Fattening up a kitten

lawguy · Mar 23, 2009

Ally eats plenty... I don't have to worry about her.

The new kitten though I'm noticing seems to be slightly malnourished. I don't know if he wasn't fed well where he spent the first 3 months of life, or if he didn't eat while at the humane society.... but I need to put some meat on my new boy's bones.

He's had free access to food all day, and he hasn't eaten all that much. He's eaten, just not that much. I'm keeping in mind though that he's in a new environment and might be stressed, and that he had surgery today.

I'm sure I can make food really appetizing to him and get him to eat, but I was wondering if I should buy some sort of special ultra-high-fat kitten food? I know kitten food already by definition has lots of fat, but maybe I should get something more fattening to give him lots of calories and fat?

xocats · Mar 23, 2009

It has been a long time since I had a kitten but I would be careful about trying to fatten your new sweetie up to quickly...
I recently did that with Sadie and she got sick.

If your boy has been wormed and had blood work to r/o illness, just go slow.
If he loses weight, have a vet check him over.

I suspect that other members will have some great ideas for you.

laureen227 · Mar 23, 2009

you ARE feeding some kind of kitten food, tho, right?

GoldyCat · Mar 23, 2009

As long as he's eating and drinking at least a little bit, I wouldn't try to push him too fast. He's still recovering from surgery and anesthesia, which would take away anybody's appetite. He's also in a new place. If you read some of the other threads about getting new cats/kittens, you'll see that they often do not eat much for the first day or two.

You mentioned in another thread that you wanted to change him to a higher quality food than what he'd been getting at the shelter. You could start now, adding a little of the new food and gradually increasing it so that the transition takes at least a week. He might even prefer the new food. When I first brought Shareena home I tried putting just a little bit of a higher quality food in with what she'd been getting. She very carefully picked out all the new food and left the old food sitting in the dish. So much for a slow transition.

Are you feeding him any wet food?

merindah · Mar 23, 2009

You could try Nutri Cal.

ut0pia · Mar 23, 2009

It has to be from the surgery- anesthesia makes them lose their appetite for up to 24- 48 hours after. Are you going to introduce him to canned food or are you keeping him on his previous diet entirely? If I were you I'd keep the purina they were giving him but also add a little bit of canned starting now and gradually add more..

lawguy · Mar 23, 2009

you ARE feeding some kind of kitten food, tho, right?

Of course. Right now he's on the same thing they fed him at the humane society - Purina one dry, and I'm starting him on wetfood using Science Diet (just because I know Ally took to it well and it was a good starting point for wet food).

You mentioned in another thread that you wanted to change him to a higher quality food than what he'd been getting at the shelter.

Once he's in a little better shape, I will start the transition to Wellness dry and wet food.

darlili · Mar 24, 2009

My Dharma was a scrawny little thing when I brought her home, and she didn't each that much the first few days....in a short time, she gained nicely and actually maintains a good weight all by herself - unlike her brother and her mommy, who have a hard time with weight

I agree to be patient for the first few days - he's gone through an awful lot the last day or two, with surgery, a new home, missing his siblings, etc., and he probably doesn't realize he's in a forever home now. Just be sure he's got access at all times to food and water, and keep an eye on him. If he doesn't start eating soon, contact the vet for advice, as kitten, like human babies, don't tolerate lack of food well. You can always try a few types of wet kitten food to see what might attract him, but I really think you're on a good path now - just wait a little bit.

lawguy · Mar 24, 2009

He's going to the vet today for an overall wellness check and also because he sneezed and coughed a few times yesterday.

Still not eating a whole lot. I made sure that the Lysine wasn't the problem and gave him some wet-food without it mixed in.

I guess it's just stress and maybe a little depression.

I hope he starts eating more once he realizes that this is the beginning of the rest of his life, and that he doesn't need to worry ever again.

Also, the ear mites may also be decreasing his appetite. I can't imagine what it's like to have that. How terrible. I am going to ask the vet today whether he sees any more alive and if I should use a product. The humane society claims that the Revolution he was given on day 1 has killed most of them.

Another thing that concerns me is that while he's not eating much, he's drinking A LOT. I mean... it's got to be close to 3/4 of a pint which doesn't even seem physically possible but somehow he's doing it.

littleraven7726 · Mar 24, 2009

Maybe he doesn't like the food the shelter gave? Through trial and error we found that Lola liked Nutro Max Kitten best.

She fattened right up from a barely 2 lb 5 month old, to spay weight (around 4 lbs) in a couple of weeks. We're pretty sure she gained a whole pound in a couple days after we caught her. She was HUNGRY. She also liked Special Kitty gourmet kitten and Fancy Feast Kitten for canned foods. The first week or 2 we were giving her 3 - 3oz cans a day. And she ate it all!

nekochan · Mar 24, 2009

Has the kitten been wormed?

When I rescued my feral kitten Church he was malnourished and had internal parasites. After worming him my vet gave me a product called VAL Syrup which helped him recover. He loved the taste too! You can ask your vet about that...
I also gave him and Roxy a nutritional supplement for growing kittens called Pro Balance Feline.

lawguy · Mar 24, 2009

Ok. I found a solution for the moment.

I took him to the vet today for a wellness check and to get treated for his URI. While there, they tried some Hills Prescription Diet A/D with him and he started gobbling it up.

So the upside is that he's eating, but the downside is that the food that he's eating is technically an adult food. To add fat, I'm mixing in the Science Diet kitten food and later I will test out the Wellness kitten food both by itself and mixed with the Prescription Diet A/D.

What about the possibility of just adding fat to the Prescription Diet food? Chicken fat perhaps, just like would be used to make old fashioned matzah ball soup?

There is another issue to consider - he's on meds for 10 days for his URI now. Supposedly a side effect is nausea. So, he's probably not going to eat much while on it..... and I will need to pack as much nutrition into the little bit he eats. I'll wait and see. Maybe I'll get lucky and he won't get nauseated from the meds.

ETA: Oh yeah, we tested his fecal matter today for worms. He's negative. No worms.

GoldyCat · Mar 24, 2009

I've heard that antibiotics can cause nausea or loss of appetite, but I have to say my (limited) experience was exactly the opposite. When Shareena developed an infection after her spay she felt so bad she wasn't eating or playing. Within 24 hours after starting the antibiotic she was gobbling up everything in sight.

She was also bouncing off the walls and furniture as usual, which worried me some because I was afraid she'd rip her stitches out.

lawguy · Mar 24, 2009

As I posted in another thread, I have found that he will eat if I feed him manually with my finger. So, I'm doing that as often as possible for the moment.

I also have given him variety. He has a small bowl of Hills Prescription Diet A/D wetfood, a small bowl of Science Diet kitten food wetfood, a small bowl of Wellness kitten food wetfood, a small bowl of his purina one dry food (I decided to just put it there as an option afterall even though he won't eat it), and a small bowl of Wellness brand kitten food dry food.

So between that and trying to feed him manually I hope he will start putting on some weight.

nekochan · Mar 24, 2009

Oh I forgot to add, my feral kitten also had a URI... The VAL syrup really helped though!

I would NOT recommend adding chicken fat to the food. It can cause diarrhea or pancreatitis.

lawguy · Mar 24, 2009

VAL syrup? Ollie definitely has a URI, sneezing and coughing and I'm worried that I might accidentally spread it to Ally by him sneezing or coughing on or near and me missing a spot to clean when I try to disinfect myself to go play with Ally afterwards.

He's on lysine and Doxycycline right now. I'm really hoping to keep Ally from catching it and to get Ollie healthy ASAP. Poor little guy has been through enough already.

nekochan · Mar 24, 2009

Yep VAL syrup, I got it from my vet, it is good for times of stress and sick/growing or undernourished cats.

I would probably put your other cat on the lysine too. Can't hurt.

lawguy · Mar 24, 2009

Does that somehow give the cat an immune system boost? It seems to just be a vitamin cocktail.

I'm going to try to figure out how to get Ally on lysine. The only real problem is that she doesn't eat wet-food anymore for the most part. She eats a little bit sometimes, but she really loves the Wellness brand dry food and gobbles it up (she eats a little over a whole bag a month). So, I'd have to figure out how to administer it. What about mixing it in water and just giving it to her via an oral syringe? She's very trusting with me giving her meds and doesn't resist at all when I give her oral meds. I don't know if that's ok to do though, giving all that lysine at once orally instead of mixed with food.

Also, I have good news with Ollie. HE'S EATING! (yay)

I've got him eating Wellness kitten food (all of a sudden he loves it and will eat it off a plate) and I also mixed up Science Diet kitten food with Hills Prescription Diet A/D and added some of the Wellness dry food (so that maybe he'll get a taste for it too). Today he ate 1/4 of a big can of the Hills Prescription Diet A/D, along with 1 and 1/2 "single serving" cans of Wellness kitten wet food, and maybe a 1/4 cup of the Science Diet/Hills Prescription Diet/Wellness kitten dry - mix. For the night, I left him a whole "single serving" can of Wellness kitten food emptied onto a small plate. So far, no vomitting. Also, he's not drinking a ton of water like yesterday which freaked me out (I didn't measure it, but it seemed like 3/4 of a pint of water which is just insane and I would have thought physically impossible for his size). He's drinking water normally today.

I just gave him his second dose of antibiotics and hope he doesn't vomit overnight from it.

If I can keep him eating at the rate he started eating at around noon, I think putting on weight won't be a problem.

carolina · Mar 24, 2009

Originally Posted by LawGuy

Does that somehow give the cat an immune system boost? It seems to just be a vitamin cocktail.

I'm going to try to figure out how to get Ally on lysine. The only real problem is that she doesn't eat wet-food anymore for the most part. She eats a little bit sometimes, but she really loves the Wellness brand dry food and gobbles it up (she eats a little over a whole bag a month). So, I'd have to figure out how to administer it. What about mixing it in water and just giving it to her via an oral syringe? She's very trusting with me giving her meds and doesn't resist at all when I give her oral meds. I don't know if that's ok to do though, giving all that lysine at once orally instead of mixed with food.

Also, I have good news with Ollie. HE'S EATING! (yay)

I've got him eating Wellness kitten food (all of a sudden he loves it and will eat it off a plate) and I also mixed up Science Diet kitten food with Hills Prescription Diet A/D and added some of the Wellness dry food (so that maybe he'll get a taste for it too). Today he ate 1/4 of a big can of the Hills Prescription Diet A/D, along with 1 and 1/2 "single serving" cans of Wellness kitten wet food, and maybe a 1/4 cup of the Science Diet/Hills Prescription Diet/Wellness kitten dry - mix. For the night, I left him a whole "single serving" can of Wellness kitten food emptied onto a small plate. So far, no vomitting. Also, he's not drinking a ton of water like yesterday which freaked me out (I didn't measure it, but it seemed like 3/4 of a pint of water which is just insane and I would have thought physically impossible for his size). He's drinking water normally today.

I just gave him his second dose of antibiotics and hope he doesn't vomit overnight from it.

If I can keep him eating at the rate he started eating at around noon, I think putting on weight won't be a problem.

For Alli, what you can do is buy from your vet Enisyl-F; a l-lysine paste that you can put it in her paw, and she licks it off. Lucky doesn't eat wet either, and that's how I give it to her. It must taste good, because there are no traumas/complaints. The pumps are pre-measured, and dispenses the right amount each time. Buy the first one from the vet; then I would buy it online, as it seems to be much cheaper.

carolina · Mar 24, 2009

Originally Posted by LawGuy

Does that somehow give the cat an immune system boost? It seems to just be a vitamin cocktail.

I'm going to try to figure out how to get Ally on lysine. The only real problem is that she doesn't eat wet-food anymore for the most part. She eats a little bit sometimes, but she really loves the Wellness brand dry food and gobbles it up (she eats a little over a whole bag a month). So, I'd have to figure out how to administer it. What about mixing it in water and just giving it to her via an oral syringe? She's very trusting with me giving her meds and doesn't resist at all when I give her oral meds. I don't know if that's ok to do though, giving all that lysine at once orally instead of mixed with food.

Also, I have good news with Ollie. HE'S EATING! (yay)

I've got him eating Wellness kitten food (all of a sudden he loves it and will eat it off a plate) and I also mixed up Science Diet kitten food with Hills Prescription Diet A/D and added some of the Wellness dry food (so that maybe he'll get a taste for it too). Today he ate 1/4 of a big can of the Hills Prescription Diet A/D, along with 1 and 1/2 "single serving" cans of Wellness kitten wet food, and maybe a 1/4 cup of the Science Diet/Hills Prescription Diet/Wellness kitten dry - mix. For the night, I left him a whole "single serving" can of Wellness kitten food emptied onto a small plate. So far, no vomitting. Also, he's not drinking a ton of water like yesterday which freaked me out (I didn't measure it, but it seemed like 3/4 of a pint of water which is just insane and I would have thought physically impossible for his size). He's drinking water normally today.

I just gave him his second dose of antibiotics and hope he doesn't vomit overnight from it.

If I can keep him eating at the rate he started eating at around noon, I think putting on weight won't be a problem.

Why is he eating Hills? Both canned and Dry? That's stuff is overpriced naaaastiness! IMO, you should also do a slow transition into wellness - he is already sick with an URI; you don't want him to have a digestive upset. He will likely not vomit, but you can bet on diarrhea for a couple of weeks. It is too much to change him all of the sudden, considering he is moving to a new place, and has URI.

Fattening up a kitten

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