? 11/16 Chispa, 291 AMPS, weight gain food question

Karen and Chispa (GA)

Karen and Chispa (GA)

Member Since 2022
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...216-amps-175-3-5-119-5-5.295572/#post-3219281

Good morning! Just getting back to the routine after a work trip, which Chispa did NOT approve of and let me know by HOWLING every hour on the hour throughout the night I returned.:arghh: She is a little thing, but boy can she howl! I started thinking I should record her and sell it to a company that makes smoke detectors, because no one would be able to sleep through such a racket. Luckily she was fine and all was forgiven by the next morning.

Here's my question: Can anyone recommend a food or supplement to help with weight gain? Her appetite is pretty good, but she's been slowly dropping weight throughout this year, since cutting her prednisolone dose in half. She is a free-feeder, so it's not a question of portion size. Also, she gets 1 ondansetron every 6-8 hours for four days after chlorambucil doses and 1/2 an ondansetron every morning between doses, so nausea shouldn't be an issue (and the weight loss began months before we started chlorambucil).

Thanks for any suggestions, and happy weekend to all! :bighug::coffee::cat:

(p.s. note the tootsies)

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Morning Karen, boy Chispa was really PO at you . I'm glad she forgave you . That's too funny about using her howling as a smoke alarm. I hope someone comes along with some advice about the food . Love her little tootsies . Have a nice day Karen :bighug::bighug::bighug::cat:
 
I love your photo, cute little feet :bighug: the howling made me laugh, sorry!
I don't have an answer for your question, other than trying to replace some of her food by something with more calories? I hope somebody will have a good idea for you.
 
I don't have specific food suggestions (hopefully Wendy will stop by at some point), but like Cecile suggested, you want food that is higher in calories (so higher fat%). Or could you just feed her more of her existing food?

:kiss::kiss::kiss: to Chispa
 
Please please please smoosh that toosh for me :kiss::kiss::kiss:.

How much weight has she lost? Is she at her ideal weight or a little lower than you'd like? Approximately how many calories does she consume in a day?
 
Karen and Chispa said:
Can anyone recommend a food or supplement to help with weight gain? Her appetite is pretty good, but she's been slowly dropping weight throughout this year, since cutting her prednisolone dose in half.
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If she's getting the amount of calories she should, changing food/adding supplements may not be the answer to weight loss. Several people gave good ideas above on food.

She started on chlorambucil 5/22 and decreased her pred on 5/23 to 2.5 mg and on 7/11 to 1.25 mg, at which point weight was pretty steady. Though I see that on 8/13 she had chunked up a bit.:) On 9/16 you went to 1.25 mg EOD. And went back to every day back on 9/20. This is when weight loss started. Want to make sure I have the history correct.

1.25 mg is a very small dose of pred for a cat her size. The pred reductions were taken much sooner than normal with SCL. Typically pred is kept up at a higher dose until remission is obvious, maybe about 6 months, which you are closing in on now. Except you are still getting the occasional vomits, so I'd say you aren't there yet. Or you have the added joy of an IBD+SCL kitty. Was that a possibility from the original pathologist listing? Though I see "presumed SCL" so maybe no pathology report? Means you don't know for sure what you are dealing with. If also IBD, more attention need to be paid to diet. Is she getting a good probiotic like Visbiome and some psyllium husk fiber regularly?

I have an originally just under 8lb SCL+IBD kitty, now just over 9lb. :) I tried tapering the pred very slowly from her original 4 mg. It was a fail, went back to 4 mg, and trying 3 again now after a year of alternating 4/3. By fail I mean GI symptoms returned and weight loss.

Other possibilities, I think I asked before but can't remember the answer, have her B12 levels been tested? Many SCL kitties are low in B12 which can reduce food absorption.
 
Bandit's Mom said:
I don't have specific food suggestions (hopefully Wendy will stop by at some point), but like Cecile suggested, you want food that is higher in calories (so higher fat%). Or could you just feed her more of her existing food?

:kiss::kiss::kiss: to Chispa
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Thanks, Bhooma! The buffet is open pretty much around the clock, so I do think it's a matter of calorie content (vs. food quantity). Higher fat is good to know -- I'd been thinking protein, but fat makes sense. :kiss::kiss::kiss: back to you from Chispa!
 
Angela & Cleo said:
Please please please smoosh that toosh for me :kiss::kiss::kiss:.

How much weight has she lost? Is she at her ideal weight or a little lower than you'd like? Approximately how many calories does she consume in a day?
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Hi Angela! She started the year at 13.2 lbs and was down to just under 11 lbs as of a month ago. She's been a 12-lb. cat for most of her life, so that's what I'd like to get her back to., though it seems possible or likely that the lighter weight is helping with her mobility.

The toosh has been smooshed, and Chispa says thank you. She is always up for a good smooshing! :kiss::kiss::kiss:
 
Wow, I can't believe she howls at you when you get back! I've heard of cats doing that when the owner is away but not back :nailbiting:. Spicy Chispa! Sorry, I don't have great food advice, but I hope she gets back to her normal baseline weight soon!
 
Wendy&Neko said:
If she's getting the amount of calories she should, changing food/adding supplements may not be the answer to weight loss. Several people gave good ideas above on food.

She started on chlorambucil 5/22 and decreased her pred on 5/23 to 2.5 mg and on 7/11 to 1.25 mg, at which point weight was pretty steady. Though I see that on 8/13 she had chunked up a bit.:) On 9/16 you went to 1.25 mg EOD. And went back to every day back on 9/20. This is when weight loss started. Want to make sure I have the history correct.
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Hi Wendy -- You're correct that we've tried a few experiments with cutting the pred dose and substituting budesonide, most of which have failed until now. She takes the pred (1.25 mg SID) in a pill pocket, but it's half the dose we started with in 01/24. Meanwhile, her weight has gone from over 13 lbs. in January to just under 11 now.

1.25 mg is a very small dose of pred for a cat her size. The pred reductions were taken much sooner than normal with SCL. Typically pred is kept up at a higher dose until remission is obvious, maybe about 6 months, which you are closing in on now. Except you are still getting the occasional vomits, so I'd say you aren't there yet. Or you have the added joy of an IBD+SCL kitty. Was that a possibility from the original pathologist listing? Though I see "presumed SCL" so maybe no pathology report? Means you don't know for sure what you are dealing with. If also IBD, more attention need to be paid to diet. Is she getting a good probiotic like Visbiome and some psyllium husk fiber regularly?
Click to expand...
You're also correct that we never did a biopsy, so I'd been assuming IBD for a couple of years and we were trying to address it through diet. The 2-3x/week vomiting started about a year ago, and after a bunch of diet trials, now we are treating it as SCL with chlorambucil. She is not getting a probiotic OR psyllium husk fiber. I can add that to her regimen ...

I have an originally just under 8lb SCL+IBD kitty, now just over 9lb. :) I tried tapering the pred very slowly from her original 4 mg. It was a fail, went back to 4 mg, and trying 3 again now after a year of alternating 4/3. By fail I mean GI symptoms returned and weight loss.
Other possibilities, I think I asked before but can't remember the answer, have her B12 levels been tested? Many SCL kitties are low in B12 which can reduce food absorption.
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They're insisting on drawing blood for labs every few months to monitor her reaction to chlorambucil -- pretty sure that includes B12, but I can call and ask on Monday.

I am falling asleep sitting up ... will reread in the morning and add more information if I've left anything out.

Many thanks! :cat::bighug:
 
bluesunshine said:
Wow, I can't believe she howls at you when you get back! I've heard of cats doing that when the owner is away but not back :nailbiting:. Spicy Chispa! Sorry, I don't have great food advice, but I hope she gets back to her normal baseline weight soon!
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Thanks, Seth! She's happy to see me, but she has to let me know that I was AWOL!:rolleyes:
 
If she's been already had her B12 tested, you don't need to retest it.

Regarding the pred dose, it may mean you have to go up in dose a bit if nothing else here works.
 
Seems she wants to make sure you know how badly she missed you! Hope you two snuggle a lot today!

Binie is also free feeding and even though Binie is far from being underweight, we have days I want her to eat more because she didn't eat much before shot time. Binie is always more motivated if she doesn't have to get up to go to her bowl but I feed her. The extra attention and getting spoiled seems to make the difference. Good luck! :bighug::cat::bighug:
 
Wendy&Neko said:
If she's been already had her B12 tested, you don't need to retest it.
Regarding the pred dose, it may mean you have to go up in dose a bit if nothing else here works.
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@Wendy&Neko This vet (internist) has been ALL about getting her off of pred entirely, though after all the experimentation, he seems to have accepted that 1.25 mg SID is the lowest she's likely to go. Her previous vet in DC had far fewer qualms about pred long-term at a low dose, but this one has said repeatedly that more pred is "not a solution."
I wonder if the vomiting would stop if we went back up to 2.5 mg SID?
I will try a higher calorie food solution first.

ETA: I just looked at Visbiome online, and holy mackerel ... that's some expensive stuff. Is there another brand you'd recommend that's more affordable?
 
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Heike & BInie said:
Seems she wants to make sure you know how badly she missed you! Hope you two snuggle a lot today!

Binie is also free feeding and even though Binie is far from being underweight, we have days I want her to eat more because she didn't eat much before shot time. Binie is always more motivated if she doesn't have to get up to go to her bowl but I feed her. The extra attention and getting spoiled seems to make the difference. Good luck! :bighug::cat::bighug:
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@Heike & BInie , I got up and put the bowl under Chispa's nose when I read this, and what do you know -- she at half of the breakfast she'd been ignoring. Thank you! :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
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