kan@ihlpg.UUCP (Casali) (02/13/86)
Is there any way to add calories to cat food and still have the cat like the food. My cat just got over a bout of amonia (sp?) and lost alot of weight. He is so skinny that his rib bones a back bones stick out quite a bit. He was normally a very plump cat.
wjr@frog.UUCP (STella Calvert) (02/16/86)
In article <1630@ihlpg.UUCP> kan@ihlpg.UUCP (Casali) writes: >Is there any way to add calories to cat food and still >have the cat like the food. No problem! My cats eat whipped cream, ice cream, butter, and all sorts of fattening goodies. To discourage hairball, we keep a stick of butter uncovered on a table for the cats (the five of them go through a stick every couple weeks). Most cats will gnaw happily at "bull bacon" (trim the excess fat off steaks and roasts, nuke or broil it till it's no longer raw, and let them at it -- they like it raw, but I squeam when I see them eating it raw, white and repulsive.). Eggs are cheap and most cats like hardboiled ones -- the cats and I happily split them, with them eating the nasty yellow dry part -- exactly the division that puts meat on their bones. Most cats will eat anything they see their person eating, so if the cat can be tempted with a bit of your dinner, that's another approach. And when I'm trying to rehabilitate a weak cat, those hellishly expensive jars of babymeat work like a charm -- they love it! Those little 3 ox. cans of gourmet cat food are more fattening too, I think, than standard canned cat foods. And the kittymushies (semi-moist) foods are higher in sugar than most other forms of catfood, so leaving a bowl of them where your cat can get into them whenever she has room for a bite would help. On one level, I almost wish I had your problem, since all three of our former males are a little blimpy, while the gals stay slim. You might search for a source for Tami Ami dry cat food. It's denser, so once they're adjusted cats don't eat as much, but during the transition period, while their tums are used to handling the old volume of less concentrated food, they bulk up a bit. I believe there are prescription diets for putting weight on cats too, but since that's not our problem, I can't give you any solid information. Ask your vet. By the way, somewhere I read a line about how to decide whether your cat is too thin/too fat, and if someone can provide me a pointer, it would prevent me from stealing the line without credit: If you can't feel the cat's ribs, he's too fat; if you can see them clearly, he's too thin. Since being _too_ fat is as hard on cats as on people, don't overcompensate. It does sound like your furry needs a little extra treat, but maybe not to go back to it's pre-illness weight. Good luck! STella Calvert Every man and every woman is a star. Guest on: ...!decvax!frog!wjr Life: Baltimore!AnnArbor!Smyrna!<LotsOfHitchhikingAndShortVisits> !SantaCruz!Berkeley!AnnArbor!Taxachusetts Future: ... (!L5!TheBelt!InterstellarSpace)
monam@tekecs.UUCP (Mona McLaughlin) (02/18/86)
> Is there any way to add calories to cat food and still > have the cat like the food. My cat just got over a > bout of amonia (sp?) and lost alot of weight. He is so > skinny that his rib bones a back bones stick out quite a > bit. He was normally a very plump cat. I found that changing my brand of cat food turned my cat from a skeleton, to a cat so heavy I can barely pick her up. It takes about 2 weeks to really notice the weight change, but the name of the food is Iams, and you have to go to pet stores to get it. Before that I was feeding her Purina cat chow, and after several weeks of Iams I thought she was pregnant and rushed her to the vet. (She wasn't pregnant - just fat.) Iams cat food and Science Diet offer many health benefits for cats that you might want to ask your vet or pet store about.
barth@tellab1.UUCP (Barth Richards) (02/28/86)
In article <5955@tekecs.UUCP> monam@tekecs.UUCP (Mona McLaughlin) writes: >> Is there any way to add calories to cat food and still >> have the cat like the food. My cat just got over a >> bout of amonia (sp?) and lost alot of weight. He is so >> skinny that his rib bones a back bones stick out quite a >> bit. He was normally a very plump cat. > >I found that changing my brand of cat food turned my cat from >a skeleton, to a cat so heavy I can barely pick her >up. It takes about 2 weeks to really notice the weight change, but >the name of the food is Iams, and you have to go to pet stores to get >it. Before that I was feeding her Purina cat chow, and after several >weeks of Iams I thought she was pregnant and rushed her to the vet. >(She wasn't pregnant - just fat.) Iams cat food and Science Diet offer >many health benefits for cats that you might want to ask your vet or >pet store about. I've had a similar experience with dog food. I switched from Purina to Iams and noticed that my dog didn't need to eat as much. When I was feeding her Purina, it seemed to go right through her. When I switched, I compared the list of ingredients on both bags and found that Purina has a lot of cereal filler in it, wereas Iams was mostly meat products.