I have an 11 year old female who has been losing weight. She's 13 lbs down from 16 since 2014. Took her to the vet for a complete workup. Blood work all came back normal, CBC, SDMA, urinalysis normal. Waiting on results of thyroid. In the meantime vet says I can perhaps feed something to put some weight on her. Any suggestions for a wet food that isn't terribly expensive? I have 6 other cats of varying weights, so everyone gets some kind of special wet. Thanks in advance!
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High Protein/high Fat Wet Food?
- Thread starter typix
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Since I'm not sure what kind of food your cat -- what's her name, by the way? -- likes, my best suggestion might be to check the food charts on catinfo.org, here. Dr. Pierson lists protein, fat, and carb by caloric distribution so it should be relatively easy to sort things out. One option might be kitten food, which is often fairly caloric for growing kitties. Since older cats often tend toward losing muscle mass, it might be best to look for protein being higher than fat but the big thing would be to keep the carbs as low as possible.
Good luck! I hope the thyroid tests come back okay, too.
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- #3
Thank you so much for the link, I had forgotten about Dr. Pierson's site. After so many kitties, and so many years, I've gotten into a groove and looks like I need to start up some research again. Typo is my girl and she likes pate foods the best. She's the queen of the house, and my absolute sidekick. If I could afford to feed her Filet mignon I would! lol She was always an overweight cat, people would laugh at her girth because her head was so small, but her long body was chubby and would sway from side to side. Now she has that skinny senior kitty look with the hanging belly.
I sure hope her Thyroid is OK too. I'll definitely keep in mind the higher protein foods and look into some kitten foods. Thanks again!
I sure hope her Thyroid is OK too. I'll definitely keep in mind the higher protein foods and look into some kitten foods. Thanks again!
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- #4
I also have an overweight male, Buddy. Do you think he can eat the same food as Typo (high protein/low carb), or do I need to feed him a different wet food to lose some weight? I'm trying to get him to chase the laser pointer or bird toy but he can't be bothered. And I'm sure it's because he's too big. 
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High protein, moderate fat, and low carb food is good for any and all cats. Unless there is a medical reason that the vet tells you different. But i would think a high protein low carb diet would be good for all of your cats. 
Redbarn lamb pate is higher in fat. Pork is very high in fat as well...when I fed a rotational raw batch of raw pork food, both of mine got a little porky (pun intended ).
Let us know what the thyroid results are! My mom's cat (~14 years young) got absolutely gaunt looking. She went from being overweight to, I kid you not, 6 lbs...eating like a machine but just dropping weight like it was nothing. After begging her to take the damn cat to the vet and after some much needed thyroid medication, I'm happy to announce she is between 8.5 and 9 lbs. Thyroid could very well be your cat's issue.
). Let us know what the thyroid results are! My mom's cat (~14 years young) got absolutely gaunt looking. She went from being overweight to, I kid you not, 6 lbs...eating like a machine but just dropping weight like it was nothing. After begging her to take the damn cat to the vet and after some much needed thyroid medication, I'm happy to announce she is between 8.5 and 9 lbs. Thyroid could very well be your cat's issue.
I agree! The one thing you might want to vary, though, T typix , is the caloric value you feed to your various cats. Typo (great name!) and Buddy, for example, might do well eating either differing portion sizes or differing brands. Of course there's nothing wrong with feeding Typo a lot of low-calorie food if she likes and will eat it in the quantities she needs to regain her weight, but that can be an expensive proposition.High protein, moderate fat, and low carb food is good for any and all cats. Unless there is a medical reason that the vet tells you different. But i would think a high protein low carb diet would be good for all of your cats.
As for Buddy and the toys,
Daisy6
may have a point... how old is he? And has he ever liked toys? Some cats get tired of laser pointers because they can never catch them, though bird toys are often popular. It can take a lot of tries to find toys that a cat will like and play with consistently. We find that our cats like a lot of Petstages toys (these are a real favorite) and this fish from Cosmic Catnip is a huge favorite. You can also make great toys with socks and catnip... or with a piece of string and a page of newspaper that you fold and fold and fold until it's small (a rectangle about .75 x 2.5 inches) that you then tie up with the string and drag around and wiggle for the cat to chase. Anyway, let us know how the thyroid test comes out!
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- #9
Hi everyone, my vet had been backed up but finally got the results of the thyroid tests for Typo. Her results were 1.7 and said they were in the normal range. I'm a little on the annoyed side that it took this long and they aren't even offering any other feedback or next steps. I had been thinking about switching vets anyway. I still think losing almost 4 lbs in 3 years for seemingly no reason is alarming, but maybe I am over reacting. I have been giving her chicken baby food jars and switched her wet food over to Against the Grain. Basically just feeding her as much as she will eat.
On the happy side, I'm glad to hear the thyroid tests were normal!
I agree, though: that's a lot of weight to lose in three years, particularly for a cat of Typo's age. Do you happen to have a cat specialist nearby? We take our cats to a cats-only vet and it's been a huge improvement over the all-animal clinic where we took our previous cat. The clinic was very dog-oriented and nobody really seemed to know how to diagnose cat illnesses.
One thought: Did you happen to discuss the possibility of nausea with the vet? Does Typo lick her lips a lot? We have a cat who's a hesitant eater (she's not really food-driven) who seems to get occasional brief, mild episodes of nausea: the homemade food we feed has seemed to help as does just keeping her eating, often by sprinkling favorite treats on her food.
Does Typo seem happy to eat a lot? Do you think it's making a difference?
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- #11
She's definitely not hesitant to eat. She loves to eat! But she does vomit sometimes. And she will lick her lips before she does. She can sometimes go a week without vomiting and then have a spell where she throws up 3 days in a row, sometimes regurgitated food, other times just runny. I did mention that to the vet and their response was to do a dewormer or a fecal exam. My cats are all strictly indoors, though, so that's a stretch I think. Maybe it's food allergies and it's a matter of finding the right food that doesn't upset her stomach.
I'm going to do some research on other vets. I don't think we have any that are cats only but I know we have some who are known for their work with cats. Thanks for the tips. I really appreciate it!
That's interesting, typix. I'm glad to hear that Typo loves to eat, that's a good start. Given the lip-licking, it might be worth asking about nausea and maybe something like probiotics. (The supplement we use that I think has helped Ireland contains digestive enzymes as well as "pork pancreas glandular," which is what our vet thinks is so helpful for Ireland. That also aids in digestion.)
We've learned from our other cat, Edwina, that vomiting can also be from hair, even if the cat's not gacking up actual hairballs. As long as we brush Edwina very thoroughly each day, she doesn't barf. We also give the cats egg yolk on two meals a day: they like it and it's supposed to help prevent hairball formation. I even wonder if the cats' toothpaste helps since it has glycerin in it; there have been "incidents" on the days after missing toothbrushing the night before! I still think brushing the fur helps most, though, since Edwina's fluffy.
