weight gain after starting raw feeding

[vl4d]

hello, everyone. 

i'm a first time poster but long time lurker here. sorry for my english, since it's not my mother tongue. i hope, my post is not too confusing.

our two siamese boys(brothers, neutered, 3years old) kindly share their apartment with us. a year ago we successfully transitioned them from canned food to raw meat,  accordingly to the frankenprey model. 

although they've always recieved the same amount of food, there always was a signficant difference in weight between them. one is slim and lean, while the other is rather big, by no means fat. 

using the figure on healthy weight management from littlebigcat.com(http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/healthy-weight-management-for-dogs-and-cats/) i'd say, that one is type 3, while the second is type 5. the difference in weight started out at 400g(4,5 to 4,9) and is now reaching almost 700g(4,9 to 5.6). as a rule of thumb they started raw by recieving around 2,5% of the initial weight of the bigger one, allowing the smaller one to get some additional weight. which he did, but so did his stronger build brother. i was afraid of him gaining more weight, so they recieve 115 g of raw food daily for a couple of months now. this actually equals only 2% of the body weight of the big guy. is the amount of food engough for him to maintain his weight? i'm affraid to give him more, because i don't want him to grow bigger. on the other hand, i'm affraid, that he is not getting enough food. he seems to do well, though, without revealing any signs of malnutrition or mood swings. they're both balanced and relaxed.

so my questions are:

1. is the big guy eating enough?

2. can the weight gain have possible other causes, not related to food? despite the overall healthy appearnce.

thanks. 

 

[vball91]

1. 2% is fine as long as he is not losing too much weight too quickly, which he doesn't appear to be. You could also try feeding them different amounts of food (less for the big guy, more for the thin guy). You could try the feast or famine diet where you are feeding the same overall amount of food, but in very differing amounts.

2. There could be other reasons for weight gain (thyroid maybe), so it would be good to get the big guy checked out at his next vet appointment. However, as both seem to be healthy and happy, it may just be his metabolism and build, so I would not worry overly much about it. Just mention it to the vet at next opportunity.

 

[andrya]

lf your Siamese are a 3 and a 5 on the chart, l'd say what you were feeding them is ideal.

l have a skinny Siamese who is a 3 on the chart. He looks very thin but is quite fleshy and muscular to the feel.

My last Siamese, Thai RIP, was a much more muscular build, l would say he was a 5 on the chart and had a very powerful feel to him under his skin. He had a bit of a blubber bag, but not very saggy and he was in beautiful condition. l'd say unless your bigger guy feels "saggy" or not well muscled, l'd keep them on what they were getting.

Maybe a picture would help us. l'm basing it on a similarity to my cats, which may not be the case.

 

[ritz]

I agree with the above posters.  Keep feeding them at 2% and monitor their weight..  Your cats may go through an adjustment period of feeling hunger; but there is a difference between hunger and appetite.  (I've spoiled Ritz that way.)

Also, what meat are you feeding your cats?  Some cuts of meat have less fat than others; for example, chicken breast contains very little fat, chicken thighs contain more; lamb and goat contain a fair amount of fat regardless of cut.  But I wouldn't feed exclusively low-fat meats; cats need a fair amount of fat in their diet (more than humans do).  Rather, you can mix different cuts/proteins in the same meal, or alternate days..

You might also make sure your scale is calibrated correctly.

 

[ritz]

PS:  they may have gained muscle weight due to the way raw food is metabolized and utilized.  Muscle weighs more than fat, as weird as that sounds.

 

[meranaldar]

I transitioned about 5 months ago, and thought my cat could lose some weight, and I was sure she had. She looked slimmer. Then she got weighed at the vet and had actually gained a bit (5.8kg to 6kg).
I assume it must just be muscle. The vet thought she was fine and didn't need to lose any.

I've also been feeding about 115g frankenprey, which is just under 2%, but she seems to do well on that. I tried upping it a little a while ago and she seemed to be gaining, so I went back.

 

[vl4d]

thanks for the replies. knowing, that 2% are enough food is helpful. i know, pictures would help more, the thing is, the big guy is hard to catch on camera in a representative way. he is definitely build stronger, with broader shoulders, while the slim is more like a tube. also, the big one, Dean, has this flappy thingy below his stomach. the other, Sammy, doesn't have it. by the way, they're thai, not the modern siamese type. it just confuses me, that they are build so different from each other, although being from the same litter.

i feed them rabbit(whole, belly meat, kidney, hearts, lungs), turkey(hearts, gizzards, legs, liver), chicken(whole, gizzards, hearts, liver) and duck(hearts, breast). then the ocasional dove or one day chick twice a week.