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My elderly cat is small (about 5 lbs) and doesn't have much weight to lose. We visited the vet and she said that her teeth might be bothering her (ie: eating dry crunchies isn't comfortable anymore). The vet didn't see any obvious issues with her mouth or teeth. I was told that introducing moist or canned food would be a good idea if I was concerned about her...
Almost all of the "senior" cat foods I checked out were geared toward weight control... I need a "fattening up" cat food though.
Any suggestions? Kitten food maybe? The vet said any kind would be fine, but I want something that will agree with her tummy and help her keep her weight up.
Any canned food will be better for her than a dry diet. What kind of stores do you have access to? Feed small portions frequently, instead of trying to get her to eat large amounts at a time. Warming the food slightly will make it more palatable. You can warm small amounts of food by running hot water over the dish, and then leave about a teaspoon of water in the dish. Stir in about a tablespoon or less of canned food, mix well and serve.
I'd add a probiotic to help prevent tummy upset with any diet change.
I'm confused, your vet seems to have given you some conflicting information. She says your girl doesn't want to eat because her mouth is bothering her, but doesn't see anything wrong in her mouth? This makes no sense to me.
Have you had blood work done to check organ function, including thyroid?
How old is she? Good luck with her, keep us posted.
Just wanted to add "senior" food is just a marketing gimmick to sell to humans. Usually as you noticed it is geared towards older cats being less active and thus the food perhaps having fewer calories in a given amount. But this is often done by adding more useless ingredients. Better thing to feed is a canned food that's nearly all meat (and water). There's no good reason to have grains or other fillers like potato, etc, in a canned food, except that it probably makes it cost less (but also is not really sound nutrition for a cat).
Is the 5lbs significantly underweight for her or 5lbs has been her typical weight for a while? If the former, then it seems like you would need some more investigation as to why she has lost weight, perhaps a different vet. But it may be you just meant that is what she weighs normally and thus any small loss would be especially significant for her. Hope that is it. If that is the case you'd probably want to monitor her weight at home as there are a number of ailments that could be discovered by a drop in weight. At 5lbs you could probably put her in a bowl on a kitchen scale.
Our cat lived to be 22 years old. She was always a bit chunky, but in her last year she lost weight & had trouble digesting. After eating canned cat food she would throw up.
I would maker her chicken soup, she loved it & digested it well. Also, during the last few months of her life I was giving her baby food, like those little jars of chicken or turkey that is pureed. She did well eating these things during her last year or so.
Baby food. The chicken, and the beef. I feed this to our cat towards the end, it was all he could eat. I mixed it with warm water. Sometimes I just held him and let him lick it off my finger. He did not gain weight, but this helped maintain his weight, and he perked up.
Baby food. The chicken, and the beef. I feed this to our cat towards the end, it was all he could eat. I mixed it with warm water. Sometimes I just held him and let him lick it off my finger. He did not gain weight, but this helped maintain his weight, and he perked up.
Yes, you understand. One other thing that happened is that she could no longer groom herself the last few months. She would clean her paws, but nothing else. It was sad because she always groomed herself so meticulously. I would brush her, but towards the end her hair started falling out in large patches. It still makes me sad to think about.
But, I can still picture her laying in the sun or under the light of a lamp & smiling & purring.
Hills AD canned - available from vet offices - is laden with calories. I'd mix it in with the smelliest canned food you can find. Also heat it up to release the aroma.. cats won't eat what they can't smell.
She has always been small... I have noticed a tiny bit of weight loss and want to be proactive before it becomes too much. I got the idea that she might be hungry and not wanting (or having problems with)crunchies because she is being a bit aggressive about getting on the counters and trying to get into the garbage, etc... She just seems hungry.
I love the baby food idea - I will get some tonight. I'm also going to give the vet a call about the Hills canned food. She got a clean bill of health from the vet - no tooth or mouth problems detected. I think the vet was just agreeing with me that the crunchies might be getting to be more than she can handle - but she doesn't see my cat on a daily basis either. I know she's eating less and acting hungry and I don't want to wait until it becomes a serious problem.
Has she had recent blood work? Hyperthyroid and kidney issues can both lead to weight loss. It these have checked out fine, then I would agree with the Hills a/d and kitten food.
Has she had recent blood work? Hyperthyroid and kidney issues can both lead to weight loss. It these have checked out fine, then I would agree with the Hills a/d and kitten food.
Oh - and how old is your little lady?
Diabetes, also.
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