Thursday, January 21, 2016

Feeding a Sick Cat or a Cat That Won't Eat Enough-Some Helpful Guides

Trouble feeding the cat? If you are having trouble feeding your cat or it won't eat enough, one method (of many I've posted about before) is to use kitten formula. You can buy it dry or in cans. You mix the dry with water per instructions. You can syringe feed it by mouth. It has many nutrients that your cat needs. It's a good supplement. Add some corn syrup to boost the energy (1/8 tsp per 3oz fluid.) 
You could also try adding this mixture to the wet food if the cat is eating something.

To determine if the cat is eating enough, consuming enough calories, measure the amount served vs. the amount left over. Determine the calories for each typical serving. Measure what is not eaten and determine the calories of what is left over. We did this with Cooper in 2014 when his weight suddenly dropped (due to heart disease.) Cooper pushed his food around and it always seemed that he ate well but was losing weight. But once I measured what was served vs. what was left on the plate, I realized that he ate only 1/4 of his food. That led to us doing multiple feedings so that he ate every 2 hours (of course I was home so it was simple to do.) But we were able to sustain his weight.

A normal cat should consume about 240 calories a day. When you determine what little your cat may be eating, that 240 number will seem like a daunting task. But if you add up every little calories-and you'll need to write it all down to track it-you will eventually get there. Some days with Cooper, we were lucky to hit 200 but most days we hit 220.

Every 3ml syringe of sweet potato or condensed milk or tuna juice has about 15 calories. Every tablespoon of wet food may only have about 20-30 calories. Every 15 treats may be another 25 or so calories.

Links are below to help you determine calories per serving, and help you figure out measurements. Good luck!

Here's the link for wet food 5 oz cans.

Measurement guide:

Dry food calories per cup are listed below. 

PETOBESITYPREVENTION.ORG




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