Older cat losing some weight - recipe ideas please

[imstartingtogetangrynow]

Hi my best friend is nearly 13 now, and slowing down. She was very quiet over the winter but seemed to come back to life a bit with the warm weather. Poor thing has started looking a bit scraggy now and being me i can't stop worrying about her and watching. She's always been 3kg but have weighed her and she's down to 2.4kg, not sure how accurate this is as its me on the scales holding her, minus me on the scales!

I want to try to tempt her with some lovely food, she is turning her nose up a bit at usual wet food and not sure how much dry food she is getting down. She keeps getting up on the table to try to have some of whatever we are eating so she seems to be hungry. I have tried chicken, she has turned her nose up at that.

Have any of you lovely people any ideas what might tempt her to eat a bit more?

Am happy to spoil her a bit now she's getting on

(While I've been typing this she's helping herself to my water).

Thank you

Has she been checked over by the vet? Our dcat lost a lot of weight and it turned out to be kidney failure (she's now on medication and doing well).

Has she seen the vet? If not, she needs to as there may well be a reason she is less interested in food and is losing weight. 0.6 kg weight loss in a cat is a significant amount of weight loss which needs investigating or at least discussion with your vet.

She definitely needs to see a vet with that level of the weight loss, just tempting her with food isn't going to be enough unfortunately
Please get her booked in for a check up, she's likely to need a blood test to check for issues like kidney disease with those signs. Good luck with her, hope they can help her.

Definitely a vet visit needed! They'll want to run blood and possibly urine tests. Cats often lose weight with age but not so much so rapidly unless they are unwell. It could well be something easily treatable.

Agree, a vets visit immediately. Cats rarely just lose weight due to being old, there's usually an underlying condition - the vet can either treat that condition or keep cat comfortable/extend life.

Ooh crumbs. Thanks guys, vets booked for tomorrow morning, will let you know.

Mine is old..18 and a half... and in slow kidney failure..and tiny. She gets meds for her kidneys but the vet told me to feed her anything she will eat!
She picks at food but so far..
tinned tuna (in brine..she won't touch it in water)
Turkey from the deli
Ham from the deli (no cheap stuff!)
Tiny bits of cheese
Mayo/butter

Anything totally unsuitable that we are eating! She won't eat cat food any more but will hassle us for our food... pasta, curry, enchiladas!!! She rather likes pasta in tomato sauce!!!

And today she stole spaghetti hoops from DD2's plate and ate them!

Hi all, thanks for giving me a kick to get her seen.

It turns out she is diabetic. I've spoken to the vet briefly and from the options he gave it looks like a change in diet is the way forward for us.

I'll probably end up posting about that when she inevitably turns her nose up at all options
She is really pushing it at the minute and started on a pizza yesterday, not a good beginning to a low-no carb regime..

Well done for going for the vet check. My old beloved cat got scrawny and we released she'd been trying to tell us she was hyperthyroid for years

If you are going low-no carb are you shopping on Zooplus? (I should get commission but I found out about it here)

My previously picky and weight losing cat went nuts for Animonda Carny which is all meat, no carbs.

Thanks will check it out, all recommendations welcome

My vet recommended complivit. So I've ordered some. She'd better eat it

Sorry should have read the full thread. Good luck with special diet.

Hopefully the change in diet works. Our old girl became diabetic and we had to inject her with insulin. It was daunting at first but actually it just became second nature.

Glad she's been to a vet.

When my old lady slowed down, creamy fish soup - the posh stuff in cartons - kept her interested in eating!