He needs to gain weight

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beckyandwinston

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My beautiful boy was diagnosed on 26th February and has been in to hospital a couple of times due to dehydration and extremely high glucose levels. Hopefully now he is on 2 units a day he seems alot more settled, but his weight is worrying me. He has lost over a kilo now (most of it in 2 weeks) and is pretty skinny and bony so how do I get him to put some weight back on? What is best to feed him without upsetting his glucose levels? Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.
 
beckyandwinston said:
My beautiful boy was diagnosed on 26th February and has been in to hospital a couple of times due to dehydration and extremely high glucose levels. Hopefully now he is on 2 units a day he seems alot more settled, but his weight is worrying me. He has lost over a kilo now (most of it in 2 weeks) and is pretty skinny and bony so how do I get him to put some weight back on? What is best to feed him without upsetting his glucose levels? Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi Becky,
Are you home testing Winston's glucose? If not, can you pick up a blood glucose meter at the pharmacy to start testing him? Most human meters would do, Bayer contour and the Onetouch ones are quite good. If you are testing him, you will know how well the caninsulin is working for him. If it's at all possible, see if you can speak to your vet about using Lantus as your insulin.
Testing on cat’s ear

As Winston gets more regulated, into decent blood glucose numbers, you will see him put on his lost weight.
He may not put on the weight right away but watch for more signs like you are seeing of him being more settled.
Normally, feeding low carb wet foods with no gravies are usually the best for diabetics.
 
Its such a relief to get feedback from others who have been through the same and knowing that once I get him 'settled' he should hopefully start to put weight back on. Thankfully in the last couple of days he has stopped eating as much as he was as he as eating ALOT, so am hoping thats a sign that he is starting to settle on his 2 units a day and may now start to put some weight back on? I've checked a couple of the pages suggested for non-us food and it only says about NZ or Canada and another site which is good for UK only has one of each variety and not the food I'm currently feeding. I started him on Science plan w/d and felix as good as it looks as well as reducing his whiskas that he as on. Have since found while reading these pages that w/d is bad for them so am reducing that and upping his felix? Is that the right thing to do?
 
I think if you change your Subject to ask 'Need food list for "your country/city"' you will get some input from people near you.

it's good to hear his volume of eating is tapering off, just watch that it does not drop too low as he may be sick.
The vet food, that w/d, is not the greatest, so I'd go with brands that are just pate, no gravies, as they are high carb. You can also look to the ingredients on the cans and look for no byproducts and grains.

You did not say if you are home testing. it's the best way to know how the insulin is working, and also how much effect the foods are having on him.
 
need to know what food is best in uk

After saying his eating has slowed down he has eaten more again today! No am not home testing but i think its something i need to look in to doing. I hav got the keto diastix but used it once and they said his glucose was high but then i read they not reliable so havnt tried again. Am just worried about him and hav changed the subject heading as suggested. Is it easy to test him at home?
 
Testing can be done by most folks without too much difficulty.

Pick up
a human glucometer (vet will try to sell you pet specific but it isn't necessary) The Glucocard 01 is available from our Shopping Partner (link above) American Diabetes Wholesale online, works well, and is relatively inexpensive, if you can get it in the UK. Avoid meters with "True" in their names; they aren't often found to be true at all! You want one that needs very little blood - .3 mL
test strips
26 to 27 gauge lancets (as you get proficient at testing you may be able to use thinner lancets
Make a 'rice sock' - a thin, tightly knit sock with about 1/4 cup rice in it. This is microwaved and used to warm the ear, improving circulation.
Neosporin ointment (not cream) with pain relief. This reduces the annoyance of being pricked.
Folded tissue or cotton ball to brace ear and keep from poking your finger
Get kitty used to having his ears fiddled with - frequent petting with ear massage can do that.

When ready, get everything together
wash and dry hands so you don't contaiminate test results
dab neosporin on ear
put test strip halfway in meter and set it in an easy to reach location
warm rice sock about 15 seconds or so in a microwave. test temp on your wrist - should be warm, not hot.
open lancet and place where you can pick up easily - I free hand, rather than using a lancing device, because I can see where I'm pricking. do whatever you think will work for you - device, with or without cap, or free hand
get cat in comfrotable position
wipe excess neosporin off ear.
warm ear with rice sock for a minute or two
locate vein on outermost edge of ear - if dark fur, look on underside
push test strip in meter
place folded tissue or cotton ball under the ear being tested
pick up lancet and prick between the vein and the outer edge, about 1/3 of ear length up from head
Dip strip edge in blood drop; it should sip up the drop
if cat is squirmy, get droplet on a fingernail and test from that
If 2 tries haven't got blood, aim for the vein and after getting test, blot firmly with tissue or cotton ball to reduce bruising.
After success or 3 tries without success, give cat a low carb treat - ex freeze dried chicken or boiled chicken bits.
 
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