my cat has lost a lot of weight

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cayenne

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My cat has just turned 11 years old and she was diagnosed with diabetes about nine months ago. At that time she weighed just over ten pounds. She was started on insulin, one unit every morning. I had been feeding her dry food but switched her to wet food twice a day. My vet recommend the Purina DM but I did some research and decided to go with Friskies, using on the varieties low in carbs. After three months or so, her blood sugar was doing better and the vet decreased her insulin to just half a unit every morning.

She had lost a little weight at that point but not that much. Recently I had to take her back to the vet because she had been vomiting and having diarrhea off and on for several days. He checked her blood sugar and said it was OK (I think it was 211?) but was concerned because she had lost more weight. She is now just over seven pounds. He suggested that feeding her the Purina DM would help prevent excessive weight loss but couldn't really tell me how that would be different than the food she's getting now (other than it costs three times as much).

So I'm looking for advice. What should I do regarding her weight loss? And is the Purina DM really a better food? Or is something else better?

Thanks for any help.

Cayenne
 
Welcome, Cayenne.

It is difficult to say whether your kitty is getting too much or too little insulin and how that is affecting her weight. Insulin needs to be given twice a day, 12 hours apart, for cats. If a dose is reduced, it shouldn't mean once a day dosing, but a reduction of the dose twice a day. The other issue is testing. Testing at the vet is usually unreliable, as the kitty is stressed by strange noises, smells and people. And stress raises bg levels so levels taken there may not be accurate.

If I were you, I would let us teach you how to hometest, tonight. Then you can find out what is really happening. We figure that we wouldn't get a prescription of insulin from our doctor and go home and give it to our child for 2 weeks without testing her blood sugar. We test before every shot to be sure it is safe to give insulin, and mid cycle to see how the insulin is working.

DM is no special food, except for the price. Your Friskies is fine.
 
You may want to look for higher fat, low carb foods. Fat has more calories per gram. These will be ones that have 70% calories from fat on Binky's page
 
Hi Cayenne! Welcome!! Diabetes can be very overwhelming and very frustrating! What kind of insulin is your kitty on?

These are the foods I feed my kitties:

Merrick BG
Beef*
Chicken*
Turkey*

Wellness
Beef & Chicken*
Chicken*
Turkey*

Merrick
Cowboy Cookout*

Evo
EVO 95% Beef*
EVO 95% Chicken & Turkey*
EVO 95% Duck
EVO 95% Venison*

Nature’s Variety
Raw Chicken & Turkey*

There are cheaper, low carb options as well:

Fancy Feast Classic only
Chicken
Beef & Liver
Turkey and Giblets
Beef
Beef & Chicken
Chopped Grill

Special Kitty (Walmart)
Mixed Grill
Prime Entrée
Super Supper
Turkey & Giblets

Sophisticat (Petsmart)
Beef & Liver
Beef Stew
Country Style
Elegant Entrée
Mixed Grill
Turkey & Giblets

Sophisticat Adult Supreme (Petsmart)
Supreme Beef & Chicken
Supreme Beef
Supreme Gourmet Chicken
Supreme Turkey & Giblets

Friskie’s Classic Pate
Country Style Dinner*
Liver & Chicken Dinner
Poultry Platter
Supreme Supper
Turkey & Giblets

Friskie’s Special Diet
Beef & Chicken*
Beef & Liver*


The starred varieties are also lower (<250 mg) in phosphorous which is better for kitties who may also have chronic kidney disease.
 
Dear Cayenne,

It is most important that your cat eats. Period. You just give her whatever she wants, and we'll help you deal with her insulin (what kind and dose) later. Just give her whatever she's either used to or wants to eat, okay?

Big hugs, and welcome to the place you never wanted to be, but will be blessed for having found, kind of hugs,
Deb and Nikki -- and Giz, forever whispering in my heart...
 
My kitty lost 3 pounds before he was diagnosed. Once he got regulated, he put all the weight back on, plus a little more (oops).

Do you know why your kitty has diarrhea/throwing up? I hope she feels better really soon!!!!!!!
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

My kitty is very happy with the Friskies she's getting. She eats about half a can, maybe a little less, twice a day. Sometimes she nibbles a little dry food in between feedings of wet food. I tried to switch all three of my cats to wet food at the same time, but one refuses to eat the wet food. I mean, I guess she would eventually if that was all I would give her. I doubt she'd starve herself to death. But she really wants the dry food and so far she is healthy so I decided to keep giving it to her. So the other two, including the one with diabetes, nibble on dry food occasionally between wet food feedings but they don't eat much of it.

I am not sure why she was throwing up. The vet said he thought it a bacterial thing and she has been on medication for a week now and is not throwing up any longer.

I actually read stuff on this forum back when she was first diagnosed with diabetes and asked my vet about testing her glucose at home and he really thought it was unnecessary. I know sometimes doctors (I mean people doctors) are like that too and I don't necessarily think he's correct about it. But I did not have a glucometer and I suspected it would be expensive and just paying for the insulin and syringes is a bit of a challenge for me, plus I thought it would be hard to do myself, so I guess I thought I'd try it his way and see how she did. And up 'til now I thought she was doing fine.

I really had not realized she'd lost so much weight until they weighed her at the vet. She looked to me like she'd lost a little but I would never have guessed it was that much.

So do you think the weight loss is related to not getting the right amount of insulin?

How important is it to test her blood sugar at home? I mean, I get that it would be the best way to go. Is it essential? And if it is, can I use the same kind of glucometer a person would use or do I need to buy a special one? Because I actually have a people one now but I don't know if it would work on animals.

Cayenne
 
What kind of meter do you have? We use human glucometers. You just need one that takes a tiny sample and sips.

And yes, it's vital. Read the posts on this page from Sue and Samwise and the one from Casanova's mom. Sue changed insulin and suddenly her kitty was 200 points lower. Laura had been giving Casanova 10 units of insulin and this morning, suddenly he was at 59. In both cases, if the cats were given the usual amount of insulin, they could have hypoed.
 
You can get a ReliOn Meter at Walmart for $9 and the strips are $39 for a box of 100. It's quite affordable. Testing the BG levels at home lets you better regulate your kitty and give the exact amount of insulin needed. What kind of insulin does your kitty use?

Jenny & Sue
 
The glucometer I already have is a Bayer Contour. Someone gave it to me (well, to me and my partner) not long ago because my partner needed to start checking his blood sugar regularly. So would that work for my cat?

Her insulin is ProZinc.

I will reread the stuff on here about testing your cat's glucose at home. Like I said, I did read a lot of that when she was first diagnosed and it made a lot of sense to me but my vet seemed very certain it was not necessary. I am not opposed to doing it if it is necessary. I just didn't want to do it if I didn't have to, you know?

Cayenne
 
I haven't read anything negative about the Contour. You could certainly start with it because it is what you have. Here is what else you will need:

A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest around. (In case you decide you don't like the Contour.) You can also get a free newbie kit with a meter, to be an alternate: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=19541 But if I were you, I would go ahead and work with what you have. The newbie kit will take several days to reach you.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 25-26 gauge is good. Any type will work.

Ketone strips. (Ketostix) Just like human diabetics use. You will sometimes need to test urine if the numbers are high.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Then heat the ears before poking.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

Here is a good beginning site: Newbie hometesting site and a video: Video for hometesting

It's the rare and lucky person who gets blood on the first try. We all have tricks that helped us. Just ask.
 
Welcome! My cat- Khan had lost 6 pounds before being diagnosed back in May. I didn't come to this site until it was recommended to say goodbye to him. Which I would not! so I found this site and am forever grateful! Well Khan has maintained his wt (hasn't gained any) however he seems to be losing lean body muscle mass.. so I am now looking into the Binky's list for products to feed that can begin to help him gain wt. Love the list someone sent you. Thank you-- I will use that list too!

Someone here gave me a calculation for how many calories he needs a day. I can send it to you however you may just want to begin home testing and not get wrapped into all that YET. Home testing and this forum will get your lovable furbie back to health. I have to say I didn't believe in the Fancy Feast but hey if others have had it work..why should I reinvent the wheel? that is what I thought..so I went with it and am continuing to believe in the wonderful people here and the Binky list. I am very confident in everything I've learned from here but not too confident--but what I don't know I can ask ask ask.

For me I'm going to begin weighing myself and then weigh Khan and myself together.. it isn't the most accurate but it is better than what I'm doing now. Plus I can always go into the vet and weigh him..but that is awefully stressful for him. I won't take him in unless I have to since I will no longer put him through that stress- another THANKYOU to FDMB for teaching me how to home test!
 
You need to get to the bottom of the weight loss issue. One factor to rule out, as discussed, is regulation. Once you are testing you'll know whether your cat needs a different dose, how they are responding, etc. If it isn't a regulation issue, you'll need to get blood work done and test for a variety of conditions that may be the culprit including hypothyroid and pancreatitis...

Jen
 
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