How to monitor changes in food amounts

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Missy's Mum

Missy's Mum

Member Since 2013
My one and a half year old tabby Missy lost weight, from 10.13 to 8.12 over the last month (on the vet scale) (she was 8.8 on my new digital scale). I started feeding half can pate per day to help with weight loss from her original 16 lb weight. Now she needs more food to maintain weight not lose. I was told to up her feeding to 1 can per day. At first the vet said 1 and a half cans but I had told him she was getting half can a meal instead of saying half can a day. I called the administrator back and told him I made a mistake. He was the one who said double the food to one can. He made me feel bad that I was starving the cat. I was only following the instructions of the first vet who has retired and the other vet who told me to continue what I was doing. I am worried since Missy is in remission and no longer on insulin. I don't know how to institute changes in food and monitor her remission.

Do I add more food right away or slowly increase? How do I keeps tabs on her sugar with new changes?
I was also told to let her drink water freely rather than add to her feed. Is that really better than adding water. For the last month she has been drinking pedialite in feed bc of her high liver. Will get blood results in a week.

I Don't trust her vet around diabetic issues. He just believes in insulin and doesn't believe in using human glucometer on cats. I checked my glucometer against his cat one so I can compare the readings to see if mine is accurate. The reading was higher but she was on a sedative and still very stressed.

My human glucometer was 116 and vet's lifescan one touch ultra mini, calibrated for cats was 142. Can someone who knows the differences between cat glucometer and human one please tell me if these numbers are similar so that I can check the accuracy of my meter.

Sometimes missy has a very soft or squeaky meow which sounds more strained than usual. Does anyone know what that could be related to? I forgot to ask vet about that. It's scaring me. I go to a low cost vet mobile and wait outside for hours so don't want to go unless I must. The administrator who answers calls knows a lot but is not a vet. I trust this site more than my vet service.
 
See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some ways to assess your cat's health.

Cat Info has great info on weight management including calorie levels. I find mine eat about 1 oz per pound of weight, divided into 2 feedings that are grazed over a few hours.

Don't worry about human vs pet glucometer differences - they are like reading temperature in Celsius vs Fahrenheit. Also, the FDA allows meters to read within 20% of what a lab would get, so 2 meters of the same type (human of pet glucometer) will not get exactly the same number at the same time. They should be within 20% of each other. The numbers you gave are within 20% of each other, so your meter is fine.
 
Thanks. Do I just give double food right away or slowly build it up? Do I need extra blood tests more often to monitor her changes and for how long? How often do I weigh her with changed food amount? Scared to double in one day.
 
Spaced, frequent feedings are better for weight gain without stressing the GI tract too much. You might try just adding another feeding or two and spread it thinly over a full plate to reduce scarf 'n' barf risk.

Also, if she needs more weight, use a low carb kitten food, such as Fancy Feast Kitten Turkey and Giblet (3 oz cans) or Evo Cat and Kitten.
 
Get an accurate scale and weigh Missy every few days. Make sure you weight at same time each day. Then adjust food intake accordingly.
 
Thanks not sure if more weight needed or just maintain. Should I add a quater can more today build up till full amount in a few days or full amount needed today but just more spread out
 
How much does the vet want Missy to regain? Cats need between 20 to 30 calories a day per pound of ideal body weight to maintain their weight. It also depends on how active they are, younger active cats need about 30 calories, older sedentary cats closer to 20. Which food you are feeding makes a difference too, a 5.5oz can of one food can be as low as 130 calories while another can be as much as 220 calories.

Figure out how many calories your cat needs per day and then you can figure out how much of the food you are using to feed. Dr Lisa has the calories per can on her food list. For example:
  • Tess is nearly 16, not very active and weighs a little under 8.5lbs (20 calories x 8.5 lbs = 170 calories a day.) With Wellness Turkey at 40 calories /oz she needs 4.25 ounces a day.

    Emma is about 3, very active and running up and down trees outside, she weighs just under 8lbs (30 calories x 8 lbs = 240 calories a day, about 6 ounces.)
 
Vet did not say much. I pointed out weight loss and asked how much food. Will call the office and try get more info. You are all way more informative and forthcoming then vet. She is active indoor half sleepy and half climbing over cabinets. She is young around yr and a half to 2r, no exact record of age. At first weight was way too high. At 10.13 I was told she can get a little more food to maintain but she lost more so I asked how much more food. They were very vague. I will look up calories when I get home. I was wondering when food is added is the new amount given that day or are small amounts added pr day building up to new total amount. So far I added small amount more to each feed and adding extra feed to day to spread out total
 
Adding a little every day or few days sounds good to me. She sounds fairly active so I'd go to the higher end of the scale. if she gains too much weight cut back, but very slowly.
 
Thanks
Missy May have eaten a dye band bracelet. Can't find it. It was left on a window ledge with a note for my son to take to school. found shredded bits of it with the note in the living room and the rest is gone. Want to laugh but annoyed and worried she will kill herself. I can't keep up with all of this insanity. Hope we find it but she has eaten disposable gloves and balloons before.
 
Look up the product on line and find the ingredient list. Post this here and check with your vet.

If it is just brightly colored rubber bands, she may be OK.

If it is toxic, she could get very ill, suffer, and maybe die.
 
Could find answer when I googled them. They are loom rubber bands and some companies on amazon are advertised as silicone bands or silicone rubber bands. That's all I know.
 
Did the math on Missy's food and her current weight.
She was 8.8lb on Thursday, 8.12 at vet on Friday 9 lb yesterday before night feed 9.4 this morning. Both weights were 5 hours after last feed.
Her friskies food cans range between 187-171 and occasionally cans of 156/166. If she was less active she would need 1 can per day for 9lb maintenance if more active approx 1& half cans. Not sure what they want her to be and my husband considers her active.
Yesterday food increased to 3/4 of a can so I guess today should go to 1 full can.
I also am giving less water added to feed and pees are smaller but I have not really seen her drink from water bowl. Not sure to add water to feed. Have I spoilt her and trained her to only drink food flavored liquid?
 
Doesn't do any harm to add a little water to her food too. Also I would only weigh her weekly -any more than that and you are just seeing water and poop weight ;)

Wendy
 
Cats tend not to be big drinkers, especially if the get enough moisture from their food. I even add water to my civvie's food, I never see her drinking even though fresh water is always available.
 
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