain Greek yogurt to help skinny kittens gain weight. The skinny cat requires a healthy lifestyle such as plenty of rest in a quiet area.
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If very little progress is seen after one month, you should bring your skinny kitten to your veterinarian. They can prescribe any other treatment options for skin, bones, or osteoporosis skinny kittens.
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