Putting weight on Tilly-cat
Posted: Sat May 14, 2022 6:32 am
Tilly is nearly 19 years old, happy and active but very skinny. In 2019 she was diagnosed with early CKD and put on a renal diet, which she didn't much like but sort of ate. At her latest check up earlier this year her kidney results had improved over the 2019 baseline and all blood test results were within the normal range, but she had lost more weight. The vet and I agreed that it would be best to relax the phosphorus control a bit if that meant she would eat more.
So I started yet another spreadsheet, and yet another frustrating round of buying and chucking innumerable cat foods, and buying supermarket meat and ending up feeding it to the dogs or eating it myself. And at last - whisper it softly so as not to jinx it - I have found a combination that she will eat regularly without too much waste and that, if not perfectly balanced, is not too outrageously unbalanced. On one plate 1/3 sachet of Royal Canin renal, preferably chicken or fish, with half a sachet of Gourmet Mon Petit spread over the top and very lightly mashed in (not mixed, you notice!). On another plate 25g or so of chopped raw chicken hearts, with a few grams of chicken liver and a tiny pinch of ground eggshell. Repeat at least three times a day. Add the contents of an omega 3 capsule once a day. Plus a bit of the dogs' chicken pancake for magnesium etc and scraps of meat for treats. Phosphorus comes in at around 150mg per 100kcal, which is what I aim for at her stage of CKD, and total calories are considerably more than she was getting from eating just the renal. She has gained a little weight, although we still have a way to go to get her back to where she was three years ago and she was thin then.
It all rather emphasises what they say about dogs having owners and cats staff - although thinking about it, what with the home cooking, treat baking, chauffeuring, etc my dogs have staff too!
So I started yet another spreadsheet, and yet another frustrating round of buying and chucking innumerable cat foods, and buying supermarket meat and ending up feeding it to the dogs or eating it myself. And at last - whisper it softly so as not to jinx it - I have found a combination that she will eat regularly without too much waste and that, if not perfectly balanced, is not too outrageously unbalanced. On one plate 1/3 sachet of Royal Canin renal, preferably chicken or fish, with half a sachet of Gourmet Mon Petit spread over the top and very lightly mashed in (not mixed, you notice!). On another plate 25g or so of chopped raw chicken hearts, with a few grams of chicken liver and a tiny pinch of ground eggshell. Repeat at least three times a day. Add the contents of an omega 3 capsule once a day. Plus a bit of the dogs' chicken pancake for magnesium etc and scraps of meat for treats. Phosphorus comes in at around 150mg per 100kcal, which is what I aim for at her stage of CKD, and total calories are considerably more than she was getting from eating just the renal. She has gained a little weight, although we still have a way to go to get her back to where she was three years ago and she was thin then.
It all rather emphasises what they say about dogs having owners and cats staff - although thinking about it, what with the home cooking, treat baking, chauffeuring, etc my dogs have staff too!