High calorie cat food

GwylimT

My cat is currently recovering from a surgery to her throat, she has had a fairly nasty on going problem which has caused her to lose quite a lot of weight. So far we have tried a high calorie paste and hills critical care which the vet gave us. It was clear that she disliked both and the hills caused her to have diarrhoea, we are back at the vets later today, but I thought I would ask on here to see if anyone has experience with high calorie food and how they got on.

She had has lots of tests, no thyroid, kidney or liver issues, she is eating some cottage cheese and butter for two days, diarrhoea is all gone, but obviously this isn't a long term solution.

She would normally eat dry food, but happily eats wet.

Griizelda

Presumably she lost a not of weight because she wasn't able to eat properly? If so, you may be better off just feeding her wet food that she likes. which, providing she can eat regularly, would means she gains weight anyway, albeit slowly.

GwylimT

The issue is she is 1.5kg under weight, so she needs to gain fairly quickly, she will be able to eat much easier when she is fully healed, but she won't be able to eat normally, so she needs something she can eat in a smaller quantity that can keep her going.

My royal canin free sample voucher arrived in the post today, so I'll have to see which ones our pet shop stocks to find the highest calorie content.

pawsies

Tripe or beef/lamb/pork are all quite fatty

bluesbell

How about kitten food? It's generally higher in calories than most adult food.

I'd suggest one of the higher quality wet foods from zooplus. Something like bozita, smilla, or animonda carny - they are a little more expensive than supermarket brands, but are higher quality and contain much more meat and fewer fillers.

But as the other poster has said, cats can be fussy little eaters, so I'd feed her whatever she will eat the most of if pure weight gain is your goal.

Gold_Dust_2

Royal Canin convalescence support - this was a lifesaver for my cat. Also, if you're open to it and she's receptive (and able to manage it) - a raw diet. You can buy it frozen, or, can buy a powder that you can sprinkle onto the meat (which is usually minced) - it works wonders in a very short amount of time.

GwylimT

So after the vets on Friday I have enough samples to feed a small army of cats! I also had a consultation with a nutritionist over Skype, so have been advised to try royal canin 7+ active outdoor for 14 days, weigh what she eats and then we can weigh her to see what she gains. I have also been told to see if she will eat sardines, raw egg or butter, but sensible amounts obviously.

This morning she ate a few royal canin biscuits and about an eighth of a fresh sardine.