Feeding help?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kdd921

Kdd921

Member Since 2012
I have an appt with a new vet on Saturday since the vet i have now seems to be giving me opposite information from what im reading on this site. Until then, i need advice on how much food i should be giving my cat, since before all of this i have been free feeding her. She seems to be getting thinner i can feel her getting more boney, but her sugar levels are not high.
I feed her fancy feast the small cans, how many cans should she get a day? She weights 15 lbs. Thanks!
 
Feed her more if she'll eat it. At 15 lbs, I'm betting a 5.5-6 oz can per meal may be a minimum.

To up the calories per ounce, select a low carb kitten food or a higher fat adult food.

Cat Info has more details on weight management.

Other things may cause weight loss - hyperthyroidism is just one of them.

Vets don't get much training in nutrition, much less diabetes, and it is often provided by the companies selling a problem-specific diet ... can you say "conflict of interest"?
 
My George weighs 11 pounds and is steadily gaining a couple of ounces a week (he was very underweight). He eats 8-9 ounces of his canned food per day. Much depends on how active your kitty is and how much she should weigh. George is elderly so I suspect he requires much less than a younger cat would.
 
She just had blood work done and doesnt have any hyper or hypo thyroid problems. I just dont want to over feed or underfeed her. I feed her about 4 ounces a day of wet food plus dry food. I have now learned its better for her to have wet food. So 4 ounces a day isnt enough?
 
When Maui started eating wet food - she could eat 2-3 cans of FF at one time. As she got regulated and her demand for food lessened, she would eat about 1 - 1 1/2 cans at one time. She did not get any dry food at all.

I also leave the wet food out and let her graze as she wants. I just add lots of water - 1 can of water to 1 can of food and it keeps it moist and yummy for her tummy.
 
How many calories a cat needs depends on their metabolism, and that has to do a lot with whether they are/have been obese, their age, activity, etc. Cats that are older and/or obese have especially low metabolisms, and often do need less than the recommended number of calories. Bandit actually needs a little less the calorie formula says--to maintain him at 12-12.5 lbs, he needs only 2 cans of Fancy Feast a day, or 1 5.5 oz can of Merricks. He also gets various low carb treats and sometimes half a Fancy Feast appetizer throughout the day, so he does get a few extra calories that way.

If a cat is losing a lot of weight because of the diabetes, you don't want to restrict calories and try and do want to keep weight on her. However, if the cat is losing weight because you're feeding a low carb canned diet instead of high carb dry, that is perfectly natural healthy as long as she's not losing weight too fast. Here is a great guideline to help you keep an eye on it: http://catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity#Safe_Rate_of_Weight_Loss.

One thing that is sticking out to me is that you say she is 15 lbs but underweight? That seems a bit unusual to me, as the average weight of most female cats is 8-10 lbs. 15 lbs is normal size for a female for a larger breed like a Maine Coon or a Bengal. I'm wondering if maybe what you think is "bony" or underweight is actually her reclaiming a healthier figure if she has been obese in the past? Trust me, sometimes it's hard to judge and get used a cat's natural figure. I know that when Bandit first got down to around 15 lbs (formerly 20+ lbs), I thought I must be underfeeding him. Sure enough, after a trip to the vet where I voiced my concerns about his weight, I discovered not only was he NOT close to being underweight, he needed to loose 2-3 more lbs. :roll: Part of what threw me off was the saggy skin over his belly. Like with obese people, sometimes there is excess skin after a large weight loss (which is why many people end up getting tummy tucks after a large weight loss). Also, you should be able to feel their shoulder blades, and their ribs (with a thin layer of padding). Here's some advice on how to evaluate weight: http://catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity#Is_Your_Cat_Overweight, and a body condition chart: http://richmondroadvetclinic.com/sites/site-3991/images/cat20body20condition20chart.jpg

Now, it's very possible she is an unusually large framed cat for her breed and 15 lbs is normal for her, but I would double check that with the vet. One thing that vet schools are very good at teaching is assessing the body condition of animals. :smile:
 
The only reason i feel she is under weight is because when i adopted her two years ago she was 25 lbs. i put her on a diet and got her down to 19.6. In 6 months she went from 19.6 to 14.12. So i am used to her being heavier thats all. Im thrilled she is no longer 25 lbs but she dropped weight so fast
 
And that saggy belly skin let's them arch the back until they seem to turn inside out!
 
Hello,

I do understand how hard it is when your vet says one thing and the (potentially crazy) people on the internet say something else. But I have lost count of the times that I have witnessed this site saving the lives of diabetic cats. And if I hadn't found this site my own cat would probably have died a long time ago...

Vets have to deal with multiple conditions in multiple species. They can't all be experts in any given field; and - given their workload - nutrition probably isn't one of their greatest priorities. My own vet fully supports and understands my choice to feed my diabetic cat low carb wet food. But when I went to his clinic this morning the food shelves were full of dried cat and dog food, nothing else..... Such is life. :roll:

RE the feeding of a recently diagnosed diabetic cat I would say this - if he's hungry then feed him. Newly diagnosed cats are often ravenous because they can't utilise all the food they are eating.

Is it right that you cat is eating some dry food? If that's the case then don't remove that unless you are comfortable with hometesting and can monitor your cat's response. Reduction/elimination of dry food can dramatically lower blood glucose (and hence reduce the need for insulin).
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
RE the feeding of a recently diagnosed diabetic cat I would say this - if he's hungry then feed him. Newly diagnosed cats are often ravenous because they can't utilise all the food they are eating.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. For the most part, yes, newly diagnosed cats should be fed as much as they want, especially if they are in high numbers and are underweight, or are losing weight at an unsafe rate (more than 1-2% of their body weight per week). However, there are situations where you want portioned calorie control, and don't want to free feed. If a cat is overweight or obese, you do not want to feed as much as the cat wants, because the cat must get down to a healthy weight in order to get the diabetes under control. This is especially true if the cat is well regulated--at that point the only way to get to remission is to get the cat down a healthy/ideal weight.

I don't know what BG numbers are like in this particular situation, but the poster said they were low, and indicated the cat is/was overweight. If a diabetic cat is already overweight, and responding well to insulin treatment, then adding more pounds to an already overweight cat will worsen the the cat's condition. That's why I would recommend a quick body condition assessment by the vet and having the vet determine an ideal weight, tracking the cat's weight loss and determining if it's safe/normal, and then coming up with a recommended number of calories from there. Some cats (especially obese/formerly obese ones) act ravenous regardless of whether the diabetes is under control. You'd think we'd been starving Bandit for weeks if we are just an hour late feeding him, or he decides he's hungry between meals.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top