How To Feed Diabetic Anorexic cats?

[MissBehave]

Hello there. Thanks in advance for the support and overwhelming amount of info on this forum. I am brandy new at this diabetic care situation-as in 2 days new.
I almost lost my cat Oliver this past week as he went into DKA but fortunately he made it through. He now weighs 8.1lbs and is eating again and stabilized. He’s on 1.5 units of Lantas insulin 2x a day. The hospital suggested feeding him two meals a day but how is he supposed to gain weight back in this emaciated state? He wants to eat more frequently and he eats small amounts at a time- 1/4 cup per meal. I feed him a mixture of frozen raw chicken from Stella and chewy combined with a little canned food from Halo turkey and duck. For the last two meals I’ve added 1/8 teaspoon of refined organic coconut oil to add a little healthy fat since he’s eating straight protein. Not sure if anyone has ever done that. He also grazes on Young Again Zero dry food throughout the night. It has no carbs. Just straight protein specifically created for diabetic kitties.

I’m sure there are others who have been in my situation so any suggestions on how to healthily and safely help my Oliver gain weight and what feeding schedules I should follow would be much appreciated.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Welcome . I'm glad Oliver made it through, he sure is a cutie
I will tag a few members for you with more expensive when it comes to DKA
One thing I do know is that you should be feeding Oliver more than 2 times a day

While waiting can you please click on this link and give us some information about Oliver


Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help

If you need help setting up your spreadsheet just ask we have a member that would be glad to do this for you


@Bron and Sheba (GA)

@Bandit's Mom

@Wendy&Neko

@Sienne and Gabby (GA)

@Marje and Gracie

Thank you ladies

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

@Marje and Gracie just in case you didn't get the tag since I saw you were on

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Hello there. Thanks in advance for the support and overwhelming amount of info on this forum. I am brandy new at this diabetic care situation-as in 2 days new.
I almost lost my cat Oliver this past week as he went into DKA but fortunately he made it through. He now weighs 8.1lbs and is eating again and stabilized. He’s on 1.5 units of Lantas insulin 2x a day. The hospital suggested feeding him two meals a day but how is he supposed to gain weight back in this emaciated state? He wants to eat more frequently and he eats small amounts at a time- 1/4 cup per meal. I feed him a mixture of frozen raw chicken from Stella and chewy combined with a little canned food from Halo turkey and duck. For the last two meals I’ve added 1/8 teaspoon of refined organic coconut oil to add a little healthy fat since he’s eating straight protein. Not sure if anyone has ever done that. He also grazes on Young Again Zero dry food throughout the night. It has no carbs. Just straight protein specifically created for diabetic kitties.

I’m sure there are others who have been in my situation so any suggestions on how to healthily and safely help my Oliver gain weight and what feeding schedules I should follow would be much appreciated.

I would ditch the coconut oil. There’s no good data that coconut oil is ok for cats.

With a cat coming off of DKA, you want calories calories calories. It doesn’t matter if the carbs are higher….it’s the calories you need. You can always increase the insulin if the BG rises. But in giving calories, I’d try to go for something like Royal Canin Recovery or Hill’s Prescription Diet a/d. I would not rely on dry food (btw Young Again is not a food for FD cats ).

You say he’s eating so he’s not anorexic. But, if he becomes truly anoexic, you should talk to your vet about a nasogastric feeding tube to get enough calories in him. You don’t want to be dealing with fatty liver disease which is caused by a large reduction in calories. Cats do well with NG tubes and it’s the best way to get them eating again if they are anorexic.

I hope your little guy starts to feel better soon.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I am sorry your little fellow has been ill.
I would be feeding him small snacks every couple of hours as well as the preshot meals. He needs lots of food to combat the ketones.
You also need to be testing daily for ketones on the urine since he has just had DKA.
You will need a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy to test for the ketones. Follow the directions on the side of the bottle. Report any ketones.
I’m going to ask @Bandit's Mom if she can help you set up a spreadsheet as insulin is also very important in combating the ketones. So we don’t want you skipping any doses of insulin if you can help it.
If you can hometest the blood glucose that will help us see how Olive is managing the dose of insulin. And if it is enough or too much.
Here is a link to o HOMETESTING AND HINTS
You can buy a human meter from Walmart for $9 …..it is called the ReliOn Premier and you can get 100 test strips for $17.88. You will also need a box of 26 or 28 gauge lancets to prick the ear and some cotton rounds to hold behind the ear as you prick it. The human meter is much cheaper to run than the pet meter and is just ass good.

I would also put a teaspoon of warm water in each snack you give Oliver to get some extra fluids into him.
Keep posting and asking questions and if you post daily we can help you get Oliver through this.
The first few weeks home after DKA will be busy for you but we are here to support you.