Rex is gaining weight but looks thin on the bones

Rex is a 10-year-old Maine Coon and I am losing my mind. He is gaining weight, his belly is getting rounder, but when I look at his back legs and neck, he looks skeletal. It is like he is just fat on the inside but thin on the outside.

I travel a lot for work so I am anxious about leaving him. I have been posting updates every few hours because I worry I am missing something. Has anyone else seen this with a big cat? Is this normal aging or is he actually sick?

Hi Mark. I see this a lot with my older cats. It is usually a mix of two things. One is that senior cats lose muscle mass naturally, which can make them look bony even if they have gained fat. The other is that their metabolism slows down so they store more energy.

You mentioned Rex is a Maine Coon, so their bone structure is different than a dsh. I wrote about this with my cat Shadow here: Shadow is losing muscle but eating the same amount. It helped me understand that I needed to check if the muscle loss was just age or if it was something else.

Omg yes. My cat Milo is 3 but he sheds so badly and I was worried he was losing weight. Turns out it was just the fluff. But for a senior like Rex, diet is huge.

I switched him to a high protein kibble because I read that protein helps keep muscle. Check out this thread I started: Switching Milo to high protein kibble. It has a list of brands that are actually good for older cats. You might need to look at the protein percentage on the bag.

@RiverPrairie @dana.young thanks. I will read those. The problem is I do not know if it is just age or if his health is slipping. He is also not very active since I am away. I think the home setup matters too. If he is not moving, he gains fat.

I saw a thread about exercise for indoor cats: Getting Ink to play more. My cat Mochi is a kitten so she plays all day, but Ink is shy and older. I wonder if Rex needs specific toys to move his body while I am at work.

Also, I am worried about the feeding schedule. I leave food out all day when I travel. Is that bad? Chester's feeding schedule says to do meals, but I am not sure how to do that when I am gone.