Putting weight on an elderly cat? (aDork)

A vet visit to rule out some metabolic or other illness wouldn't be a bad idea.  Older cats do tend to lose some weight, but if it is happening quickly, I'd suspect there is an underlying cause.

But, there are higher calorie foods - kitten food is usually higher in calories than cat food.  You can supplement an adult cat who is not eating full meals with KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement) - also good for cats recuperating from illness.  And you can find Nutrical supplement at a pet food store - it has vitamins and cals for ailing cats - it's sort of like hairball stuff - comes in a tube and you let them lick it off your finger tips. 

I hope kitty is ok and you can get some extra calories into him.

He's just been to the vet, and other than being evil, he appears to be just fine. I suspect he's been looking bad since winter and we just noticed how bad he was getting since it's summer. I'll see about some kitten food or KMR for him when I go to get the cats food tomorrow. He's 12-ish and has been on the edge of arthritic for several years, not to mention he had surgery for his chronic bladder issues just last year. I'm just hoping to put some weight on him to help him for this next winter and so maybe he'll get to feeling a little better.

 Thanks for the advice.
 

Sorry - I didn't realize he'd just been to the vet!  I've only just lost a cat who was 14 and his quick weight loss had a definite underlying cause, so I'm feeling very cautious.  Having had a few senior cats, my vet clinic has drilled into my head that rapid weight loss in seniors is almost always an indicator of something more insidious.  With Iggy it was hypertension when he was 12 and after getting that under control and getting his weight back to normal for a few years he suddenly was losing weight again and this time it was cancer.  We did not find it on the first vet visit, but it was rapidly growing, though local, and the same vet was able to find it on palpation one week later.  Our Benito is also more gradually losing weight and in his case, the cause is hyper thyroidism (just starting meds now). 

Kitten food might really be the ticket if he still has a regular appetite and just needs more calories!  Hope it helps him!

 It's fine, I meant to mention it in the first post and somehow it managed to slip my mind. I just went and got him some squishy kitten food and some hard kitten food. I put him in the dog kennel (sans dog) so he could eat his squishy kitten food and slight adult food mixture, and now he's decided to have more of an appetite again! I'll probably try to give him some form of kitten food once or twice a week at first, and see how it helps him. He may just need to be separated from the other cats when he eats. We shall see how it goes, but I appreciate all your help, and I'll be sure to keep a look out for rapid weight loss - just in case. Thanks again.

Oh, that's great!  I'm really cheered to hear he liked the kitten food and had a good response to it!  Giving him some time, space and peace to eat (apart from other pets) is great idea, too.  I'm sure that will help!

Just making sure that they did a blood test to rule out hyperthyroidism. It's a petty common cat ailment, especially when they're older.

If all of that is checked out, you could also pick up some A/D from the vet. It's a canned food meant for sick animals and is very high calorie.  We always use it at the clinic I work at for pets that need some extra calories..be it due to ailments, age, or just not eating great.

AD is really great, but I would not advise feeding long term. I've used it, and I have a can here at home just in case.

I would probably just stick with the kitten food, if all else checks out health wise. My adult cats eat kitten every now and then when I have fosters, and they do just fine on it. A few prefer it.....Or maybe a 'senior' cat formula would be good too.

I don't know when/if he's had blood work done. I know they didn't do it at his last vet appointment because my parents said he was "just a cat, and an old one at that". He had surgery about a year and a half ago (he was 10-11?), and I'm not sure if they did blood work then. My parents think I'm crazy just because I want to put weight on him.

 Once I get to working again, and depending on how he's doing, I'll look at taking him to the vet for blood work - like I wanted done originally.

Thanks again for the advice.