Tempting food for elderly cat?

[RockinD]

He's 15 bless him and feeling his years. He's on a small dose of steroids for an auto immune issue, but is still losing weight - half a kilo in the last six months despite a good appetite. There may be an underlying condition, but given his age, we have elected not to go looking for it as he still seems happy and not in any pain.

I'm currently feeding the same off the shelf pouch food as I give to my other cat, with the occasional tin of sardines as a special treat.

I'm wondering what I can tempt him with to keep his weight up?

Has anyone moved over to a BARF diet in these circumstances, and if so, with what result?

Thanks

[cozietoesie]

How much is he actually eating, Rockin? (And when?)

[Touchmybum]

My elderly pusses love tinned tuna with the brine drained off.

[laineylou]

Mine loves the little tins of Gourmet Gold cat food in gravy. Or the pate one if he's feeling adventurous. He is 19 and has no teeth as such so it has to be quite tempting

[toomuch2young]

I can see why you've elected not to check bloods, but a quick test to check kidney and thyroid could mean that something as simple as a daily tablet could improve his QOL, I know it's such a tough decision when they are older but iv seen 16/17 year old cats respond well to daily medication to treat hyperthyroidism for instance and put weight on, though the not eating and losing weight is generally more indicative of kidney disease.

Anyway back to the question - what to feed!
Firstly I try fish - strong tastes like the sardines you've tried warmed to really bring out the smell and mixed with a regular food, works in lots of cats. Other prefer some fresh chicken warmed.

The whiskas oh so fishy range is a good one to try - and always warm to bring out the smell.

Otherwise try asking your vet for a highly palatable food - Purina CN is a palatable one, though some older cats prefer a liquid diet especially if their are dental problems. Liquid options for a complete diet are things like liquivite, you can syringe at first to get the taste and sometime encourages cats to continue themselves.

Cat milk and the pouch treat webbox are highly palatable and calorific, and so are dreamies and temptations treats to supplement an underweight cat.

Other than that try a china saucer and hand feeding - sounds ridiculous but many cats seem to respond to a bit of extra tlc and encouragement.
Good luck.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

The most tempting food I have ever found for cats is the hot chicken from the supermarket counter we regular purchase this for sick cats in the clinic.

[RockinD]

It wasn't a snap decision not to investigate. We discussed it at length and the vet doesn't think he is hyperthyroid and he has no obvious signs of kidney disease.

Thanks for the food suggestions. I shall dip in and out of these and see what works. Hot supermarket chicken is particularly appealing.

[Eyesunderarock]

I purchased a small steamer and do miniportions of whitefish and salmon. She has few teeth left and a very small appetite, and is also on a renal diet. So she wanders between her biscuits, pouch food and steamed fish. I also buy the kitten milk as she likes a tablespoon at a time.

[deliasmithy]

My old cat with kidney failure loved spaghetti hoops

[Fluffycloudland77]

Chicken livers cooked in the oven usually goes down well, you can't feed it everyday but as an appetite stimulant or treat its nutritious.

Those small gourmet pâtés are 3 for £1 in Poundworld, don't know about poundland though.

Smoked salmon and plain scrambled eggs too, bagel optional. You can buy packs of salmon trimmings in some supermarkets.

[Floralnomad]

My mums ragdoll is very fussy and prone to not eating and his favourites are freshly cooked chicken , turkey breast roasts and fish fingers ( 100% cod ) .

[cozietoesie]

My only problem with giving them fresh or warm roast chicken is that you're raising the bar awfully high if that's to be a staple. I would keep that for a treat/during illness because they adore it so much that they'll start to turn their nose up at anything else.

My one piece of advice is to ensure that you vary the food a lot. Different flavour at every meal.

[manicmum66]

When my old cat needed feeding up, I bought bags of frozen cooked chicken strips from Iceland or Sainsburys. They are about £2.50 per bag and you can get quite a few meals out of them, especially if you chop them up and mix with their normal food. Hope he gets better soon.

[RightsaidFreud]

Our old lady cat loves tuna, infact, they all do! She's on the thin side too, 3kg, she's very small.

[soaccidentprone]

Our eldest cat is 16. She really likes this plus a few senior cat biscuits. I think she only has 4 teeth now, but she manages fine and appears to be in good health.