Is IAMS kitten food okay for my skinny adult cat to gain 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 is important That Pelly eat mostly kitten food. You can certainly supplement with meat/fish but make sure at least 75% of her daily food intake is kitten food. Whiskas is not the highest quality food but if it's your only option, then go for it. Purina, Iams, Eukanuba and Science Diet are all good brands if you can get them. Make sure Pelly is appropriately dewormed to make sure the parasites are not making him too skinny. I hope this helps.

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 that you have Lily examined by a vet to see if there is a medical cause for her being underweight. Sometimes there can be low levels of protein being lost to the intestines or through the kidneys that will cause inability to gain weight. It may or may not be seen with other symptoms, like vomiting, diarrhea, or urinary symptoms. Baseline blood work and urinalysis is important, and if the protein is low then additional testing may be indicated.

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.

Taking in more calories is the only way to gain weight. Knowing the number of a pet's weight doesn't really tell us if they are healthy. Instead, we use body condition score to determine if a pet is under- or overweight. Here is a multi-part video on BCS for cats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yRvL8NcfHs

Try to offer Xena wet kitten food, warmed up in the microwave. On the photo she does not look so skinny, however, if you think she is too skinny I suggest you take her to a veterinarian for an exam. She may have a chronic condition that keeps her from gaining weight. Also, I see that she is not spayed. Cats stay in heat for a long time when they do not meet a tomcat. This can cause them to be stressed and lose weight or not gain weight. It may be a good idea to have her spayed. Best to have her examined by your vet.