Need help about getting super senior cat to gain weight, plus issues!

Hi there,

I was on this forum back in later 2018/2019 with my cat Fena. She went into diabetic remission and did wonderfully while my own health/life fell spectacularly apart. COVID times haven't helped.

Long story short, my Fena is now 17 years old (super senior) and is a royal mess, in part thanks to my vet even though I know they're trying and doing their best.

1 year ago when she was 16, my baby started getting anxious/stressed and I couldn't figure it out. She kept over grooming, pulling her hair out, etc. especially around her left foreleg shoulder/chest area and her left back leg/hip/knee area plus constantly licking her paws and scratching. I took her in and they found hyperthyroidism which she's been on meds for and seemed to do a bit better but the grooming/licking/hair pulling/scratching kept up and I tried to tell them, "Is it arthritis or an allergy?"

They took x-rays and it DID show arthritis where she's been focusing with the hair pulling but they fluffed me off, saying, oh let's give the thyroid meds a chance and keep her food the same (Friskies and Fancy Feast pate, low carb) and we'll monitor her.

I did my own food trial and found out Fancy Feast Beef Pate, when I stopped giving it to her, ended her paw licking and scratching but the grooming/hair pulling continued. I shared this with the vet, who agreed "no more beef" and "oh yes it is arthritis" because the thyroid meds are working great and the rest of her blood work looked really good - this was back in March of this year, 2021.

My baby has been even more miserable since. She's on arthritis meds (pills) twice a day which tear up her stomach, so while she's not over grooming/pulling hair anymore her appetite is down, she's throwing up off and on, has trouble sleeping and gets anxious if I'm not "within sight" of her. So THEN they gave her anti-nausea and appetite stimulant because she keeps losing weight.

She was down to 8.9 pounds as of Monday last week and is looking bony in her spine/back end, FEELS bony in those places and around her chest/front shoulder areas, is more lethargic/tired, is having trouble using the litter box because of her back end arthritis despite the pain meds...

Also last Monday the vet said I should feed her this Hills Science Diet "weight gain" wet food formula. I knew it was a bad idea but I agreed, and sure enough... now her blood sugar numbers are elevated. I'd gone back to testing her twice daily and due to her stress/misery before food she was sitting at about 145 average but then a few hours AFTER HER "weight gain breakfast" she was up to 200-240!

I called my vet this morning to tell her and she said "not to be concerned", etc. I just have a feeling if I keep up with this "diet", she'll need her insulin again because it'll wreck her all over again.

I'm a realist, I know my baby is 17, she's old... I'm looking right now at maintenance and quality of life until she lets me know, "That's it Momma I need to go". So I need help?

She's still bright eyed and bushy tailed in between her lethargy bouts, still pees/poos just fine (except the struggle of holding position sometimes even with her pain meds), still climbs stairs, jumps up to the windows, the couch, my bed (I have boxes of books I use as stepping stool for her all over the place), still eats and drinks happily when her tummy lets her, still cuddles with me and follows me around, etc.

So she's still fighting and wants to be here... so I ordered 2 different brands of CBD oil online this afternoon to see if one or the other helps her if she doesn't take to one of them and I've been thinking about either giving her kitten wet food as a supplement for some weight gain or maybe those high calorie paste tubes?

I'm just kinda stuck and... I dunno what to do or try? The vet hasn't suggested putting her down, but she doesn't see how my baby struggles 24/7. She seems to still wanna fight for life.. what should I do?

 

I'll tag a few members for you
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)

@Wendy&Neko

@Marje and Gracie

@Chris & China (GA)

@tiffmaxee

Thank you ladies

 

Thanks, I appreciate it.. I ordered 2 different CBD oils from Honest Paws and NuLeaf, and looking to buying Wellness chicken pate kitten food and/or Tiki cat velvet mousse variety pack... I dunno.

 

You're welcome !

 

Which pills are you using for arthritis? Sounds like you should be giving Adequan (injections) a try. And getting rid of the pills. Hopefully that'll help her tummy too.

For gaining weight, some people try feeding kitten food, so that's a good idea. It's higher calories, which is what you want. So likely something a little higher in fat, not the carb of the science diet.

 

Hi Wendy thanks so much for replying! Due to recent times and a lotta shake up at our vet, they've been having a hard time keeping enough Adequan in stock and there's a SUPER long time to wait in between vet visits. It can be anywhere from 3 - 5 weeks before I can get her in for on going follow ups so they decided to give her gabapentin pills at a medium dose, split in half, for 2x a day.

So she'd take 1 half at 7am and the other half at 7pm. I was semi-familiar with this drug from when I had another cat, Lucky, who had seizures but it wasn't the best for him so they switched. This was back in 2010 though. It's not high enough to make her sleepy, etc. but it SEEMED to be just enough to give her some relief, pain wise. It didn't seem to last long, the doses, but it was enough to help her better use the litter box and be a bit more active, as I said before.

The trouble was it was tearing up her stomach. The thyroid med is okay (she started that a good time before the gabapentin), and the anti-nausea and appetite stimulant she'd had before back in 2018 when she was battling her new at the time diagnosis of chronic constipation and then diabetes but once the gabapentin came on board, uuuugh.

I tried pill popping her before breakfast and dinner like they told me but it didn't seem to help. Then I'd crush up her dose into a powder, mix it with a little water and then mix THAT with a small chunk of her pate canned food before giving her the rest of breakfast, etc. and it STILL didn't seem to help.

I got the 2 CBD oils in the mail (Honest Paws "Wellness" and NuLeaf "CBD for Pets") and decided to take a chance. I started dosing her with the CBD 2x a day along with her regular meds, then slowly got her off the gabapentin first and honestly I saw improvement pretty quick! Mainly in that, her tummy didn't seem upset anymore and she started sleeping better, etc.

I stopped the Hills Science Diet food (still have some left), got her back on her Friskies/Fancy Feast classic pate (low carb) and I broke up a 3oz can of kitten food into 4 chunks. I mixed 1 in with breakfast, 1 with lunch, 1 with dinner and then left the 4th chunk as a "midnight treat" and her appetite slowly improved so I stopped the anti-nausea and appetite stimulant meds. I still have those 3 left (gaba, anti-nausea and stimulant) "just in case" but so far so good?

So right now all she's getting daily is her thyroid and her CBD oil. I still have to sometimes give her 1/8 to 1/4th teaspoon of Miralax for her bowels but all in all she seems to be doing MUCH better. The kitten food has been putting weight on her slowly but surely. I'll use small spoonfuls of the TikiCat pouches as "treats" too. She had 1 bought of diarrhea (my fault) from the Tiki but nothing since.

According to my at home scale, she's up to 9.7 lbs as of this morning! It's been a hard slog. I don't know if she's gaining too slow or too fast? It's almost been a month, since I posted this thread and soon thereafter all of this (above) started to happen. I am still a bit concerned with her BS levels. They've come way down some from the 240 highs but it's still elevated I think from the kitten food? I have all of her numbers in my notebook so I'll be updating my chart here online but I don't suspect she'll need the kitten food much longer?

My vet also called to check in (something they've been trying to do since the pandemic, etc. slammed them and appointments are so far out) on Sept. 20th and I told them about everything. They weren't happy about the CBD oil or the kitten food. I'm taking Fena in to see them next on Monday, the 4th.

Should I bring up her still elevated BS levels again? I also know kitten food is high in phosphorous and while her kidney tests have been checking out good (pre-kitten food), should I ask for another full blood panel done just to be sure..? I called this morning and they DO have Adequan so should I ask for that injection?

Sorry to be such a rambler, I don't have many good days as I call them, for myself lately so I tend to just let it all out there. Thanks so much!

 

I'm glad Fena is feeling better, I'll go ahead and tag Wendy for you
@Wendy&Neko

 

Thank you Diane, do you have any advice at this point...? I see your boy Tyler was diagnosed around the same time, my Fena was 8/2018....

 

My thought was the same as Wendy's re. the Adequan. Just a point - gabapentin is best used for neuropathic pain. Arthritis is not in that category. It's unlikely that it was helping. Cosequin is a combination of glucosamine and condroitin and is a joint health supplement that's available from Amazon, Chewy's, etc. While it is less desirable in terms of kidney issues, a low dose of an NSAID (non steroidal anti-inflammatory) may help with pain. I would be very cautious, though. NSAIDS can cause kidney problems.

As far as weight issues, obviously baby food is good. I would go through Dr. Lisa's food chart to look for foods that are low in carbs but higher in calories. The one food that I recall that may fit that category is Wellness. I don't know the phosphorus content, though.

 

Hi Sienne, thank you! Yeah my vet struggles to keep Adequan in stock, thus the gabapentin. It has been used for arthritis, off label, but yeah it wasn't working good for my girl in terms of stomach issues. I did see her mobility improve on it, aka she didn't avoid the litter box anymore for example.

I actually bought "Wellness" kitten food, chicken pate - that's the brand I've been giving her, with TikiiCat Mousse Variety as "treats". I'd hoped they were low in carbs but her numbers are still up (more than when she was just on Friskies/Fancy Feast classic pate).. I thought it might be the kitten food but maybe not then?

Yeah I read phosphorus can be high in kitten food due to growing strong bones, etc.

I worry about phosphorus level because she is 17, her kidneys... I dunno why, on blood tests are showing up as great! I'd not like to wreck that, yanno?

But so far, this is the path we're on... so....

 

Which Wellness kitten food are you giving? The Complete Health kitten food is listed at 5% carbs (good for a diabetic), and phosphorus as 216mg/100kcals, also a very reasonable phosphorus number. I think most, if not all Friskies and Fancy Feast are much higher.

Another option I've tried for arthritis is hyaluronic acid - Hyaflex was the brand I used. It's a liquid and I just added it to the food.