A few questions about a stray...

lookingglass

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With out getting into the long story of how he arrived I now have a very thin kitty that is willing to eat just about anything. It's obvious to me that he's been out on the streets for some time, so I have a few questions.

Is there anything I should outright avoid for the next few days? (For example: treats, specific types of caned food, ect...)

Is there anything I should be feeding him, but normally wouldn't have in my apartment?

In short, I'd like to try to put some weight on this little guy as soon as possible.
 

pat

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I have no idea if this is the best advice, but when we took in Frankie, she was skin over bones, that was it. She was less than 6# (and when she passed she was over 13!!).

I fed her a good quality kitten dry food with wet food - though she would turn her nose up at wet food, she was more into kibble.

I let her have as much as she wanted - she gained 3 lbs in 3 weeks!
 
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lookingglass

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Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

I have no idea if this is the best advice, but when we took in Frankie, she was skin over bones, that was it. She was less than 6# (and when she passed she was over 13!!).

I fed her a good quality kitten dry food with wet food - though she would turn her nose up at wet food, she was more into kibble.

I let her have as much as she wanted - she gained 3 lbs in 3 weeks!
Good to know. I'll set up a free feeding station in the apartment as soon as I can.
 

gingersmom

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I would say if you give him any wet, give him as high quality as possible right now, too.

I'm not worried about him Heather - look at what you've done for Dr. Claw. He looks so good in those pics with Scratch.


Keep us posted, please!
 
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lookingglass

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Originally Posted by GingersMom

I would say if you give him any wet, give him as high quality as possible right now, too.

I'm not worried about him Heather - look at what you've done for Dr. Claw. He looks so good in those pics with Scratch.


Keep us posted, please!
Thanks...


I'm sure I can get this guy up to fighting weight in no time. Most likely, he'll be above it and a year from now I'll be posting on how to get him to loose weight!
 

katachtig

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Originally Posted by lookingglass

Thanks...


I'm sure I can get this guy up to fighting weight in no time. Most likely, he'll be above it and a year from now I'll be posting on how to get him to loose weight!
That is what happened with Carly. When we got her from PetSmart, she was skinny and wouldn't eat anything but canned food. We started feeding her Wellness and she discovered Lucy's UR food packing on too much weight (9 lbs to 12lbs). We've finally found a way for her lose weight and she's down to 11 lbs.

I think feeding a high quality food will be great. If you aren't free feeding already, I would recommend getting him started on scheduled feedings early. I think he will do fine with that and make monitoring his weight and food consumption much easier.
 

laureen227

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you might try using KMR... or something like Nutrical[?] i know they sell weight-adding supplements at our local pet stores...
 

starryeyedtiger

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Get him on a high calorie kitten chow like Nutro Max Kitten (roasted chicken)

In between the dry food- give him a small amount of KMR or probiolac kitten formula a few times a day. I would also buy some Nutrical from the pet store and give him about a 1" strip 2x a day for a few weeks to slowly put on weight.


Stay away from seafood flavored foods they can cause UTI issues. I'd recommend a good premuim dry like Nutro Max Cat (roasted chicken) and a good premium soft- dry because it has more carbs which is what he needs- kitten because it's higher calorie than most adults (you can switch to adult later) and soft because it mimics their natural diet more than soft does and has a higher moisture content that they need. Nutro, Wellness- both are good softs. I'm sure if you pm Jennifer (sharky) she could come up with some wonderful suggestions as far as nutrition goes!


Chances are he is skinny because he's wormy- get him dewormed with both Strongid and Droncit. Strongid only does tape worms- Dronict does hooks, whips, and rounds. Start him on a proper flea prevenative too (Frontline Plus is good).

Also- make sure he is FELV/FIV negative and has no signs of FIP before introducing him to your gang and get him fully vaccinated. How do his ears look? Any signs of debris/lots of black gunk- make sure he gets checked for ear mites since he's been outside- they're easy to treat


PM me if you need anything or have any questions!
 
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lookingglass

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starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by lookingglass

We got him this dry food: http://www.cat-alog.com/cat_food/go_big.jpg

And this wet: http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=9293

His ears are really red inside, so I'm going to have them checked out. Also he may have a spot of ring worm, so I'll also have that checked.

Please say that the worst of this will be some worms and some ring worm. Cross your fingers for this little guy.
I've never tried those foods before - hopefully the ingredients are pretty sound. The first listed ingredients should be meat in both.

The ears may be irritated as a result of earmites. If indeed he does have ear mites have the vets office clean out the ears with VET was or another ear solution and then swab them out. Normally after doing that he'll need ivermectin in each ear or accerax. (I like ivermectin for ear mites- it only takes a little and it really knocks them out! It's .25 in each ear and that's just one dose and it should knock them out- he may need more later on if it's bad.)

It could also just be a yeast infection. (any way you can pm me a picture of the ear?) If it's a yeast infection, I recommend the VET wash solution, swabbing (VERY GENTLY) out the ears and then putting otomax in each ear- you'll need your vet to get a prescription for otomax if he does have an infection.

It could just be that they're dry as well- hard to say without having him here in front of me. You might try rubbing just a small pinch of baby oil on the outter part of the ear (avoid the ear cannal) -it will help soothe him a bit. Bordeaux butt paste works AWESOME too! - only use a pinch though and none in the ear cannal- be sure your vet looks at him first before you put anything in his ears though


If he does have ringworm- you can try conofite. I've also had a LOT of success with Bordeaux's butt paste (even though it's not an antifungal.) I normally apply the conofite 3x a day and bordeaux 1-2x/ day depending on the severity and the animal at the shelter- that combo seems to work pretty well. You may want to have him dipped too if you suspect ringworm.
 

alleygirl

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I don't know about that dry food, but the Merrick is a great food, grain free. Riley eats it in rotation with other brands.

Good luck with this little guy!
 
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lookingglass

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Originally Posted by LDG

Seems like great food for your new little rescue.


Sending more that his only problems are ring worm and maybe worms.

Laurie
I'm a bit of a brat about cat food. I figure that DH and I eat well, and so should our cats. Allbeit, they eat a little too well sometimes....
 
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