Cat food

[Ritterskoop]

I can't remember if we have any vets or vet-adjacent folks around here.

NewKitty is getting three 3-oz cans of Fancy Feast a day (it's the chicken-beef-turkey no-gravy, no grilled variety). She weighs nine lbs., I think, up from 7.5 when she arrived two months ago (in a good way).

She always wants more food, and is VERY active, burning tons of calories running around the house.

I occasionally give her a handful of crunchies, which are high in carbs and calories, but it's worth the tradeoff to get her to stop shredding paper and tearing up the house. But I think it's the way to a chubby cat if I don't stop.

Our previous two cats were both old and slow (and sweet), so we haven't had this kind of drama in forever.

Anyway, I'm taking votes on whether it's OK to give her more than the 270 calories she's already getting from the meat food. All of my reading suggests it is much better for cats than crunchies (cats in the wild don't eat grains, and get all of their water from the meat).

[Beebs52]

Do you give her any dry catfood, not treats? Is she indoor solely? 3 cans seems like a lot. Give the dry next to the wet?

[Ritterskoop]

It's the 3-oz cans rather than the 5.5-oz cans, but yes, three of them.

If I put down any food of any kind, she eats it all immediately, so it's not like we can portion out the crunchies to last between meals.

I have a photo ready to include here but can't remember if we still have to post to some external site and then link to that? I see a tag for pics but not sure how to work with it.

[Beebs52]

Other than getting her stuff to play with to work off energy, I'd check with the vet. How old is she?
Merv is 13, indoor/outdoor, 11ish pounds, he's older, eats dry only plus treats. I'm sure your kit is fine.

[Beebs52]

Has she been checked for worms?

[Ritterskoop]

She is just barely two, so, still young.

She has been checked for everything, though they did say her white blood cell count was a little high. The vet said that was probably a reaction to the spay, which leaves sutures in the body.

I think we will just play with her even more than the daily 10 minutes. I think she spent some time as a feral, and maybe just still worries about the next meal.

She'll settle down soon enough. So cute.

[Beebs52]

She is just barely two, so, still young.

She has been checked for everything, though they did say her white blood cell count was a little high. The vet said that was probably a reaction to the spay, which leaves sutures in the body.

I think we will just play with her even more than the daily 10 minutes. I think she spent some time as a feral, and maybe just still worries about the next meal.

She'll settle down soon enough. So cute.

Give her a scritch. #2 son and his honey just got a new babe kitteh to go along with Bella, the first one. Nugget.

[Ritterskoop]

Nu Baby Girl is starting to trust that she does not have to worry about her next meal, and she is leaving some of her food in the bowl for a few hours.

I just bought her one of those new blankets with mylar, that reflect the pet's body heat and warm them without needing any electricity. I got one for my folks' cat and their feral cat also. I will report in a few weeks, once we know if they work.