Stray cat suffering weight loss

Question
Hi,
Thank you in advance, I have found a really underweight kitty about age 8/10 yrs. He is of small stature but weighs only 3.9lb all bones are visable aswell as palpable. almost no muscle tone he is more alert after a small meal walking around. But he is still lethargic and wobbly he has had diarrhea aswell. I need advice on how to feed him so as to gain weight but not cause any side effects he has seen a vet who suggested chicken and rice or potato also what do i need to look out for regarding problems he may encounter.

Thank you Kara-lee.

Answer
Kara-lee,

I am surprised the vet did not do more. However, the best thing to put muscle tone back on a kitty is raw meat,  If you do not have access to raw meat for pets, you can feed boiled chicken or rabbit.  I would also go to your friendly neighborhood pet supermarket and get a kitty vitamin which he will eat, especially if he is getting raw meat. In addition, supplementing with bone emal powder would also help.

In the longer run, it is vital to find out what is causing the diarrhea and the weight loss and treat for that. My guess is a stry kitty would have intestinal parasites which are probabl;y getting as much out of what you are feeding as your kitty is.  There are fairly easy treatments for round worms and tape worms which are fairly benign to the kitty, but will get rid of the worms.

Rice and potato are next to useless in a cats diet. The rice will help stop the diarhea, but, as I said before, without knowing the cause, that may not be a good course of action.

At this point, he needs to be fed many small meals in the course of a day to see if he can begin to recover.  Although I am not a vet, I would also suspect some kidney involvement in all this which could also result in severe weight loss.

Concerned regards... Norm.