Cat losing appetite

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panda28

panda28

Member Since 2017
Hi there, Jacqui and Dave here.
Everything's been going pretty well, and he's nearly transitioned to his new food, but for whatever reason he seems to be eating less and less. I've been testing him for ketones daily, and only got negatives. For the first few weeks he's been so hungry, and this is pretty out of character for him. He's leaving about half of the 70g he gets four times a day, and doesn't seem particularly interested in coming back to it. He also doesn't seem as hungry between meals.
When he was first diagnosed, he had ketones present, and it's making worried that he has them and they're not showing up on the test. He doesn't seem out of character in any other way - if anything, he seems happier than he's been for the past few weeks. At the moment, I've been coaxing him to finish, but I'm worried he'll throw up and then I'll be in real trouble. The food he's transitioning to is much higher in calories, so maybe that's it?

What should I do here? Reduce the amount he's getting fed? Or does he need to go to the vet to get a ketone test?
 
The new food is 1,349 kcal a kg. The calorie amount isn't on the pouches or the website of his old food, but I'll keep looking. All it says is that is 'moderate calorie', whatever that means.

I should have mentioned, he gets 50g of the new food, and 25g of the old food each meal.

Okay, if it's any help it says that for a 6kg cat to maintain weight they should be fed 465g a day of the Royal Canin (presumably if that's the only food they're getting).
 
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Ok, I found 1 post that said 20 calories per pound to maintain weight.
I can't find that other one.

I looks like you know what he should get - adjusted for his ideal weight. I know there was days with Jones that he wasn't always hungry, especially when in higher numbers.

Are you using any toppers to help entice? Crumbles of freeze dried treats, bonita flakes, Parmesan cheese...
 
Going by that then it does look like I'm giving him too much. I'll try weaning him down a couple of grams a day. I haven't been using any treats, because he's normally a massive greedy-guts who'll eat anything put in front of him. I'll try to get some in case he starts getting sick of the same type of food.
 
panda28 said:
Going by that then it does look like I'm giving him too much. I'll try weaning him down a couple of grams a day. I haven't been using any treats, because he's normally a massive greedy-guts who'll eat anything put in front of him. I'll try to get some in case he starts getting sick of the same type of food.
Click to expand...

LOL, I have one of those too - my fat Momma cat. She is a whopping 6.96Kg - should be 4.4Kgs. Working on a weight loss program for her. I have two I need to thin down and two that I fight to keep the weight on.
 
Tracey&Jones said:
I am trying to find the equation....it has ideal weight X certain # of calories and +70 =...
I will find it!
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It's [13.5 x ideal weight in pounds] + 70

That's just a starting point though.....weigh once a week....if he needs to gain, add more calories....if he needs to lose, reduce how much he's getting.

He's probably just not as hungry because he's able to use his food now that he's on insulin.....when they don't have enough insulin, they are literally starving to death....no matter how much they eat, the glucose can't get into the cells.

Think of insulin like it's a "key" and on every cell in the body there's a "lock".....without the right number of keys, the glucose from the food they eat can't get into all the cells to nourish them.....it just stays in the bloodstream (and you get high blood glucose numbers)
 
Chris & China said:
It's [13.5 x ideal weight in pounds] + 70

That's just a starting point though.....weigh once a week....if he needs to gain, add more calories....if he needs to lose, reduce how much he's getting.

He's probably just not as hungry because he's able to use his food now that he's on insulin.....when they don't have enough insulin, they are literally starving to death....no matter how much they eat, the glucose can't get into the cells.

Think of insulin like it's a "key" and on every cell in the body there's a "lock".....without the right number of keys, the glucose from the food they eat can't get into all the cells to nourish them.....it just stays in the bloodstream (and you get high blood glucose numbers)
Click to expand...


Probably a silly question, but how do I know what his ideal weight should be? I'm glad it just sounds like he needs less food, not that he's sick.
 
Chris & China said:
That's a good question for your vet

Where would you say he falls on this Body Condition Chart?
Click to expand...

I would say that he is either a 5 or 6, probably closer to 6. He's having his dinner tonight and is really eating it. I'm wondering if he wasn't liking how I was mashing it up.

Edit: Scratch that, he ate only half of the 60g I gave him.
 
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