Primal Frozen Raw Food: How To Make A Kitten With Diarrhea Gain Weight?

[Ashley&Cats]

so I have made another thread on feeding however today I got My kitten into the vet to finally figure everything out! The vet said either feed dry food or the raw and that I need to cut one or the other out today. Since I was already feeding my kitten and resident cat Primal freezer dried raw chicken and salmon formula I decided to go with the Primal Frozen raw chicken and salmon since the frozen is cheaper to buy) I have officially gotten rid of all dry cat food in the house! Woot woot! now I need to figure out how much food to feed him... the calculator on the Primal website says 1 nugget (he's 1.14lbs) but if he was 4lbs (which he should be right now) it recommends 3 so I was thinking of giving him 2 and if he is still hungry 3. Does this sound okay? I was told by a few people to feed a kitten however much they want for the first year of life. So if he is still hungry after the 3rd nugget is it okay to provide him with more or would that be over feeding him and cause even more issues?

I'm feeding him and my resident cat 3x a day (6am-3/3:30pm-8:30/9pm) I'm hoping to eventually get them down to a 6am-6pm meal time!

Now my kitten has been having diarrhea for A week, so I'm wondering if feeding him only 3x a day will cause him to loss weight rather then gain weight? (He was getting free fed dry and fed raw 3x a day) I'm wondering because if I feed him and then he has diarrhea wouldn't he get hungry again since all his food would be gone from his system due to the diarrhea?

My Vet told me not to give Pumpkin because it also causes frequent stools which can increase diarrhea and that it's also used for constipation. SO he is now on just nutro cal, and the purine probiotic from the vets office.

He was weighted today and has gained 1 and 1/2 ounces in about a week (he was 1.13lbs now he's 1lb and 14 1/2 ounces) I also got a fecal test done and there is no signs of concern at present! The vet told me to weight him every 2-3 days to make sure he isn't losing weight and with hope that he is going to start gaining faster!

Any advice, tips and tricks would be very appreciated

 

[lisahe]

Yes, feed that kitten! If he's having digestive issues, I'd probably increase his food, albeit a little cautiously/slowly, definitely staying with at least three feedings a day. (We've found that feeding our two cats five times a day prevents a lot of problems: begging and scarf-and-barf among them. I'm lucky to be able to do that because I work at home!) Our two cats came to us as very underfed kittens, too, though they were bigger and probably older than yours: they ate a ton in the first months with us, they ate constantly. They also had various incidents of barfing and diarrhea. You might want to ask your vet about calories, though when I asked our vet that question for our kittens, she said it wasn't worth calculating with weight and all and just said, "unlimited!" She's a very, very precise cat specialist and that was the exact right answer!

How old is your kitten? And what is his name? Is there any reason or diagnosis for the diarrhea? Or is that in your other thread? I hope the little guy keeps eating and gaining weight and the diarrhea stops soon!

 

[orange&white]

He is so tiny, that if your schedule allows it, I would offer him an ounce of food every two hours and more if he eats it. If your schedule doesn't allow for that, feed him as often as he will eat. His stomach has to be teeny-tiny, so more small meals would be best.

 

[Ashley&Cats]

I work 7-3pm and some days I work 7-1:20pm. So I could feed him in the morning and see about coming home for lunch to feed him again or ask my stepdad or sister whoever is home to feed him at 1pm then I can feed him at 3pm then at 6pm then at 9 pm after that I'll be sleeping. That's 5 times a day! Will he be okay at night?

 

[Ashley&Cats]

He is very active! (Haven't seen him this active ever... he's going crazy like running around pouncing and his pupil are dilated) So I do agree that he needs more food more often. I just won't be able to give it to him every 2 hours

 

[orange&white]

I work 7-3pm and some days I work 7-1:20pm. So I could feed him in the morning and see about coming home for lunch to feed him again or ask my stepdad or sister whoever is home to feed him at 1pm then I can feed him at 3pm then at 6pm then at 9 pm after that I'll be sleeping. That's 5 times a day! Will he be okay at night?

Yes, that will be all right. I brought in a tiny little feral kitten who had been abandoned by the mother cat early this year. He only weighed 17 ounces the first day, and hadn't eaten much for at least two days before I brought him in. That little guy could seriously chow down! I fed him more than he could eat as often as I could, but I did not get up to feed him overnight...I sleep 7-8 hours.

 

[Ashley&Cats]

My kitten is 13 weeks and 2 days old tomorrow. His name is Benjamin. He has negative fecal test. Hes getting loose bowel movements (they are cow patty like not watery) because of too many food changes too soon so like I said earlier my vet told me to pick on or the other so I'm using only the Primal nuggets.

I have now fed him 4 nuggets! 1 ounce is 3 1/2 nuggets which would be way too much for him 5 times a day. I will be giving him 1- 1 and 1/2 nuggets per feeding which I think will be fine.

***side note: he is going to cost me a fortune feeding him this much every day! If I feed him 5 nuggets a day the bag will last me 9 days. I also have to feed my other cat 4 Primal Nuggets 3x a day so ill be buying 6 bags a month at $22.99 a bag! Holy shoot!!***

 

[orange&white]

Yes, that little kitten I brought in was eating me out of house and home. He ate between 3.5 - 4.7 ounces of raw food every day while I had him. That was more food than my 15 pound senior cat eats most days.

(I kept that kitten until he gained enough weight to be neutered and adopted out by the shelter. He found a good forever home. )

 

[Ashley&Cats]

Yeah I definitely can't feed him that much but he will get 5 nuggets (1.4 ounces) to 7.5 nuggets (2.5 ounces) a day. That doesn't sound like much when thinking about how much my 8lbs cat needs (4 nuggets) for Primal vs Fancy Feast classic canned (2- 3.3oz cans) per day! I was talking to customer service at primal and they said I could just feed him 2-3x a day. Since he is under weight she suggested me to feed 3x the amount suggeted (1 nugget for 1.14 ounces) or to feed the amount recommended for the weight he should be plus some if he is still hungry... this would be up to 5 nuggets! so I think I'm on the right direction with 5 - 7.5 nuggets a day. I think with my other cat I will give her primal 2x a day and canned food once a day.

Can I leave canned food out for the night? I've been hearing mix answers so hopefully I can just get one clear cut answer here!

 

[orange&white]

The kitten I adopted in February (she was 16 weeks old - 4 months) ate 6-7 ounces a day during her 4th and 5th month, and then slowed down to 5-6 ounces a day her 6th month, then 4-5 ounces her 7th month. She's nearly 10 months old now and is eating more like a small adult cat, around 4 ounces a day. She's 8.5 pounds. I'm still feeding her all she wants. Today she's eaten 4.8 ounces, but that's more than her recent "normal".

They need more food when they're growing so quickly.

 

[orange&white]

Yeah I definitely can't feed him that much but he will get 5 nuggets (1.4 ounces) to 7.5 nuggets (2.5 ounces) a day. That doesn't sound like much when thinking about how much my 8lbs cat needs (4 nuggets) for Primal vs Fancy Feast classic canned (2- 3.3oz cans) per day! I was talking to customer service at primal and they said I could just feed him 2-3x a day. Since he is under weight she suggested me to feed 3x the amount suggeted (1 nugget for 1.14 ounces) or to feed the amount recommended for the weight he should be plus some if he is still hungry... this would be up to 5 nuggets! so I think I'm on the right direction with 5 - 7.5 nuggets a day. I think with my other cat I will give her primal 2x a day and canned food once a day.

Can I leave canned food out for the night? I've been hearing mix answers so hopefully I can just get one clear cut answer here!

I just looked up the Primal Chicken and Salmon Nuggets. They have 47 calories per ounce. Your 8 pound adult probably needs at least 3 ounces of those nuggets per day. Kittens do need as much as twice the amount of food as adult cats.

 

[valentine319]

If you can't afford full raw then you're going to need to substitute in extra canned. There were some fancy fiest canned recommendations if someone can give some (or other brands). Your other options are to make and supplement raw food. While it does take planning and effort it can be reasonable and allow you to feed only raw.

It really depends on the brand of canned and how long it can be left out.

There are calculator apps and online apps to help you be sure you feed both cats enough. As much as raw is great if you can't afford to feed the cat enough then changes need to be made to make sure they both get enough food.

 

[orange&white]

I think with my other cat I will give her primal 2x a day and canned food once a day.

Can I leave canned food out for the night? I've been hearing mix answers so hopefully I can just get one clear cut answer here!

I see you went back and edited your feeding plan. That will work, combining the raw and canned food. Yes, you can leave canned food out for the night, but it may get dry and crusty making the cat not want to eat it. You can test it to see if she eats it while it's fresh enough for her.

 

[missmimz]

Get some s boulardii for the diarrhea. My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

 

[Ashley&Cats]

So the feeding calculator for the Primal nuggets is wrong then when it tell me the daily recommendation is 4 nuggets for my 6lbs cat!? It says when I calculate it on their site that it recommends 4 nuggets which is a daily calorie intake of 170.

Raw Food Feeding Guidelines I used this calculator and it said 3.4 ounces for my 6lb cat. 1 ounce is 3.5 nuggets for Primal So she would need about 12 nuggets... this does not make any since their calculator is saying only 4!

 

[orange&white]

The feeding calculator at Primal does indeed state 3 nuggets for either a 6 or an 8 pound cat. Are you sure there are 3.5 nuggets per ounce of food?

2-3% of the cat's body weight is the standard for feeding a raw diet. (A few end up needing less; a few need a little more.) A 6 pound cat would need 2.4 ounces a day at 2.5% of body weight. An 8 pound adult cat would need 3.2 ounces a day at 2.5% of body weight.

Either the Primal calculator is incorrect or you have an incorrect number for how much each nugget weighs. If the calculator is correct, then each nugget is closer to 1 ounce.

 

[orange&white]

On closer inspection of the Primal website, their are 48 nuggets in a 3 lb bag, which means that each nugget weighs 1 ounce. So yes, your adult cat should eat 3+ nuggets per day if she's 8lbs, and the tiny kitten needs to eat as many nuggets as he wants to eat.

 

[Ashley&Cats]

Okay! Thank you!!! Maybe I read the 1ounce = 3.5 nuggets On the bag. I'll have to check again. Wish I knew how to post pictures. I would put a picture of the bag on here.

So happy that the primal calculater is right! Saves me a tons of money... Even though I'll be spending $150-$200 a month on food! Totally worth it when I get extremely healthy and happy cats out of it!!

 

[orange&white]

 

[Ashley&Cats]

Benjamin has already ate 5 nuggets (5 ounces) so far and it's only 4pm! I'm guessing he will be taking in 8 - 8.5 nuggets (8-8.5 ounces) if he takes in another 3.5 nuggets (3.5 ounces) tonight! He's a very hungry boy lol