Jane and Ragnar
Member Since 2020
It looks like my kitty is headed into remission and I am so happy for that!
I've seen the general opinion that most cats won't overeat on a low-carb wet diet, no matter if it's freely provided. But what about a cat that needs to gain weight?
Ragnar is probably about 3-4 pounds under his ideal weight right now, and I'm worried that he isn't eating enough wet food to gain that back, even though I provide it for him multiple times a day, refresh it with water, amp it up with some bonito flakes, etc. He eats pretty slowly and sometimes it seems like he is licking more than actually eating. The vet says his teeth and gums are fine, and he has no other health issues of note.
On average, a cat at his ideal weight would need at least 300 calories per day, which is around 3 small cans per day. Right now, he's eating more like 2 cans per day unless I do tons of intervention to get him to eat a bit more.
Today he really loved and quickly ate the tub of Natural Balance Catatouille that I gave him (which was unusual since it is a shredded style food and he generally liked pate better in the past) but it was only 60 calories. I'm going to get some more shredded varieties to see if he's changed his opinion on those overall.
The food charts don't show the caloric density of the various foods per ounce, so no help there. I'm wondering if I should just aim for foods with high protein and also at the higher end of the "under 10% max carbs" rule in order to max out calories per ounce of food while still staying within LC guidelines.
I've seen the general opinion that most cats won't overeat on a low-carb wet diet, no matter if it's freely provided. But what about a cat that needs to gain weight?
Ragnar is probably about 3-4 pounds under his ideal weight right now, and I'm worried that he isn't eating enough wet food to gain that back, even though I provide it for him multiple times a day, refresh it with water, amp it up with some bonito flakes, etc. He eats pretty slowly and sometimes it seems like he is licking more than actually eating. The vet says his teeth and gums are fine, and he has no other health issues of note.
On average, a cat at his ideal weight would need at least 300 calories per day, which is around 3 small cans per day. Right now, he's eating more like 2 cans per day unless I do tons of intervention to get him to eat a bit more.
Today he really loved and quickly ate the tub of Natural Balance Catatouille that I gave him (which was unusual since it is a shredded style food and he generally liked pate better in the past) but it was only 60 calories. I'm going to get some more shredded varieties to see if he's changed his opinion on those overall.
The food charts don't show the caloric density of the various foods per ounce, so no help there. I'm wondering if I should just aim for foods with high protein and also at the higher end of the "under 10% max carbs" rule in order to max out calories per ounce of food while still staying within LC guidelines.
