How much wet food is too much in 1 day.

rang_27

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Yesterday I decided to test Jordan to see how much he would eat in one day. In the morning he got 1 3oz can of Weruva, & 1/2 a can of F.F. medlies, then when I came home he ate a 3oz can of FF. Then for dinner he had another can of Weruva & the 2nd 1/ of the F.F. medlies. That's 12 oz in one day. He has lost weight from 14 down to 11.25 in the last year. He is also batteling health problems and possibly cancer (although many would say no cat with cancer would eat that much). I suspect being on Pred helps keep his appitite up. I do want him to put back on about a pound because he is too skinny right now. I'm just wondering if continuing to eat that much could make him sick? His final meal yesterday was eaten slowly, but he ate it all. Then his little tummy was visably bloated, but he didn't seem uncomfortabel at all, mostly just sleepy.
 

sweetkara

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I think that's too much but I guess it depends on the cat.

My cat's food can says about 1 5.5oz can per 6-8 pounds of body weight per day.
 
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rang_27

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I don't intend to feed him that much regularly, I'll probably do more like 9 oz to try & stop his weight loss & maybe even get a little bit more back on him.
 

skimble

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I was curious about the wet food and calories as I am trying to get one switched to wet. I am not experienced, but will share the info I found on the company websites. Sharky knows about nutrition and can help with her experience.

This is a link to Weruva's site where it lists the "as fed" facts. Most of the 3 oz cans only have 45 calories, 1.4 % fat and 85% moisture.
http://www.weruva.com/updates/faqs.pdf

Fancy Feast Medleys list on their site a 2% fat and 82% moisture. Suggested feeding amount was one 3oz can per 2 pounds weight.

So, if you wanted to keep the 12 pounds steady and only feed FF they would need to eat 6 of the 3oz cans to maintain that weight. That's 6cans x3oz=18oz in a day.

Looks like more would be needed to get some weight on. Is there a higher calorie canned food that he will eat? After looking at this I can see why a canned diet is good for weight loss.

If he is satisfied and not hungry, looks like you are on the right track.
 
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rang_27

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He used to eat a mix of wet & dry, but since his health issues started he has become picky and won't eat very much dry food. Weruva is the first good food I've found that he will eat in a year. I never realized how much wet food had to be fed to maintain weight. I don't think he could eat 6 cans in a day. That seems like a LOT of food.
 

sharky

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If he will eat two cans plus dry ... maybe start there ... YES calories are not all the same in wet food many are VERY low cal ... I suggest using the guidelines and then adjusting ...
 
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rang_27

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The problem he has is that the dry makes his constipation worse. I did try a sample of a differnt dry that he seemed intrested in. I forget what the name is right now, but it is a pet store only brand.


I just thought of it. It's Natures Logic. Any problems with that food?
 

happilyretired

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Has he been checked for thyroid? My former cat became hyperthyroid and was eating about 9 oz. of wet food a day (along with about half a cup of dry food), and she was losing weight, too. It may be either the meds or illness, and I'd ask the vet about this.
 
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rang_27

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He had a fully blood test run at the vets office at the end of June. The vet didn't mention anything about his thyroid. As usuall everything was good other than the usual his blood calcium is borderline high (11.2). He said to feed him however much he wants and unless something changes he doesn't need to come back for 6 months. He had lost a lb between December & June, but he was only eating 6 oz of wet food a day at that point. He had also had a parasite in February, and didn't eat well for about a week. I think the vet is still convinced he has cancer somewhere in his body and that's why he's losing weight.
 

twokatz

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You mentioned he is on Pred, that may very well be why he is eating so much it makes them eat much more than they normally would. Mine used to make me feel guitly as she would sit and beg for food even after eating a full meal. She acted like I was trying to starve her to death
You didn't mention what he was on Pred for. Usually Pred is cut back after the intitial dose and things calm down. You're on the right track feeding a littlle more than usual to get the weight back.
 

sharky

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Mine loved Natures logic .. I am leary of some of the ingrediants but it is a good food
 

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We had a cat who was on prednisone for an extended period of time due to a growth that couldn't be successfully diagnosed, but which it was strongly suspected was cancerous. It made him ravenously hungry all the time, and so we fed him much more than he used to eat before the prednisone. He mostly maintained his weight, but did lose weight over the years and was very thin at the end.

My advice to you would be to give the cat as much food as he wants, both to keep him healthy and so he doesn't suffer as a result of the prednisone-induced hungry sensation. I wouldn't use low-calorie food; that's not meant for a cat you're struggling to keep weight on. Leave dry food out for him all the time, and feed wet food meals at set times.
 

maxcat08

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I believe that it was BLAISE who discovered that Weurva was very low in calories. It is good food, in fact it's recommended for overweight cats in helping them to lose weight.

If your kitty likes it...feed it to him, it has good nutrients....you'll have to give him extra to get the extra calories into him. It would be like us trying to gain weight eating apples...it can be done...just takes alot of apples..


I wish your kitty continued good health!
 
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rang_27

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Originally Posted by twokatz

You mentioned he is on Pred, that may very well be why he is eating so much it makes them eat much more than they normally would. Mine used to make me feel guitly as she would sit and beg for food even after eating a full meal. She acted like I was trying to starve her to death
You didn't mention what he was on Pred for. Usually Pred is cut back after the intitial dose and things calm down. You're on the right track feeding a littlle more than usual to get the weight back.
Sorry, I've been round and round with this for the last year, so I just assume everyone knows his story. He was diagnosed with "Idopathic Hypercalcimia". His blood calcium spiked very high, and without the pred would have stayed very high. His blood calcium was so high he was only eating about 3-4 oz of wet food a day. He started at 10 mg of pred a day, was brought back to 5 mg, and when we tried to drop it to 2.5 mg/day his blood calcium spiked again. At one point he had a calcium deposit on his eye from the elvated blood calcium. This is the dangerous thing about elevated blood calcium, the calcium begins to deposit in all the soft tissues of the body including the heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver. It also calcifies the muscles which is extreemly painful. There is still a chance that he has some type of cancer, becasue cancer often causes blood calcium to spike. In addition, he has chronic constipation, which is why I went with all wet food. Dry food tends to make his constipation worse. This weekend I mixed some fancy feast in with the weruva, and it did not make his constipation worse. I'm sure the high moisture content in the Weruva is what is helping him, but if I can mix the two together and still have good results that may be the best idea. Thankyou all for the continued support. I just don't know what I would do without TCS. My vet would probably be sick of all my crazy questions about food. (I did ask him a couple months ago and he said to feed him as much as he wants) I always know here you guys will give me good advice, and if you think I need to call the vet you tell me that too. Thanks again everyone.
 
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