How can I help my cat gain weight after being sick and scrawny?

I recommend feeding Hills a/d. It’s easily digestible, cats usually love it and it is very calorie dense so Watson will start to recover quickly even if he doesn’t eat that much. I would also have a dry kitten food available at all times and offer some tasty cat treats to stimulate his appetite. In addition to feeding many meals daily increasing his exercise will help build muscle and also stimulate his appetite and speed his recovery. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Watson.

Since she was missing for so long, an exam with your veterinarian would be recommended. Submit a stool sample to diagnose intestinal parasites. If she gets a clean bill of health, continue feeding a high quality canned diet until she is back to her normal weight.

Hi there and thank you for using PetCoach to address your concern. I would increase the amount of food being fed per day. Science Diet Adult maintenance would be a good choice or something high in protein and calories. If you would like to feed a homemade diet to see if he eats better with home cooked food, I would recommend visiting www. balanceit.com If he continues to lose weight or does not gain any weight with the diet switch, I would recommend having a veterinarian examine him so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I would definitely consider testing his thyroid to make sure he does not have hyperthyroidism, which can lead to weight loss or difficulty gaining weight. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

It would be a good idea to rule out issues such as thyroid problems, internal parasites, metabolic disease, and organ issues, before switching Bootsie's foods, as just changing the foods may not be enough for her to keep the weight on. A complete exam from your vet along with bringing in a stool sample can help figure out if there is an underlying issue or if Bootsie just needs some extra calories.

I would recommend feeding regular adult food and just giving her a bit more than you typically would. She should gain weight pretty quickly if the flea burden is gone. It is a little unusual for a healthy adult to lose weight from fleas, unless her nutrition was also poor or she had a another underlying disease. If she is not gaining weight with the increase in calories you may want to check in with your veterinarian to make sure there isn't something else going on.

Adding in the wet food while providing her regular dry diet available as much as she wants should help increase her calorie count some. It is common for cats to start to lose weight as they age as their nutritional needs tend to change when they hit their senior years, plus absorption of nutrients overall tends to decrease with age as well. Mixing the wet into the dry may encourage her to eat a bit more and increase calorie count which should help. Your vet can also monitor her weight/BCS (most vets will let you weigh your pets at no charge) to make sure she is gaining/maintaining a healthier weight with the changes.

I would recommend feeding her a high calorie, soft mousse such as royal canin recovery which is highly palatable and energy dense and can be very useful to promote weight gain during recovery. Ensure she is up to date with deworming medications also