Gaining Weight Back

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KayCDF

KayCDF

Member Since 2021
My cat Teddy was diagnosed with diabetes back in October after an infection caused his pancreas to shut down. Currently he gets half a can of 5.5 oz Purina DM wet food twice a day (so 5.5 oz a day). He's always hungry and is underweight. I was wondering if I could increase him to two cans a day, and if I did that, would that impact how much insulin I was giving him? Is there another way I can help him gain weight? On Facebook someone said to boil chicken and mix it with EZ Complete, but I don't know anything about that / don't know much to give him of chicken and the EZ Complete. I just want my baby to gain some weight back and stop being hungry!
 
Feeding more will likely increase insulin needs. I think doubling food is too large of a change. With current 1 can/day is Teddy maintaining weight?
How well is Teddy's BG being controlled (what are preshot BG and what is lowest BG between shots)?
I wouod increase by either a 1/4 or 1/2 can a day with highewr if Teddy is not maintaining current weight. If BGs are not being well controlled, getting better control should result gaining weight/loosing less weight.
 
One of the best ways to tell what's going on with a cat's weight is to get a baby scale and weigh your cat.

Another "trick" is to pay attention to the carbohydrate content as well as the calories. This is a link to a chart on the canned foods that are available in the US. You want to be feeding your cat foods that are under 10% carbohydrates-- it's what we consider low carb. If you can find some foods that are higher in calories, you will be helping your cat to gain weight.

A lot depends on whether your cat's diabetes is regulated. If your cat is in high blood glucose numbers, food is not getting into the cells where it's supposed to go. As a result, your cat is not getting all the benefit of what you're feeding. It's why many diabetic cats lose weight.

The person that made the suggestion about chicken and EZ Complete is suggesting you switch to a raw food diet. I don't know whether that is going to help with Teddy gaining weight. Chicken is a lean protein and there's not a lot of calories in either the chicken or the EZ Complete. EZ Complete is a "pre-mix" that you add to raw food to provide all the supplements that a cat needs for a nutritionally complete diet.
 
Hi Kay,

When my Ruby was diagnosed with FD, she was ravenous all the time. I think I was feeding her two 5.5 oz cans of DM a day but now that she's more controlled she eats around 7 ounces a day of foods by Weruva (Ruby also is in early stages of CKD so needs low phosphorus foods). I used to worry a lot about whether or not she was eating enough, so I got a baby scale and weigh her. I put a towel on the scale and she loves sleeping on it now. :cat: I am trying to keep her around 11.5-12 lbs. I also bought a small digital kitchen scale and measure out portions of her food by the ounce so that I know how many calories she's getting in a day. Every cat is different, and my Ruby is a biggish cat but she's not very active, so I strive for about 180-200 calories from 7 ounces of food each day. It's taken a lot of experimentation because she is finicky, but I think after many months I've found foods she likes to eat that are low in carb and phosphorous and high enough in calories so I don't have to feed her a lot of food. Currently, Ruby eats 8 meals a day consisting of three 1 ounce meals after her shot and one half ounce snack three hours before her next shot. This all sounds like a lot of work but it's become routine and gives me great peace of mind.

The DM is really expensive and not necessary. Many people here feed Friskies and Fancy Feast to great result.

I hope you will find your food groove with Teddy. Good luck! :bighug:
 
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