? Diet Questions - Hungry 13 yr old Male, 10.2 pounds, 2 cans of Fancy Feast a day

[SticklerX]

My 13 yr old Leon was diagnosed in April.
We've been diligent about testing and recording his BG, and have been doing a pretty good managing his diabetes.

That said, we've noticed he's becoming quite skinny, bony.
He's dropped from 10.75# (vet scale) to 10.1# (bathroom scale), but it honestly looks like more - which could be due to scale differences.

Currently he eats a 3oz can of fancy feast original in the morning, and another at night - which was (and still is) a hard transition, as he used to free feed dry food, and have a 1/2 6oz) can of food for dinner.

He seems always hungry, sitting by his food bowl all day - I think he misses free feeding.

I'd love to incorporate dry food into his diet, but the Wellness Core Grain Free I tried definitely spikes his BG.

Any suggestions on if you think he needs more food, integrating some other dry food, or maybe a mid day snack?

I hate watching him waste away. :-(

 

[Tanya and Ducia]

Good morning,
FF cans are awfully low in calories - about 90 Kcal per 2.8 oz can.
There is formulae to calculate the ideal weight and to feed to maintain it. My cat gained a lot very quickly on 250 Kcal/ 24 h. and maintained it for long on 170 - 180 Kcal.
If you want to gain some weight for Leon - double the caloric intake x 2 - feed 3 -4 or more if he is willing and keep recordof foods eaten and pounds change.

I'd love to incorporate dry food into his diet,

Please let the dry food of any sort be your very, very last resort.

 

[SpotsMom]

I think the scale is the best judge of whether kitty is eating enough or not. If he's losing weight he can eat more. A diabetic cat's body doesn't use food the same way as a healthy cat, so he will almost definitely need more than what the can recommends, at least until his diabetes is regulated. The general advice around here seems to be allow your kitty to eat as much low carb wet food as they like throughout the day (free feeding is encouraged!) - just pick up the food 2 hours before the pre-shot tests.

My kitty is eating 5-6 3oz cans a day right now to try to gain back some of what he lost when he was sick (and he's still not gaining as well as I'd like!).

 

[FurBabiesMama]

I would feed him more. I feed my girls 4 times a day rather than 2. The AAHA guidelines (link in my signature) refer to splitting food up into several small meals, using an automatic feeder, if needed. They also say free-feeding is okay if your cat is underweight. You can leave food available to him all the time except for the two hours prior to your pre-shot insulin test.

If you give him more food, and he continues to lose weight while on insulin, I would suspect that either his glucose is not well managed enough (staying too high too long) or he could have hyperthyroidism.

 

[SticklerX]

Thanks all for the replies - I think I'll ramp up his meals.
Part of the problem is he will eat too fast; throwing everything up if he eats a full can - so maybe a couple meals with split cans, totaling 3 or 4 cans a day.

 

[Tanya and Ducia]

Part of the problem is he will eat too fast; throwing everything up if he eats a full can - so maybe a couple meals with split cans, totaling 3 or 4 cans a day

some people on the Forum swear by auto feeder, I don't own one but I believe PetSafe - 5 or something sounding like that is number one choice for many. You program it to turn/open at a certain time to release a portion.

ETA: it is OK to leave food out in the feeder for a while unless it is 90 degree heat in your place. Add some water or freeze the portion of wet food to keep it moist/ fresh thru long hours.

 

[Dusty Bones]

I leave my two cats a can of FF each when I leave for work and this is after they ate half a can each for breakfast. When I get home I feed them half a can each and then for dinner another half a can each and overnight I leave them each a can. It doesn't go bad during the day or overnight. They self regulate and only eat as much as they need but this allows them to graze overnight and during the day.