WHY does my FUO cat *adore* thin sliced black forest deli ham? Offer lots of other foods

I have a FUO cat that started out very thin/undersized when we first adopted her. She's been off/on Clavamox & Doxycycline since last October, so we have been trying to build up her weight. In other words, what mama wants, mama gets. At first it was Gerbers baby food - chicken beef and turkey. Then I introduced Gerbers ham. She *loved* that. When we've tried feeding various deli meat (in addition to quality cat food), she -and all of our cats- go ape for fancy thin sliced black forest ham (quite salty). I've read articles that claim cats don't have a keen sense of taste. Not in my experience - the fancier the meat, the more they like it! 

WHY would cats adore ham?

BTW, they have 2 different excellent quality dry foods on offer as well as cheapo friskies wet (cat Mickey D). 

Welcome to TCS.  Cute cat?  (Um, 'cuse my ignorance, but what is a FUO cat?)

Perhaps they adore the ham because it is more meat than fillers (dry food, regardless of quality, has fillers).

Try offering them raw pork or beef or chicken and see how they react

I believe FUO = Fever of unknown origin.
http://www.manhattancats.com/Articles/Fever_of_Unknown_Origin.htm

As for the ham, I have one cat who goes nuts for it, and the other you could slap a piece on his face and he wouldn't react. :lol3: Your cats obviously have good taste. I wonder if it's the fat content of pork that they respond to?

Not everyone will agree with this, but I discovered this when one my kittens came down with FIP.

It also is great for making eggs and fries.

Duck Fat:


Do the math on the nutrition label to figure out how much 50 calories are in a tsp (I think it was half a tsp).

Most wet foods range from 150-225 calories per can. Adding 50 calories of fat is my opinion, and not per any doctor.

If the cat has a guarded prognosis (nice way of saying terminal), the vet will not argue, especially since she is eating deli meat and baby food which are food, just not balanced.

Another way, and I say this as a person who fed the best cans in the industry, go to any big box store and buy friskies (as low as 45 cents) and make it always available.

Throw the duck fat in there.

Good luck!

EDIT: Also, if you are queezy about using rendered fat, look for pig "back fat"  Its super cheap and not hard to find.

I have 1.5 lbs of it in my fridge defrosting.  Im going to try to cut it up into strips and cubes (its packed flat and square like a book).

I will try and figure out caloric value per gram or ounce.  This fat is raw and not rendered.

The duck fat is fairly inexpensive, too.  That surprised me when I looked at the link.

I am no cook or coneisuer, but fwiw I think that is the only brand you will find in USA, they sell it at williams and sonoma too I think.

The good thing is it comes from a company that makes fois gras with ducks, and aparently humanely in Canada.

I have made eggs with it a few times, nothing crazy (Im greek so grew up with all eggs fried in olive oil).

Will try fries one day too.

http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/usda/duck-fat

1tbs of duck or pork backfat is 115 calories, thats as much as some wet food cans, so half a tbs on top of food would help, or the whole tbs.

(I leave discretion to the owner, as having gone through 1 death, and one near death I can relate)

The duck fat in the jar will get to an apple sauce consistency at room temp, perfect for spreading on kitties food, out of fridge its like hard butter.

The only downside is possible runs from too much fat.     Anyways good luck, and hope you fatten him up and give him a smile.

ps

I had gotten my cats pork back fat (real cheap) which is raw, much cheaper, but don't bother, its a pain to cut up and measure, its not liquidy so getting it in a table spoon is impossible.and the calorie are the same for both ounce for ounce.

LOVE your avatar/pic as I'm a big fan of black & white cats (my late great Duncan made border collies look stupid). FUO = "fever of unknown origin" just as another wrote. 

Really sorry to hear about the kitten w/ FIP;  that's what I'm terrified my little cat has .....though my vets claim she's lived too long to have it. I really don't understand "dry" FIP even after doing a lot of reading...

LOVE duck & pork fat suggestions. This makes tons of sense as 1) I've never met a cat that didn't like the fatty part of bacon 2) the pate we bought at Xmas had duck liver (no goose cause I'm in CA) and they *loved it*.

After re-reading the above, I have questions: are both the duck fat & pork fat products that one melts & then pours over regular cat food? Or does one serve it in a solid form at room temp? 

Quote:

gussamor said:

Really sorry to hear about the kitten w/ FIP;  that's what I'm terrified my little cat has .....though my vets claim she's lived too long to have it. I really don't understand "dry" FIP even after doing a lot of reading...

LOVE duck & pork fat suggestions. This makes tons of sense as 1) I've never met a cat that didn't like the fatty part of bacon 2) the pate we bought at Xmas had duck liver (no goose cause I'm in CA) and they *loved it*.

After re-reading the above, I have questions: are both the duck fat & pork fat products that one melts & then pours over regular cat food? Or does one serve it in a solid form at room temp? 

Click to expand...

Yea. he was only 5 months old.  I quickly pushed my expertise on FIP out of my mind when we decided to stop his medication.

Wet vs Dry, I think the difference is wet means fluid in the lungs and abdomen(this will expand) which can be seen by xray, dry has no fluid and is harder to detect.

One of them is more deadly then the other, cant remember which, maybe dry can go on longer, and wet is immediate, not sure.

Its not exactly true about "being too old" for it,  I hope it is, and statistically the chance goes down as age goes up, however keep in mind this is one of those mystery diseases, almost impossible to detect or prevent.

As to fat, I will address you questions easily.

Melting- Duck Fat (rendered) at room temperature is like an applesauce consistency, easily spooned.  Refridgerated its like really frozen hagan dazz ice cream.  A solution would be take it out of fridge and let it come to room temp.  I am not sure what repeated fridge to room temp sessions will affect it, so maybe split the jar into another jar. Make sure you don't give too much, 1tbs is 150 calories (same as a can of food).  

Pork Fat- I used raw fat, unrendered (lard is rendered), I know it wont melt at room temp. I put a 1 inch chunk in microwave, and ran it 10 seconds, barely melted.

Also sucks as it has skin on it.     I am likely to throw it away (I pound a pound for 2$).      I might try making some fries in it to see how people used to eat in the 50's

Also Bacon fat, remember the typical american bacon has salt, flavorings, and other stuff.

If your cat is terminal, give her what she wants, however, I would stick to pure things. 
 

In the end, stick to the duck fat, at least your cat will be on the newest fancy food trend (duck fat fries are popping up at lots of bar resturants).

Lard would be cheaper, but I am not sure if it melts at room temp.