Thank you for your comments, Andrea.  We will probably go ahead with
that and supplement little Glorio a bit more and take it from there.
My next question, however, is a bit more complicated:

We both agreed (vet & I) that Luthien very likely was hyperthyroid for
some time given the fact that she had lost at least three pounds from
her recovery weight (she went through a terrible trauma when Zildjian
died two years ago as she discovered the dead body before anyone and
was so freaked out she ran away for five weeks, and came back home to
pretty much die, having lost five pounds....it was kitty intensive care
around here and took a good few months to get her back up from 7lbs to
about 9lbs which I call her recovery weight, she had been 12 lbs before
that)....at any rate, when she presented to the vet two weeks ago she
was down to 6.5 lbs, and had a wee kitty heart rate of 240 bpm which
our vet had never seen, and the assumption was that her blood pressure
was probably higher than normal as well.  Anyways, the reason I mention
this is that if the kidneys are exposed to high blood pressure for a
long time, there is a significant risk of renal damage and possibly
even a progression to CRF, even after the hyperthyroidism is treated.
In fact, the drop in blood pressure after treatment can reduce the
perfusion to the kidney on account of the fact that it was so used to
those higher pressures before.....so now...we have to consider the
protein load in her diet.

She is certainly not a candidate for protein restriction, and hopefully
won't become one, but on account of the risk, my big question
is....what do you do with a cachectic cat who desperately needs to make
up bulk and needs large amounts of protein for that since she should be
in an anabolic state by now if her treatment is successful?  Is it safe
to give extra protein to a cat who needs it, but whose kidneys might be
vulnerable?  Of course, we will be discussing this with vet at her one
month check to see if we have made any progress on the thyroid, at
which time we will do kidney labs, but I welcome any input from folks
who might have had similar quandries between skinny cats with renal
problems who need protein.

--tension

So many issues and feeding opinions among vets and nutritionists.  I will be
starting a nutrition segment in school shortly and I anticipate it to be
loaded with controversy.

I agree with Connie that the dry food does not normally help much with
tartar build up, although science diet has one called TD (tartar diet) that
is up for discussion.  But I completely and totally disagree about the
blanket statement that all dry foods are like mcdonalds.  Not all foods are
loaded with by-products, and even the ones that have by-products are not
necessarily as bad as a big mac.  That said, I have not gotten a masters in
nutrition, so what do I know besides what I've been able to study and
observe.  It is a controversial area.

Regarding feeding protocols that are designed to model wild cats, I disagree
with that method for two reasons.  1) The cats who own us are NOT wild.
They have been domesticated for thousands of years.  2) Even if they were,
cats in the wild don't live very long so how can we know that a sporadic
diet is healthy?

How healthy are stray cats compared to pet cats?

In addition, if we are to assume that the wild cat diet is the best way to
go, then we need to acknowledge that the wild cat eats most of its prey,
bones, by-products, and all.  Canned food does not mimic a prey diet.  The
only thing that mimics a prey diet is a prey diet.  But again, the genetic
pool of our genetic cats is far removed from that of the wild cats, anyway,
so the comparison is a little pointless.

On the other hand, I agree with Connie that scheduled feedings can be a very
good idea in a multi-cat household so you know how much everyone is eating,
but I also acknowledge that this isn't the perfect plan in every household
or for every cat.  We need flexibility.  Connies suggestion with the box is
a good one as long as the adult isn't pushy enough to scratch his way in and
as long as the adult is athletic enough to jump up (I have a preference for
the top of the washer).