Hi everyone
I wasnt sure if I should post this here or in the health forum, but here my story goes, it is probably going to be a bit winded.
My soon to be 16 year old kitty has been very healthy most of his life (I've had him since he was a kitten, my sister watched him be born!). He was actually quite overweight for awhile (he was getting into the dog food and we didnt notice) and weighed around 20 lbs. at which point i moved away from my family (and their dog) and put him on Purina's weightloss formula which put him at around 16 lbs over about a 2 year period. Still big but happy and healthy for him. This was between his age of 6-8 years.
Around 10 years of age, he developed crystals in his urine at which point which switched his food and it seemed to resolve itself. Was on Hills s/d at first then on Hills c/d for maintenaince (both dry formulas) as well as Medical Weightloss formula dry, since he got a bout of diarrhea that the vet thought was from the fattier content of the hills as well as he was a large cat. He also REFUSED to eat any canned food at all, but drinks sufficiently. He maintained his health and weight for at least 3 years. Perhaps a bit of weight loss from him at age 14, but not terribly noticable.
Now fastforward to January 2009, he's now 15 (16 on March 15 2009!!). We moved to a new house in October 2008 and noticed that he had started to lose weight, was eating alot, but over all very happy and hyper. Turns out he has hyperthyroidism, so he was hyper, his heart was racing, he was starving but unable to eat enough to keep up with his metabolism so lost a bunch of weight. He's now just shy of 11 lbs which for him is SO SKINNY!
We started him on medication for his thyroid (Tapazole 5mg daily), and although his thyroid levels went down alot, he didnt want to eat anymore. We eventually switched him to the transdermal gel version of the meds, and his appetite is coming back. My problem now is that I was babying him the whole time and now all he wants is Fancy Feast wet!! That was the only thing he would even eat while first sick so I gladly gave it to him. Now I think he's addicted!!! He'll VERY occasionally eat small amounts of the c/d dry. He hates the c/d wet formulas and even knows when i only mix a minute amount in with the FF.
I'm also wondering which food would be best to switch him over to gradually. I definitely dont want him getting crystals again, but I would also like to see him gain weight, as well as be on a food that is good for a senior cat.
Anyways, sorry for the long history! And thanks for any suggestions.
I wasnt sure if I should post this here or in the health forum, but here my story goes, it is probably going to be a bit winded.
My soon to be 16 year old kitty has been very healthy most of his life (I've had him since he was a kitten, my sister watched him be born!). He was actually quite overweight for awhile (he was getting into the dog food and we didnt notice) and weighed around 20 lbs. at which point i moved away from my family (and their dog) and put him on Purina's weightloss formula which put him at around 16 lbs over about a 2 year period. Still big but happy and healthy for him. This was between his age of 6-8 years.
Around 10 years of age, he developed crystals in his urine at which point which switched his food and it seemed to resolve itself. Was on Hills s/d at first then on Hills c/d for maintenaince (both dry formulas) as well as Medical Weightloss formula dry, since he got a bout of diarrhea that the vet thought was from the fattier content of the hills as well as he was a large cat. He also REFUSED to eat any canned food at all, but drinks sufficiently. He maintained his health and weight for at least 3 years. Perhaps a bit of weight loss from him at age 14, but not terribly noticable.
Now fastforward to January 2009, he's now 15 (16 on March 15 2009!!). We moved to a new house in October 2008 and noticed that he had started to lose weight, was eating alot, but over all very happy and hyper. Turns out he has hyperthyroidism, so he was hyper, his heart was racing, he was starving but unable to eat enough to keep up with his metabolism so lost a bunch of weight. He's now just shy of 11 lbs which for him is SO SKINNY!
We started him on medication for his thyroid (Tapazole 5mg daily), and although his thyroid levels went down alot, he didnt want to eat anymore. We eventually switched him to the transdermal gel version of the meds, and his appetite is coming back. My problem now is that I was babying him the whole time and now all he wants is Fancy Feast wet!! That was the only thing he would even eat while first sick so I gladly gave it to him. Now I think he's addicted!!! He'll VERY occasionally eat small amounts of the c/d dry. He hates the c/d wet formulas and even knows when i only mix a minute amount in with the FF.
I'm also wondering which food would be best to switch him over to gradually. I definitely dont want him getting crystals again, but I would also like to see him gain weight, as well as be on a food that is good for a senior cat.
Anyways, sorry for the long history! And thanks for any suggestions.
