Need advice on getting a cat to eat

[jcribbs]

Hello,

I just rescued a pretty girl and she is very very skinny.  I've already had her fixed and to the vet.  She weighs 6.2 lbs and the vet said she is about 5 lbs underweight.  That is close to 50 percent of her body weight so that tells you how thin she is.

She was fixed yesterday morning. 

I have all kinds of cat food out trying to get calories in her and all she does is pick at it.  I have Taste of the wild, echrich sausage, cream cheese, canned cat food....etc.....

I am seriously considering going raw with her for awhile..  But at this time, I don' t have time to make the food myself like I did in the past.

Any advice on brands to add calories that lean toward raw for health??? Or at the very last, great nutrition.  I have got to get weight on her.

Thanks, Jenn

 

[kittylover23]

AWESOME that you are thinking about a raw diet! To get some weight on her though, a good brand is EVO 95%.

 

[jcribbs]

I'm not sure but I think our locat health food store sells raw food.  Not sure what brand. I'll check tomorow. 

Anyone know about Blue Wilderness brand food???

I have used Acana and Orijin before.  I love those, but I have to drive 60 miles to get it.. Mine like Acana better than Orijin as far as taste.
 

 

[smitten4kittens]

Blue wilderness canned food is a good quality and has more fat than most. Also check out kitten foods as they are usually higher in fat and calories .I agree with kittylover that EVO is a great choice too.

 

[jcribbs]

I might get her some EVO canned then.....   I'll make some calls today and see where I can find some close to our area.... She just needs a little "umph" right now to get her on the right track. 

And thanks so much for the opinions/advice....

  Also , I discovered she is eating.  She is just eating at night.  Since she was a stray, I guess eating under the safety of night-time was just how she did things.  
 

 

[Willowy]

Well, she also just had surgery. . .I probably would have waited until she put on some weight to do the spay, but I know sometimes that isn't possible. It's been a couple of days now so she shouldn't be feeling queasy from the anesthetic anymore, but most likely still has some pain. That could be affecting her appetite.

Anyway, I would just feed her normally, or maybe just a bit more than normal. You don't want her to gain weight too quickly, or to get her used to eating too much (you don't want her to get too fat either!). If she's eating as much as an 11-pound cat should eat, she'll gain weight soon enough. It's my experience that once they get food regularly and all the nasty parasites are gone, it doesn't take long to get them to a healthy weight. I agree thatt EVO is high-fat and would be a good choice, but any good food will do .

 

[jcribbs]

It's probably due to the surgery. You're right. Of course no one would eat after surgery.  Mine have been fixed for so long, it just never occurred to me.  And I've already put Profender on her and given her Comfortis.  I did that several days ago.

And she did eat last night. She has been used to eating under the cover of darkness, so she is eating at night.  She ate her entire bowl of food.  I know it was her because I had her isolated with me.  I bought her some new food yesterday that should be delivered tomorrow to my PO box....  It's a premix for raw food.  Wild Kitty. Never tried it before but I got enough for 24 servings.  I'll see how it goes.  If she doesn't like it, some other kitty will...  Sat I am going to Springfield and I'll get her some EVO canned.  And I have Taste of the Wild at home for mine, so hopefully somewhere in that mix, will be something she will eat great!  

She is doing so awesome too.  She purrs and loves and is so happy someone is taking care of her now.  She is going to be a great cat.  I work evenings so the last two days, she has taken a cat nap with me before work.  She wakes me sitting my my face purring. 

Jenn 

 

[jcribbs]

Here's her pictures....

These were tonight.  I've getting the evo saturday.....  I hope that gives her the edge she needs.  Until then, she is eating beef broth, little cheese bites, and taste of the wild.  She likes all three.  Tonigiht when I got home from work, she got on my computer table and helped me eat my cheese sandwich.  I feed her anytime she wants anything, but she just doesn't eat much at a time. While I'm in springfield, I might get her a little bag of acana or orijin dry food "just for her".  Taste of the wild is good, but champion brand is better than diamond by a long shot.

home from work.JPG

• jcribbs
• Oct 4, 2012

sleeping.jpeg

• jcribbs
• Oct 4, 2012

 

[kittylover23]

Here's her pictures....
These were tonight.  I've getting the evo saturday.....  I hope that gives her the edge she needs.  Until then, she is eating beef broth, little cheese bites, and taste of the wild.  She likes all three.  Tonigiht when I got home from work, she got on my computer table and helped me eat my cheese sandwich.  I feed her anytime she wants anything, but she just doesn't eat much at a time. While I'm in springfield, I might get her a little bag of acana or orijin dry food "just for her".  Taste of the wild is good, but champion brand is better than diamond by a long shot.

home from work.JPG

• jcribbs
• Oct 4, 2012

sleeping.jpeg

• jcribbs
• Oct 4, 2012

Awwwww what a beautiful kitty.... that EVO helps her!

 

[just mike]

What a pretty girl! 

I've just skimmed the thread quickly and have not read all of the responses. I did see several brands mentioned so I'll mention one of mine as well.  You might look at Nutro Natural Choice while you're out shopping.  I don't know how wise it will be to change her diet to raw so quickly after surgery.  As I said I have yet to read all the responses but if that is the route you decide to take I'm sure the people feeding raw will tell you to hold off a bit so soon after her surgery.  Best of luck to you and your new girl! 

 

 

[carolina]

Hi

What a beautiful girl you have there! :love:
I believe raw is truly the best diet a kitty can have :heart3:
I did take a look at the mix you got however and while it is ok to get you comfortable with feeding raw, as you learn about the diet, IMHO there are better choices.... You can prepare a better home made diet on your own, or buy a commercial diet for a very good price - from places like Hare-today for example :nod:

The food you bought has a lot of extra ingredients, I think - clams, a lot of vegetables and fruits, oats and brans, yeast, etc.... Temporarily it is ok though..... :nod:

I don't see a need to delay beginning raw because of a surgery - my kitties have been though procedures and have continued raw without an issue - however I would not change ANY diet while the kitty is not feeling well.... and there is more than one reason for that.

One reason, even if you introduce a new kibble you can have worst digestive upsets.

Another reason is that the transition to raw can be a bit complicated - as kitties sometimes don't recognize raw meat as "food". So you want to make that transition as pleasant as possible.... And you don't want ever the kitty to relate raw food with pain and discomfort - that will work against your transition.... You only want the kitty to relate the raw food with pleasant moments and good things.
If the kitty is in any pain, it is not a good thing to offer any food you are trying to transition the kitty into - being that food canned, raw, or whatever that might be - does that make sense?

For that reason alone, I would keep the kitty on whatever food the kitty is right now until the kitty feels better and comfortable, then start working on the transition - slowly - into raw.

Make sure you put her in a GOOD probiotic ASAP.
Transition her very very slowly - start at a slow pace. When you transition to raw, think in terms of a kibbles transition. What I mean is, you add a little bit of the raw into the canned diet and slowly increase the raw as you decrease the canned. This is the safest and the best way to go, IMHO.

Raw is a great diet to gain lean muscle weight - but don't be fooled - the kitty WILL gain weight! My kitties gained weight on raw and I had to adjust their diets to have them lose - especially my chubby's guy - so yes, you can totally put some mass into her :nod: and the healthy way :bigthumb:

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have!

While she is recovering, IMHO, canned is your best bet as it will be the safest foods in terms of digestive upsets, even if you change her diets :nod:

 

[aeevr]

Butter and bacon (as treats - cat still needs cat food.).

I have to fight my cats off when these are around.

Also, I buy a lot of different cat food brands. If the cats don't seem too crazy about one I mash in some bonito fish flakes with the food and they proceed to eat it all up. Bonito flakes are sold as treats for cats in pet stores or much less expensively in Asian groceries.

 

[jcribbs]

I haven't started her on raw yet, but she is eating orijin kibble mixed with Evo... She loves it. I have been slightly warming it in the microwave for her. She woofs it down like a tiger.. :lol3::lol3::lol3:

I got her 4 little bags of kibble plus 6 large cans of Evo 95 percent. Three beef and three turkey. Amazingly, the cans of turkey have a higher fat content and more calories than the beef. Not much but definatley more. I found some trial size (1 lb bags) of the kibble for 4 bucks each, so I got her 4 flavors. I used to feed my cats Acana, and they loved it. They liked it better than Orijin, but I like Orijin better. So I got her both. She is really enjoying it since she has only had junk to eat before. She is in another world food wise...

I've been giving her two meals a day of the mixture. A heaping tablespoon of the canned and about 1/8 cup of kibble mixed with it. Twice a day. And then she supplements it with Taste of the Wild, which is what all my other animals eat -- dogs and cats.

food.jpeg

• jcribbs
• Oct 8, 2012

 

[jcribbs]

Also, her system is going through changes. Her little bowels STINK so bad.....It's like a grown man. She has a tiny little body to emit such horrible odors. I haven't noticed it much today but I've been gone. I'm home tomorrow, so we'll see if the change of diet has helped her. This is her 2nd complete day on her new food.

 

[jcribbs]

Hi
What a beautiful girl you have there! :love:
I believe raw is truly the best diet a kitty can have :heart3:
I did take a look at the mix you got however and while it is ok to get you comfortable with feeding raw, as you learn about the diet, IMHO there are better choices.... You can prepare a better home made diet on your own, or buy a commercial diet for a very good price - from places like Hare-today for example :nod:
The food you bought has a lot of extra ingredients, I think - clams, a lot of vegetables and fruits, oats and brans, yeast, etc.... Temporarily it is ok though..... :nod:
I don't see a need to delay beginning raw because of a surgery - my kitties have been though procedures and have continued raw without an issue - however I would not change ANY diet while the kitty is not feeling well.... and there is more than one reason for that.
One reason, even if you introduce a new kibble you can have worst digestive upsets.
Another reason is that the transition to raw can be a bit complicated - as kitties sometimes don't recognize raw meat as "food". So you want to make that transition as pleasant as possible.... And you don't want ever the kitty to relate raw food with pain and discomfort - that will work against your transition.... You only want the kitty to relate the raw food with pleasant moments and good things.
If the kitty is in any pain, it is not a good thing to offer any food you are trying to transition the kitty into - being that food canned, raw, or whatever that might be - does that make sense?
For that reason alone, I would keep the kitty on whatever food the kitty is right now until the kitty feels better and comfortable, then start working on the transition - slowly - into raw.
Make sure you put her in a GOOD probiotic ASAP.
Transition her very very slowly - start at a slow pace. When you transition to raw, think in terms of a kibbles transition. What I mean is, you add a little bit of the raw into the canned diet and slowly increase the raw as you decrease the canned. This is the safest and the best way to go, IMHO.
Raw is a great diet to gain lean muscle weight - but don't be fooled - the kitty WILL gain weight! My kitties gained weight on raw and I had to adjust their diets to have them lose - especially my chubby's guy - so yes, you can totally put some mass into her :nod: and the healthy way :bigthumb:
Please feel free to ask any questions you may have!
While she is recovering, IMHO, canned is your best bet as it will be the safest foods in terms of digestive upsets, even if you change her diets :nod:

Carolina, what recipe do you use???? I used to feed raw years ago. I added all their vitamins, additives, cranberries, bone meal, taurine, eggs etc... I used chicken thighs, livers, hearts and gizzards as the meat mixture and froze it in baggies. Yes, I have seen it do amazing things for an animal/cat... My cats never looked better when eating raw. Not all liked it, but 75 percent did.. The ones that liked raw, still eat a few raw meals. They hunt rabbits and lizards and mice.... I have one cat that absolutely will not eat canned food. She ONLY eats kibble or something she hunts. She will not eat cheese, fried chicken or anything. I have not tried her on EVO 95%. I may give her a spoon just to see what she does.

 

[otto]

Also, her system is going through changes. Her little bowels STINK so bad.....It's like a grown man. She has a tiny little body to emit such horrible odors. I haven't noticed it much today but I've been gone. I'm home tomorrow, so we'll see if the change of diet has helped her. This is her 2nd complete day on her new food.

When I rescued/spayed Jennie in a similar situation as this, her poop was terrible for about two weeks. First, who knows what she was eating as she survived by her wits. Then all the anesthesia and stress. And then the change in diet to a good canned food when she came forever home. So the stinky poops should pass after a few more days, but I remember it well.

Congratulations on the rescue!

 

[ldg]

Jenn, best to start a thread in the raw forum to chat about recipes and methods, there are easy ways to prepare homemade.

Right now her poops stink because her system is adjusting to all kinds of inputs. :lol3: Many cats are actually lactose intolerant, so the cheese could be contributing too. If you can find a human acidophilus probiotic, you can sprinkle the capsule(s) on her food - you want to get 10 billion CFU (colony forming units) in her daily. That will help re-establish the good gut flora that's likely been wiped out due to her starvation "diet" while being on her own (and parasites).

She's such a beautiful girl!

And yeah - when they're that skinny, they don't eat large meals (usually). They prefer many small meals. (Either that, or they eat large ones and vomit).

As others have said, she just needs a little time, and you're doing great!

 

[carolina]

Jenn, best to start a thread in the raw forum to chat about recipes and methods, there are easy ways to prepare homemade.
:

I don't use a "recipe per se, but I follow the basic guidelines.... Here is the Raw forum addy http://www.thecatsite.com/f/65/raw-feeding-for-cats
It's a better place to chat about raw.... We have many members who feed raw, and can help you too :bigthumb:
Oh, recipes are available too, if you want to go that route :nod:

 

[jcribbs]

I think I might start a raw chat, but first I just wanted to post this new pic of beauty/ally. 

She absolutely loves the turkey Evo.  I took her to see her babies twice today for two hours or so each time, since it was my day off.  They are getting used to my voice and watching me pet and love on mama is actually taming them from a distance.  They are much more relaxed.  This evening, mama brought them both up to me.  They are so incredibly precious. They actually drank water 18 inches or so from my feet.  I want to just snag them up, but if I miss and the kitten gets away from me, I'll be back to square one. I feel like in a week or so with mama being there and so calm, one of them, the light grey one, might actually come up to me soon.   I think the light grey is a little girl, but I might be wrong.

This is after Ally's Evo meal.  No kibble, just the Evo.  She ate 4 tablespoons and then fell asleep sitting up. She has had kibble several times today, two meals of Evo and close to 1/5 can of mackrel.  I think she is going to be stunning one day..  Her new diet is working wonders..  And you guys are right.  Her poop smelled better today.  I did not even notice the stink like before.  And she is looking better day by day.  She is slowly gaining weight.  I've been brushing her too as she gets stickers every time we go to the baby site.  I have to be careful with stickers on her tummy as it's still pretty tender.  She is pretty smart too.  She meows from her crate when we get nearly home and when we get close to the baby site.  She knows what we are doing and where we are going ..

beauty.jpeg

• jcribbs
• Oct 8, 2012

 

[bluebo]

Is that just the picture or does she have a very unique (and beautiful) coat colour. It almost looks like silvery on her belly. She is beautiful! You are doing a wonderful job by her.