After my cat gave birth to four kittens she lost a lot of weight. She has a good appetite but weighs 2,5 kg, less than before pregnancy. She's a Scottish Fold 3 years old. I tried giving her Omega-3 and other vitamins but it isn't making a great change. Please tell me is that fine?
Does she eat dry food at all? You should look for a dry food made for kittens (May say nursing cats on it as well but generally the kitten food is high in protein and will be good for both her and the kittens). To find a good one look at the back of the package and read the ingredients, the order in which the ingredients are written usually indicate how much of each ingredient it contains, you should stay away from by products (for example chicken\meat by products) and look for words like "chicken\meat" or "chicken\meat meal". also stay away from foods that contain a lot of fillers like corn wheat and rice, a bit is fine but if it says for example "corn, wheat, rice, meat by products, digest" you should basically stay away from it.I know price can be an issue but if you look and shop around you will find good quality food that doesn't cost very much at all it will definitely be cheaper than feeding wet food that's for sure.
Since you might have difficulty feeding her dry food since she is used to wet, I would suggest starting by mixing a little bit of dry food with her wet food and slowly increasing the amount with each meal. That way she can get used to the taste and her body will be able to get used to the change little by little. Even if you're lucky enough to have her eat dry food right away, You should actually continue to give a meal of wet food a day because that will keep her hydrated.
As for the kittens 1.5 months is a good age to start dry feeding! (while still nursing) the kitten food is smaller so it shouldn't be difficult for them to chew at all so start incorporating dry food until the mother starts to wean them and they can eat only that (It is best to feed kitten food until about 1-1.5 years depending on the breed, 1 year is usually fine though). Same goes for the wet food with the kittens, for them I would say maybe a tea spoon a day would be more then enough to start with you just want to have them used to eating different foods plus like I said it is good for them
Since you might have difficulty feeding her dry food since she is used to wet, I would suggest starting by mixing a little bit of dry food with her wet food and slowly increasing the amount with each meal. That way she can get used to the taste and her body will be able to get used to the change little by little. Even if you're lucky enough to have her eat dry food right away, You should actually continue to give a meal of wet food a day because that will keep her hydrated.
As for the kittens 1.5 months is a good age to start dry feeding! (while still nursing) the kitten food is smaller so it shouldn't be difficult for them to chew at all so start incorporating dry food until the mother starts to wean them and they can eat only that (It is best to feed kitten food until about 1-1.5 years depending on the breed, 1 year is usually fine though). Same goes for the wet food with the kittens, for them I would say maybe a tea spoon a day would be more then enough to start with you just want to have them used to eating different foods plus like I said it is good for them
Joleen CohenTo find a good one look at the back of the package and read the ingredients, the order in which the ingredients are written usually indicate how much of each ingredient it containsIt's not always so, meaning that the manufacturers have found a good way to mislead the buyers knowing that we know this "rule." If the weight is the same for various ingredients, the manufacturer gets to choose the order in which they are listed, and very often they will list meat first, for example "meat, rice, wheat, barley." If you see meat listed with grain sources like this, it's very probable the meat doesn't have more weight than the grains. Also there can be ingredient splitting, eg "chicken, brown rice, rice flour, rice gluten, rice protein." If the manufacturer had to write just "rice", it should have been listed first. This stuff is just so tricky.
Comments
How long ago did she give birth? Nursing cats need a different diet, you have to remember she is not only feeding herself but 4 other kittens and the food you have been feeding her is probably not a good choice for a nursing cat.. If she is still nursing I would get a good quality kitten and nursing cat food. As I recall the food I gave my cat when during his kittenhood - which is until about he was a year old - was also meant for nursing and pregnant cats so the kittens and the mom can eat the same food and get everything they need.
- Joleen Cohen
She gave birth 1.5 months ago so yes she's still nursing. Do you mean I should give her quality kitten food together with nursing cat food? Or just one of the two? She's on wet premium Iams food she had before pregnancy. I didn't realize it can be insufficient. :/
- Anonymous
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That makes sense.. Although I would go for a brand that has a couple of different meals and not just chicken and then a bunch of fillers anyways. Welness kitten food is really good for example, it has chicken, salmon, turkey and also has some fruits and veggies and I don't really think it has any fillers.. It might have some rice or brown rice not sure about that.. There was another really great brand, I'll have to remember what it was called though..
- Joleen Cohen
Great advice, thank you all a million. I'll get back to you if this doesn't help or I have more questions. 
- Anonymous
My cat looks sticky, like she would die. But still feeds and takes care of her kittens. How can I help her? She needs to gain weight ,I've given her salmon, tuna, cream to drink. I'm lost and afraid for her health.R
- Anonymous
My cat's also going through the same situation. Im really scared right now
- Anonymous