Does this sound okay to give a cat to help her gain some weight?

1. equal parts egg yolk, strained baby food and water

or

2. 3 oz. egg yolk

3 oz. strained baby food

3 oz. water

1 tsp. cooking oil

1  tbsp. corn syrup

Blend at high speed for 60 seconds.

Strain twice through kitchen strainer.

Warm slightly.

For diet #1 275 ml per day

For diet #2 above give 210 ml per day

It seems alright. What's your reason for wanting the cat to gain weight? Is it something medical related? What's the cat's current diet?

Egg yolks are packed with healthy fats. If your cat likes them, I'd just add a small amount of yolk to his wet food. Cooking oil doesn't seem necessary, baby food is good but not sure why it needs to be strained. Beechnut has a pretty good baby food with just meat and no corn starch.

You haven't mentioned why you are considering these two options.  Is your cat hypoglycemic?  Diabetic?  Not interested in eating?  Underweight?

I think we need to know these things before saying if one is better than the other, or, if at all.

Sorry.  Here is a thread I had in the heath section.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/268350/cindy-is-losing-weight-again-im-getting-desperate

To sum up, she had a mast cell tumor on her colon. Surgery last January removed the tumor and part of her colon.  Chemo has her in remission. She's had a zillion tests, including exploratory surgery. Found she had low B12, so she had weekly shots for 6 weeks and is now on monthly. While she was on weekly, she gained a little bit, but now she's back to losing again. It fluctuates, but today was the lowest at 5.1.

She is currently on Prednisolone 2.5 mg.  She eats, not excessively, but certainly enough that she should at least not be losing weight.  Vet specialist didn't seem overly concerned at her last visit (where her weight was the same as previous visit).  Her next shot is due on Jan. 2.

Her current diet is mainly Fancy Feast Classics, she is partial at the moment to Tender Liver and Chicken, although she eats other kinds as well.  Also some Nature's Recipe dry.  We feed her several times a day, or any time she asks for something.

I've just been trying to find anything I can think of to help her put a little bit of weight back on.  At her heaviest, she was 8.8 lb, before the cancer.

I've been looking at the calorie counts of foods for my kitten, and I noticed that the ones are mentioned are relatively low-calorie foods.  The FF Classics are about 90 cals/can at best and I am just guessing that Soulistic is comparable to Weruva since I've seen them compared to each other (Weruva Chicken w/Gravy is only 56 cals).  Could she eat a higher calorie food?  The kitten foods are higher calorie and I've seen them recommended for females with litters.

I hope you find something.

DianaMc said:

 
I've been looking at the calorie counts of foods for my kitten, and I noticed that the ones are mentioned are relatively low-calorie foods.  The FF Classics are about 90 cals/can at best and I am just guessing that Soulistic is comparable to Weruva since I've seen them compared to each other (Weruva Chicken w/Gravy is only 56 cals).  Could she eat a higher calorie food?  The kitten foods are higher calorie and I've seen them recommended for females with litters.

I hope you find something.

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Problem is her fussiness.  I keep asking the doctor if I should change her food, but she says no as long as she's eating what I'm giving her.  I have so much trouble trying to figure out high calorie or whatever.  I was told that kitten food wouldn't be good give her, so I don't know.  I'm not sure it's even calories or just she's not absorbing the nutrients.

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

^ Lots of good information regarding low calorie foods vs high calorie, written by Dr. Pierson.

Now, I am no expert but I think if you just wanna get her weight up the egg yolks (little at a time!) shouldn't be an issue. Otherwise you could pick a high calorie food, such as Wellness (wooping 200+ calories for a 5.5 ounce can in some varieties) and mix it with her FF possibly? Little at a time again, nothing too drastic. You could also try some toppers too like parmesean cheese, bonito flakes, freeze-dried chicken or what not.

Once again I am not an expert but Omega-3s seem to help a lot with inflammation and curving histamine production. Steroids work by suppressing the immune system, so maybe a probiotic will be beneficial too. Again, not an expert - just throwing some ideas around. One thing at a time though, you don't wanna shock her stomach with all the changes.

Thank you for the good advice.  I will check out that web site tomorrow. I know she won't eat Wellness (tried it before), but maybe I can find something that I can ease her into. 

pinkman said:

 
Once again I am not an expert but Omega-3s seem to help a lot

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Interesting thoughts, Pinkman..

Omega 3 is usually based on fish oil.  Many tells krill oil based Omega 3 is even better -( although costs more, but I suspect that costs is no matter here.)

These are also fat sources of course.

If this with fish/krill oils is by any reason not acceptable,  good quality olive oil (=cold pressed virgine oil, preferably organic) does also contains some Omega 3, also vitamine E, etc.

You Misty yourself mentioned cooking oils - so  go for such a olive oil if you proceed this food cooking oil trace.

Yes, egg yolk is good, so add it whatever else you do.

Goat milk is nice and easy accessible for everyone. Much better than cow milk for example.

Try this if you can get hold on goat milk.

Misty, you mentioned corn syrup.   Why?   If you want to add some glucose,

add instead  dextrose, which is purified glucose.

Also, the vet advised against kitten food.  Did he explained why not?

Good luck!

pinkman said:

 
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

^ Lots of good information regarding low calorie foods vs high calorie, written by Dr. Pierson.

Now, I am no expert but I think if you just wanna get her weight up the egg yolks (little at a time!) shouldn't be an issue. Otherwise you could pick a high calorie food, such as Wellness (wooping 200+ calories for a 5.5 ounce can in some varieties) and mix it with her FF possibly? Little at a time again, nothing too drastic. You could also try some toppers too like parmesean cheese, bonito flakes, freeze-dried chicken or what not.

Once again I am not an expert but Omega-3s seem to help a lot with inflammation and curving histamine production. Steroids work by suppressing the immune system, so maybe a probiotic will be beneficial too. Again, not an expert - just throwing some ideas around. One thing at a time though, you don't wanna shock her stomach with all the changes.

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200 calories in a 5.5 ounce can = 36 calories per ounce

90 calories (Fancy Feast) in a 3 ounce can = 30 calories per ounce

Doesn't seem that different, and I don't like buying the 5.5 ounce cans if I can avoid it because so much gets wasted (they won't eat leftovers, and I don't really want to be giving Swanie higher calorie food anyway). 

I wonder if there is any food that adds Omega-3s?

Some of the FF versions are lower than 90 cals./can.  I picked the highest calorie ones to get that figure.  I'm not sure how much difference the 18 cals/3 oz. makes but I do try to keep in mind that this is a cat who (in our case) weighs less than 8 lbs. so it adds up faster than for a person.  I suppose we could do some fancy math and convert it the numbers into meal per human or something but it probably wouldn't mean much.  

I too wondered why a cat couldn't have the kitten food.  Dandy's Wellness Kitten formula has 122 cals/3 oz. can or almost 41 cal/oz.  Most adult cats don't need a higher calorie food but I'm not sure what other reason there would be.  You could ask the vet for her reason.  I'm not pushing Wellness but they do have a 2 or 3 lines now.  Dandy tried 2 others and didn't seem to care much for them, but I think we still have some to try in the adult ones.  

If you could talk her into something with a few more calories, it would probably help.  There is a lot of mention of diabetic cats and overweight cats with some of these foods but neither of those is the issue.

My Sebastian has pancreatitis (confirmed diagnosis) and suspected IBD (no biopsy to confirm). He went from 16 lbs. to 11 lbs. in one year. Even though he was eating like crazy on the steroid (prednisolone), he didn't actually start gaining weight until I put him on an omega-3 supplement. I read that omega-3 can help with malabsorption. I had Welactin for Cats on hand, so I started with that. I needed something gentle without a lot of risk.

I really like this reference when it comes to explaining how the small intestines work in nutrient absorption:

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/dig...malabsorption_syndromes_in_small_animals.html

I'm not sure if malabsorption is a problem in Cindy, but worth considering. 

Btw, olive oil is not suitable for long-term use. It is typically used for acute constipation. Coconut oil is safer and has anti-inflammatory properties. Neither olive oil or coconut oil replaces an omega-3 source. They do not have enough essential fatty acids, so you would still need an omega-3 source.

Misty8723 said:

 
200 calories in a 5.5 ounce can = 36 calories per ounce

90 calories (Fancy Feast) in a 3 ounce can = 30 calories per ounce

Doesn't seem that different, and I don't like buying the 5.5 ounce cans if I can avoid it because so much gets wasted (they won't eat leftovers, and I don't really want to be giving Swanie higher calorie food anyway). 

I wonder if there is any food that adds Omega-3s?

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Heya!

A 5.5 ounce can of Wellness Turkey formula is actually 218, the 3 ouncer would be 119. The chicken formula is 220 for the 5.5 and 120 for the 3 ounce. I say, getting the 3 ounce cans would be good in your case. Have you tried mixing the leftovers with some warm water? Back when I only fed canned that was the trick that worked for me. 

With canned foods, the ratio of Omega-6's and Omega-3's will be out of wack no matter what pretty much... Because canned foods are heat processed (as well as dry diets). The best way to incorporate Omega 3-s would be adding say, sardines or squeezing in Wild Salmon oil or Krill oil directly onto the food. 

Good catch on the calories, pinkman!  I may have to investigate krill oil.

Leftovers have been a bit of an issue here too, but I use the "defrost" setting on my microwave and don't overheat them.  For the Hound & Gatos, which turns especially sloppy, I've been using an even lower power level.  I've read a about heating them in a bowl of hot water and tried it once.  She didn't like the soupy food that resulted from added water but that works for others.

FYI, we took Cindy to our regular vet this morning, because she continues to lose a bit of weight.  Vet took another blood test, and we have our regular appointment with the specialist on Thursday.  I honestly don't think it's an issue of calories because she eats just as much now as she did before she got sick, and she was gaining weight back then.  Up to 8.8 pounds at one time. Now she's down to 5.  I'm just praying we can find out what it is so we can treat it, and hope it's not the cancer back.

I hope you get a good report. I'm so sorry that she's lost that much.

It's not an ideal food, but could you get some of the Hill's i/d from your vet? It does have wheat flour in it, which isn't great, and it has a lot of carbs, but it's made for cats with IBD and other digestion problems who have trouble keeping weight on. I've actually had to begin transitioning my cat with IBD off of it because she went from losing drastic amounts of weight when she first got diagnosed to gaining nearly 5 pounds over two years once the vet put her on the i/d (she only needed to gain about a pound!). I don't know that it would be that dramatic for your kitty, and it might not even work or she may not like it, but it might be worth a shot. Maybe you could mix it with the Fancy Feast? The wet food is a chicken-based pate, fairly similar in consistency to the Fancy Feast pates in my experience. I wouldn't recommend the dry, it made my cats pretty constipated.

PeppermintPlant said:

 
It's not an ideal food, but could you get some of the Hill's i/d from your vet? It does have wheat flour in it, which isn't great, and it has a lot of carbs, but it's made for cats with IBD and other digestion problems who have trouble keeping weight on. I've actually had to begin transitioning my cat with IBD off of it because she went from losing drastic amounts of weight when she first got diagnosed to gaining nearly 5 pounds over two years once the vet put her on the i/d (she only needed to gain about a pound!). I don't know that it would be that dramatic for your kitty, and it might not even work or she may not like it, but it might be worth a shot. Maybe you could mix it with the Fancy Feast? The wet food is a chicken-based pate, fairly similar in consistency to the Fancy Feast pates in my experience. I wouldn't recommend the dry, it made my cats pretty constipated.

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I don't think my vet carries the Hills brand, but I'm sure she could get it for me.  If she would eat it and it would help, I would definitely get it for her.  I will wait until we talk to the specialist next Thursday and see what she has to say.  If I could get Cindy to gain even 1 pound I would be ecstatic.  If I could get her a decent weight and get her stable, I would be ecstatic.

Misty8723 said:

 
I don't think my vet carries the Hills brand, but I'm sure she could get it for me.  If she would eat it and it would help, I would definitely get it for her.  I will wait until we talk to the specialist next Thursday and see what she has to say.  If I could get Cindy to gain even 1 pound I would be ecstatic.  If I could get her a decent weight and get her stable, I would be ecstatic.

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Like I said, it's not the best food and it may not be good in the long term, but it did help my kitties gain. As long as she doesn't have any allergies to the food in it, it shouldn't hurt her any. Whatever you end up doing, I hope she starts gaining some weight back and returns to her happy, healthy self!

PeppermintPlant said:

 
Like I said, it's not the best food and it may not be good in the long term, but it did help my kitties gain. As long as she doesn't have any allergies to the food in it, it shouldn't hurt her any. Whatever you end up doing, I hope she starts gaining some weight back and returns to her happy, healthy self!

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 I appreciate you telling me about it. If I don't get some weight on her, it won't matter how good the quality of the food, so I'm willing to try anything.  And like you are doing, I can always wean her off it later if it works.