? High calorie supplement for weight gain

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squeem3

squeem3

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It's been awhile since I've been here. Leroy's mostly fine. Spreadsheet is up to date.

Is there a diabetic-, allergy-, IBD-, kidney-friendly high calorie supplement out there?? Leroy has lost half a pound. The vet has increased the budesonide for now (two 0.5 mg tablets once a day) but hasn't gotten back to me about supplements. Kitten foods won't work because they're poultry or beef based and Leroy can't eat those :facepalm: Paste supplements are all sugar based. I could feed Leroy more raw food but he doesn't always want more than what I already give him.
 
Does the poultry allergy include duck? Trying to think of higher fat meats. Neko used to get Merrick LID duck. I suspect the Dr. Lisa list is incorrect on the carbs for that one as it didn't impact her BG and is similar ingredients to the other LID flavours. Phosphorus numbers also good for CKD.

Lamb is a higher fat meat. Lamb products are reasonably common. I was going to suggest pork then I read his profile. :banghead:
Rabbit is lower calorie.

I used to get the TC Feline Special formula premix for Neko, not available in the US. They suggested adding some butter for kidney kitties. Unless of course there is a dairy allergy.

Is Leroy not eating as much? Just wondering if ondansetron would help.
 
He can't eat duck or any kind of bird. Venison and pork and beef are no nos. I haven't found a commercial lamb raw food and canned ones often contain ingredients that are no nos:facepalm:. Rabbit, and only one specific commercial brand, is the only thing that he can eat that won't upset his IBD or food allergies. I haven't tried kangaroo or any other exotic meat yet and I'm afraid to :nailbiting:

Leroy has a good appetite. He eats what he wants and no more. With all his issues, I'm not sure if the weight loss is diabetes related or kidney related or IBD related or a combo of one or more or even something else entirely. The vet is aware of the weight loss and is taking a wait and see approach. The last bloodwork was done in September. He's due for another one soon but the vet doesn't want Leroy to come in unless absolutely necessary. The next time Leroy goes in the vet has to give me something stronger than gabapetin and even that might not work to keep Leroy manageable :nailbiting:
 
Would you consider making your own food? One of my cats has IBD and I use this recipe.

https://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org/balanced-recipe-for-use-with-raw-or-cooked-proteins.html

I cook my meat in water in an instant pot and save the juice to mix in the supplements after everything has cooled. I buy all of my supplements from Amazon. The only thing different I do is use powdered eggs instead of fresh. I get this from Amazon too.

Simon was not absorbing the nutrients from his food and losing weight. Since I started feeding him this he has gained his weight back. I have 8 cats and have been switching all of them over to this diet. One of them was severely malnourished when I rescued him and another seemed to have food allergies. Both have improved significantly since switching them over to this food.

I primarily use chicken, pork and rabbit as my proteins. By making your own, you can use any protein that works for your cat. There are premixes available too for making your own food. I found my cats prefer this recipe over using a premix with the meat.
 
I tried making raw before (long before the IBD and other issues) and Leroy didn't really care for it. I don't recall which pre-mix I used.

Fat .... that might work. I'll ask the vet about it. Butter might be too rich for his tummy issues.
 
I guess the Red Dog/Blue Kat raw lamb isn't available in the US. It was in Neko's rotation. Made locally. Other companies that make raw lamb are Carnivora, Natural Instincts (also a local product), and Small Batch. Small Batch is made in the US, their website shows lots of retailers.
 
squeem3 said:
I tried making raw before (long before the IBD and other issues) and Leroy didn't really care for it. I don't recall which pre-mix I used.

Fat .... that might work. I'll ask the vet about it. Butter might be too rich for his tummy issues.
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My cats don't like raw either and they are picky about the premixes. Since I started using this recipe with cooked meat, they love it.
 
Leroy likes commercial raw over homemade. I did try Small Batch once. Besides being hard to find, it didn't agree with Leroy's tummy.

I wonder if this rabbit/lamb raw will be ok for all of Leroy's issues and give him more calories, https://savagecatfood.com/products/ I've seen the chicken tubs at the local pet store. I could see if they can get the rabbit/lamb for Leroy to try.

Or a protein booster, although that might not be too good for the kidney issue? https://rawdynamicpets.com/products/lamb-treats-copy
 
This won’t work for Leroy bc it’s chicken but I wonder if you home-made something with similar beef items it would work: Methos adores Tiki cat comfort sachets—I’d estimate less than a tsp of paste inside (about the size of a sugar or catsup pack) but each one is 25 calories. Zero carbs, 20% protein and 80% fat. By dry matter. As fed protein 8% fat 25%. There are only a few ingredients so I’m thinking a bit of experimentation with kitchen scales and you’d have something similar. It has chicken, coconut oil, chicken broth, chicken liver, dried egg, tuna flavor, chicken flavor, salmon oil.
 
ZiwiPeak makes a rabbit and lamb combo. Their food is pretty high quality. If you can find a store where you can buy one can it would allow you to avoid buying a case.
 
Ziwi Peak contains mussel, a suspected allergen :facepalm: It is so hard to find something that works for all of Leroy's issues :banghead: The vet isn't much help on food. With most other clients he'll prescribe prescription junk but he trusts me to do what is best for Leroy.

Adding oil to the food is probably my best bet right now. Any thoughts on whether fish oil would work? A tablespoon has about 123 calories according to Google.
 
I had the same problem with my Howie Boy and gave him this supplement to add calories. I added it to his food with some additional water. I had no problems with his BGs with it.

Oxbow Critical Care Carnivore - Nutritionally Complete Feeding Assist Formula for Small Animals & Pets (70g) https://a.co/d/6skB93c
 
Carnivore Care contains poultry meal. That won't work for Leroy's food allergies.

The vet finally got back to me. Fat won't work because it will cause GI upset for Leroy and prevent nutrient absorption. We're going to give the increased dose of budesonide a little more time and then adjust the insulin dose. If that doesn't work, we can try chlorambucil after another full work up of blood and urine.
 
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