Older civvie getting skinny - food advice?

[Caitlin & Mr. Kink]

Hi guys!

I have an older female civvie non-diabetic cat who's been getting a little skinny. She's 14, no history of any medical issues, has been on a Fancy Feast diet along with Mr. Kink. She's always been a little on the thin side, but I'm just getting a little concerned because I've noticed her getting a little thinner than usual and she's gettin' up there in years. nailbite_smile I'm thinking the Classic Fancy Feasts just aren't cutting it for her. She's supposed to be eating around 6 oz of FF a day, but she usually only actually eats around 3-4.5 oz. In the past, we've supplemented her wet food with some dry and she's gained a bit, but after Mr. Kink's ordeal, I'm really wary of any dry food. Should we be looking into some higher calorie wet foods for her? Any suggestions for what I could give her to fatten her up a bit are appreciated!

Thanks, guys!!

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

I would give her something higher in calories. Wellness kitten, Turkey, and Chicken formulas are great for putting on weight. Plus, it's a bit higher quality protein than the Fancy Feast, so it will be easier on her kidneys. With the prevalence of kidney disease among older cats, and it not being detected in blood work until 2/3rds of kidney function is gone, it's not a bad idea to feed a kidney-friendly diet (high quality protein, lower phosphorus) at her age just as a precaution. And as an added bonus these flavors are low carb, so if you want to feed it to both cats you can (you just may have to reduce Mr. Kink's portion size to keep him from gaining weight). When you get Wellness in the big 12 oz cans, it's cheaper to feed than Fancy Feast.

There are other high quality protein, higher calorie foods--Some EVO 95% are also good for weight gain. My cats preferred the Wellness to the EVO, but yours may be different. They also come in large cans. The current calorie content and phosphorus levels of many premium foods is listed on this chart: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8Uu8g1u8Su9YTgxNGE1MDItM2MyMC00Y2Y3LWI4ODMtMzhkYTkxOGM4NThk/edit. PetGuard Chicken and Beef is also good quality protein and great for weight gain and comes in 13 oz cans, but it's 13% carbs because it contains wheat flour, so you don't want to feed it to Mr. Kink.

 

[Caitlin & Mr. Kink]

TYSM, Julia!

Just went out and grabbed some Chicken & Turkey cans. My local Petsmart only has the 5.5oz ones, but I found a small pet shop close by that carries the 12.5 oz cans. I'm excited! I haven't been feeling that great about feeding them FF for a while, just because I know it's not that great, but I don't really have the excuse of $$ with the 12.5oz cans of Wellness -- so yay!

I just gave lil' miss Angel some of the Chicken flavor as a test, and she gobbled it, so I'm definitely hopeful!

Again, thanks so much

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

Small, independent pet stores are so much cheaper than the chains! I feed Merricks, which costs $1.60something a 5.5 oz can at Petco. At my local Agway, and at the small feed store across town, it's 1.05/1.12 a can. HUGE difference! It wasn't until I started price shopping cat foods around town that I realized how inexpensive it was to actually feed a premium food, especially when you factor in the cat will likely need to eat less of a premium food than a grocery food.

I still feed Fancy Feast a couple times a week, but only for variety, and they're easy to portion for freezing and when I need other people feed Bandit. Recently picked up a few cans of the Sheba Pates as an alternative to the FF. Bandit loves them and they appear to be a little better quality than FF, so I think I'm going to phase out the Fancy Feast.

 

[tuckers mom]

Your kitty is at an age where hyperthyroidism should be looked into. For older kitties, even if the T4 is within the normal range, if it's at the high end of normal she could still be considered Hypert and start treatment. Kidney issues and potassium loss can also cause weight loss in senior kitties. A senior blood panel may be in order just to be safe.