My cat just came home skinny, gassy, and with flaky skin. Why?

Your kitty is not feeling well. I suggest you take her to a veterinarian for a check up and blood tests. She may be ill, and therefore defensive when the other cats come near her. She may also need special food to gain weight properly .

Since she was missing for so long, an exam with your veterinarian would be recommended. Submit a stool sample to diagnose intestinal parasites. If she gets a clean bill of health, continue feeding a high quality canned diet until she is back to her normal weight.

Poor Zippers! He could have gotten into a fight on his travels, causing the fur loss from that area. Bites from another cat can cause small and hard to see wounds, and are often unnoticed until an abscess form. I would take Zippers into the vet for a health check just to make sure he is ok.

It could be that Brute wandered far away and didn't have access to food, causing him to lose weight. It could also be that he is sick causing him to lose weight, or he may have a heavy intestinal worm burden. If you can catch him, I'd take him into a vet for a health check. I hope this helps!

It would be impossible to tell what's wrong without an exam. If he will let you handle him, catching him and bringing him to a vet so he can be sedated, checked for illness or injuries, dewormed, vaccinated, etc can help ensure he stays healthy, and doesn't get ill or spread disease to other pets once re-released. If you can't handle him, most humane societies have humane traps you can rent and smelly wet food or warmed up chicken can be used as bait to entice him to enter. As for food, any [commercial adult cat food](https://www.petco.com/category/cat/cat-food) should be good for helping him gain weight and stay healthy once he's been seen by a vet. Science Diet, Nutro, Royal Canin, Purina, etc all offer great options for food.

Significant weight loss is always a concern, especially if his appetite is good. Hormonal conditions such as diabetes and thyroid disease or poor absorption and digestion of his food is possible and I would recommend a full physical and blood panel as soon as possible in order to stabilise his condition before he becomes too frail

How lovely of you to look after this stray! There are a number of things that could cause him to lose weight, such as intestinal worms, diabetes, kidney disease, or hyperthyroidism to name a few. He could also possibly have fleas. It's important to make sure your cats are up to date on their flea treatments and deworming treatments. As for the stray, I would take him into the SPCA if you don't want to assume financial responsibility for him. They can get him the veterinary attention he needs and find him a home. Otherwise, you can take him into the vet yourself :-)