Kitty loosing weight

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Kristine

Kristine

Member Since 2015
Hello All.
I have a question. My kitty Christopher was diagnosed with Diabetes a few years ago. I had him on Lantus and he has been OTJ for almost 2 years! I check his blood glucose every week or so and it has been STELLAR!! He was OBESE @ 18 Lbs. I have been feeding him wet food( fancy feast) away from the other cats so he does not eat their food and he lost 2.5 LBS! Has NOT needed insulin. HOWEVER... He is now down to 14 Lbs.... I worry that he is loosing too much weight. Do you think that the weight loss now is because he is so much more active or should I worry about underlying issues?? I'm not used to seeing him this thin but he is not NEARLY as skinny as his brother who was born the same year. Any ideas or concerns I should be looking for? I have decided that if he looses another pound I will take him to the vet.
Thanks in advance.
 
What's a good weight for him? Remembering that they actually should look a little skinnier than we think they should.

Where would you put him on this body condition chart?
clent-hills-vets-royal-canin-body-condition-score-cat.png
 
He is #4 ish. Waist above his haunches is thin but can't see ribs. Belly is saggy but has always been that way. (Vestigial pouch) he is active and seems to be happy. More active than normal since loosing weight! I'm not too worried but keeping my eye on him
 
You might try increasing his calories a little and weigh him once a week and adjust from there.

Either a little more food or kitten food has more calories (Fancy Feast makes a couple of kitten foods that are also low carb)

If he continues losing, he'll need to see the vet for a good look-see and to check his thyroid and kidney function. Hyperthyroid is a common problem in older kitties as is chronic kidney disease and both will cause rapid weight loss.
 
A good rule of thumb for daily calorie intake is 20 times ideal weight. So if he should be 10 pounds, he should be getting 200 calories a day at least. More if he needs to gain. Diabetic cats lose weight because they can’t process the nutrients in food well so they eat but are still constantly hungry and lose weight. They also burn calories just by peeing since there’s sugar in their urine.
 
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