how can I safely introduce extra calories into my cats diet?

[kate h]

She is a blue point siamese and she is underweight. She has a very good appetite but cannot seem to put on weight. She is just recovering from a serious illness that nearly took her life and inevitably led to her losing more weight that she could not afford to.
She is now very well in herself and her appetite has returned. I have tried adding rice and pasta to her usual food which she will eat but I was wondering what else I could give her to vary things a bit
She has always been a slender cat even for a siamese. She was weighed the other day and she was 2.8 kgs. I think she must have been the smallest of the litter ad has never grown full size. She is he size of a 12 month old cat but is 4 years old. Her appetite is great, she will eat anything and everything you give her, within reason of course!
Our vet advised small amounts of pasta and rice added to her usual food to increase her carb intake actually. If cats were obligate carnivores then they would not eat the canned food that we give them as they usually only contain a small amount of meat bulked out with all sorts of other crap!!!

 

[Café Mocha Valencia]

Rice and pasta? Are you KIDDING me? Cats are OBLIGATE CARNIVORES - it's not wonder your cat was sick! You're just going to make her SICKER!!!! Whoever told you to give her this??

Get her back to the vet to be examined. The vet can give you prescription food that will help put weight back on her. But yikes - wow - with what you've been feeding this cat I'm surprised she's even still alive!

One thing my cats love and I've given them as a treat is chicken heart and livers. Loaded with nutrition, too. Just buy small containers of both from the meat department, simmer on your stove, drain most of the liquid then puree in your blender, adding more liquid till its the consistency of the thick soup. Pour the pureéd meat into ice cube trays and freeze. To serve just pop out a cube or two and microwave on low till just SLIGHTLY warm - test with your finger.

edit: a supposed "Dr" recommending PURINA? Hmm, someone's getting kickbacks! Purina is HORRIBLE food - made mostly of corn and with little to no real meat. Please don't feed this to your cat.

edit2: your vet is an idiot. And you're questioning whether cats are obligate carnivores or not? LOL! You've got to be kidding me. Yes - if you're a bad pet owner you'll feed it crappy dry food made mostly of corn - many do. But EDUCATED pet owners feed their cats food made with real meat and no grain - because a cat's body has no use for it. Read this and educate yourself http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/why-cats-need-canned-food-2/

 

[jeanine]

If she is doing well, don't worry so much about her putting on weight. I had a siamese-ish cat that was full grown at only 5 pounds. She didn't ever gain weight no matter HOW much she ate. But she was very happy!

 

[Kathleen]

Your vet should have some sort of high calorie paste you can offer her. It comes in a tube and you can just squeeze it out.

Try some Omega 3 oil on her food, my cats love it. It may help her eat a bit more food too.