Maybe try buying online and hunting down coupons? Or clipping coupons for the store?

I feel your pain .. I spend more on animal food a month than I spend on people food for 2 people LOL. People think I'm nuts, but I make sure they eat good! Ends up being cheaper in the long run .. since mine don't have a lot of issues since they eat good quality foods.

 

Yea haha my dog costs 50$ every two months lol. I want to afford it but at the same time I'm not going to starve my cat :/ its a tough position who knew he would would eat twice as much as my other cat lol

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

That's an insane amount of food, imo. Has he been checked by a vet? My boys are both 12+lbs lean and they get between 260 and 290 kcal per day..... I realize he needs more to gain weight but... seriously, that's a LOT of food you're buzzing through. If it was one of my boys eating 400 kcal and not gaining weight I'd be pretty concerned.

Also, some foods are more calorie dense than others. I know Wild Calling is pretty low calorie, I don't feed it except as a treat because I'd have to buy too much of it. Same thing with Weruva.

 

That's an insane amount of food. My cats eat about half that or less.

 

Right now he's eating 300 cals a day because he is on TOTW canned ... I'm switching him to hound and gatos which is 202 cals a can. I am hoping he won't need a full two cans. I took him to the vet this passed wednesday and did another fecal test... and a blood panel on him. He's all healthy lol other than the FIV. The vet said to feed him the two cans.... it's just alot and I wish I was dealing with a fat cat instead of a skinny one lol. He was 10.8 pounds when we got him off the street and hes boney. But this passed wednesday I thought he had gained because he looks fatter.. but he weighed in at the vet and he was 10.5 pounds.. which means he lost weight! I was feeding him 5.5oz then with 1/2 cup of dry to try and get him to gain.. so she said since he is intolerant to dry and he was dehydrated at the appt to do all wet. which is fine bec my other cat is all wet. But now its just so much food! He is eating double what my other cat eats... i just want him to get some chub... I am so stressed about this.

 

10-11 pounds is pretty good weight for a cat... there are no plump looking wild cats, they all look very sleek. I find vets can often over estimate what a cat should weigh, possibly because they see so many overweight cats that they take it as normal.

The fact that he needs so much food is concerning, especially if he is not young or that active.

I would buy 13.2 oz cans for him, and 5.5 oz cans for your other cat.

 

10-11 pounds is pretty good weight for a cat... there are no plump looking wild cats, they all look very sleek.

You can't assume that 10-11 lbs is a good weight for all cats. Kobi's IBD had him down to 10.5 lbs and he was emaciated. We got it under control and at his last vet visit he was 14.5 lbs....and still very thin. He needs another pound or two to be at a good weight. Even though it's tempting to put some extra weight on him to have a cushion in case of further IBD flare ups, we're being very careful not to because of his heart issues. So for him about 16 lbs is a good weight.

Katrina...Kobi has Inflammatory Bowel Disease and doesn't absorb nutrients well. Over the course of about a year he went from about 18 lbs down to the 10.5 I mentioned above. During this time he was eating as much food as he wanted...which was never enough and still losing weight. We finally got it under control with medication (unfortunately it's something that would not be appropriate for a an FIV cat) and he's gained weight back. He's still eating huge quantities though...about 450 calories per day when mathematically he should require about 325.

Seamus may have something similar going on. Vomiting dry food may be a symptom. Weigh him (at the vet or invest in a baby scale), then allow him to eat as much as he wants for 2 weeks, then weight him again. If he hasn't gained then I would suggest further testing. Kobi tested positive for Protein Losing Enteropathy and Vitamin B12 deficiency. You may be able to change him to a novel protein diet, Vitamin B12 injections also help with absorption.

 

Carmel I've looked at websites all over on how to determine if a cat is underweight and he's under weight... he has zero padding over his ribs... 10.5 sounds like a lot... esp when my other cat is perfect at 10 pounds... but its just not a healthy weight for him.. its predicted that he's two... its possible thst he has a super high metabolism .... could the fact that he's anemic cause this?

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

if there's no health-related reason that your boy could not have it, you could try whiskas cat milk in the little asceptic containers. that stuff usually adds weight on pretty quickly and pretty well.

i used to give my cats some cat milk as a treat, but they started getting a bit too chunky having that.

 

That is a great idea! That will give him extra calories.

 

I have to look into that... I've never even heard of that

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

i've seen the cat milk in pet stores as well as some grocery stores.

if i remember correctly, cat milk doesn't have lactose in it -- because cats are basically lactose intolerant.......just looked it up, it's 98% lactose reduced and meant for use as a supplement (in addition to regular cat food).

 

11 oz is a lot of food. Is he satisfied when you feed him around 7 oz? Is he always skinny? How active is he?

If he is satisfied after certain amount of food and he is healthy (stable weight), I wouldn't even worry. If you think he can benefit more by gaining some weight, you can try enzyme supplement to help his digestion better absorbs minerals and vitamins from food.

 

I guess I'm nervous that he'd puke it up... it also has corn it it? Why? Its fairly inexpensive though... I guess I'm nervous that I would get him to gain and then put him on a can and a half of food and he would lose because we aren't figuring out how many cals he actually needs... its something to deff think about though

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

you're right! it has corn syrup solids in it.

vets usually have tubes of nutritional supplement. i discussed using some for my mickey when diet wasn't able to manage his diabetes, but our vet said it has sugar in it so it wasn't an option for mickey.

how about kitten canned food? that usually has higher calories than adult canned cat food.

 

vets usually have tubes of nutritional supplement. i discussed using some for my mickey when diet wasn't able to manage his diabetes, but our vet said it has sugar in it so it wasn't an option for mickey.

True, Nutri-cal might help him put on some fat.

 

NOLAkitties he is always hungry he has a stray hunger.....he is long haired so he looks ok but u feel him and your like omg he's too skinny and he lost .3 ounces since we've had him

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

thank you! i couldn't remember the name, but it was nutri-cal.

 

One of my smaller cats always acts hungry. She begs when I prepare food (human or cat food), she steals food from my plate and the boy cat's treats, and she can and will eat until she pukes. It's her personality. She is very active too.

What did your vet say?

 

Omg if its IBD then I'm in over my head... I can't afford all that care... my other cat is about to get allergy injections for the nect 3 years to calm her flare ups...
I have IBS so I guess I can understand what's going on... if I switched him to hound and gatos he would be on very simple food ingredients would th as t help hom absorb the food?

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

One of the best things you can do for IBD is switch to a raw diet. Good news is that it is much cheaper than feeding high quality canned.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

He has fiv so he can't have raw

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

Yes...one of the more unique proteins from Hound & Gatos or EVO (I'd go with venison) would be a good choice to start with. Again, let him eat as much as he wants for 2 weeks checking the weight before and after.

 

I just ordered two cases of salmon two days ago... I'm gonna do 2 cans a day... if I free feed him wet not only is it a fortune.. but he eats til he pukes...does weighing him on my scale work?.. I just don't have money right now to buy a scale.. this month I spent 2300 on vet bills.. idk where my rent is coming from and xmas is next week and I have to pay the petsitter

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

Yeah... I agree. Don't free feed and don't let him eat till he pukes. Just feed him a bit a time, like 3-4 spoon full. Let him digest that for 45 mins or so. Just feed him more often. Take a look at prozyme (digestive enzyme). It can help kitty digestion, some kitty gain weight after a few weeks.

 

I was not suggesting free feeding or letting him eat till he pukes. By giving him as much as he wants I meant offer him food often. If you are going out for a long time, do leave some out...but not huge quantities. Two cans a day should be enough calories to tell if he is able to gain weight.

Regarding cost...I'm not suggesting that you do this forever...just two weeks. If you have a digital scale that measures to tenths of a pound you can weigh yourself holding him, then weigh yourself and subtract. But this really isn't all that accurate. I suggest taking him to the vet's office for a weigh in on Day 1 and Day 14...I wouldn't expect them to charge you for that.

 

Oo ok doodlebug sorry I misunderstood. My vet did off to weigh him but he pees in the carrier when he goes to the vet lol so I don't wanna do that often

Sent from Petguide.com Free App