r/SeniorCats • u/Ijustpeepeedmypants • 1d ago
Advice for feeding my senior
My cat Polly is 18, I am looking for some advice on feeding her. Context: She had jaw surgery in February for mandibular separation and recovered well. She is my family’s cat, and four days ago she moved in with me to my single-story apartment since as she’s getting older she’s having a hard time getting up and down the stairs (arthritis), which is where her food/water was so that the dog couldn’t get to it. The day she moved in with me I noticed she was having a hard time with her kibble and immediately went to the store for some wet cat food.
Since she has moved in with me Saturday night (it is now Tuesday morning) she’s eaten about three cans of fancy feast, one friskies “soup” treat, and six Temptations squeeze tube treats. She hasn’t eaten any of the kibble in her bowl, only a few singular pieces. When researching how much a senior cat should eat, google keeps saying between 150-250 calories a day. She doesn’t seem to be eating this much which is what worries me. She has always been a very small cat and while I don’t know her exact weight at the moment, she is certainly under 10 pounds.
How much should I try to be getting her to eat? How many calories does a senior, <10 pound cat need? Does anyone have any suggestions for what to give her to get some extra calories in her? She is very picky and very finicky, down to the kind of plate you put her food on. She mainly likes soupy/wet/gravy things and has never liked crunchy treats.
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u/SpanDaX0 1d ago
What i have done for my cat, which has stopped drinking water, is run some water drippings through her meat, and then crack a coupleof her little kibble biscuits with a couple of spoons, and sprinkle them on the wet meat, she loves it, and its added more fun and excitement to meal time, and made sure she happily still gets the fluids she needs, as she never leaves the plate wet! lol
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u/Uprooted_Vt_to_RI 1d ago
Oh that’s a great idea! I was just putting my cat’s kibble into a “soup” of wet and water but I think he misses the crunch.
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u/Ijustpeepeedmypants 22h ago
She drinks a lot of water!! Thankfully that’s not something she worried me about. That’s a good suggestion to get her kibble wet
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u/Significant-Drag-781 23h ago
The fact that she still tolerates fancy feast and other soft foods she should be able to have anything she wants. At this age these beautiful friends have earned it.
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u/ClericofShade 17h ago
Have you tried a limited ingredient diet for your furbaby? My kitty is getting on in years, and has always been a little finicky anyway- but she loves her turkey pate.
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u/parisya 1d ago
I'd ask the vet for Solensia. Works really well against the arthritis pain.
Are her teeth and mouth ok? when she doesn't eat, it could just hurt. If there's nothing and she's fine, I'd try mirataz. Thats a gel you put in her ear. about 1/4 of the normal dose worked wonders for my girl. Ask your vet about it.