My Sinbad is so skinny!

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HangInThere

Member Since 2017
Hi. My cat was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago. It was my daughter who noticed how very thin he was and because the cost of a vet wasn't in my budget, I tried everything I could to get him to eat more. I thought maybe my other two cats were not letting him get enough to eat because they are definitely NOT on the skinny side. When that didn't work, we took Sinbad to the vet and found out he had diabetes. I scraped together the $49 for the bag of prescription dry food... Which by the way he won't eat(!) and was given some prescription canned food (won't eat that either). He's so thin, I can feel each and every one of his bones. So I went back to regular food. He's eating again thank God! He's always hungry but he isn't gaining any weight. I need to find out how to get some help with getting him on insulin.... My vet is putting him on Prozinc, but I don't know how much yet. I read some of the posts here and sort of heaved a sigh of relief, though not happiness, when I read that this skinniness and extreme hunger is common in this situation. I'm so grateful for this forum. Maybe I can get some answers.
 
HangInThere said:
Hi. My cat was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago. It was my daughter who noticed how very thin he was and because the cost of a vet wasn't in my budget, I tried everything I could to get him to eat more. I thought maybe my other two cats were not letting him get enough to eat because they are definitely NOT on the skinny side. When that didn't work, we took Sinbad to the vet and found out he had diabetes. I scraped together the $49 for the bag of prescription dry food... Which by the way he won't eat(!) and was given some prescription canned food (won't eat that either). He's so thin, I can feel each and every one of his bones. So I went back to regular food. He's eating again thank God! He's always hungry but he isn't gaining any weight. I need to find out how to get some help with getting him on insulin.... My vet is putting him on Prozinc, but I don't know how much yet. I read some of the posts here and sort of heaved a sigh of relief, though not happiness, when I read that this skinniness and extreme hunger is common in this situation. I'm so grateful for this forum. Maybe I can get some answers.
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Welcome, sorry about the diagnosis, but glad you found this forum. It's very active, and there are a lot of helpful people. I found it to be a lifeline when my cat was diagnosed a year ago. I remember all too well how overwhelming it can be.... but have hope that it's very treatable, and there are lots of cats, like mine, that with careful monitoring, insulin, and diet change can go into remission.

Loosing weight is a common symptom that many people observed, and it what prompted many trips to the vet just like you. The problem is that even though they eat, their bodies are not utilizing the nutrient's properly, so they loose weight.

One relief for you I think will be hearing that the prescription food is NOT NEEDED. Go return the unused stuff and tell them he wouldn't eat it. They should take it back. The next thing you need to do is get wet food>... Most of us feed fancy feast classic or friskies pate. since he's gotta gain weight feed several smaller meals throughout the day. Once on insulin your dr. will tell you to feed him just before shot time. They sometimes say they should only be fed twice a day... that's an old fashioned approach, and most of us find that feeding several smaller meals throughout the day (but no food two hours before preshot testing) is a better approach.

We are here to help, so if you have any other questions feel free to ask. You may get more eyes on your post if you post questions to the main health forum.
 
Hi There!

Yes, there are plenty of answers that can be had on this forum. Just ask any question!

I am going to ask if you plan on home testing?

I am going to echo Janet - return that vet food for a refund and grab up some fancy feast classic! My Jones free feeds as that is the best way to get him to eat.
If you are looking for other options - find something that has 10% carb or less. I try to stick around the 5-8% mark. I also have some 15% percent gravy types on hand in case he goes too low. Here is a list that you can use that Dr. Pierson has done up. In fact the website is a great resource if you need it. www.catinfo.org http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf


Here is some links to information to get the most out of this site. How to make it so we don't keep asking the same information again and again...
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/


If you are home testing - which is highly recommended to keep your kitty safe and required if you are going to be asking for advice from the forum, we have a spreadsheet to track everything.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

And here is how it works.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/

And not to scare you but I have this printed and posted on my fridge - just in case.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/


Again welcome!
 
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You're in the right place. NO question is too stupid, you'll NEVER be judged. How skinny is skinny? Percentages matter. Fat 30 pound cat loses 6 pounds is 20%. A 12 pound cat loses 6 pounds is 50%. Don't be like me and be a snob about Fancy Feast, it works.
 
Welcome human and kitty (names?) :)
Tracey&Jones covered what I usually do so just welcoming you both! :bighug:. Don't let the Vet start you on anything higher than 1.0U twice a day. I'm also a fellow Prozinc user. Hope to see you on the Prozinc thread :). Ask any questions :cat:
 
OMG! Thank you to all of you who responded! I had already deleted my account because I had made such a mess of setting it up and after getting these responses, I immediately reactivated it. My cat's name is Sinbad (because as a kitten he was always getting in to trouble!). Mine is Janay. And Sinbad's birthday I year is 2002 - not 1992...my math sucks sometimes. All your information is a bit overwhelming, but my daughter, Shayna and I will take your advice and watch the videos to learn all we can. I will be applying for financial assistance... I understand there is a website to apply to. As for home testing, if testing Sinbad is similar to testing myself I think I could do it.... Will watch video. What a great relief that I don't have to use the prescription food! So expensive! The vet, naturally, won't take back the dry catfood... $49 out the window. Luckily the cans were donated. Anybody have any idea where I can donate them? Thank you all of you for welcoming and helping me and Sinbad get through this scary journey. I can do this....
 
We have a list of foods. You will want to look at the carb content. For a diabetic, you want to choose those less than 10 % carbs.
http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
friskies has a few good choices. They are all pates....

and fancy feast classics are good as well.

You want to have a couple of cans of gravy foods for helping with low numbers but
don't give gravy foods as their everyday food.

Gravy is usually higher carb than 10% depending on the brand.


You can also look in our supply closet for insulin. I don't see which insulin you will be starting with.

the glucose meters are usually pretty cheap, sometimes even free....
it's the testing strips that add up.
I believe the lowest cost one is at Walmart.... the relion.
 
It's not always a 24 hour help line but it's an amazing place isn't it? Noah is our second diabetic cat, another member here once had five all at one time. I can't sleep because someone else is in crisis. I'm going to poke my head in there and see what's up. Then maybe these Lorazepams will kick in.
 
HangInThere said:
OMG! Thank you to all of you who responded! I had already deleted my account because I had made such a mess of setting it up and after getting these responses, I immediately reactivated it. My cat's name is Sinbad (because as a kitten he was always getting in to trouble!). Mine is Janay. And Sinbad's birthday I year is 2002 - not 1992...my math sucks sometimes. All your information is a bit overwhelming, but my daughter, Shayna and I will take your advice and watch the videos to learn all we can. I will be applying for financial assistance... I understand there is a website to apply to. As for home testing, if testing Sinbad is similar to testing myself I think I could do it.... Will watch video. What a great relief that I don't have to use the prescription food! So expensive! The vet, naturally, won't take back the dry catfood... $49 out the window. Luckily the cans were donated. Anybody have any idea where I can donate them? Thank you all of you for welcoming and helping me and Sinbad get through this scary journey. I can do this....
Click to expand...
You CAN do this and you have a group of people who have your back. :)
 
The weight loss your cat experienced could be and more than likely will be reversed once your cat starts experiencing blood glucose levels lower. Boo started looking better even in the 225-300 range. Boo was a 30 pounder that dropped to 13.5 at diagnosis time, I could feel his hips and spine when I touched him. A few weeks on insulin and your cat should start looking healthier again.

There are appetite enhancers you can add to food to help. Personally I find sprinkling parmesan cheese on the food and mixing it in to usually work when needed.
 
I'd feed the cans you have. You can donate dry or save it for when you need to steer the numbers up.
 
Welcome! You've found the best place for FD info and support-- (In my opinion)!
It's definitely possible to bring his weight back up. It might be a slow journey. My cat went from 13.5 pounds to 9 pounds when we started insulin. He's now back up to 12 pounds after 8 months. (almost 9 months now). I had to feed extra calories and tweak his dose around the extra food. His muscle isn't as thick as it use to be but I'm hoping that will bulk up a bit more once we get him truly regulated and with some exercise.
Depending on the cost of the insulin at your vet-- Lantus might be cheaper. It is cheaper per unit vs Prozinc where I live. (Upstate NY) On lower doses it doesn't hurt your wallet as much but with my high dose cat it definitely hurt my wallet! We started on prozinc then switched to lanuts. There also seems to be more of it offered in the Supply closet.

If your vet won't take back the dry food you could try calling the manufacturer. I'm not sure if they would take it back but maybe they could set it up with the local representative that goes to your vet and refund your money that way? Can't hurt to try.
 
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