Recommendations for weight gain for an emaciated cat

crazy4strays

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I have a new foster cat. She was a stray in my area. I saw her weeks ago but she would always run away from us. Finally, we started feeding her and were able to catch her. Initially, I thought that she was a kitten, she was so small and thin.

But according to the vet tech this morning, she's a malnourished adult cat. We also checked for a microchip and she wasn't chipped. She turned out to be front declawed, so is probably also spayed. Poor thing. I live in a rural area, so it was a declawed cat on a rural road, trying to survive. She seems very grateful to be out of the wild and in the house. I have her crated until she can be FIV/Leukemia tested.

Normally, I feed only wet food to all my personal cats and fosters, but when in the process of catching her, I purchased some grain free dry food, since it draws less flies than wet food. So, right now, I'm feeding her all the wet food that she wants, several times a day, plus free feeding the grain free dry food.  I'm using this type of dry food: https://www.chewy.com/i-love-you-naked-essentials-chicken/dp/119093

Any recommendations on what to do to get some weight gain on her? 
 

red top rescue

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I would not feed much dry food with all those legumes and starches in it.  In my opinion, focusing on real muscle meat based wet food would be your best bet.  Something like 4Health Turkey & Giblets (Tractor Supply, 69 cents a can, 193 calories per can) would be a good start.  (Kroger has the same food under the name Bounty Grain-Free Turkey & Giblets).  Basically she needs meat protein (not vegetable protein), fat, and very few carbs.  That will be easily digestible (pea protein irritates some of them and isn't really a cat food) and if you feed her all she wants 3-4 times a day, she should start gaining weight very soon. 

IandLoveYou Naked Essentials Chicken and Duck Dry Food

Chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, chickpeas, lentils, dried sweet potatoes, pea starch, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), dried beet pulp, duck, natural flavors, whole ground flaxseeds, dicalcium phosphate, salt, calcium carbonate, fish oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), dl-methionine, inulin, taurine, dried egg product, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin supplement, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, calcium pantothenate, vitamin A supplement, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, calcium iodate, folic acid, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried bifidobacterium thermophilum fermentation product, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product
 
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nsc1989

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I had good luck supplementing our underweight cat's diet with the GNC NOURISHCAT that comes in 11 oz. cans. It's pretty expensive, but our cat loves it and I used it for about a month to get extra calories in her while she was recovering from an illness. It's about 20 calories per ounce and I was giving her one ounce in the morning and one in the evening until she was able to regain her lost weight. 

I was already feeding a high protein wet diet similar to what Red Top Rescue has recommended and I second that suggestion. 
 

catpack

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If she is emaciated, you really want to go *slow* with the feelings as there is such a thing as "re-feeding syndrome".

Giver her small, frequent meals throughout the day.

Did the vet give you an estimate as to how much she *should* weigh? Working up to her ideal caloric intake for what she should weigh is key. Work her up to her full intake over about 3 days or so.

I third feeding a high quality grain-free canned food.
 
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