Food To Help Cat Gain Weight

How To Know Whether Your Kitty Is Skinny

Determining whether your cat is too skinny is tricky. With old age, their skin tends to get saggy and hang over their bones, and their muscle mass starts disappearing. You can figure out whether your kitty is too skinny in two ways:

Im not as young as I used to be. Thats why I sleep all day.

What To Feed A Kitten To Gain Weight

Kittens start weaning at about three to five weeks of age. Before that, they feed on their mothers milk exclusively. If the queen isnt present, the survival of your little furball depends on you.

Your vet will most likely recommend a kitten milk replacer as a great substitute for mothers milk. KMR will help them gain healthy weight. Make sure your kitten is always dry and warm. If they spend too much energy maintaining their body temperature, they might stop gaining weight.

Once your kitten gets their first teeth, you can introduce solid food mixed with KMR. As kitten food is high in calories and essential nutrients, they should gradually gain weight.

Best Dry Cat Food For Weight Gain

Protein-rich flavors like chicken, duck, and salmon help with lean muscle mass development, while omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids protect a cats skin and coat. Healthy carbs like sweet potatoes help sustain kittys energy levels and are a great substitute for grains or fillers, which are not used in Blue Buffalos recipes.

Highlights

• The food contains 40 percent protein from real chicken, with 443 calories per cup
• The brands exclusive LifeSource Bits are a combination of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, developed by animal nutritionists and holistic veterinarians, including blueberries and cranberries

Things to Consider

• Available in a variety of sizes, including 2.5-, 6- and 12-lb. bags
• Some reviewers noted that the kibble size has increased
• This food has mostly rave reviews, but some pet parents claim their cat developed urinary or kidney issues after eating it

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Create A Plan Of Action For Your Cat

Once you and your veterinarian have a plan for treating the underlying disease, you can get to the hard work of weight gain. Your veterinarian will likely have specific suggestions for your cat based on their age and medical needs.

A diet that is customized to your cats specific medical condition is likely to result in the best outcome. Your vet will also identify your cats ideal weight, and can do regular weigh-ins to make sure that your plan is effective and that your cat does not exceed his/her ideal weight.

For sick cats, returning to a healthy weight is about more than just calories. Diets for specific conditions are customized to have the right macronutrients and micronutrients to provide weight gain while addressing the unique disease-related concerns.

Loss Of Appetite And Health Complications

How to make a cat gain weight? Loss of appetite is often considered dangerous for cats. In some cases, it can have disastrous side effects. Quick onset of dehydration usually accompanies the loss of appetite. This is especially true for cats that prefer a wet food diet. Loss of appetite often indicates an underlying health condition.

If the cat is not keeping well due to any reason, the first thing that a cat owner notices is the loss of appetite. One of the important things you need to understand is that a missed meal doesnt mean a loss of appetite. Pay attention if the cat exhibits a complete disinterest in food even after it misses the second and third meal.

Loss of appetite in cats is serious. In such a scenario, cat owners should opt for immediate evaluation by a veterinarian. Most cats tend to hide their discomfort even if they are suffering. Cat owners are often unaware of the extent of suffering of their cats.

Loss of appetite is often the first visible sign of an underlying medical condition. Early detection of the exact cause of the cat losing weight is beneficial for the overall health of the pet in the long run.

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Healthy Tips That Will Help Your Cat Gain Weight

The best way to help your skinny cat gain weight may be to feed more amounts of food than before. Below we have listed some simple tips that will help your skinny kitty cat gain weight.

Smalls Ground Chicken Fresh Cat Food

Our Top Pick for the Best Highest Calorie Cat Food Overall for Weight Gain: When it comes to healthy and balanced nutrition, fresh food is best for cats. If youre looking for a fresh food that will provide high-quality nutrition with customizable calorie content, Smalls is the way to go. Smalls is a fresh food delivery service that allows you to receive monthly shipments of freshly prepared, perfectly portioned fresh cat food. Choose from two recipes and work with an advisor to adjust the calorie content of your cats meals. Both recipes are made from premium quality ingredients and grain-free for maximum digestibility and nutritional quality. Because the food is prepared fresh, it is naturally higher in moisture and flavor which makes it ultra-palatable for even the pickiest of cats. Plus, youll feel good about feeding your cat the best of the best.

• Pros: Freshly prepared, automatic monthly shipments, grain-free for digestibility, real animal proteins, customizable calorie content, pre-portioned packages, all-natural ingredients
• Cons: Somewhat expensive to feed as a staple diet, only two recipes to choose from

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Iams Proactive Health Kitten Food

Pros

• Chicken is the 1st ingredient in this nutrient-rich kitten food, made to help your kitten develop and grow into a strong, lean, healthy adult cat
• Helps promote healthy brain development with omega-3 DHA
• With nutrients like those in mothers milk plus vitamin E to help kittens build strong immune defenses

Cons

If youre trying to help your adult cat gain weight, dont be alarmed by this foods name or branding, its well-tailored for adult cats to gain weight.

In fact, because kittens need higher protein and fat levels to grow and develop, it is actually one of the best candidates for weight gain food for cats of any age.

Kitten food is also tailored to responsive digestive systems, so you can be sure that even the edgiest of eaters will have no trouble making the transition to this high-calorie food.

We estimate that the IAMS Proactive Health Kitten contains approximately 416 kcal per cup. The products are well labeled and add up, but no calorie count per cup is available from the official source. After searching high and low for an acceptable value, we found it classified online as 3,990 kcal/kg in total.

It contains an impressive 33% protein and 21% fat. At first, the fat content might seem very high. As people, were programmed to think that fat is a bad thing, and we should avoid it, but its an incredibly necessary part of both our own diet and that of our cats.

Why You Should Buy

Smalls Fresh Cat Food Ground Cow Recipe Best Overall

Smalls is high-quality, fresh cat food delivered right to your door. They offer three flavors without any artificial ingredients or preservatives. You can find different food textures like smooth, pulled, or ground meat.

Smalls isnt considered high calorie, but it is high in protein and fat, which is great for cats that need to gain weight.

To get started, you complete a brief questionnaire about your cat, and theyll send you a sample in the mail first. You have to sign up for a subscription before receiving the sample food which can be a hassle if you want to cancel your subscription.

Something cat owners may not like is that the meals arent pre-portioned. For cats that need to gain weight, this may not be an issue as much. But you still dont want your cat to overeat, so youll have to do the measuring yourself.

Ultimately, cat owners report better energy levels, shinier coats, fresher breath, less stinky litter boxes, and less vomiting with this fresh food. However, for added calories, we recommend adding a fish oil supplement to your cats diet under your vets supervision. With smalls, were sure your cat will appreciate the extra fresh flavor.

Pros

Pros

Pros

• Soft enough to use in feeding tubes
• Most cats love the taste

Cons

Pros

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What To Feed An Older Cat That Is Losing Weight

Older cats require easy-to-digest protein and supplements to boost their vitamin and mineral intake. Senior-specific food is cut into smaller pieces and made softer, making it easier for an older cat to chew.

Perhaps your cat can no longer manage 1-2 large servings per day. If so, you need to give your cat more food servings, albeit in smaller portions.

If your cat has kidney problems, itll need a renal diet tailored for its needs. To prevent damage to a cats kidneys, meals must be lower in phosphorus and sodium.

Stella & Chewy’s Duck Duck Goose Dinner

First 5 Ingredients: Duck With Ground Bone, Turkey With Ground Bone, Turkey Liver, Goose, Turkey Gizzard

When it comes to freeze-dried pet food, Stella & Chewys is undoubtedly one of the finest out there.

Using the best quality ingredients, in this case, real duck and goose meat and organs from farm-raised poultry, and organic plant-based components like pumpkin seeds, dandelion, and dried kelp. Its also enriched with probiotics to boost the cat’s digestive system, along with other must-have nutrients.

This freeze-dried cat food has a rich load of calories at 5290 kcal/kg, fat , and protein , suitable for underweight cats.

As a highly popular high-calorie cat food, over 90% of customers at Chewy.com gave sterling reviews with some of them ecstatic about how it helped their cat eat more for weight gain.

But there were a few that said their picky kitties only licked the rehydrated crumbs and left the dried meat. Some also thought the morsels were too big. And a few had complaints about the rehydration taking too long.

Pros:

• High in calories, fat and protein contents
• Made with real duck and goose meat and organs
• Stimulates the appetite & supports the overall immune system
• Freeze-dried raw meat keeps natural nutrients and flavors intact
• Formulated with added vitamins and minerals, probiotics and taurine

Cons:

• Takes some time to rehydrate

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Best Senior Cat Food For Weight Gain

Extra energy and nutrients come in a silky cat food thats highly digestible for senior kitties who need to preserve muscle mass and support their immune system. In addition to senior cats who need to be enticed to eat, this food is especially ideal for cats recovering from surgery, illness or injury.

Highlights

• Formulated by veterinarians, with taste and palatability in mind
• Its soft texture makes it adaptable to bowls, spoons, or syringes, depending on feeding method needed
• Suitable for both cats and dogs

Things to Consider

• This is a relatively pricey, prescription-only food

Help A Cat Gain Weight With A Different Food

A change in diet could be the answer to how to make a skinny cat gain weight.

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A new food that is tastier or even has a different texture may encourage her to eat more. The nutritional content of the food is important, too.

The best foods to help with weight gain in cats tend to be

• high in fat and calories
• formulated for kittens
• made with as many animal ingredients as possible
• made with limited amounts of plant-based products

Check with your vet before making a big change in your skinny cats diet.

It is also important that any changes are made slowly to avoid gastrointestinal distress.

So lets look at foods that should help with weight gain in cats.

Here are some popular choices:

Natures Variety Instinct Raw Boost Grain Free Recipe Natural Dry Cat Food

Natures Variety Instinct* is high in animal protein, grain-free and low in carbohydrate.

It also contains freeze-dried raw meat to boost nutrition.

Other beneficial components are probiotics, omegas, and antioxidants.

Iams Proactive Health Kitten Dry

Kitten food contains higher levels of protein and fat than adult alternatives.

It is deliberately highly calorific to support kittens rapid growth.

This means it can play an important part in how to fatten up a cat.

This kitten food from IAMS* contains a decent 41% animal protein for great taste and aroma.

It is easy to digest with prebiotics and has omegas for brain and eye function.

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Best Food To Help Cat Gain Weight

Our Top Pick!

Product Name: Iams Proactive Health Kitten Food

Product Description: It contains an impressive 33% protein and 21% fat. At first, the fat content might seem very high. As people, we’re programmed to think that fat is a bad thing, and we should avoid it, but it’s an incredibly necessary part of both our own diet and that of our cats.

Overall

When your cat has successfully moved to a diet that is more suited to their lifestyle and eats well, you can control their weight through portion control. You need the best food to help cat gain weight for your pet.

Suitable foods are readily available and dont often cost as much as you would expect. Everyone wants a good value cat food, whether youre hoping to help your cat get weight or lose it. Weve been trying to balance costs with productivity in order to offer you a range of choices. Below is a list of the best high-calorie cat food for weight gain, with suggested serving sizes where available. Choose the best food to help cat gain weight from our choices!

Our Top Choice For Wet Cat Food: Blue Buffalo Wilderness

We promise you, this post is not sponsored by Blue Buffalo, we simply believe that they have the best-canned cat food for weight gain out there.

Their wet cat food is made with the same delicious & nutritious ingredients as the dry version but with the added moisture that guarantees increased hydration that will contribute to your cats digestive and urinary health.

Its also a great way to make kittys meal a little bit more enticing! Without saying that you need to feed your cat with caviar, its important to try and provide him or her with some variety in their diet.

Boredom could lead to lower food intake, resulting in disappointing results in terms of weight gain. Dont hesitate to try different flavors to understand what your cat loves.

Improvements for the canned version: The variety pack only comes in very small cans which are more expensive. However, buying in bulk for a specific flavor will save you money. We often buy a single flavor pack of 24 until it runs out and then switch flavors.

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Ordering from us online means you can get products for your pet without needing to leave the comfort of your home! It also allows you to easily look up information on all the products that interest you, read user reviews, and compare and contrast popular products. Ordering online from us at HolistaPet is easy, so order from us today and enjoy free shipping on orders of all sizes!

Offer Snacks Between Meals

Its a good idea to offer snacks to your elderly cat between meals, but they need to be the right snacks. Healthy snacks can help to put weight on your cat. For example, try giving your cat bite-sized pieces of turkey or chicken between regular meals, as they are high in protein and healthy at the same time.

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Cat Food For Senior Cats Needs More Fiber

Something beneficial that you can add more of in your older cats diet is fiber. Fiber has many benefits and can keep your aging cat acting more like his youthful self. You might want to take a look at our guide to the best high fiber cat food for more choices of this type of food as well.

Fiber is a naturally occurring carbohydrate that can be found in a variety of foods. For younger cats, they would traditionally get fiber from the hair and bones of their prey. However, older cats do not receive fiber as much in this manner and require it through other sources of food.

Fiber can be very beneficial when included in your cats diet. For starters, fiber can prevent hairballs. We all know that hairballs are just a side effect of all the grooming cats do, but with more fiber, hairballs will move naturally through their digestive tract instead of building up until they need to regurgitate them.

Additional fiber can also greatly help reduce digestive issues such as constipation and diarrhea.

The reason fiber is so beneficial in these areas is because it is indigestible.

Since your cat cant digest any fiber it consumes, it will move swiftly through their digestive system bringing anything else in their digestive tract with it.