Weighs 6 and should weigh 10. Okay, so she is very thin. What she needs is calories and not a lot of fillers in her food. You have the right idea of suplementing a dried food (which is not high in calories) with a wet food. The problem I see is that Fancy Feast is not the best choice for canned food. You can get a high calorie food from your vet -- Science Diet A/D or Iams Max Calorie. Most cats like either one and it's specifically designed to help cats regain weight. (Calorie dense!) It's a bit pricey -- about $2 a can. A cheaper alternative is a kitten formula canned food. It is designed to have extra calories to take care of a kitten's growth needs. If neither one appeals to you or Talia, try adding a bit of oil (1 capsule of salmon oil (best), 1/4 tsp olive oil (okay)) to the Fancy Feast to up the calories.

Other things to consider:

Please don't hesitate to ask questions -- I've been through this with 5 cats and am working on no.6 (Maggie).

As for the photos, you need to upload the photos to a third party such as Photobucket and then copy/paste the image URL to your post.

Ok, you say digestive enzymes....do you mean yogurt?? Or do you mean something else??? I did however send a e-mail to the girl I took Talia from and started asking question about her history....Found out that the only thing she was feeding her was treats...yes that is right treats...empty calories....she told me that Talia never come out from underneath the couch but maybe every other day...Just can't imagine what kind of life that was for her.

Yogurt has acidophilus, which is a probiotic. This means the bacteria in the yogurt will help re-establish good bacteria in the digestive. Yogurt would be a good thing to feed after Talia is done with oral antibiotics, which I'm assuming she is getting for the URI.

Digestive enzymes are molecules which will 'dissolve' certain foods. For example, papayese is an enzyme from papayas which will help break down protein. My recommendation is to go to a local healthfood store or online and buy mixed digestive enzymes. A mix will contain different enzymes to break down protein, carbohydrate, and oils. (One enzyme, one type of food.)

Unfortunately, I can imagine someone feeding her only treats. (I'm getting too cynical these days.) You might want to ask this lady what kind of treats. The reason is if Talia ever stops eating, you can crush some of her favorite treats on the food as a bribe.

Given that she was on such a poor diet, you might want to supplement her food with a cat vitamin. She has to be very malnourished and extra vitamins for a few weeks won't hurt. (I suppose I couldn't talk you into raw food? )

And yes, I can imagine a cat living under a sofa. I don't know for sure, but I would bet my Isabel lived under a bed for 1-2 years and only came out at night. This probably had to do with a toddler in the house. I just don't understand why people get these cats in the first place.

Since you asked for Maggie's story, that reminded me. You said Talia had an eye infection. This may or may not be caused my herpes. If the eye medication you have has a steroid in it, you might want to ask your vet about a different eye medication without steriod. Steriods will 'encourage' the herpes to create ulcers which can lead to serious eye problems.

Most cats (80%) have been exposed to herpes and it's no problem. When a cat like Maggie or Talia gets so malnourished, the herpes can pop up somewhere, and the eyes are a favorite place. Unfortunately, even antivirals won't wipe herpes (beside they are terribly expensive). The best that can be done is keep the virus in check with L-lysine (500mg twice a day) while building up the immune system.

(That was a subtle hint -- if you or your vet thinks herpes is a possibility, then get Talia on the L-lysine right away. It's cheap, easily found in even grocery stores, and most cats tolerate well. One of us is paranoid now about eye problems! )

I have seen many posts about feeding raw diet...have not done much research into it....do you really feel that strong about it? I will go to the health food store tomorrow and get her what she needs....and about a vitamin supplement, would I get that from my vet or a pet store? Or is there somewhere else that I should go to look for it....

Yes, I feel very strongly about raw food, but I also know it's not for everyone or every cat. On the other hand, I've fed it for over 15 years and can say the results are well worth the effort and expense. (Since you are not having to force-feed Talia, it probably would be better not to switch her over to raw now, unless she readily eats it. Being so light, she can't afford losing weight while she avoids a new food.)

The vitamin tablets could come from a health food store, a pet store, or a vet. The pet store is where I'd start, then the health food store. Remember, the vitamin is to supplement the food which should already have enough vitamins in it for normal cats. Talia has extra needs, but she doesn't need to get all her vitamins from a pill as she's getting some from her food.

the eye medicine is called neo-poly-bac hydro....is that one OK? Before I took her to the vet she had brown leakage from the eye...and I could not keep it clean....now she has no leakage...but does have some staining from everything....I still wipe her eyes once a day...but they are still stained.

NeoPolyBac is fine -- no steroids, only antibiotics.

A lot of Persians have malformed tear ducts so the tears flow down the face. There's a yeast that lives in the tear-moistened hairs which turn the tears reddish-brown and makes it look like brown tears. There's a product called EyeEnvy which helps with the staining in the fur, but not the excess tears to begin with.

I picked something up at Petsmart for the staining of her eyes. After I got home and started reading the instructions they scared me a little. It has a whitner in it and said to keep it away from the eye. Which tell me that it is like a bleach. I have not used it on her. I have been using a saline solution. It does not take the stain away but it does clean around the eyes. I will go online and order some eye-envy for her. Thank you so much for all of your help. You do not know what a blessing everybody here has been for me.

EyeEnvy is safe and works nicely as long as you use it. (It does nothing to remove stain if you buy it and then let it sit on the counter. I can testify to that. ) Be sure to order the starter kit for cats -- it has liquid EyeEnvy that needs refrigeration, cotton pads, and a powder. Then buy refills as needed because it won't all run out at once!

I'm glad I can help. My kitties have taught me a lot and I feel obligated to pass on some of what I've learned. Besides, you have opened your heart to a poor girl that needs extra love. How could I not help?

BTW, Isabel, the silver Persian in my signature, is a rescue similar to Talia. She was thin (5lbs), lived under our bed for a month, terribly matted, and had pneumonia. I've had her for 6 months and now she's fluffy, 10lbs, and plays like a maniac. She still needs to work on being social, but she now seeks out pets, so that's a huge improvement.