Cat losing too much weight; need advice

[May]

My cat was diagnosed with diabetes a little over two weeks ago. When he was diagnosed, the vet told me to stop feeding him his usual food, which was Kirkland (Costco) Maintenance Formula dry food. Instead, she instructed me to feed him either dry or canned Purina DM. She also instructed me to stop free feeding him and instead only offer him two meals, one in the am and the other 12 hours later. After getting him home, I tried offering him the canned Purina DM and he wouldn't eat it. I did some reading online about feline diabetes and became very concerned about offering him dry food. I opted not to offer him the Purina DM dry food and instead, I bought Fancy Feast and Friskies pate's. He'll eat these, but he's not eating enough. At his two week check up, the vet was so concerned about his weight loss that she's instructed me to mix 1/4 cup of the Kirkland dry food with his wet food at both his am and pm feedings. I have tried to do this, but he still isn't eating enough at meal time. He never cleans his plate. No matter what I do, he only eats about 2 to 3 tablespoons of food at a time. I've tried sprinkling tuna over the food, I've tried soaking it in tuna juice, I've tried sprinkling it with parmesan cheese and none of these tricks entice him to eat more. However, he has expressed great interest in just eating the dry food without the wet food mixed in. The vet said if that's the only food he'll eat, then at this point I should just give it to him because he needs to eat something. I even asked the vet about feeding him wet food between meals. I've caught him on the counters and tables between meals searching for food - so I'm pretty sure he'd eat some canned food at those times. I told the vet this, but she was adamant that I ONLY feed him twice a day.

I'm frustrated and angry and I don't know what to do. I believe he has diabetes in the first place because of this Kirkland dry food. I guess my specific questions are:

1.) Do I listen to my vet and feed him the Kirkland dry food if it's the only way to get enough calories into him?

-OR-

2.) Do I go against my vets instructions and try feeding him between meals with wet food?

-OR-

3.) Do I try to feed him the Purina DM dry food - which although is still dry food, has got to be better than the Kirkland.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

If I were you, I would give him several meals a day. Fancy Feast or Friskies pates are low carb and cats usually like them. My cat didn't like the texture so I add a little warm water and make it gravy like. Purina wet is okay carb wise but it is liver based and most cats tire of the taste. And it is too expensive with ingredients no better than store food.

Cats who are not regulated don't process food efficiently so feeding more if they are losing weight is wise.

 

[Rescuemamaprays]

I'm new here and I don't know much about diabetes. I do have an unregulated 7 year old who is constantly hungry. I wouldn't deny him of food if he were jumping on counters searching. Follow your gut. You wouldn't deny food to a crying baby because the pediatrician said to only feed every three hours. We've gotta do the same for our cats, just my opinion.

 

[Squalliesmom]

Lots of diabetic kitties do better eating several smaller meals throughout the day than just eating twice a day. If he is hungry and willing to eat the wet food I would go ahead and feed him! Frequently, and really through no fault of their own, vets tend not to have extensive knowledge in feline nutrition.Did your vet say why she wants you to feed him only twice a day?

 

[May]

Lots of diabetic kitties do better eating several smaller meals throughout the day than just eating twice a day. If he is hungry and willing to eat the wet food I would go ahead and feed him! Frequently, and really through no fault of their own, vets tend not to have extensive knowledge in feline nutrition.Did your vet say why she wants you to feed him only twice a day?

I don't recall her giving a reason for the twice per day feeding regimen. I have a follow up appointment this Friday and I'll ask her to clarify.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

What insulin are you using?

Some insulin's it IS important that they eat a "good sized" meal before the shot, but with the newer insulins like Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc, it's actually better for the healing pancreas to have smaller, more frequent meals

 

[May]

I'm new here and I don't know much about diabetes. I do have an unregulated 7 year old who is constantly hungry. I wouldn't deny him of food if he were jumping on counters searching. Follow your gut. You wouldn't deny food to a crying baby because the pediatrician said to only feed every three hours. We've gotta do the same for our cats, just my opinion.

Thanks for your advice. My 'gut' instinct is to let him eat wet food throughout the day and not give him anymore of the Kirkland food.

 

[May]

What insulin are you using?

Some insulin's it IS important that they eat a "good sized" meal before the shot, but with the newer insulins like Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc, it's actually better for the healing pancreas to have smaller, more frequent meals

He's on ProZinc

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

OK...that's a good insulin

Looks like your vet is just stuck in "old school thinking"....back when we didn't have the better insulins for cats, it was very important that they eat big meals before shots because the insulin hit "hard and fast" and needed to have food on board before it "hit" to keep them from crashing too low

With the newer insulins, it's not so important that they have food on board before the shot since they're so much more gentle than the older insulins

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

OK...that's a good insulin

Looks like your vet is just stuck in "old school thinking"....back when we didn't have the better insulins for cats, it was very important that they eat big meals before shots because the insulin hit "hard and fast" and needed to have food on board before it "hit" to keep them from crashing too low

With the newer insulins, it's not so important that they have food on board before the shot since they're so much more gentle than the older insulins

this has been a huge relief for us as Dre is a grazer-

 

[Shenandoah]

Shenandoah wouldn't eat big meals either. When she was first diagnosed I was told to do the two meals/day thing, and she started dropping weight too quickly. Now I generally feed at least 7 times/day, and she almost always has food available -- I've figured out about how much to put down each time such that it lasts her until close to the next serving. She has been maintaining nicely.
Your kitty will tell you what she needs. If you can't be home to feed as often as you'd like, you can use timed feeders and/or freeze food in ice cubes so they will melt later in the day. Adding a bit of water also helps the meal to stay fresh longer so they can nibble later.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

The only stipulation is that you want to pull up the food 2 hours before the am and pm tests to be sure your test is not influenced by food.

We put together a protocol for ProZinc that is in my signature in blue.

 

[Ferndoc]

I agree let him graze. 2 big meals are not necessary with Prozinc.

 

[Cathie and Shaak Ti (GA)]

My cat Shaak was diagnosed in early Feb. We started out on dry prescription diet food,two meals a day. Insulin twice a day, 1 unit to start. Her BG numbers were okay, not great, only below 200 a couple of times though and I was testing frequently. I switched her to Fancy Feast classics chicken feast, two meals a day, insulin 1/2 unit twice a day. Immediately her numbers dropped over 150-200 points. However her numbers were still floating up into the 300's throughout the day. After doing research and talking to people here I decided to begin feeding Shaak several smaller meals a day, less than 1/2 unit twice a day. I even bought an electronic feeder and set it up to feed her four times every twelve hours, at this point she began dropping into the lower 100's and under throughout the day.

She is now OTJ and has been that way for a week now. Her numbers throughout the day without insulin are now in the 60's and 70's. I certainly can't speak for every cat but knowing what I know I would suggest small mini meals throughout the day.

 

[Jeanne & Dottie]

If your kitty is losing weight, you have to get food into them any way and time possible. Syringe feeding is an option if they are stubborn, or using your finger to pop a fingertip full of food into their mouth after gently getting their mouth open with your other hand. Dottie does much better with smaller, more frequent meals, even when OTJ. Her BG readings weren't jumpy. She was on Protamine Zinc insulin.

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

Option 2, for sure! Diabetic cats actually do best on several small meals a day, because it helps reduce the impact of food on their blood sugar levels. Bandit eats small canned meals 4x a day--every 6 hours, and we've had great success with that. Cats have metabolisms that are twice as fast as people or dogs, so they do better with smaller, more frequent meals. You just want to make sure you pull food up about 2 hours before your shots so the food isn't influencing your preshot tests.

Dry food will impede regulation (both your old food AND the dry DM), so if he will eat more canned food throughout the day, that is the much better option.

The twice a day feeding thing is very old school--the old insulins didn't last as long in cats (only about 8 hours), so food was witheld later in the cycle to try and help keep the numbers down once the insulin wore off. This isn't needed with the newer insulins that have longer durations of action.