Very thin mother cat

ellemarie89

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My cats kittens are 5 weeks now old in a couple of days, one of them is weaning quite well and will go over to the shallow bowl I set out and eat his kitten food/KMR (milk formula) concoction rather well along with his mummy whilst the others aren't as keen yet and will only lick bits off my finger so as of yet they are still relying heavily on their mother's milk. She is a good mother to them and they are all gaining weight really well - the vet said they were nice and chunky.

However I am getting worried because the Mother cat is quite thin. I give her kitten food of which she has about 6 pouches a day and I also give her KMR (kitten formula), cooked chicken breast, tiny bits of grated cheese and something that I read a lot of positive reviews about which is Nutri-cal ( a high calorie paste packed with nutrients). However my cat is really thin and weighs between 3.5 and 3.7 kilograms (7.8 - 8.1 pounds). She has had 3 health checks at the vets now (because I am a paranoid cat owner) and when I brought up my concerns over her weight with my vet she told me my cat isn't too thin and that she looks healthy and has a nice shiny coat but I feel that I know my own cat and I know what she looked like before and I have to disagree. I don't know what else I can give her. I was giving her bits of raw food (turkey thigh, chicken thigh, chicken breast, chicken liver and some taurine) but my vet told me not to give her raw food and that it is not good for cats. I am thinking of ignoring that and giving her the raw food anyway because I don't know how else to help her gain weight!! I also don't trust my vet's opinion when it comes to cat nutrition because she also told me that all cat food is decent quality and not to worry about feeding her cheaper brands of food - I don't believe that is true because I am aware the cheaper brands are packed with grain. 

Can anyone help me out? My cat and her kittens have been wormed by the way so it's not that. 

I should also mention that she is only a small cat but she is thinner than she was before she got pregnant. I don't want to sound conceited like I know more than my vet but what the vet tells me goes against everything I have ever researched about cat nutrition.... HELP!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 

mani

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Mod Note:   this question has been moved from this thread as it is a new topic.
 

GoldyCat

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How many kittens does she have? With a lot of kittens, or fewer kittens as they get bigger and eat more, momma cat is going to be using up a lot of energy producing milk. So yes, she's probably skinnier than before and may stay that way until the kittens are weaned.

How much food is in a pouch of kitten food, i.e. ounces, % of protein, etc.? Does she still act hungry all the time? Do you feed dry food at all? When my cat was nursing I left out grain-free dry food for her to nibble on all day. She still ate all her wet food first and usually half a cup or so of the dry food in a day.

Were you giving her raw food before she got pregnant? If so, I don't think it would hurt her now, but I don't feed raw and don't really know. You could take the question to the Raw & Homecooked forum where you're more likely to find someone more knowledgeable than I am.
 

StefanZ

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A  yet another tip is to give raw egg yolk.  Very nourishing. -  That is, if you dont have problems with salomonella in eggs where you live. - There are tricks to lessen the risks - but...

I see you have quite a few excellent meats.  Im not sure if I see any calcium sources there save this tiny amounts of cheese you do mention.  Which calcium she needs if she needs extras.  Both for the heavy drain by giving milk, and also, as counterbalancing this lotsa of  extra meat.

Have you possibility to get goat milk?  Preferably a non fat reduced variation.

If yes, so goat milk with this egg yolk.

There are of course also other calcium sources, both in natural food, and especielly prepared  powders.   Even thoroughly crushed and powdered egg shells can be used.

Good luck!
 

gmm80

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If you have access to it, I really like Hill's Prescription Diet a/d. It's only sold at vet offices, but you don't need a prescription to get it. I've used it over the years for various cats, most recently when my pregnant foster cat had a URI and wasn't eating. It's very palatable and high in calories. Initially I had to syringe feed it to her because she didn't want to eat anything, but after the antibiotics started to kick in and she got her sense of smell back, she scarfed it down.

http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-feline-ad-caninefeline-critical-care-canned.html
 
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