High Calorie Food

I was wondering, is there a high calorie food to help cats gain weight? My vet recommended Friskies Pate', but it does not seem to be helping.

Blue Buffalo have some higher calorie canned foods.
You might also check the labels of canned food; many have calorie content. I would imagine Duck would be higher in calories/fat than, say, fish or chicken.
Also, you mix in a whole egg (uncooked) or egg yolk to the canned food or plain. (The yolk has more calories than the white.)
Finally, you could consider adding KMR powder to your cat's food.
Do note that you should do this one at a time, and a little at first; any change in diet/food can cause diarrhea.
And of course if there is an underlying health/medical issue, that needs to be addressed.
Good luck!

I started my cat on kitten food and he gained back all of his lost weight. Is there a reason he is losing weight? Age or illness, even bad teeth, you have to correct the underlying cause. Without a visit to the vet you risk having him develop something critical.  I pray you have success. All the luck!

Wellness pates, which are generally high-protein and low-carb, are also very caloric: back when our cats liked pates, they particularly liked the Core kitten food. Nature's Variety Instinct is also high-calorie.

You can compare foods on the food chart on Catinfo.org. Some information is a bit outdated but it's still a great guide for calories, carbs, and other values.

Good luck!

They sell tubes of high calorie paste.  Also, you can buy HC food from the vet.  I think it is called A/D. About $3 per can here.  The kitten food mentioned is a good idea as well.  When I had my feral outside I would give her kitten food in the winter.  Not a fan of Friskies!  Never found a cat that liked it unless they were starving.  People donate it to the shelter all the time because it is cheaper than others.

Pet stores sell tubes of high calorie pastes and gels.

Iams MaxCal is a high calorie prescription food you could try. The ingredients aren't great but not important if your main goal is to get more calories into the cat.

Thank you for the replies. I already know what's wrong with him, and he's already been to the vet. He just doesn't eat enough for his activity level.

I also would suggest Wellness Pates, as they are roughly 200+ calories per 5.5oz can. Definitely go for something that is pate, as they are more calorie dense. Best of luck

LTS3 said:

Iams MaxCal is a high calorie prescription food you could try. The ingredients aren't great but not important if your main goal is to get more calories into the cat.

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Just going to throw this in here as one who actually purchased and used Iams MaxCal. It was very hard to find and eventually had to bite the bullet and order a 12-can case from an online store. The consistency is very oily and soupy. I have my doubts that a cat would eat this on their own. But it'll work if you're doing syringe assist, no thinning needed.

For a cat who is eating fairly normally but just not getting enoug, I would go for something else. There are a number of 200+ calorie cans as noted. Even Tiki Cat Puka Puka which is the shredded white meat chicken has 220 calories in the 6oz can these days. Very expensive tho.

Someone just put this link I've used many times in another thread. http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf It's getting out of date (see aforementioned Tiki number difference) but is still useful.

2bcat said:

For a cat who is eating fairly normally but just not getting enoug, I would go for something else. There are a number of 200+ calorie cans as noted. Even Tiki Cat Puka Puka which is the shredded white meat chicken has 220 calories in the 6oz can these days. Very expensive tho.

Someone just put this link I've used many times in another thread. http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf It's getting out of date (see aforementioned Tiki number difference) but is still useful.

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Thank you for clarifying the problem, @Quadruped!

Given what you say, I heartily second 2bcat's recommendation of Tiki's foods, if only because they're a favorite for our cat who's very active, very picky about her foods, and also a little skinny because she's so active and picky. She loves Tiki and some of the Gourmet Carnivore foods -- the ones with liver -- are especially high-calorie. Both our cats love all the meat foods in the Gourmet Carnivore variety pack. They're definitely expensive but the cats eat them right up, something I don't take for granted with them.

The cans of Tiki foods with the Hawaiian theme names are densely packed with chicken, sometimes so tightly that I have to pry the food out with a fork (!) so I think they're a better value than Gourmet Carnivore and, really, lots of other brands' shredded foods that contain more spurious gravy than meat. The Gourmet Carnivore foods are sometimes soupier than the Hawaiian ones, particularly one of the chicken and liver combos, though the cats really lap up the whole thing so I just think of that one as a treat for them.

Good luck, Quadruped!