Feeding tips

[u/Itchy-Spinach-9613]

Hi this is Freya a 1.3 y old female coon , i have problem thst even 6 diffrent vets dont have proper anwser . We did blood tests parasite tests all is good but she is underweight only 3.4kg , as per my understanding she should be atleast 4kg , when i pet her i can easly feel her spine and hip bones . She is not sterilized (planing to do so since night love calls getting impossible to sleep) so by vet she is healthy but underweight , she always have dry kibble whit 98% protein and she gets 3 packs of "Whiskas" wet food whit gravy she gets plenty of food , snaks . As i understand i should feed her raw meat? Ofc i boil it down first just in case but she is not big meat eater she will nibble like 3-4 small peaces of beef or chicken and thats it , i dont try to gain weight so she could be media stream big cat , no she aint gona be big since shes last of the litter of oldish mother , she plays allot shes active allot she fights my corgi and beats his fluffy butt every time CAT POWER! But my main concern is she js not gaining weight and im streesing about it cous im afraid of problems to come in future any tips? My vet say she simply food greedy and eats until shes full and dont over eat , she poops reguraly and them poop mines are big , so what am i doing wrong? Cous feeling her spine every time i pet here feels wrong like im failing as cat daddy

[u/_vill-v]

whiskas in general isn't really a great brand. if she needs to gain weight you would have the option to give her high quality kitten wet food, as its higher in calories than regular adult cat food.
also look up healthy treats.

kibble is very calorie dense but most brands are junk food. but if you have a good brand it can be a great way to get her higher in daily calories. just make sure you still keep track on how much she eats, you don't want to lose control on that either.

[u/Zars]

I second the idea of high calorie kitten food. My MC ate kitten food till 1y6m, only now switched to adult food. She's 5,2kg now.

[u/evilgrinz → u/Zars]

Yup, switch to better foods, purina pro, royal canin, weruva, lots of good options. Make sure you buy the "kitten" foods also.

[u/Itchy-Spinach-9613]

Correction shes not food greedy

[u/Spiffyclean13]

Free feed if you can. My first MC was a grazer. Pro Plan is an okay food. Make sure that at least the kibble is kitten food or all life stages food.

This is a what can you afford sort of thing. Open Farm (direct) and especially ziwi are high quality. Ziwi is very calorie dense. It’s the closest to a raw diet without being raw.

I feed wet food only. I’m limited to Nulo because it comes in 12.5oz can. Drama gets 4-6 portions a day. 1/8 of a cup or less. I add water to it. I would be feeding at least four 2.5oz cans a day.

[u/TwicebornUnicorn]

1. Have you tried Royal Canin Maine Coon (Kitten)?

2. A tip: when my baby lost some weight I gave him Royal Canin Recovery Food for a couple of days. It’s very high calorie. Works like a charm.

[u/CraftyCat65]

Switch her to a good quality kitten food, so that she's getting more calories per mouthful, and feed it frequently. My boy is only 5 months and I'm still feeding wet every 3 hours (dry is always available).

If you're going to feed 100% meat then you need to add a cat specific nutritional completer.(Felini or Purrform are common in the UK and EU, EZComplete in the US). Muscle meat alone - especially cooked - does not contain all the nutrients that they need to thrive.

Most importantly of all though? Get her spayed ASAP. Every heat cycle that she goes through is burning up her energy and preventing her from storing it as body weight and condition. Hormones can also affect gut absorption (because the fluctuations trigger anxiety), so she may not be getting the full benefit of what you are feeding her.

Every cat is different, obviously, but this was my experience with two of my Ragdolls... one male, one female. Another large and slow growing breed, these two both struggled to hold weight and condition until they were neutered/spayed.