Am I NOT Feeding Enough Food??

[Margaret and Pearl (GA)]

Hello all,

Pearl is overweight (due to medications and medical conditions other than diabetes). She started her diabetes journey 12/21/20 at 11.8 pounds. In the hospital she got down to about 11. She needs to be 9 pounds.

I have been feeding her Wellness Core Pate Turkey and Duck - only ONE 5.5oz can (215 calories).

Since she is now on a low-carb diet, do I need to increase her calorie consumption?? This thought didn't occur to me until just now. Will she still lose the weight with additional calories? She is ALWAYS hungry, and I don't want to do her more harm than good by only giving her 215 calories daily (she is alert and bright but not a physically active cat).

THANK YOU!!

Margaret and Pearl

Other health conditions: asthma and chronic pneumonias, IBD, chronic pancreatitis, recent episode with focal peritonitis

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Hmmm, I think you can definitely feed Pearl more right now. She's always hungry because while the diabetes isn't regulated, her body can't use all the nutrients in her food.

It's a little tricky to figure out calories when they're overweight and supposed to be "on a diet" but also have this going on. But if it were me I'd feed her some additional snacks during the day while you are working on getting her regulated, and just revisit the amount of food later when she's spending most of her time in normal BG numbers.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

Our first sugar cat was one of nine and when we tried to follow the "rules" about food everyone was unhappy and Nigel was going straight downhill. We went back to free feeding, Nigel got healthy and we stayed that way with our second diabetic.
Those posters at the clinic showing the ideal cat are a myth. Cats were never intended to sleep on your bed all day and then stare out a window. I've found over 40+ years of having cats around me that most cats will reach a certain weight by the age of three and stay there for life. "Most cats" can exclude Pearl because of underlying conditions and at 11 pounds she is 22% over her ideal weight of 9 pounds. If you can keep her happy, within that 20% and feed her good food I'd be happy with that.
This is Kobiashi. We took him sight unseen and he lived ten happy years with us at 28 pounds. You won't find cats like this on a poster at your vet's clinic.
two 12 pound turkeys and 4 pounds of stuffing

 

[Margaret and Pearl (GA)]

Hmmm, I think you can definitely feed Pearl more right now. She's always hungry because while the diabetes isn't regulated, her body can't use all the nutrients in her food.

It's a little tricky to figure out calories when they're overweight and supposed to be "on a diet" but also have this going on. But if it were me I'd feed her some additional snacks during the day while you are working on getting her regulated, and just revisit the amount of food later when she's spending most of her time in normal BG numbers.

THanks for the reminder about not utilizing nutrients well. I will add in some more food to her meals.

 

[Margaret and Pearl (GA)]

Our first sugar cat was one of nine and when we tried to follow the "rules" about food everyone was unhappy and Nigel was going straight downhill. We went back to free feeding, Nigel got healthy and we stayed that way with our second diabetic.
Those posters at the clinic showing the ideal cat are a myth. Cats were never intended to sleep on your bed all day and then stare out a window. I've found over 40+ years of having cats around me that most cats will reach a certain weight by the age of three and stay there for life. "Most cats" can exclude Pearl because of underlying conditions and at 11 pounds she is 22% over her ideal weight of 9 pounds. If you can keep her happy, within that 20% and feed her good food I'd be happy with that.
This is Kobiashi. We took him sight unseen and he lived ten happy years with us at 28 pounds. You won't find cats like this on a poster at your vet's clinic.
View attachment 59142 two 12 pound turkeys and 4 pounds of stuffing

I admit I am confused about free feeding versus giving meals (even small ones). I think Pearl can tell I don't know what I'm doing.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

Is she your only cat? Some cats can adapt to new routines quite easily and do well on pre-set meal times with healthy snacks. Free feeding just means there is always food around but that's not always easy with wet food.
I neglected to mention Nigel was one of nine cats so that was a different matter.

 

[Margaret and Pearl (GA)]

Is she your only cat? Some cats can adapt to new routines quite easily and do well on pre-set meal times with healthy snacks. Free feeding just means there is always food around but that's not always easy with wet food.
I neglected to mention Nigel was one of nine cats so that was a different matter.

Hi, no Pearl is not an only cat. In 2020, she lost both of her companions, she has always had another cat, so she has her patterns of eating as if there were multiple cats in the house. I have since adopted one other cat, but they eat separately. The real issue is that Pearl has had 15 years of eating as a grazer, so doing set meal times has been difficult for us. And also limiting food has been difficult for her, in the past there was always hard food she could snack on in between wet food times.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi;Margaret,
Sheba also used to be a grazer until the diabetic diagnosis. And she was very food motivated and loved her food.
I bought an automatic timed feeder so she could have small snacks during the night when I was asleep. She got used to that quickly and loved her timed feeder. Maybe one of those would help.

 

[Critter Mom]

Hi Margaret,

Would you consider getting a digital baby scale for tracking Pearl's weight? (I'm assuming here that you don't have one because you mentioned her being weighed when in hospital). You can get reasonably priced models on Amazon or eBay. Doesn't need to be anything fancy. Here's the one I have:

Basic Digital Baby Scale

It might take away a lot of the guesswork and worry. You'd simply need to weigh Pearl to start off, keep a little food diary of what she eats each day (including calorie content), then recheck her weight every 3-4 days.

* If her weight goes up then feed a little less for the next 3-4 days.

* If her weight goes down, as long as the weight loss is gradual - 1-2% per week - keep feeding the same amount for the next 3-4 days.

* If her weight drops too much (>2% in a week - see link below for more info) then you'd increase the amount fed for the next 3-4 days. (Serious liver problems may arise if a cat drops weight too fast.)

* If her weight remains the same, you'd have the option to slightly reduce the amount fed for the next 3-4 days with a view to helping Pearl towards her weight goal.

Rinse 'n' repeat till Pearl reaches her target weight.

Once Pearl maintains a stable target weight for a few weeks you should then be able to shift to weekly weight checks thereafter. If weight goes up a little, feed slightly less for the next few days; if weight decreases a little, feed slightly more.)

I very much recommend reading the page on feline weight management at catinfo.org on how to implement a gradual and safe kitty weight loss programme.

Also, it helps to monitor progress against a body condition chart.


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