Having problems with my Cat Boris and his food. Hi I am new to this site but was wondering if someone could give me some advise. Boris is about 14 but may be a little older as we got him from the cats Protection nine years ago. Boris has always been a very large cat, he was 8 kg when we got him, not fat but large muscled. As he has got older his weight stabliized at about 6.5 kg, which our vet said was a good healthy weight for him. he is fed on senior cat food as we had a problem with him last year with being sick and his digestive system not being able to cope with the high protein foods. He has now decided to lick all the jelly or gravy off and leave the meat. he always had dried senior cat food available to him which he will eat, but will not have just the dried food. We give him fresh chicken and fish and he also loves raw minced beef (although not sure if the latter is good for him). I am worried because his weight has gone down to 4.5kg and he has lost his muscle tone around his neck and become thin at his rear end. He is perfectly well and charges around all the time and still loves going out at night. Can anyone suggest what I can give him to eat that will be ok for him and is he just getting old? From the topic: Comments Post a comment in this discussion: 18 Feb 2008 17:10  well im no expert on cats so why dont you go to google and type in just awnser . pet and click on the first result and you can ask a real vet on advice i did it when my rabbit fell ill and they awnser asap so why not give it a try. 18 Feb 2008 17:10 well im no expert on cats so why dont you go to google and type in just awnser . pet and click on the first result and you can ask a real vet on advice i did it when my rabbit fell ill and they awnser asap so why not give it a try. 18 Feb 2008 13:52  Hi, i was going to suggest getting his teeth checked too. one of my cats is a big bugger and a rescue too - he would eat the world on a stick if he had a chance to, but he had to have loads of teeth out a while back and now only has about 3 or 4 so we have to really mash his food up or else he too just licks the gravy or jelly off. 17 Feb 2008 20:54 Member Removed Hi, Boris is the same age as Tigger my oldest cat. They do lose a bit of muscle tone as they get older and do get a bit thinner too. If you can encourage him to play with a ball up and down the stairs that will help with his muscle tone and also exercise his heart. Boris does sound if he requires more moisture from his food and my younger cat who will be eleven this year also licks of f the jelly. As Mary said it is best to take him to the vet as he could have a kidney problem or in Woodys case he had a water infection and the vet put him on antibiotics which cleared it up in no time and he started to eat more normally again. Also, older cats sleep a lot so do not need as much. you are right to be giving him food for senior cats as his dietery needs are different now he is older I feed Tigger and Woody on Senior Iams dry and they like it sprinkled on top of their senior felix in jelly. Is Boris drinking lots of water, do you put down fresh water every day? Mine drink water. Tigger loves a small piece of cheese as a treat after a meal and that is good for their teeth. Hope that Boris is ok, let me know how he gets on. 16 Feb 2008 13:36  Firstly,he is a great age for a cat but because he appears to be only eating the moisture content off of his food and leaving the bulk of it,please just pop him along to your vet to get him generally checked over but mainly his teeth. It may be that at his age,he has some decaying and rotten teeth,which make's it uncomfortable for him to be able to bite down and chew on food stuff's,although you do day that he will eat the dry,which is also hard and biscuity. It maybe that he has gone off of that food brand,if his taste bud's has changed with age,so try another type and he is obvioulsy loving his fresh chook and fish,although it is probably not so good to give him the mince raw,as it contain bacteria and whatnot,that may make him a little poorly,so try gently cooking it instead. The loss of muscle tone,is most likely due to his age but,I still think that it would be good just to get the vet to check him over and rule out any kidney or other organ failure,teeth,etc. You could try putting him on 'James Wellbeloved' Senior cat complete dry...which is a very good brand and one that doesn't normally upset digestive systems and giving him some fresh cooked fish,like hake or coley,would be good,if he like's fish. I hope the above maybe of some help to both you and 'Boris'.....welcome to the site and do please let us know,how you get on,both with the vet and him generally. Take care and all the very best to you. |
©PetStreet 2009 Website built and designed by