How can I help my underweight cat gain weight faster on a raw diet?

Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach! I always recommend using this website (balanceit.com) to help formulate a healthy diet that is well balanced. Use the free autobalancer tool and choose the ingredients you want to use from the lists and the website will tell you if the diet you want to formulate is adequate or not. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available for consultation if needed.

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.

Nursing queens (female cats) should be fed a high quality kitten food. See the link below for more information: https://www.hillspet.ca/en-ca/cat-care/nutrition-feeding/what-to-feed-pregnant-and-nursing-cats Raw diets are not recommended by the AVMA due to the risk of transmission of food borne diseases to both pets and humans. Please see the following link for more information about this https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Pages/Raw-or-Undercooked-Animal-Source-Protein-in-Cat-and-Dog-Diets.aspx.

It is very difficult to make a homemade diet for cats because they have such specific nutritional requirements. We don't have a supplement that will meet all the requirements, but if you do want to make a homemade diet, check out these two websites I'm putting below. They offer recipes for homemade diets for cats, and because they are formulated by veterinary nutritionists, you know that your cat's daily requirement will be met. Be sure to follow the recipes exactly so your cats do not suffer any deficiencies in their nutrition. Best of luck, I hope this helps! https://secure.balanceit.com https://www.petdiets.com

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.

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.

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.