Plumping up a civvie

[Sarah Smith]

Evening all!

My 14 yr old kittie with hyperthyroid needs to gain some weight. I'm 95% sure her methamazole needs adjusted again, seems to need it every 6-8 months the last year and a half. She's ravenous, starting to lose some weight, and drinking like a fish (familiar symptoms to all of us huh!). The kicker with hyperT is her energy level goes through the roof, I really hate using that as a 'symptom' but its a telltale. I cant get her into the vet until the middle of next week and was looking for suggestions to get her some extra calories in the meantime. I've used kitten chow in the past, but it just sort of maintained her, I'd really like to put a pound or slightly more on her, I hate how thin she looks, even when her thyroid level is good I have a hard time getting her to gain anything, feeding 3 wet meals and dry grazing all day (out of Cooter's reach!).

Thanks

 

[Critter Mom]

Hi Sarah,

It might be worth asking your vet about including some calorie-dense 'recovery' type foods in her diet. I've no experience of feeding them. Perhaps other members might be able to give you better suggestions. I have seen recommendations for IAMS Maximum Calorie here for kitties having a hard time eating when they're recovering from DKA. It's designed to promote weight gain so maybe it might be worth investigating? Obviously check the ingredients on any new food to make sure they suit her needs.


Mogs
.

 

[Critter Mom]

Hi again,

I just spotted a relevant food recommendation from @Julia & Bandit on this thread:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hello.157714/#post-1676003

From the above post:

Some canned foods are higher in calories than others, so he may do well on a premium food like Wellness, especially if he's underweight. Wellness kitten is diabetic safe and great for packing on pounds.

Mogs
.

 

[Sarah Smith]

Thanks Mogs I try using the search before asking alot of stuff, but sometimes I'm not good at sorting through the results

 

[Critter Mom]

I doubt you'd have found the above using the search, Sarah. I find the forum search a bit clunky. Sometimes I use a regular search engine and put FDMB in front of the search string; it can be a lot better for 'fuzzy' searches. Wandering round the threads here on FH is really helpful because you see stuff repeated a lot. It might not be helpful when you first see it but there may come a day when the info you glean may be just the thing to help you solve a problem.

I'd be very interested to get an update on how your kitty gets on after you find a suitable food.


Mogs
.

 

[Sarah Smith]

Heading to petsmart shortly to pick up a couple cans of the wellness, will start with a bit of it tonight

 

[Critter Mom]

Hope your little one likes the Wellness and that it helps her gain some weight. Be sure to let us know how she does!




Mogs
.