Hi guys:
does anyone have any tips for helping cats gain weight? recently, my oldest cat, Scorpio (she's 5) lost weight rapidly, which naturally made me very concerned. she's very very petite to begin with (she only averages between 5.5-7 pounds, if even 7), and she exhibited all the signs of having worms. so with a call to my vet, they advised me to give her a worm treatment, which i did, but after about two weeks, she still didn't seem to be gaining weight--and worse, she didn't seem to be drinking that much water. so i called my vet again and got her in to see them ASAP. it was determined that Scorpio no longer had any worms, was indeed slightly dehydrated, and her weight was 4.7 pounds. so they took bloodwork and an x-ray, just to be on the safe side. the x-ray was perfect, and her bloodwork panel was normal: liver and kidney functions good, no sign of hyperthyroidism, red and white blood cell count normal, all other functions right where they should be. so the vet suggested that i water her wet food down a bit--you know, make it kinda soupy (which Scorpio doesn't mind at all; she loves her food soupy) and feed her smaller amount more frequently--another thing Scorp has no problem with. well, to assist in helping her gain weight (especially because she's still active, and winter's coming), i bought some moist kitten food and kitten crunchies, thinking that perhaps the extra fats and proteins would help. she loves it, but she's still not gaining weight as quickly as i hoped. this isn't to say that i want her to balloon up overnight--that would be bad indeed--but she's eating like a little horse and it's almost as if her metabolism is just a little jackhammer, because it's like the food melts away.
so ultimately, without giving her table scraps, does anyone have any advice on how to help a kitty gain just a few ounces? i don't expect super-fast results, and i realise that i'm a worry-wart of a mommy, but any input would be appreciated.
thanks in advance!!
--this is Scorpio; when curled up on her perch here, she's actually smaller than the diameter of a basketball. tiny little girl!
does anyone have any tips for helping cats gain weight? recently, my oldest cat, Scorpio (she's 5) lost weight rapidly, which naturally made me very concerned. she's very very petite to begin with (she only averages between 5.5-7 pounds, if even 7), and she exhibited all the signs of having worms. so with a call to my vet, they advised me to give her a worm treatment, which i did, but after about two weeks, she still didn't seem to be gaining weight--and worse, she didn't seem to be drinking that much water. so i called my vet again and got her in to see them ASAP. it was determined that Scorpio no longer had any worms, was indeed slightly dehydrated, and her weight was 4.7 pounds. so they took bloodwork and an x-ray, just to be on the safe side. the x-ray was perfect, and her bloodwork panel was normal: liver and kidney functions good, no sign of hyperthyroidism, red and white blood cell count normal, all other functions right where they should be. so the vet suggested that i water her wet food down a bit--you know, make it kinda soupy (which Scorpio doesn't mind at all; she loves her food soupy) and feed her smaller amount more frequently--another thing Scorp has no problem with. well, to assist in helping her gain weight (especially because she's still active, and winter's coming), i bought some moist kitten food and kitten crunchies, thinking that perhaps the extra fats and proteins would help. she loves it, but she's still not gaining weight as quickly as i hoped. this isn't to say that i want her to balloon up overnight--that would be bad indeed--but she's eating like a little horse and it's almost as if her metabolism is just a little jackhammer, because it's like the food melts away.
so ultimately, without giving her table scraps, does anyone have any advice on how to help a kitty gain just a few ounces? i don't expect super-fast results, and i realise that i'm a worry-wart of a mommy, but any input would be appreciated.
thanks in advance!!
--this is Scorpio; when curled up on her perch here, she's actually smaller than the diameter of a basketball. tiny little girl!
