Putting Weight On One Of Our Cats?

dkperez

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I've read several topics in here about feeding and weight gain, but rather than putting this on a two-year-old topic I thought I'd ask about our specific situation...

We have two rescue cats. Brownie is a 10 year old, 10 pound tabby who's fine and normal weight.
Skyy is a very small cat who is also 10 years old and has lost weight. In the last year she's gone from 5.5 pounds to about 4.7, which the vet says is significant for such a tiny cat. She's very affectionate, very active, inquisitive, and playful. But, she's lost weight.
We normally feed Royal Canin Gastrointestinal dry all the time - both cats are nibblers. We feed wet food twice a day (Friskies cans, usually the "pate" with an ounce of chicken or beef broth added so both cats get some additional liquid.
Skyy SEEMS to eat normally and drink regularly, though often the food that was the "BEST FOOD EVER" on Monday morning is regarded as "WRETCHED SWILL" on Tuesday evening...

She's been to the vet this week and they did blood work - everything is normal. We took in a stool sample and they got a urine sample and checked both. Normal. No kidney problems, no parasites or worms or anything. The vet says we DON'T need to be abnormally concerned about Phosphorous since she doesn't have any kidney issues (it's a concern if the cat does have kidney problems)...

In two months she goes in for her regular checkup, so the recommendation was to see if we can put some weight on her in that time. If not, they'll bring in a person to do an ultrasound to check further. SO, we have 2 months to see if we can put some weight on Skyy... The vet suggested we look at kitten food rather than Hill's A/D, though that's an option depending on how it goes.

Yesterday I took info from here to the local Chuck & Don's (pet supply place) and looked at dozens of cans of food and bags of dry. Most of the brands we saw weren't anything mentioned in here, so I looked for foods with a good amount of protein and about a 2:1 ratio between protein and fat.

We came home with a a couple cans of Blue Wilderness Chicken, a bag of Orijen Kitten and cat dry, and a bag of Purina One Kitten dry. Along with that we bought a couple packages of tuna and jars of chicken and turkey baby food.

Tried the Blue Wilderness last night. NEITHER cat would touch the stuff. Added some tuna. Nope. Added a bit of baby food. Nope. NOTHING. They were NOT interested. We finally put together some of the regular wet food we use with a little tuna and baby food and they both gobbled happily.

I put three samples of the dry foods out. Given the choice, both cats ate the Purina One. The brown cat tried some of the Orijen, but the clear preference over both the Orijen and the Royal Canin appeared to be the Purina One dry.

OTHER than the idea of doing a completely raw meat diet or cooking our own of everything, what other things should be thinking about as we try to get Skyy to increase her weight over the next couple months?
 

DreamerRose

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I would stick with the Purina One, and if you have to, separate the cats while they are eating so that Skyy gets the full amount you give her. In her case, you need to give her a food that is higher in carbohydrates and make sure your other cat doesn't eat her food.
 

abyeb

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Evo is pretty calorically dense and appetizing to cats. Plus, it's grain-free, potato-free, carrageenan-free, and has meat listed as the first ingredient: EVO Grain Free Turkey & Chicken Formula Cat & Kitten Food. Be sure to keep up Skyy's exercise level (as opposed to reducing it in hopes of faster weight gain), as you want her to be able to build and maintain muscle tone.
 
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dkperez

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Thanks for the replies... I'll take a look at the EVO - I don't recall seeing at the pet food place... As far as exercise, I don't think we need to worry. She's a goof, always getting into things. Nosiest cat in the world, who can't stand anything to happen without her being there!

Fortunately, the cats are very polite at meal times (other than yelling at my wife that starvation is imminent and they'd greatly appreciate it if she'd stop fooling around and serve the food) and each does a good job of eating from her bowl without any jostling or anything.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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You could also simply try adding an egg yolk to Skyy's wet food a couple of times a week. It's great protein and also pretty caloric. Just blend it right into her food, perhaps thin it down with a little bit of water or that broth you are using.

Cats are the same as humans in that calories are what causes weight gain or loss. If you want her to gain weight, then she needs more calories. Either feed her more of the food she currently eats, or feed her more calories. Cat food varies vastly in calories. For instance, 3 oz cans can vary from 45 calories to 110 calories. Check the Friskies and then check whatever else you buy to make sure you aren't buying something even LESS. Same with the dry food...make sure the Purina One doesn't have fewer calories than the Royal Canin. WHY are you feeding the Royal Canin Gastro, BTW? Does one of your cats have a sensitive tummy? If they need that food to maintain, then you might not want to switch it out :sigh:
 

orange&white

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You could also simply try adding an egg yolk to Skyy's wet food a couple of times a week. It's great protein and also pretty caloric. Just blend it right into her food, perhaps thin it down with a little bit of water or that broth you are using.
I completely agree with the egg yolk suggestion. They are 55 calories each, and the nutrients are almost 100% bioavailable. They're like a perfect little vitamin pill in a whole food.
 

PushPurrCatPaws

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You could also simply try adding an egg yolk to Skyy's wet food a couple of times a week. It's great protein and also pretty caloric. Just blend it right into her food, perhaps thin it down with a little bit of water or that broth you are using.

Cats are the same as humans in that calories are what causes weight gain or loss. If you want her to gain weight, then she needs more calories. ...
I completely agree with the egg yolk suggestion. They are 55 calories each, and the nutrients are almost 100% bioavailable. They're like a perfect little vitamin pill in a whole food.
I've never tried this. Thanks for the idea.
 
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dkperez

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Thanks for the replies......

Feeding her more doesn't work. She's a nibbler, not a gobbler, so no matter what's in the bowl, when she gets full, she quits. She'll walk away from tuna when she's full...

As for the Royal Canin, when we got the cats, they were being fed that dry, and our vet suggested we stay with it. So, for the last 10 years, that's the dry we've been using.

She seems like like both the dry Kitten/Cat foods we've got - Purina and Orijen...

We're now adding a little tuna to her food, though it's the really good, vacuum packed, dry tuna. We're going to switch to the canned tuna in water since it has more moisture and seems like smaller bits.

We're also adding a little baby food, which seems to be well received.

Maybe we'll try the egg yoke just to see how it goes...
 

orange&white

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If you're feeding her fish, sardines tinned in water would be much healthier for her than tuna. Smaller fish have less mercury and other toxins.

Since she nibbles, you'll want her to get more calories from the same amount of food, so kitten food may be preferred over adult maintenance.
 
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dkperez

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Sadly, in the last month, Skyy lost another half pound, so we went back to the vet. They did an x-ray and examination of her throat, and found a bony mass in her throat, extending into the inner ear area. After talking to the vet and his assessment that it was terminal and was causing her to have trouble swallowing and being in pain, we elected to have the vet euthanize her. I held her in my arms as the sedative took effect, then my wife and I rubbed her back and told her how much we loved her as the vet administered the anesthesia. A minute later she was gone.
10 years ago, when we lost Gracie I was unable to write in the Rainbow Bridge. I'm still unable to write about Gracie, but I'm going to say goodbye to Skyy there.
 

abyeb

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I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your sweet Skyy. You were a wonderful human for Skyy during her time here, she was lucky to have you and you were lucky to have her.

:vibes:
 
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