[Loboto-Me]

Echo has always been a small cat, she never ate lots and rarely wanted people food. She's now 16 and I'm finding that she's getting finickier as she gets older. With the finickies, she's losing even more weight. I do give her 1/2 can of friskies along with her dry food all day long. She loves the canned food but likes to have her crunchies as well. Right now, she's eating friskies dry food. Was on Iam's senior active and got disinterested. She's starting to get disinterested in the new dry food as well now. She's always weighed about 7lbs, all her life. Right now, I'd say she's about 5lbs? (maybe)... possibly 4lbs. She acts normal, and her appetite is good for people food (she likes it now that she's gotten older) and she also likes her canned food.

Has anyone had to get their cat to gain weight without going through all the prescription diets? It's only an issue of weight rather than health.

 

[jwemt81]

I wish I had some suggestions. Our cats have always been at pretty healthy weights and we have never needed prescription foods before. We feed IAMS multicat formula and for wet food we use the Meow Mix Market Selects. Our 4 cats (all indoor cats) share 2 of those each day. They come in little plastic cups. It's really the only kind of wet food that they have loved and our vet said that it's actually a pretty good quality wet food since it's real meat. Maybe give those a try? I would cut back on the human food since that can take away her appetite for the cat food. Our cats very rarely ever get table scraps, except for the occasional piece of turkey and our middle cat LOVES peanut butter, so I let him lick a tiny bit off my fingers once in a while, but nothing else.

 

[coppers-mom]

My vet recommended a senior high calorie/fat paste for my older cat. I believe it was called nutri-cal. He would lick it right out of the tube.

I believe it was the equivalent of a big Mac for each dab of paste.:

If she likes peanut butter that is a good idea too.

 

[Nicole74]

Maybe canned food as a treat? We split a can of canned cat food and call it their treats. They love the canned cat food.

 

[NuttinButGoldens]

My Cats (always Siamese) have always been self-fed from an automatic gravity feeder. I just fill it once every 2 weeks or so, and they took care of the rest.

As with my previous Siamese, Podo, Ronin tends to get a bit chunky in Winter, and is nice and svelt in Summer.

Trivia Question - Why do Siamese have points, and how do you tell an overweight Siamese? Hint - The answer to both are for the same reason

 

[redhare]

If she'll eat people food, try getting some chicken thighs, boiling them, and feeding her the meat as a supplement to the cat food. Give as often as she'll eat it. (My sister is a vet tech and just suggested this to me for our 16 y/o kitty who has been losing weight due to CRF).

I'd get her to the vet for some bloodwork and a checkup, as losing 2 pounds for a cat is a big deal, especially if it happened over a short period of time (thats 30% of her body weight lost).

Good luck!

 

[Bender]

At that age, I would be happy with them eating anything they wanted... you might want to look up some homemade cat food recipes and cook up a batch to see how she does with that idea (if she likes people food....).

Lana

 

[Loboto-Me]

I'm going to go look into that paste. Sounds like an easy way to get her to gain. Yeah, I'm not too worried about high cholesterol at her age LOL! She's doing really well. The weight loss happened over time, not suddenly. But she was always our self-fed, model thin, queen of the household girl. Now she's not model thin, she's skinny. She couldn't afford to lose the little weight that she had.

Funny story this morning... my naughty Echo decided to jump up on the kitchen counter just as hubster was getting up (something she doesn't do when we're around because she knows she's not allowed). Last night we had pork chops for dinner. Due to the dogs, we had a small grocery bag on the counter and put the bones inside until morning. Echo was up there rummaging inside and one of the bones fell off the counter, she got startled and started running with the bag chasing after her. She had her head in one of the handles. She ran down into the basement into my #4 son's room where he freed her. That should teach her to stay out of the garbage lol.

Considering she likes her people food so much (see above story) I don't mind giving her some of our dinner on the side. She's such a funny cat. When dinner time comes around for the family, she comes and sits on the bench between 2 of our eaters, and watches us eat. She always hopes my daughter will give her a tidbid (which she's not allowed to do) but I know daughter does it anyway lol.

 

[Cowtown]

I'd also look into the EVO adult. It's expensive but WELL worth it. also, I'd keep a bowl full of food out for her at all times and don't do feedings....just let her graze whenever.

I think a big part of it is the ingredients in the food you are feeding them. Go to a higher quality than Friskies such as an EVO but for adult cats.

Good luck!

 

[BajaOklahoma]

My son's cat was diagnosed borderline diabetic. I've done a lot of research on cat food. We've managed to get blood sugar under control with her diet, but needed to get some weight back on her.
Evo dry food has 600 calories per cup. It is one of the foods higher in protein, so it could be an issue for cats with kidney problems. My cats found it too rich for their systems, but my son's cat has done extremely well on it. She is back to a normal weight.

One of the cat dietary resource sites has the calorie requirement for cats at 15-25 kcal/pound of weight. A lazy cat requires the 15 kcal/pound while an active kitten requires 25 kcal/pound of weight to maintain their weight.
To get Captain to gain muscle weight, not fat, we fed her based on her weighing an extra pound. Once she gained that pound, we upped the calculation by another pound. It took several months, but she looks great.
As with any dry food, you have to do a slow transition to the new food.

 

[Phillyfisher]

Definitely get kitty to the vet for bloodwork and a checkup. Could be a thyroid issue. Has kitty had her teeth checked lately? She could have some rotten teeth and a hard time eating dry food. This is the case with our 17 yr old kitty. She will actually have dental surgery coming up. Try moistening her kibble and mix in some wet food. Your kitty is 16 now. SPOIL HER!

 

[fostermom]

I agree with having a vet check done. It is not uncommon for senior cats to develop hyperthyroidism, which can cause weight loss. They can also lose weight because of kidney issues. If everything checks out, I would say to feed her whatever canned food she likes to eat. You may have to switch it around, Friskies, 9-lives, Iams, etc. Same with the dry food. As a treat, you could drizzle tuna water over the dry food once or twice a week. That always makes my cats go nuts!

 

[Jennifer]

My older cat (14) is dealing with the same problem. His problem actually started with heartworm medicine that made him sick. He used to be around 12 lbs, but as he got older dropped to 10lbs. When he got sick he dropped to under 7lbs and now is just below 8lbs. We took him to the vet recently and they discovered a rotten tooth. So, he got all his blood work done (which they said was perfect for a cat his age) and is supposed to have his tooth extracted on Friday. We're worried though because the vet has had us supplementing him with wet food (he loves it), but he still hasn't gained anymore weight. I think we're going to talk to the vet today to make sure his weight won't effect him being put under for the tooth removal.

I would definitely get your kitty looked at to be safe.