Cat Only Eating Baby Food

My cat has been only eating baby food for some time now. I have tried everything, including appetite stimulants, to get her to eat cat food, but it doesn't work.

My cat has CKD, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and anemia, so I pretty much have to give her whatever she'll eat. However, I'm worried about the lack of vitamins in the baby food.

Does anyone have experience adding supplements to baby food to balance it?

Thanks!!

I am so sorry this is happening to your kitty- hugs!  So to clarify, you are giving an anti-nausea such as ondansetron, an anti-acid such as famatodine as well as appetite stimulant?  If nausea isn't being addressed, the appy stimulant won't help.   I did all the above for my Tiger, in addition, I had to resort to feeding her by hand her last month of life. :-(  She was the only cat in the world who didn't love baby food.  Have you tried Max Cal or other high calorie foods put through the blender?

I would always check with your vet first, however, this is from Tanya's Website: http://www.felinecrf.org/persuading_cat_to_eat.htm

Do not feed baby foods exclusively long-term, because they have an imbalanced phosphorus:calcium ratio (Pet Education explains more about this), plus like other human foods they lack taurine, an amino acid which cats need to obtain from their food. A lack of taurine in a cat's diet can cause serious heart and eye problems. If you feed baby food exclusively for longer than a few days, add 500mg of taurine to it, which is not perfect but it will reduce the risks somewhat. However, it is OK to feed a little baby food each day without taurine e.g. when giving pills, as long as it is in addition to a more balanced (usually a commercial) cat food.

There are supplements available (u stew is one option) that can balance the baby food.

You can do a search in the home-cooked/raw forum section for other options.

You would use the supplement for meat only (no meat/bone).

There is also a website called "Balance It" that offers supplements as well.

So sorry to hear about your kitty Tiger! My kitty is on Cerenia & Zantac as well. She actually doesn't seem that nauseous, and has a fairly good appetite considering her issues, but only for baby food! I have tried almost every brand of cat food there is, including Max Cal, and she'll only eat a bite or two of any of them. We're at the vet every week now , so I'll also ask my vet, but I'm hoping I can get a recommendation to present to the vet

Dealing with stage 4 CRF here and having a lot of success with Canna-Pet Cat for appetite stimulation/digestive upset.  When Rory developed a tolerance to mirtazapine (she's also taking Pepcid), I had some CP on hand and decided to give it a try before resorting to a different rx stimulant.  It works better than the mirt did, so we'll continue using it until she needs an rx drug in addition to it.  

I've added Alnutrin (with eggshell) and chicken liver powder (the two are used in conjunction for complete nutrition) to baby food whenever a sick kitty refused regular food.  Tbh, I didn't use precise measurements, but the recommended smallest amount the company could provide me with is 1.3 grams per 3 oz. of meat (in this case, baby food).  That works out roughly to a .28 teaspoon.  I can't remember the amount of liver powder, but I know it's a tad smaller, and using a wee extra is not unlike supplementing with vitamins, so I was always a bit generous deliberately.  Liver powder is rich in iron and B vitamins, which anemic kitties need.  The chicken liver powder I have is from Feline Instincts.  

If you consider using Alnutrin, please keep in mind that calcium from eggshell powder is best for kidney cats.  They have two different formulas containing calcium.  

Healing   to your baby!

Ok, I'm convinced to try the Canna-Pet now My vet actually suggested that as an alternative, since my cat also developed a tolerance for Mirtazapine after it worked great for 2 years. I tried Cyproheptadine, but it worked no better than the Mirtazapine, and made my kitty too sleepy. I was pretty skeptical about the Canna-Pet, but feel better after hearing a success story. I will also look into the Alnutrin. Thanks!

I prefer to do business with Canna Companion (http://www.cannaforpets.com). Please PM me if you have questions so as not to take this thread off topic.

T tiggermarie , I'm sorry to hear of your kitty's issues. I agree that she needs a balanced diet. If she likes that real meat taste, then you could look into a supplemented homecooked diet as catpack has already mentioned. If you use actual chicken or turkey meat, you could always add water and puree it before feeding to try to mimic baby food. I have used the Balance It supplement in the past. Both Balance It and U-Stew were designed for cooked diets.

A custom pet diet created by vet nutritionists may be an option, https://www.petdiets.com/ One of the founders of the comapny was previously associated in some way with the Balance It company and uses that product in the custom diets.