15 year old can’t gain weight

[Cdnlady1977]

We have 4 cats and two of them are 15-1/2. Achilles (she is a girl) was diagnosed with diabetes last summer 2017. Her numbers were in the 500s. We originally had her on novolin which she only slightly improved on. I researched and discovered that pro zinc might be a better option so we switched. I do bg testing with an alpha track that shows better improvement and her number this morning was 384. Two weekends ago, she was peeing blood but with an antibiotic she is doing better. She is ravenous and drinks a lot and can’t seem to gain weight. She was 16 lbs when this started and now she is down to 6.6 lbs. We are giving her subcutaneous fluids twice a week. She is still running around but over the last couple of days she is getting a little wobbly and her meow has become deeper. Please help! We have taken her off dry food, but now her phosphorus levels are too high. The vet thinks she is in renal failure too. We just aren’t sure what to do and we don’t want to lose her.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

This won't be much help but it might help other members who see this. Just to make sure it's not a typo, she has gone from 16 pounds to 6.6 pounds? That is 59% of her original weight. Was she overweight to begin with? Is she still social with the other cats or hiding in a closet? What does she do with her food, look away, nibble a bit, is she a private eater? Has she vomited anything?
Have you tried syringe feeding? It can be hard emotionally especially when you see what's involved, avoid the words "force feeding" at all costs, it just makes everything worse. Cats are terrible patients that cannot talk and tell you where it hurts and unlike dogs will sometimes stop eating when even mildly sick. Don't let her hide under the bed or somewhere you can't get to her, I've had a lot of experience with this behavior.
That's all I've got for now. Keep your spirits up, help is on the way.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Hello and welcome to you, Achilles and your 3 civvies. Sounds like you have been having quite the time with Achilles and that weight loss is indeed substantial. It can be difficult to regulate a diabetic cat when there are other health issues at play. We can help you not only with the diabetes but many other things feline. This being the "welcome mat" so to speak, there isn't a lot of traffic and we try not to deal with specific medical questions here to ensure the information you get is peer reviewed. If you could copy your intro above and re-post on the Health Forum HERE, you will get a lot more eyes on your dilemma and we can offer you more specific ideas/suggestions to help you help Achilles.

 

[Sharon14]

Welcome, sorry Achilles is having such problems. Have you had any bloodwork Run? You may ask the vet about upping the subq’s to everyday. Also you should find a low carb, low phos food. We can help you with all that. Please come to the Main Health Forum and post. Include possible CKD in the title so you’ll get more people with experience in that matter.