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My senior cat is losing weight. How to help her gain weight on a urinary diet?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 12 years and 10 months old | 6.3 lbs

My cat has had Royal Canin Urinary SO normal calorie dry food for past 8 years after getting struvite stone surgery. In last 6mo. she has gone from 8lb to 6.3lb. vet says it's because she hasn't been eating well and leukemia virus, thyroid, CBC, kidney fox were normal. She started on SO wet food but only eats a little (<1can/day + Little of ad lib dry). We tried blue wilderness wet salmon food for higher protein (sarcopenia bc low protein in SO diet.) Will this help her gain/maintain weight?

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on November 26th, 2018

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.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM
Veterinarian
Published on January 14th, 2019
First I would recommend seeing your vet to rule out a medical problem as the vast majority of young healthy cats have no trouble maintaining or gaining weight. If your vet has examined Ally and ruled out problems like kidney disease, parasites and thyroid disease you could see if your vet thinks a growth formula food or even a prescription diet like Hilo’s a/d or Royal Canin Recovery would be recommended. If she’s new to your home and a little underweight from poor nutrition a regular high quality food would be best, just try offering an extra meal per day.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT
Licensed Veterinary Technician
Published on June 29th, 2018
Have her examined by your veterinarian to rule out any medical causes for her lack of weight gain.
You can feed a good quality canned food. To get weight on her, feed 1.5 to 2 cans of food daily. If she will eat more, you can feed her more. Once she reaches her target weight, cut back on the amount fed.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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