Need food help for skinny cat. Confused about high protein, raw etc.

Hello, my adult cat (around 6 or 7) has lost weight and her fur looks separated. I took her to the vet and shockingly, her blood work is fine so I'm stumped. I thought I should feed her high protein food, but then I read it's bad for the kidneys. This is all so confusing. I keep a high protein dry out at all times and give her wet twice a day. Can someone please tell me what I should be feeding her? I would give her some raw, but what? Don't know if I want to totally give her raw. She does not like pate' formula. There is another cat with her and they are always together and eat together, so I must be mindful of her as well as her weight is fine. I'd sure appreciate some help because this is confusing. Thank you.

Thank you

Chloenkitty said:

Hello, my adult cat (around 6 or 7) has lost weight and her fur looks separated. I took her to the vet and shockingly, her blood work is fine so I'm stumped. I thought I should feed her high protein food, but then I read it's bad for the kidneys. This is all so confusing. I keep a high protein dry out at all times and give her wet twice a day. Can someone please tell me what I should be feeding her? I would give her some raw, but what? Don't know if I want to totally give her raw. She does not like pate' formula. There is another cat with her and they are always together and eat together, so I must be mindful of her as well as her weight is fine. I'd sure appreciate some help because this is confusing. Thank you.

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I'm sorry your kitty has lost weight but glad you took kitty to the vet for a proper diagnosis, isn't it good to know that her CBC work came out normal.

No -- high protein diets are *not* bad for cats, unless, for whatever reason, your vet has suggested a low protein diet, usually that's for cats who've been diagnosed with CKD - kidney disease and even then there are different schools of thought (e.g., that low protein diets are advisable for end stage renal / kidney disease; for recently diagnosed cats, a moderate protein diet along with a phosphorus binder to lower phosphorus in the food, is key). 

For cats, obligate carnivores, it is all about protein and a healthy amount of fat. As cats get older, they can lose their ability to absorb protein.

So I would not be afraid of high protein diets since your kitty's CBC values are fine.

There are some cats that don't like pate type foods but prefer shredded or chunks.  You could try introducing duck into her diet, duck is a fattier meat. Weruva makes a chicken and duck formula, Nature's Variety Pride formula is chunky, they make "Diva Duck" in both minced and chunky that your cats may like.  I'm sure others will chime in with recommendations.

I would not try to bulk up your thinner kitty with foods that contain grains or higher carbs. Since both of your cats eat together and the other doesn't need to gain weight, one alternative would be to reduce or eliminate the amount of dry food since dry is higher in carbs and can cause weight gain and have both kitties on a shredded or chunky pate canned.

Below is an excerpt from catinfo.org which may be helpful:

What does it mean to be an ‘obligate carnivore’?  It means that your cat was built by Mother Nature to get her nutritional needs met by the consumption of a large amount of animal-based proteins (meat/organs) and derives much less nutritional support from plant-based proteins (grains/vegetables). It means that cats lack specific metabolic (enzymatic) pathways and cannot utilize plant proteins as efficiently as animal proteins.

If you are not sure about raw I would just concentrate on the canned foods for now and spend some time researching raw. I spent two months researching raw before I transitioned my cats over (gradually). There is no rush or deadline.  Mainly, you want to be as informed as possible vs starting something that you are confused or unsure of.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll get this worked out, sometimes it takes a bit of time, trial and error.