Is there any reason I can’t feed kitten formulas to my underweight senior kitty?

[waddle]

She gave me a heart attack yesterday refusing to eat anything. Today we tried a few different foods and thankfully she ate so I think she just decided she didn’t like her food anymore?! She’s never liked any kind of canned food for more than a minute and in the recent past would not take a single bite of it. I’ve been feeding her some kibble and northwest naturals freeze dried raw.

As I was grabbing new canned foods today I thought maybe it would be better to get kitten formulas that are higher in calories. But I’m not sure if they have too much fat/protein/something else for a senior? She just had blood work done and the only things outside the normal range were RBC, potassium, chloride (a little low), BUN (a little high). All of these were just barely outside the normal range.

She has been on prednisolone for years for presumed IBD (never had a biopsy, but loses weight like crazy if her dose is lowered too much.). She lost a whole pound since her visit six months ago but I have felt like she hadn’t been eating enough so hopefully just giving her some new options will help. i have tried to stick to very limited ingredient foods but everything I look at has SOMETHING not ideal. She did not want to eat Rawz at all when I got samples of that, but if I can find somewhere to order single cans I might try that again.

 

[maggie101]

The amount of protein and fat in kitten food is just like adult food. There really isn't a difference except a kitten eats more

 

[waddle]

I had the impression that kitten foods are generally higher in calories. Not true?

 

[hexiesfriend]

My vet told me feed senior kittys whatever they will eat.

 

[maggie101]

Look at catfooddb.com. it shows fat,protein,carbs, and calories.

 

[maggie101]

First one says kitten on the can. Second one does not

 

[Maurey]

I’d be very concerned about the phosphorous levels in kitten food — wouldn’t want to feed that to a senior cat.

 

[FeebysOwner]

You can try supplementing your cat's diet with baby food meat - Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut. A single jar, depending on which one, can range anywhere from about 50 - 90 calories. A lot of cats love the taste - I even feed them to Feeby to help increase her daily caloric intake. She will actually eat about a whole jar per day. Since they are not nutritionally complete for a cat, they should only be used as supplemental food. But there is a way to make them a complete meal, if need be - see article below.