To calibrate or compare: Go in your pantry and find an unopen bag of something like a 5lb of pinto beans, or 5 lb of flour or 1.5 lb of sugar.
When Merlin was first dx he was 8.8 lbs. He is a large cat and his before weight was 12 lbs. He lost weight fast and was skin and bones by the time we saw him (my daughter and I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail and was gone for six months). It basically took me a year to get Merlin somewhat looking and feeling better. To be quite honest, I am surprised that he lived. For the first year, he would get sick, vomit, get constipated, wouldn't eat and soon after diabetic dx, we also found out that he is Stage 3 kidney disease. It was a really rough year. He would bounce, bounce and did some more bouncing that sometimes would last for days.
So here are some of the things that I tried:
* Pepcid AC - 1/4 tablet in am and 1/4 tablet in pm. This helped a lot. Sometimes when he wouldn't eat, I would syringe his Pepcid AC and then wait about 30 minutes before I would try food again. Sometimes, I would use this daily even though he was eating.
* Coconut Oil (Cold Pressed, Organic) - Sometimes I would put this on his food and other times, I would have him lick it off a spoon. For some reason, my dogs and cats love the taste of coconut oil. When I go to the pantry, and they hear me open the can, they all come a running. I don't think it has any carbs and it helps with allergies, itching, etc.
* Organic Chicken/Beef either Broth, Granules or Bouillon Cubes - You need to make sure that there is not any additives or sweetener. I would make a little au jus and let him drink it (when I was desperate) otherwise, I would put it over his food. With the bouillon cubes or granules, you can make it stronger. I would freeze the broth and put it in a bowl for in between meal snacks.
* Add Pure bites, Bonita Flakes, Parmesan Cheese over food. For some reason this did not work as well but I always went back to try it. I bought the Pure Bites at Petsmart. Because my other cats love it, I go to the dog section and by the bigger pack. It is much cheaper than the little kitty packet, but you have to break it down to little pieces.
* Medium Carb Food - It seems that the higher the carb, the tastier it is. Again, in desperate events, I would mix the medium carb food with the lower carb food. By medium, the carb percentage was 8-17%. That seems to work pretty good and it only affected the BG for a day or two. I would rather get him to eat and deal with the BG numbers.
* Miralax - Sometimes, his constipation led him to not want to eat. So as long as he was not completely blocked, I would give him Miralax. At first, I gave him daily (1/4 tsp BID).
* Salmon - I am a vegetarian so this always hurts to go shopping for this, but I go to the Natural grocery store and buy organic (no dye or additives), wild salmon. I would dehydrate and sometimes cook it and sprinkle on his food. One of my cats don't like tuna much but they love the salmon.
* Exercise - About 15-30 minutes before feeding time, I would get the old fuzzy thing on a stick and would have him chase it or something. Even if the other cats join in and Merlin would watch, he still is getting into it.
* Puree Meat - Merlin doesn't like shredded chicken whether I boil it for him or if it is in one of those Tiki cans. So I would puree the chicken or any meat or fish. I think it is because he only has one fang so he seems to like the soupy stuff better.
Merlin never gained all his weight back but he is now at 10.4 lbs. For the first 1 1/2 years, I fed him almost every 2-3 hours or whenever he wanted. I figured that as long as he is hungry, I would feed and hopefully, he would gain the weight. Now, we go about every 3 hours and typically he usually only wants 2 tablespoons (sometimes 3) per feeding.
Hopefully there is something new here that may help.
