FIV Cat digestion issues

[melshop]

I have asked questions on here before and got excellent support, so I thought I would come back and see if anyone had any ideas.
My 8 year old FIV cat Sooty, has lost more weight, and although eats plenty just cant put weight on, he tends to weigh around 2.4-2.6 kilos, and at the moment is at 2.4 He has had his thyroid checked and it is not that. His liver enzymes were high, but after a course of steroids and antibiotics, he is more active and his appetite better than it was.

We feed him Applause tins as they are easy on his stomach and high quality, some foods he just cant digest an they really upsets his stomach, so when he sneaks my other cats food it causes problems for him. I tried a pro biotic powder, this didnt make any difference. It is heartbreaking to see him so skinny, he is happy in himself and I am at home with him all day to keep an eye on him and feed him on demand.

Any ideas on helping him digest the food ? I dont know if there are any supplements that are worth checking.

[booktigger]

I'd be worried about only feeding him Applaws wet, most of their food is complimentary, so can't be fed as a sole diet

[alanc]

Agree with Booktigger - Applaws wet in sachets at least is only a complimentary food (just checked on the backs of the packets in Tilly's food drawer). I don't have any in tins so cannot check them and they may be different.
When I had your problem, trying to get some weight on my old girl Honey (some 7-8 years ago now) my vet recommended feeding kitten food as it was easily digestible and contained more protein. It worked for a while but as she was suffering from cancer of her lymph nodes, ultimately failed.

[melshop]

I didnt realise it was a complimentary food, thanks for you both posting this. When I tried feeding him other brands like Felix or Whiskas he gets an upset stomach, and due having no teeth, he finds dry food hard to eat.

I have already tried the kitten food, and he loved it for a while, then went off it, and that was several brands, it did not make a difference to his weight unfortunately. We have also tried the sensitive stomach food from the vets and he goes off that too. Applaws is the only stuff he will eat now.
I may try cooked chicken breasts again and see if he can digest that, and go to pets at home tomorrow and try another brand of food so he gets all the vitamins/minerals he needs, it is all frustrating, if only he were not so fussy.

[bobbys girl]

Mine get Applaws tins as a Sunday 'treat' and have to agree, as much as they love it, it is not good as the main source of nutrition.

My FIV+ cat, Bob, has the same food as the others. They get Butcher's Classic and Felix AGAIL wet food and James Wellbeloved dry.

Bob put on quite a bit of weight over the winter but he has lost it all now. Purdy has always been a very skinny cat, she's healthy but a quite nervy cat. Sometimes we give her a tin of Hill's 'recovery' food - we call it baby food. My OH spoon feeds her and she loves the attention. You can almost see the weight go on!

PS I was about to post the above and saw you had posted again. I didn't realise Sooty has no teeth. I would definitely give the Hills 'baby food' a go. Also, JWB do a wet food too. Mine aren't that struck on it but you could try that - Pets at Home should have it.

[Kay]

you could try soaking good quality dry food in gravy - any human kind will do but check for high salt content, or you could use chicken broth from boiling up chicken pieces, and could add a bit of the meat too

or if he likes fish a fishy dry food could be soaked in the liquid tuna is canned in

[bobbys girl]

The liquid is a good idea, but I'm not sure about the stuff in tins of tuna - brine is a no, no, I no longer use sunflower oil (don't trust it's production) and if it's spring water - well you may as well use a drop of warm water out of the kettle.

[booktigger]

When one of my first cats had all her teeth removed, I actually put her biscuits in the food processor to grind them, then sprinkled the powder on her wet food (she got an upset tummy on just wet food) - until I caught her eating my other cats biscuits! Might be worth a go

[melshop]

Thanks to everyone for their replies, I went to pets at home tonight and bought 3 boxes of food James Wellbeloved, 2 different types of Royal canin, one which is meant to be for sensitive stomachs, and fingers crossed he will do better on all this. The Applaws although he loves it probably was not giving him enough calories. He is fussy so hopefully 3 different types will work. We still have some of the Hills baby food, I forgot i had some left from when the vets gave me some, he loves it for a few days and cant get enough, then turns his nose up, I think I have really spoilt him.

Grinding the biscuits in the food processor is such a great idea, I am going to try that tomorrow. I will also try breaking them up a bit with a rolling pin, and see if that works in a gravy.

Lets hope this time next month he is a bit bigger.

[bobbys girl]

Hope so! Purdy is just the same with the Hills. She loves a couple of tins, then goes off it for a while. But even those 'couple of tins' make all the difference to our little Skinny Minnie.

[booktigger]

Good luck. Felix have brought out something called Fun Sauces, they look just like the gravy you find in a tin of food, so might be worth trying with the biscuits.