My senior cat is losing weight. How to help her gain weight on a urinary diet?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 12 years and 10 months old | 6.3 lbs
My cat has had Royal Canin Urinary SO normal calorie dry food for past 8 years after getting struvite stone surgery. In last 6mo. she has gone from 8lb to 6.3lb. vet says it's because she hasn't been eating well and leukemia virus, thyroid, CBC, kidney fox were normal. She started on SO wet food but only eats a little (<1can/day + Little of ad lib dry). We tried blue wilderness wet salmon food for higher protein (sarcopenia bc low protein in SO diet.) Will this help her gain/maintain weight?
3 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on November 26th, 2018
Adding in the wet food while providing her regular dry diet available as much as she wants should help increase her calorie count some. It is common for cats to start to lose weight as they age as their nutritional needs tend to change when they hit their senior years, plus absorption of nutrients overall tends to decrease with age as well. Mixing the wet into the dry may encourage her to eat a bit more and increase calorie count which should help. Your vet can also monitor her weight/BCS (most vets will let you weigh your pets at no charge) to make sure she is gaining/maintaining a healthier weight with the changes.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
-
Published on January 14th, 2019
First I would recommend seeing your vet to rule out a medical problem as the vast majority of young healthy cats have no trouble maintaining or gaining weight. If your vet has examined Ally and ruled out problems like kidney disease, parasites and thyroid disease you could see if your vet thinks a growth formula food or even a prescription diet like Hilo’s a/d or Royal Canin Recovery would be recommended. If she’s new to your home and a little underweight from poor nutrition a regular high quality food would be best, just try offering an extra meal per day.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
-
Published on June 29th, 2018
Have her examined by your veterinarian to rule out any medical causes for her lack of weight gain. You can feed a good quality canned food. To get weight on her, feed 1.5 to 2 cans of food daily. If she will eat more, you can feed her more. Once she reaches her target weight, cut back on the amount fed.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
My grandparents cat is 20 and underweight, with winter coming that makes me nervous. Is there a senior cat food to help her put on weight?
My cat is a male orange short hair and he is at least 15 years old. Hes a rescue so we cant know for sure. I regularly feed him 2 small cans of wet food per day and he has a bowl of dry kibble that I leave out all day. He eats both cans of food and n
My cat is a 10 year old male who used to eat mostly store brand wet food. The vet found crystals in his urine and prescribed him dry prescription food for urinary care. He’s very long and it was recommended that his weight should be about 12 lbs. A y
my cat is 28 yrs old and has stopped eating. she is starting to lose weight. i have been feeding her nuro sr. she seems to like the kitten's food. i know at her age there is little i can do for her. was wondering if there is something i can add to he
My 11 year old Maine Coon cat had lost weight. He only use to eat dry food but we got him to eat wet food to help gain weight. He does not have good teeth to chew the dry food anymore. He feels like he has gained weight but he is so bony. His back b
My 12 yr old male cat had a blocked bladder about five years ago. We took him to a vet. About 3 months ago he would yell when urinating but still went. We put him on urinary tract food and he no longer meows when going but has lost weight. He urinate
My cat is 15, started drinking water heavily about 6 months ago, and slowly losing weight- 1.3 lbs in same time. Now had two episodes in 10 days of bloody urine from straining. But then clears up after the crystals or ? have passed. Her blood and uri
My cat is about 15, she is still acting normal most people can't even tell she's as old as she is. However, in the past 5 months she's been barely eating dry food. She still drinks water regularly, and will eat wet food readily if offered it. She sti
My 16 year old cat Dasher has been losing weight. We feed him 2 times a day. It doesn't seem to satisfy him. The vet states that he has a small cyst or tumor by his stomach. He doesn't think it's the reason why Dasher is losing the weight. We opted n
Hi, my cat Neo is 11yrs old, desexed domestic. A finicky eater. Loves canned human tuna, rarely eats his biscuits anymore. Which I think kept the weight on. Always has tuna, water & biscuits left out. He is loosing weight, has always been slim. Ive s
Book an appointment with the pros – our expert vets are here to help.
