Vet says too skinny :(

We brought Thomas in today for his 12 week shots. The vet told us he looked a bit skinny and we should focus on putting weight on him. I've thought this since we got him and we feed him as much as he will eat, which right not at 12 weeks is 2 cans per day of fancy feast and about 1/2 cup of dry. The vet said we should try to get him eating 3 cans of FF and 3/4 cup dry if we can. How can we make him eat more? We give him as much as he will eat and refill the bowl every time it's empty.

Complex B vitamins - helps the skin and coat too!

Originally Posted by Abymummy

Complex B vitamins - helps the skin and coat too!

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On that same note, I just started giving my IBD aby kitten No Shot B12 sublingual tablets and can say that they have greatly increased her appetite. I know that many vets will give B12 shots to kitties that have inappetence problems, but it doesn't sound like that's the main concern with your kitty as he's eating pretty good in my opinion. However, B12 is supposed to be harmless and impossible to overdose as the body eliminates any excess, so it might help in getting him to eat a bit more.

Originally Posted by Abymummy

Complex B vitamins - helps the skin and coat too!

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That helps them to gain weight? where would you get it from? I have a 4 month old female kitten who is alot smaller than her brothers and the vet said it wouldn't hurt her to put on some weight!SDhe has a beautiful silky shiny coat though???

Actually, from my understanding, vitamin supplementation for an otherwise healthy cat is not recommended. There are some health conditions which do require extra vitamins. I'd strongly suggest you speak with the Vet on that.

I do believe that certain varieties of Fancy Feast are lower in fat and protein than optimal...a very young cat requires much more of these than an adult. I suspect that is the problem.

If it were my cat, I'd be feeding kitten food for the first year - and, free-feeding at that.

Originally Posted by BLAISE

Actually, from my understanding, vitamin supplementation for an otherwise healthy cat is not recommended. There are some health conditions which do require extra vitamins. I'd strongly suggest you speak with the Vet on that.

I do believe that certain varieties of Fancy Feast are lower in fat and protein than optimal...a very young cat requires much more of these than an adult. I suspect that is the problem.

If it were my cat, I'd be feeding kitten food for the first year - and, free-feeding at that.

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I agree 100% with BLAISE. I'd get rid of the Fancy Feast which isn't a very good food for any cat and get a kitten food of a better quality. Sharky is out expert on food and will probably come along to give you some suggestions. Look for a food with no by-products for a start.

Blaise said what I would ...

as for food try kitten wet and dry or a all stage no Grain dry ( no grains often have more calories than kitten )..

where do you shop ?? this aids me recommending things

Like others have said if he is not eating some kitten food then that would be your first place to start. To help make the food more enticing you can try sprinkling a few drops of salmon or another fish body oil on it. Also plain yogurt sometimes gets them to chow down

Originally Posted by chris10

To help make the food more enticing you can try sprinkling a few drops of salmon or another fish body oil on it. Also plain yogurt sometimes gets them to chow down

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Of course that will only work if your cat actually likes anything "fishy". Our 2 won't touch anything with fish.

The Fancy Feast we give him is the "kitten" variety. We do to some extent free feed, in that whenever his bowl is empty we give him more. The quantity I outlined below is about what he gets through eat day free feeding.

Thomas is also a VERY picky eater. He does not like fish, so sprinkling fish on top won't help. We tried giving him canned Iams, and he hated it. The dry food he gets is NutroCat Adult - he won't eat the kitten variety.

Does anyone else have a picky kitten and know of foods they will like? Our area is pretty rural, and the nearest pet supply store (if you don't count livestock feed) is about an hour away. I would definitely go there if you guys had specific suggestions.