client's kitty very thin, think he may be diabetic

[Alfred]

Hello!

I have a slightly awkward situation. I am a pet sitter and one of my current client's cat is agonizingly thin. He is a Maine Coon but can't weight more than 6-8 pounds at most. I literally do not know how he is still alive he is so thin.

The owner is away until mid next week and I have spoken with them about the cat's weight and urged them to take him to a vet as soon as they return home, which they seem receptive to.

He has apparently been very thin for quite some time but he eats just fine and apparently always has so it's not for lack of appetite or lack of eating that he is so thin.

He also pees rivers of urine, I'm thinking he might be diabetic. He will leave a pee ball about the size of a flattened cantaloupe in the litter box.

I have talked with the owners and I am working on switching him from his high carb food (2 Whiskas pouches and free fed dry) over to Wellness grain-free turkey, I've also removed the dry food. I got an auto feeder with two compartments so he gets two meals while I'm gone, then I go and feed him once a day for a total of 3 meals a day (~every 8 hours). I am slowly increasing the amount of food because I was worried he'd eat himself to death if I just threw down full tins of food. I tried testing him today but he was not cooperative, I will try to test again tomorrow.

When I went today he had eaten all the food in the auto feeder and he eats the food I put down for him almost immediately.

The owner is receptive to my suggestions, they have been giving him herbal supplements for all kinds of things and some vitamins in his food, so I think it's just a matter of not knowing what is wrong and perhaps not wanting to have to face the fact that the cat is ill.

Other than providing more meals a day and switching to a low carb high protein food, is there anything else you would suggest I do? The cat is active and seeks attention and seems in good spirits despite him being horribly thin. You can literally feel every single vertebra in his spine, his hips jut out, I feel like I'm going to break him when I pet him. I just want to do my best for him. I know he needs to be seen by a vet but I don't think I'm the person to take him in since he is still eating etc I think it's important that the owners are the ones to take him to the vet. Although I will take him in if it's an emergency.

I plan on doing as much education as I can for the owner and letting them know about catinfo.org and this site and hopefully instilling the importance of low carb wet food and the correct insulin (if he is indeed diabetic) to counter any bad advice they may get regarding a prescription food recommendation from the vet when they do take him in.

If there is anything else I should be aware of or could do regarding fattening up an impossibly thin cat please let me know.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

I would continue to try to get a BG
Can you test urine for glucose and more importantly test for ketones?
Could also be problem with kidneys or thyroid
.

 

[BJM]

Appetite up, urine up, weight down could be diabetes or hyperthyroid. Snag some urine test strips for ketones and glucose (ex KetoDiaStix do both). Ketones from fat breakdown for calories are a medical emergency. Glucose in the urine is highly indicative of diabetes. Does the breath smell fruity or like nail polish remover? That can be a sign of 2 of 3 types of ketones.

If appetite were down, I'd be leaning towards renal disease. Does the breath smell like urine.

 

[Alfred]

Thank you so much for the suggestions.

I was able to test him today and it came back 62.

I also tested his urine for ketones and it came back negative. Will the ketone strips work ok on urine that is in the litter box and might not be fresh? The urine I tested was already in the box and since he pees so much it will pool despite it being in the clumping cat litter. I just dipped the test strip in the pool of urine removed it then counted 15 seconds per the strips instructions and it read negative.

I tried to smell his breath, but they have been giving him these liquid herbal supplements so the fur around his mouth smells like those supplements which smell a bit like molasses so I'm not sure I will be able to get an accurate breath smell.

So it's looking like he's not diabetic and there must be some other issue. Since his appetite is still good does that point to a thyroid problem? If so I will have to research that to see what, if anything, I can do until he's able to get to a vet and get the thyroid test done.

 

[BJM]

Could be thyroid or early cancer, too. If he'll let you, give him a nice thorough kitty massage, especially around the abdomen to feel for lumps. If the feces are normal, that reduces the chances of GI malignancies. Check the skin color and eye whites for yellowing (jaundice), though usually the cat is acting sich when that shows up.