Stella Chewy Freeze Dry Raw - Feeding Recommendations

elmomax

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My cat zoey who has confirmed IBD and food sensitivities has been eating Stella and Chewy Freeze dry raw chicken for 19 months. I feed her 12 full nuggets per meal 4X day. I need to increase her weight - how do I calculate how much to feed her? She is an active 10 year old cat, now weighing 9 1/2 pounds and need to get her back to 10 1/2 pounds. I had cut back on boiled chicken and salmon snacks and want to solely feed her S+Chewy. The bag gives directions in terms of cup size - is that measuring cup size? I increased her to 16 nuggets per meal 4X day and she is stuffed - a rare event. Want to be sure I know what i am doing given her medical issues.
Thank You.
Erica
 

lalagimp

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I use it as a supplement to Tom's regular food, to keep his weight from going any lower, and hoping that his weight will go up *but it doesn't because he's a high powered gymnast*.
I have a 2 TBS measure, and I fill it twice with nuggets, and add 1 measure of warm/hot water. He gets this at 3pm while the rest of the cats are just having a few small treats.
We use Tummy Ticklin Turkey because it's the highest in calories.
 
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elmomax

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I use it as a supplement to Tom's regular food, to keep his weight from going any lower, and hoping that his weight will go up *but it doesn't because he's a high powered gymnast*.
I have a 2 TBS measure, and I fill it twice with nuggets, and add 1 measure of warm/hot water. He gets this at 3pm while the rest of the cats are just having a few small treats.
We use Tummy Ticklin Turkey because it's the highest in calories.
Thanks for your response. Your situation is different from mine - Zoey has confirmed IBD and also has food sensitivities and she cannot eat any canned foods - no brands, no other proteins - the S+C chicken controls her IBD fully with Budesonide every other day and my internist said to not change anything so I cannot switch to Turkey or add any other other/different food. I need to figure out how many nuggets she should eat per day to gain and maintain at 10 1/2 pounds. S+C gives guidelines per cup and i have seen posts saying this is not referring to a measuring cup. I posted the question to S+C on their facebook page and have not as yet heard from them. Thanks again.
 

lalagimp

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Between the Tummy Ticklin Turkey or the Chick Chick Chicken, it's only 24 calorie difference per cup, and the back of the bag states this is based on an 8 oz standard measuring cup. Chicken is 182 kcal/cup, and may not be enough to get her to gain. I can't tell you how much volume your amount of nuggets takes unless I go downstairs and start running numbers.
If you do 1 1/4 cup you end up doing a + 45, which would be enough to see a gain over time.
You would want to play with it slowly, because it's easiest on a cat if they lose or gain no more than a half pound per month.
 

daftcat75

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Make sure she’s getting the B-12 replacement shots or weight gain will be exceedingly difficult. What also worked for my kitty is smaller meals more frequently. I found Krista’s stomach appears to be 2 oz or 56 g. Any portions larger than that gives her discomfort and likely regurgitation. I also read that exercise is good for weight gain so they don’t just get a belly. So I hide fish flakes in her cat trees and environment after meals.
 
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elmomax

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Between the Tummy Ticklin Turkey or the Chick Chick Chicken, it's only 24 calorie difference per cup, and the back of the bag states this is based on an 8 oz standard measuring cup. Chicken is 182 kcal/cup, and may not be enough to get her to gain. I can't tell you how much volume your amount of nuggets takes unless I go downstairs and start running numbers.
If you do 1 1/4 cup you end up doing a + 45, which would be enough to see a gain over time.
You would want to play with it slowly, because it's easiest on a cat if they lose or gain no more than a half pound per month.
I will dump the nuggets in the cup and count to 1 1/4 cup. I agree, overfeeding will throw her tummy off entirely and with IBD I need to be very careful with her.. She has been managing the extra 4 nuggets per meal and pretty much wiping the plate clean and she was begging for a treat and i gave her 3 extra nuggets very late at night. My other tubby cat was not pleased to see nothing on his bowl. Not entirely sure what you meant by a +45. Just was not sure if they meant a measuring cup as some posts disagreed and I am glad you confirmed that for me. Will weigh her every week to make sure she maintains or gains. Thank you again.
 
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elmomax

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Make sure she’s getting the B-12 replacement shots or weight gain will be exceedingly difficult. What also worked for my kitty is smaller meals more frequently. I found Krista’s stomach appears to be 2 oz or 56 g. Any portions larger than that gives her discomfort and likely regurgitation. I also read that exercise is good for weight gain so they don’t just get a belly. So I hide fish flakes in her cat trees and environment after meals.
She has been fed 4 meals a day for the past 2 years and agree that has worked well for her. Will speak to her internist about B-12 when she goes in for her annual bloodwork early next year. Zoey is at 10 years of age a pretty active cat... she is on a very strict diet due to her IBD so no treats not even fish flakes for her! Thank you for your response and suggestions.
 

lalagimp

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Not entirely sure what you meant by a +45.
calories. Slow gains are usually seen by a 25-50 calorie increase.
If she can't handle the increase and it makes her symptoms flare, then you need to be able to stick with giving her as much as she can handle, and trying to maintain her skinny weight so that she doesn't go any lower.

I feel like the more food I give this guy, the more he utilizes it, and parties right through it. I want him at 13 lbs, but I can only ever get him to 12 1/2. He just burns right through it. He gets 1/3 allowance more than my other male of our rabbit and turkey homemade, BEFORE Stella and Chewy at 3 pm.
I'm apt to accept that Tommy is just going to have a bony derriere.
 
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