Picky Eater=Thin Kitty

[Freedom]

I guess my first thought is, have you ruled out health issues? Has the vet looked her over, maybe done blood work?

Could she have teeth issues? I know she is young, so it wouldn't be tartar build up - but maybe something she was born with?

Any reason you can't just feed her the kibble she loves? (I know she can't have the dog food or the dairy but earlier on you said she likes a kibble).

[Catty1]

Definitely get the teeth checked. If they are ok, could be a bit of thyroid problem, very easily treated. Possibly diabetes too. But the "pickiness" makes me wonder about soreness in the gums or teeth.

See what the vet says, and please keep us posted.

[freckledimple]

Piggy is healthy and her teeth are good; she's just really picky about her food
We're all of us, trying to eat healthier We eat organic when it's available/affordable, and the rest of the cats are doing well on their raw diet. We're even transitioning the dogs to raw. We've read about the benefits of raw feeding, and wish our kitties to be healthy. One of our cats is overweight, and another is trying to be. Raw feeding is supposed to help maintain a healthy weight. Our CH baby is even maintaining her weight well, being fed raw. Piggy continues to nibble her kibble; she's even picky about that

PS. My grandparents' had a poodle that had to be PTS at 17 yrs old. They only ever fed her cooked chicken or beef. Good enough proof for me.

[Freedom]

Sure, I understand. I switched my crew of 14 to grain free foods.

But with a picky one, isn't the goal for her to be healthy? Get her weight back up, stabilize, and then try altering her foods again.

If she continues to LOSE weight, none of you wins the battle!

[freckledimple]

We aren't denying her her kibble I was hoping for some suggestions to expand her diet, to get her to eat more, quantity and variety. Her weight loss started around the time of her first heats. Of course, her weight loss could look more dramatic to me; because her brother, Runt, has put on more than his fair share I'm just stuck on what else to try on her.
We're looking into the ingredients of the dry dog food she likes to see if there is a cat food alternative, and we're supplementing her diet with smilk and KMR.
I just thought someone may have an idea I hadn't tried, yet

[krazyaboutkatz]

My Pearl has always been a picky eater and sometimes she'd rather play than eat. All of my cats are on a grain free diet. They all eat Innova Evo dry as well as the 95% Duck and 95% Venison Innova Evo canned. They also eat Natural Instinct canned Lamb and Rabbit. They all love the canned food except for Pearl. Sometimes she'll eat a little bit of it but for the most part she'll only eat the dry food. I just let her eat the dry and it's still a good food for her because it's very high in protein and grain free. Maybe you could try Innova Evo or another brand of grain free dry food for Piggy. Good luck.

My cat Ziggy has the nickname "Ziggy The Piggy" but it suits her because she loves to eat and she's a huge cat especially for a female. One question I have is why haven't you spayed your females yet or is Piggy the only one that isn't spayed yet due to her weight? Hopefully all of the males have been neutered or they might start spraying.

[freckledimple]

My cat Ziggy has the nickname "Ziggy The Piggy" but it suits her because she loves to eat and she's a huge cat especially for a female.

Our Piggy is called Piggy, because when she was a teeny baby she was the fattest of the litterhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/freckle...7621828765865/

One question I have is why haven't you spayed your females yet or is Piggy the only one that isn't spayed yet due to her weight? Hopefully all of the males have been neutered or they might start spraying.

Piggy and Phoebe are our only kitties not spayed. Phoebe(CH baby) is still intact because she came in for the first time at 2 1/2 yrs old Runt, Piggy's brother, was our only intact male; so off to the vet he went. His pocket picking turned into a tummy tuck when they had to go looking for his second testicle($$) Phoebe's tummy tuck has to wait until we can get her sinus problems under control(x-rays, meds, blood tests...$$) So, Piggy, being skinny but otherwise healthy, gets to wait
We'll check out some of those grain free foods and see if she might like any

PS. ALL of our cats are house cats.

[Freedom]

We aren't denying her her kibble

Sorry, didn't mean it the way it came across!! LOL

[ginalovesfelines]

I know what you are going thru......we switched over to raw for all our animals about a year ago. Everyone took well except Susie, she has just refused to take it on. Her weight dipped and we were very worried about her for a few weeks. Best advice we got was to find a high quality wet food that was similar to the raw diet we are offering, then go 50/50 until we could give 100% raw. We used OmniPro cat food, the salmon and tuna is high in protein and helped her put on the weight....THANK GOODNESS!!!! Good luck and be patient. It will all work out in the end.

[freckledimple]

Well, Piggy is continuing to eat her kibble well; and all the other's LOVE their raw diet It seems Piggy's weight loss was due to a growth spurt She's getting looooong She's probably not ever going to be a "full-figured" kitty, but there's nothing wrong with that
Thanks for all the advice, and hopefully we can find a moist our little picky eater will like