Dandruff Issue & Diet Question

[Lisa & Nacho]

Hi!

My Kitty seems to have a lot of dandruff lately in his skin - I brush him and it seems like it is never ending... is that a side effect of diabetes? or maybe a different issue? Has anyone dealt with this?

He is a 100% indoor kitty... seems like the last month or two he has had the dandruff. Any home remedies for this?

Diet Question: I switched Nacho from Purina Indoor Formula (dry food) to Fancy Feast Classics. He has been eating 1 can in the morning and 1 at night - is that too little? He is currently 13.5 lbs.

Should I go to 1.5 cans in the morning and 1 at night? We are at work during the day - so he would get two feedings a day.

I am actually really happy how quickly he took to the FF as he was only eating dry food for the first 5 years of his life!!

Another REALLY positive note ..... Nacho has been on wet food now for about a week consistently and he is back to urinating only 2-3 times per DAY!! I felt like I was scooping much more before he was on the wet food... 6-8 clumps/day I would say. I hope that is a good sign that he is staying more hydrated!!

Thank you!!
Lisa

 

[StephG]

My cat has awful dandruff. Even after switching to only wet food. I do believe it is a side effect of the diabetes. He had a very dull grimey looking coat. He was still very very soft but more like he needed a bath for a while. It has gotten a little better since starting the insulin but it's not gone.

 

[StephG]

Is your cat at a good weight and maintaining that weight? If he's maintaining a healthy weight you might be ok with the two cans a day. If he needs to gain weight you might have to feed more.

 

[Lisa & Nacho]

Is your cat at a good weight and maintaining that weight? If he's maintaining a healthy weight you might be ok with the two cans a day. If he needs to gain weight you might have to feed more.

I am not sure what is a good weight for him yet, he was around 17 lbs - and I brought him to the vet because he lost a few lbs. he is now holding between 13.2 and 13.8 when I checked. I am not sure if he should gain more back or not - new at this thanks!!

 

[StephG]

My boy was healthy at 13 pounds. He was 10 when diagnosed then got down to 9. He's back up to 10.4 after almost 4 months on insulin. He gets 4.5 oz every feeding and was getting an ounce of chicken in each cycle as snacks but due to him not being regulated and a bouncy kitty I stopped the snacks and he's holding steady at 10.4 but still needs to be around 12. There are pictures of the body condition scale and chuck was the worst. He was skin and bones. (I feel so awful about it) http://www.wsava.org/sites/default/files/Body condition score chart cats.pdf
That is the link to the body condition scale.

 

[JanetNJ]

My cats fur was a disaster when she was diagnosed... Or was one of the reasons I brought her to the vet, and the topic of my first post on this board. Once her bg levels were under control the dandruff totally went away.


Great job getting your kitty of the dry food!!

 

[JanetNJ]

As far as how much food is enough.... When they are still unregulated their bodies news more food.... What you're feeding may be enough but if the numbers are still wacky or you want your cat to gain a bit I'd do 1.5... See if the plate is gone when you get home.

 

[Kris & Teasel]

As we say, ECID, but I can say that Teasel's non-diabetic brother had dandruff. He was a little too heavy to groom well but that's much improved since he's lost almost a kilogram. Also, all kibble was removed from the diet of all of my cats when Teasel was diagnosed almost a year ago and that greatly improved his brother's coat - virtually no dandruff now.

 

[Misterbeesmom]

we have dandruff that comes and goes. I think its a diabetic thing. might be purely from less grooming. my boy doesn't groom regularly like he used to. we've had phases of crazy dandruff, to no dandruff at all.

 

[Lisa & Nacho]

As far as how much food is enough.... When they are still unfurled their bodies news more food.... What you're feeding may be enough but if the numbers are still wacky or you want your cat to gain a bit I'd do 1.5... See if the plate is gone when you get home.

Thank you!

 

[Lisa & Nacho]

My cats fur was a disaster when she was diagnosed... Or was one of the reasons I brought her to the vet, and the topic of my first post on this board. Once her bg levels were under control the dandruff totally went away.


Great job getting your kitty of the dry food!!

Thank you! It was a pretty easy switch of food I was very surprised!

 

[Deb & Wink]

Link to FDMB article on dandruff in diabetic cats. Yes, dandruff can be one of the symptoms of diabetes in cats in combination with other symptoms that might make you think about your cat being diabetic.

Wink had horrible dandruff when his BG levels were unregulated. Huge nickel to quarter size patches, plus his fur was falling out in chunks. Regulation, then BG levels < 100 mg/dl helped. I also think that getting him hydrated better with the wet food plus better quality of the wet vs dry helped a lot to get rid of the dandruff. So many dry cat foods are high in their grain/pea/bean/lentil content and not good nutrition for our cats, being very high in carbs which cats don't need.

Give it time, keep up the brushing as that can help to spread the natural oils in the cats fur.

 

[Critter Mom]

My Kitty seems to have a lot of dandruff lately in his skin - I brush him and it seems like it is never ending... is that a side effect of diabetes?

Poor coat condition and excessive dander are extremely common clinical signs in unregulated diabetics. As Nacho becomes better regulated you should start to observe him grooming and see big improvements in the hair coat. As Deb advises above, a good, species-appropriate low carb, wet cat food will help with this.

While the diabetes is unregulated the body can't utilise nutrients properly so it switches to a 'survival' mode of using food and energy where it is most needed - and the coat is not a top priority. Don't get a shock if Nacho starts heavily shedding fur all over his body; it is most likely that his use of nutrients is better and his old coat is dropping ready for new, healthy fur to replace it.

(Note: if other clinical signs of unregulated diabetes resolve (PU/PD and polyphagia in particular) but after a reasonable time there is no improvement in the hair coat it would be wise to revisit your food choices and also to draw your vet's attention to this in case other endocrine issues may need to be investigated.)


Mogs
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[Lisa & Nacho]

Poor coat condition and excessive dander are extremely common clinical signs in unregulated diabetics. As Nacho becomes better regulated you should start to observe him grooming and see big improvements in the hair coat. As Deb advises above, a good, species-appropriate low carb, wet cat food will help with this.

While the diabetes is unregulated the body can't utilise nutrients properly so it switches to a 'survival' mode of using food and energy where it is most needed - and the coat is not a top priority. Don't get a shock if Nacho starts heavily shedding fur all over his body; it is most likely that his use of nutrients is better and his old coat is dropping ready for new, healthy fur to replace it.

(Note: if other clinical signs of unregulated diabetes resolve (PU/PD and polyphagia in particular) but after a reasonable time there is no improvement in the hair coat it would be wise to revisit your food choices and also to draw your vet's attention to this in case other endocrine issues may need to be investigated.)


Mogs
.

Thank you very much!

I successfully switched him over to Fancy Feast Pate Classics. He loves them!! My vet gave me a prescription food and he won't go near it... but from reading here a lot of pet parents don't even recommend them anyways. He also is not peeing nearly as much - only 2 times/day roughly now.. instead of me scooping 6+ clumps out per day.. I didn't realize how much I was scooping!

He seems like he is starting to get his energy back a bit after a little over a week on the new food! He has a follow up vet appointment at a new vet that a few friends recommended this coming Tuesday evening.

Lets hope for better signs!

 

[Critter Mom]

Great to hear you're already seeing improvements in clinical signs (and forking out less for cat litter! ).

Glad that Nacho likes his new nosh.

My vet gave me a prescription food and he won't go near it...

I've read here that it's possible to get a refund on prescription foods unused in the US. Might be worth investigating if you have some left.


Mogs
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