How to get old cat to gain weight?

Question

My cat is 17 years old and is skin and bones. She is continually losing weight but has gotten full blood tests and the vet couldn't believe she was so old because the tests came back so perfect. So eliminate illness. Her teeth aren't great in fact she missing a few so she won't eat dry food, but she eats wet food constantly. She eats a packet of wet food five times a day and won't gain a pound. In fact she often acts like she is ravished. What else can I safely do to help her put on weight. Her behaviors and personality haven't changed so I'm not sure she's on her "way out" just yet. I just want her to feel full and gain a pound or two. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Did your vet do a T4 or T3 test for hyperthyroidism? If not, I would highly suggest you have that test done as weight loss is a symptom of hyperthyroidism.

Did your vet tell you what to do to help your cat gain weight? You may ask your vet to recommend a high calorie cat food to help your cat put on weight.

Answer 2

Your cat is the perfect age for diabetes. Also Thyroid problems. Did the vet do T3 and T4 and Blood Glucose tests. Is your girl not only eating like a horse and drinking all the time and peeing the litter box filled all the time. Diabetes.
If your cat has a high blood glucose ask for a test to see what the average blood glucose was for that past 2 months.
Join felinediabetes.com ask for help and you will get far better help than you get from many vets. Sorry they just are not up to date in FD well most of them I should say.
If her teeth are bad they need to be removed not left and your vet should have said that. Shame on him!! A cat can eat wet with no problem. Please read the links I give you and choose the proper wet food from the list. If your girl is diabetic she will be helped just by the diet but she will also need insulin.
DON*T let her be started on pills they injure the liver and don't let her be started on more than 1 unit of insulin 2 times a day.
Remember no human would take a shot of insulin without a home blood glucose test. It is the same for your cat. Many people have lost their cats because they are told it is not necessary to test them. She is your child and you are her voice and protection. But you will find out this from the board.
Can you let me know how this goes. Would like to know that you got help for her. Even a new vet if he didn't do those tests first. Oh Wellness canned is high in calories on the good list for a species appropriate diet and will help her gain weight. Stay away from all the foods the vets sell. Science Diet is terrible as are the Purina and Hills, and Royal canine
price does not mean good.

http://catinfo.org/ This will tell you the perfect diet for any cat.

http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/canfood.html pick a high protein low under 10% carb canned food. Fish no more than 1 or two meals a week if you must feed it.

Answer 3

I agree with the idea of letting her eat whateve she wants, whenever. If you are changing food to something richer, higher fat and protein then what you feed now, go SLOW. You don't want to turn her off her food by giving her an upset stomach.

Has she been dewormed lately? I would try that unless she is a strictly indoor only cat, you have no other cats or dogs and she never eats raw meat or mice.Then worms aren't likely a problem.

Congrats on raising a cat to 17. She's doing great. So are you. You're a good cat owner.

Answer 4

Because I lost an 18.5 yr old cat last year, I'm just wondering if she has tapeworms? Has she gotten checked for them? They won't show up on a blood test, but if you've ever seen anything like rice pellets coming out from her butt *for want of a better word* it just may be that.

I had a cat that needed to have that done, including my old man that passed to the Rainbow bridge and it worked wonders. They gained weight and looked great after a few weeks. My old man passed finally from heart disease, but he was pretty healthy after deworming him. You need to ask your vet about that.

Answer 5

Hi Vasxh

Good thing she won't eat dry food, Anyway this does sound like an illnes with her ravished and eating contantly.. Is she drinking alot of water? Peeing alot?
How long ago were the blood tests?
Pick up the loose part of her skin (not hard) to stretch it out and let it drop. If it snaps back in place quickly then that is ok
If you read my answers, I usually don;t push vet appointments but if it's been more then a few months I would go back for tests.

Answer 6

It is my belief that if she has made it to this ripe old age that you feed her whatever she likes and enjoys.

To put weight on you can fee Science Diet AD (canned) we use it all the time in the boarding business when cats are not eating well because it is so dense in calories that they need to eat very little to get lots of extra calories.

Kitten food is another option if she LIKES it do not ever trade LIKES for it is GOOD for her. I have seen so many cats almost die because Vets and pet owners decided to change diet to a more healthy vet recommended diet that the cat hated and ate very little. Until it became so weak it was very hard to bring them back, So please make sure whatever changes you make that she enjoys and eats readily.

AD is very palitable and most cats go crazy over it so it is good placed to start.

Answer 7

Go to a pet store and get some vitamins. My 16 year old loves them. She had the same problem. Also, get some of the premade cat milk too. I also use purina cat chow for seniors. With the vitimans, milk and food, it helped her with the put on a couple of pounds. You might want to switch the wet food your giving her as well. Maybe she doesn't like it or her stomach and it's coming out of her body quickly.
Some times I will also fry up an egg, leave it a little runny (yolk wise), and cut/squish it up. They love that.

Answer 8

I'm assuming your vet checked her for diabetes and didn't find that. Wet food is mostly water and very little food. You could get some Replacement Milk for Kittens at a Petsmart or other pet store. It comes as a powder like baby formula and you mix it with water. It has enough fat and nutrients for a growing kitten and would suppliment her diet somewhat. It's kind of expensive, so if you can't do that, you could try taking dry food (maybe even dry kitten chow) and putting some warm water on it to soften it so she doesn't have to chew it.

My cat is 13 and he's thinner than he used to be, but it's easier on his elderly joints to be lighter and he doesn't chew his food, he just swallows it whole. I'm going to start putting warm water on his food soon to see if I get some weight on him before winter.

Answer 9

My cat also got very thin as she got older - but she became hyperthyroid as she aged and had very gradual kidney failure - her lab tests showed very slow deterioration - she was close to normal and then near the end, things accelerated rapidly - and she lived to 19. At 17 she was still close to normal. I'd take her to the vet regularly for blood tests because things can change rapidly in these old frail ones. In the meantime, my attitude was to feed her as much as she wanted of anything she liked best. At age 17, I figured she didn't have a lot of time left and she could have whatever she pleased. She lived very well the last years until the last few weeks when she went downhill fast. She did get pickier about food as things got worse and we had to coax her to eat and really work to find things she liked the last couple months.

So I recommend the same for you - let her have as much of whatever she wants whenever she wants.

Answer 10

Just like old humans, cats will have the "skin and bones" look when they get old. It sounds like shes healthy and eating well, so it sounds like its not a problem in that way... you could try giving her some kitten food, it has extra protein and fat and such. My cat is 18! He looks skinny and cant give himself a bath properly anymore, but he still runs around and plays like a kitten. :)