Food (Ugh)

[Shenandoah]

So... this may be just a rant to relieve stress. But any advice is also welcome. I just feel overwhelmed with choosing food. It is SO frustrating trying to figure out what to feed Shenandoah.

She was diagnosed with diabetes 1.5 years ago, but went into remission as soon as we did a diet change to FFC and cleared up a UTI. So she was only about 2 weeks on insulin.

From then until around last summer she ate only FFC and pumpkin. She dropped a lot of weight in that time. From about 15 lbs to about 9 lbs.

Then she was diagnosed with kidney disease (she apparently had it prior, but our previous vet hadn't mentioned it. New vet pointed it out when we transferred her paperwork over), and we tested some wet kidney diet to see what that would do. I worked up to half FFC and half kidney, and tested her BG about every other day to make sure she was not coming out of remission. Her numbers stayed around the 50s on my ReliOn.
(Well, as an aside, we actually tested SEVEN kidney diets. Only one was palatable to her.)

So she got that into late fall when she decided she simply was not going to eat the kidney diet anymore. She would pick around it, or sometimes just refuse the mashed-together foods completely.

So we went back to FFC only.
Somewhere in there we also started sub-q fluids twice/week.

Through all this, her weight continued a slow decline. She free fed on all her foods. I never allowed her to run out. Vet suggested adding some dry in, just to see if we could keep her weight up - because she was really concerned with the weight loss. So I added a bit of Hill's Age Defying (low phosphorus, just a bit above the regular kidney diets). Again, I tested BG religiously to make sure no increase, and it stayed low.

Her last bloodwork had high Albumin and hypercalcemia. But her weight is back up and more where we want it.

So where I am now... she gets all she can eat FFC 24/7. Overnight she gets an additional 1/4 cup of the Hill's. She gets a few Greenies each day (her favorite thing in the whole wide world). And she's now getting fluids three times/week.

I just don't know what and how to address everything. Our needs are:
diabetes (remission): low carb
weight loss: high carb, dry to increase consumption
kidney disease: low phosphorus
hypercalcemia: low calciun, wet to counter dehydration
overall: ANYTHING SHE WILL EAT


Some other things of note:
Whenever I'm doing a diet change I test BG about every other day. When holding diet steady I check about every 2 weeks.
She gets weighed 2-3 times/week.
She is getting bloodwork done every 3-6 months.
Other meds include: Zobaline, MiraLax, Cosequin, Adequan

She still is alert, occasionally playful, gets around relatively well for her arthritis, has almost no neuropathy left, loves my lap, seems to still have a good quality of life.

I don't know if anyone has any advice for all that, but I just needed to get it out. Sort my thoughts out, let go of some of the frustration I feel not knowing if I'm making the wrong choices.


I just want to do what's best for her

 

[Phoebes (GA)]

Welcome to the forum. I am new so can't offer any advise but there a few that have to work with kidney issues. I was just curious about your kitty's progress with the adequan. I am just starting, gave 4th shot tonight. Good luck with your furbaby, venting is welcome here, no judgements.

 

[Shenandoah]

Thanks. I've actually been here for a year and a half, though
I kind of appear and disappear as life gets in the way. And I read more than I post.

Adequan has been WONDERFUL. My vet (a cat-only vet) calls it "liquid gold," and it has been so for us. She gets around so much better since we started it. We're on the monthly maintenance now (we started I think November? with weekly, then biweekly, then monthly). My vet keeps asking if we need to increase frequency, but Shenandoah proves no by getting in one of her hyper play sessions just 2-3 days before the next dose, haha. It has made a huge difference for us.

ETA: Correction, we started Adequan last August (time flies!), with twice/week.

 

[Lillie]

I'm not an expert on all your cat's conditions but my previous cat was a CRF kitty who also had intestinal lymphoma so her eating was really sporadic due to acid build up and nausea. Her vet recommended 1/4 tablet of pepcid AC twice a day and it made a big difference in how much she could eat. You didn't say how much your kitty was eating so I'm not sure if this is an issue but I do know any acid build up will make them not want to eat much at all.

 

[Shenandoah]

Fortunately so far she does have an appetite, despite the weight loss. I have noticed if for some reason she goes a few hours without food she will get a bit nauseous, but since I leave food down 24/7 that rarely happens (I think once in a while she just doesn't think to get up). But if I put fresh food down, she's there at my feet waiting. And then she goes back frequently to nibble. If I haven't seen her get up in a little while and put some in front of wherever she's sleeping, she'll gobble it down. So the weight loss doesn't seem to be overall an appetite issue - other than maybe she just can't eat enough of it.

I would estimate she eats around 1.5 cans (3 oz) FFC per day, plus most of the 1/4 cup dry, and 8-12 Greenies (4 in the am, 4 in the pm, and 4 as a reward for fluids on those days). I can't tell exactly how much she eats since my other cat also eats from whatever is down - but as best I can tell, I think Shenandoah eats a bit more than half the wet and most all the dry, while my other cat eats a bit less than half the wet and almost none of the dry.

 

[Lillie]

My current IBD kitty who also has transient diabetes (no insulin needed right now) can't go longer than 3-4 hours without eating or else he gets nauseous. The pepcid has helped a great deal for this and enabled him to be able to eat a little more at a time although I still need to feed him several times a day. It's so hard figuring out what to feed. They like a food one day and two days later not so much. Have you been seeing a specialist for your kitty's conditions? Sometimes they have more insight into what to feed than a GP vet. Just a thought- I had a little better luck with my kitty and his food when I took him to a specialty hospital. There is a big cost difference though.

 

[Shenandoah]

I'll bring up Pepcid at our next appointment and see what our vet thinks, and if it might help. Thanks for the suggestion.

What kind of specialist do you go to? My vet is not a specialist in the sense of a board specialty - but the practice is cats only, so she is a feline specialist. I really like that, because I've seen a lot of vets just treat cats like a small dog, not recognizing their differences.
I also really like her - she truly cares, is willing to work with us on different ideas, and is GREAT about explaining things and answering any questions I have, including questions about what things mean, why she is recommending a specific treatment plan, and the tradeoffs between different options.

 

[Lillie]

She is an internal medicine vet at a specialty hospital that also has cardiologists, oncologists, etc. that also does complicated surgeries. Not to say your vet is not qualified and if you trust her judgement and knowledge than you are lucky you found a good vet for your kitty! Sometimes I found that in more complex cases especially when it came to food that a specialist was able to help me more. My kitty's GP vet will consult with his specialist at times which is really helpful. It was just a thought because of how complicated your cat's food issues are in regard to his conditions. My cat had thrown a clot a year ago that effected his one back leg so the specialty hospital is where I had to take him. My previous cat had intestinal lymphoma so a specialist was needed. I use my local vet as his GP for ordinary issues and his specialist for more serious issues. I also found that some vets who treat a lot of dogs sometimes do treat cats like small dogs not recognizing the difference.

 

[Shenandoah]

Thanks for the info. I will see what's around the area - at least to have their info on hand if I need a second opinion for something, even if I don't go see them right now. I can only imagine things are going to get more complicated, not less, as time goes on.

 

[Lillie]

sigh-----All my past three cats have been complicated. You'd think I'd be used to it by now but it still causes me a lot of anxiety. The only good thing about it is that each time I learn a heck of a lot about cat diseases and treatment options. The latest one being diabetes, although I'm far far from being an expert on that one.