Thin cat

[anne g]

I have three cats (all Norwegian Forest Cats, and they are big), one slightly overweight neutered male 2 years (7 kilos), one queen 2 years - proper weight (4 kilos) and one queen 1 year - rather thin (2.7 kilos). Just to have mentioned it - NFOs mature at around 3-4 years, so these are still teenagers.

They all eat dry food (best quality). The neuter eats a lot, the older queen will eat anything given to her, and the younger queen is rather picky to say the least!

They all love tuna. I have tried to give the skinny one tuna with kitten dry food in it, and she ate it the first time, the second time I added more kitten food, and she would not touch it! When I added more tune she ate that and not the kitten dry. She does not eat raw meat, not chicken, not anything beside dry food, and if she had the choice she would eat low protein/low fat/low calorie dry food only. That is her preference!

Any suggestion as to what to tempt her with to gain some weight? (she will not have milk or cream og eggs either)

Anne, Johnny, Ronja and little Mina (the picky one)

 

[coaster]

Well, I don't know, I have a picky girl cat, too, and I've pretty much resigned myself that she's always going to be skinny. Because other than her slight build, there's nothing wrong with her. She's healthy and active and has nice bright eyes and a smooth, shiny coat. Maybe that's just the way yours is going to be, too.

But tuna isn't all that great of a food for cats. It's nutritionally incomplete, it is too rich in something (can't think right now) that depletes something that causes some strange health problem. Sorry to be so unspecific, I just can't remember what right now. And there's the question of toxins. It's OK now and then as something special, but not as a regular diet.

OK, looked it up for you....depletes vitamin E, causing steatitis.

 

[anne g]

Yes, I know about tuna, and they get it only as a special treat now and then, but that is the only thing she will eat beside regular dry food.

And yes, she is a beauty:

but underneath all this fur there is not much of anything!

Charmina

 

[stormy]

Has she had a vet check up to rule out any medical issues that could cause her to be a low weight?

 

[zazi]

I think i read somewhere that sometimes thyroid problems can affect weight gain...

 

[bigorangemenace]

Arent there soem kind of supplements you can put in food? Most likely will be expensive, but it might help.

I dont know how many pounds are in a kilo but I have a one year old that only weighs five lbs. Maybe your little one is just a small cat? Sometimes they are small.

 

[sharky]

I have gone the kitten route with mine ... I found the highest fat / protein I could find... Your lady is a beauty ... I am using premium edge with Zoey and soon will start mixing in Nutros new indoor kitten.. What brands do you have in Norway?? Zoey wont eat much canned or homemade food either....

 

[maverick_kitten]

how about tuna flavoured wet kitten food? kitten food has more calories so will fatten her up a little.

Im sre theres a suppliment you can rub on her gums for weight gain. I might be wrong there.

Why not pour the water (spring water, not brine) from the tuna can over normal cat food for a tuna flavor? probably wont work as she wouldnt eat the kitten food/tuna combo.

 

[coaster]

That is SUCH a winsome face on that cat!! If she's too skinny for you, I'll take her to keep my skinny cat company, heh heh!!

(J/K of course)

 

[catguy]

the dry food is too harch on the digestive system. keep feeding canned food. felidae is good, as is wysong and wellness. cats were never meant to eat dry, processed food.

 

[pat]

Anne,

Have you tried mixing dried bonito flakes with her dry food? I use it to get Patrick to eat more of his food. Asian stores sell this (called Katsuobushi) or the "for pets" version is Kitty Kaviar.

What is this pretty little miss into? Does she like cooked chicken, chicken broth? Pureed baby food (or make your own pureed version of her favorite protein to supplement what she's eating). Consider giving her Nutrical - a high calorie paste - on a daily (or as per label) basis.

Hmmm...scrambled eggs - another good protein source, that some cats like.

 

[darcifinn]

First to echo everyone else that is a very sweet kitty face. My parents had a cat who was not eating and the doctor basically said we had to get calories in her or she would starve so we had to get high cal in because we were syringe feeding her. It was very sad but that said these the doctor told us to give her pumpkin (although that is high fiber) and full fat yogurt we used vanilla flavor but as she will not take milk she may not like that. There is also weight gain paste that alot of cats will eat - I can't rememberthe name but the big part stores carry it.

I have two kittens that are 13 weeks both seem to eat the same amount but one is just bigger. I think it is partially because she run and plays more. I guess we will find out when they go in to get fixed.

 

[hawk]

I have a female cat who is very picky and is pretty thin. She will eat dry food regularly but she is very picky with wet food. She will eat a certain kind one day then when I try to feed her the same flavor a few days later she won't touch it. I thought she might of had a worm problem so I dewormed her with drontal about two weeks ago and she seems to be getting a little better. I just found a wet food she enjoys all the time ( all flavors of Sheba) so I am feeding it to her on a regular basis to see if I can get her to gain some weight. She is a very active outdoor cat and I have had her checked and everything is ok health wise so I don't worry about it too much.

 

[kitty queen]

Catguy, sorry to have to disagree, but my cat eats Science diet dry food and likes it. I TRIED giving her the whiskas pouch wet food, and she licks the sauce and doesn't actually eat the meat. She doesn't like the wet food. Dry food is fine as long as it is good. If I fed her wet food only, she wouldn't eat.