Hi! I’m new here. My cat Morgan was recently diagnosed with agromegaly but is not diabetic which is very rare. We are doing our best to manage her symptoms. We are having a hard time controlling her hunger. She is currently eating Royal Canin Satiety Support but it does not help. I don’t want to over feed her but she wakes me up 3-4 times per night and is pretty aggressive to eat. We have 3 other cats so I’m not sure the auto feeder will work but any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you in advance for all of your knowledge and experience… and I’m sorry if your cat is suffering the same way.
Hello and welcome. How many times a day/night is Morgan getting fed now? And how many calories per day is she getting? I fed my girl Neko a raw diet, and it seemed to help control her hunger somewhat better than canned for some reason. I also found that since she was so food motivated, my other cat didn't dare get in her way when the autofeeder went off. Once she discovered the autofeeder delivered food, she hung around it instead of bugging me for food. You could try making "foodsicles", freezing a combination of food and water frozen and putting those out. They'll take a while to thaw before she can eat them.
My vet suggested 2 cans per day but I’m sure I’m feeding more. I’ll track it but maybe I’ll add some boiled chicken to help and see how that goes. She eating probably 7-8 times a day/night!
What made your vet test for Acromegaly to begin with? What were the signs that pointed in that direction (other than the hunger?) What was Morgan's fructosamine test number? What was her IGF-1 number (the acro test?) I'm so sorry that you are dealing with this in your cat. Wendy has a wealth of knowledge on Acromegaly and keeps very up to date on it. We have a number of members here who have treated their acro cats with surgery, stereotactic radiation therapy, and also Cabergoline, so there are lots of people who can share their experiences with you.
If it's the product I was looking at, that "Satiety Support" is only 82 calories per can. Unless you have a pretty small cat, that's likely not enough food. The ingredients aren't anything special in that food, I think you could find something better quality in a pet food store. You might want to look at getting a food for her that is lower carb - which rules out most of the "vet" foods. Diabetes is considered a later stage side effect of acromegaly, and she could one day become diabetic. It would be better to have her on an appropriate food at that point. If you haven't seen it yet, this website has good information on feline diet: https://catinfo.org/ How much does Morgan weigh now, and what is an ideal weight for her? Your scale is probably a good indicator of the right amount of food. Cats differ in amount needed based on age and activity level, much like us. A rough first approximation is required calories per day = [13.6 x optimal lean body weight in pounds] + 70.
She has a lot going on. We noticed little tremors, she has arthritis in all of her legs and boney growths on her spine. Her feet have gotten bigger and she’s been tested multiple times for diabetes but never had glucose in her urine. My vet had a hunch and referred us to a specialist that did a cat scan and confirmed the tumor.
She was overweight…about 17 pounds that’s why we started her on that food to get some weight off to help with her arthritis initially before we knew about the tumor. The catinfo.org seems so overwhelming for me. There are so many foods to choose from. My vet recommended the Satiety because of the higher fiber content to help her feel more full….it obviously isn’t helping with the acromegaly.
I think cats feel more full with more protein, not more carbs as the Royal Canin has. In my experience, those "vet weight loss" foods don't really help. I was working at a shelter where we put the fatties in a room by themselves and gave just weight loss food. Not a one lost weight. I ended up adopting one of them who was 17 lbs. I got him home, put him on a low carb diet, and that's when the weight came off, but at a good rate. Is she getting Solensia for her arthritis?
A lot of very good quality canned foods (short ingredient list, first ingredient being meat, no grains etc.) are surprisingly low calorie, if you want to be able to feed her more. You could also go the other way and look for a quality food that has more calories and see if that slows her down. I second what Wendy said, vet prescribed foods in my experience rarely deliver on what they promise, especially for weight issues. As for the feeder, I have a microchip-activated feeder for one of my cats who has IBS. She needs to be able to graze during the night so her stomach is never empty, otherwise she throws up, and with this feeder she is able to eat whenever she wants. It only opens for her (if your cat isn't microchipped, the feeder comes with a special tag you can add to her collar instead). I fill it with fresh food at night, throw out whatever remains in the morning, wash the bowl and add fresh food to it during the day. It's expensive and I won't lie, it hurt to spend that much money on it, but it's been a life changer for us. Edited to add that I'm sorry your baby was diagnosed with acromegaly, my recently-departed Chewie had to too and it's an awful disease. Very glad your kitty doesn't have diabetes, might be worth incorporating low carb as a criteria for the foods you feed her, to minimize her chances of developing it in the future?
Thank you I think I’ll look into a different food. Is there any in particular you would recommend? Yes she’s on Solensia. She’s also on Onsior, Amlodipine, Clopidogrel and gabapentin.
This really depends on the cat and your budget. Some cats have food allergies, some don't but are still picky with the proteins they eat. Sounds like your kitty has some of the other symptoms of acromegaly too, high blood pressure and heart issues. So you might want to look at a food that is lower in phosphorus too. The food list on the catinfo website lists a lot of the common foods available in North America, but is a couple years old, so missing some. Just pick a few foods available near you, and see if your cat likes it. Check out the carb and phosphorus numbers from the food list and make sure they aren't too high. A diabetic cat needs under 10% carbs. This CKD Diabetes list here lists some options.
Wendy am I reading the cat info chart correctly where something like Weruva Punkin lickin chicken or Nature’s recipe grainfree in Broth would be a good alternative because it’s higher in protein, lower in carbs and phos?
The other thing you need to check is that they have enough calories. The three main components in food are protein, fat and carbs. Lowering one means the other goes up. If not enough fat, there will be lower calories and you may need to feed more cans of food. You don't need to feed a super high protein, just more than what is in the Royal Canin.
Do you have a brand or brands you prefer? By the way….thank you for all of your patience with my questions and all of your knowledge!
