Fattening up a Cat

[fossyant]

How do you do that ? We have four cats, a rescue and three Ragdolls. There is always dried food out, and regular, if small amounts of wet food (we put wet out quite often but a packet or two at a time as cats like it fresh).

The rescue is spot on at 3.8kg, as is the youngest ragdoll. Simba and Luna are a bit underweight and probably need to put on 200 to 400g. Luna is 2.8kg and Simba 3.6 (but he is tall over 2" higher at shoulders).

Bought a load of tinned tuna that was gobbled up earlier.

 

[Cycleops]

I'll ask the locals here. They are experts at feeding them up before they cook them.

 

[Slick]

How do you do that ? We have four cats, a rescue and three Ragdolls. There is always dried food out, and regular, if small amounts of wet food (we put wet out quite often but a packet or two at a time as cats like it fresh).

The rescue is spot on at 3.8kg, as is the youngest ragdoll. Simba and Luna are a bit underweight and probably need to put on 200 to 400g. Luna is 2.8kg and Simba 3.6 (but he is tall over 2" higher at shoulders).

Bought a load of tinned tuna that was gobbled up earlier.

Tuna won't do it, but Royal Cain do a variety of dried food for every eventuality, so I would have a look at that.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

@fossyant try Iams dried food.
Every time I have used it, my cats (current and previous) did put on weight.
I stopped buying it.

 

[vickster]

Have they lost weight? What has the vet said?
My Harry has EPI and Inflammatory Bowel Disease and cannot gain weight however much he eats!
He’s gaunt, lanky, tall and skinny/very bony at around 4.7kg. Peaked around 6kg in his younger days when we had the EPI controlled on raw pig pancreas and was still pretty thin!

 

[cyberknight]

our cat is so ruddy fussy , it will only eat whiskas pouches and some biscuits .We do try other varities and it would rather not eat at all rather than even try it.
Of course leftover sunday roast gets gobbled up as soon as its been put out, sniffed, ignored for a bit , looked at again and then finally eaten .

 

[Reynard]

First of all, I would check that none of the cats are pinching each others' food. That's the default port of call in a multi-cat household where there are weight / condition issues. You may find that if you feed two in one room, and two in the other, then that solves the problem. Some cats are vacuum cleaners and will push others out of the way. A friend has to feed one of her cats in the dog crate, else he'll eat eight dinners and not just one!

If that doesn't work, then I would speak to your vet / vet nurse for advice and possibly get the cats weighed and body scored - the cat version of BMI. If a cat is the right weight, you should just be about able to feel the ribs, and when viewed from above, they should have the hint of a "waist" just behind their rib cage. Of course, you do have to take body morphology into account as well - cats, like humans, aren't all stamped out with a cookie cutter. There may, of course, be other underlying issues that might need to be addressed.

If you do need to increase weight (unlikely, but in the event thereof), then switching to kitten food should do the trick as it is more calorie dense than adult food.

 

[fossyant]

They haven't lost weigh, just that she'd rather they were a bit heavier. Neither is very food motivated. The other Ragdoll is very food motivated, well Dreamies actually, and the rescue is just fine.

Tuna went down well. Although this morning Leo the rescue demolished half a tin. He'd live on ham sandwiches if he had the chance

 

[Jameshow]

Have they lost weight? What has the vet said?
My Harry has EPI and Inflammatory Bowel Disease and cannot gain weight however much he eats!
He’s gaunt, lanky, tall and skinny/very bony at around 4.7kg. Peaked around 6kg in his younger days when we had the EPI controlled on raw pig pancreas and was still pretty thin!

I know a few cyclists like that!!🤣🤣

 

[dan_bo]

Noodles has chicken thigh cooked for him on a Saturday that's portioned up for the week.

He's a tubby little guy.

 

[johnnyb47]

Interesting read this. My moggy has lost some weight and I'm thinking it's down to his diet. I will try some kitten food as suggested to see if it bulks him up a bit

 

[Reynard]

Interesting read this. My moggy has lost some weight and I'm thinking it's down to his diet. I will try some kitten food as suggested to see if it bulks him up a bit

How old is he? Weight loss could also be a sign of kidney disease or hyperthyroidism - both of which are common in older cats.

It's always useful to check if there's no underlying issues.

 

[johnnyb47]

Oh he's getting on a bit.
Thanks for the advice @Reynard