Remission diabetes

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AliMA

AliMA

Member Since 2016
I'm looking into getting a female 14 year old with remission diabetes.
Can anyone please help me with letting me know the pros/cons of an overweight cat that needs weight loss strict diet in remission please?
Thank you
 
Hi thank you for your reply.
Well she isn't mine yet so I don't have much information
She is eating RD prescription food 30 (mg?) a day and it's only her remission diabetes and overweight which is the problem.
No consequence from being overweight to the joints as of yet. She is very playful, she out played me, wore me out! I laid down in her pen whilst she ate her dinner in the end.
 
I'm not familiar with RD food. Is it dry or canned? The best way to help her lose weight and stay in remission, is to feed her a low carb canned food. Most dry foods are way too high in carbs, and many of the prescription diets are as well. She sounds like she feels great and would make a wonderful pet!
 
Yes it seems a dry food. I'm not sure what brand as I didn't see the bag but it's like little pellets if that helps anyone?
They seemed to want to keep her on that dry diet but I could always offer the idea of a canned diet due to whet loss being greater.
Although got greater chance of the measurement she on not being measured out correctly with canned, right?
 
I think RD is a Hills product and very high carb. If you're planning to adopt her, you could change her food afterwards. We can help you find an appropriate food and amount to feed. Plan to weigh her weekly and purchase a human glucose meter to periodically test her sugar to make sure she stays in remission. If you tell us what country you're in, we can help with food choice and meter choice.
 
R/D is definitely Hills Prescription diet (R == Reduction? I think) and I believe it only comes in dry. That's what vets try to give to the cats that are "fluffy", as I like to call it. Big boned, if you prefer ;-)

She sounds perfect, I'd scoop her up before someone else does!

Switch her to a lower carb wet, glucose test her periodically to catch it if she falls out of remission...easy peasy!

Best of luck to you,
Sandi& Whisper.
 
Yes Hills that sounds right. I've had cats on RD when I was a wee lass.
I'm in the UK. I've not ever had a wet food diet for a cat needing a strict diet though so I definately need your help there please.
I'm going to scoop her up as she is adorable.
I guess I could weigh her at home? As she would sit on my scales as getting to my vets is tricky due to my own disability needs. So weekly I'd be racking up taxi bills or annoying the neighbour a lot!
 
Congratulations on the impending adoption!!! Absolutely weigh her at home. Some buy a baby scale, but others weigh themselves holding their kitty, then without and subtract to get the weight. Some of our UK members will be along to give you food and meter recommendations.
 
Hi AliMA,

I find it far, far easier to manage a kitty's weight feeding wet food and using a digital baby scales to monitor the cat (reasonably priced on Amazon/ebay). My cat was prescribed weight loss dry Rx diets and they were worse than useless; starvation rations for years and they didn't help her lose weight.

The wet food is better for the kitty . You just work out approximately how many calories to feed initially (we can help you with that), weigh the kitty regularly, make small, gradual adjustments to the amount fed until ideal weight is reached. (Once at ideal weight the idea is to weigh then increase if losing, decrease if gaining weight.)

EDITED TO ADD: When transitioning a kitty to a new food you need to do the transition very gradually to avoid digestive upsets. More advice on this can be found at catinfo.org. (Recommend reading the whole site; it's invaluable.)

1. Weigh the kitty and work out approximately how many calories of wet food to feed. Your vet should be able to give you an initial guide based on the calories contained in her current R/d food allowance. You need to keep the calories fed the same initially. (We can help you with working out the calories in the wet food.)

2. Feed the daily allowance for several days then weigh again.

3. If weight remains the same or increases then decrease the food allowance by a small amount. Weight loss programmes for cats must carried out very, very gradually.

4. Rinse and repeat until ideal weight is reached.

5. For ongoing maintenance once ideal weight has been reached, keep a simple diary of the weight of food she eats each day (e.g. pack weight (tin/pouch) x qty fed per day + brand/variety of food). Weigh once a week and record result in her diary. If weight increases, feed a little less; if weight drops feed a little more. You'll get a good feel for this in no time.

Plenty of great information about feline weight management and nutrition on highly respected, vet-authored site, catinfo.org. Check the link "Feline Obesity" on the home page for specific advice on how to help your new kitty lose weight safely.


Mogs
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Ah that's great thank you. I've just adopted her. Just got to collect her now at some point. Exciting times.

Due to my own disability I wouldn't manage hold her and stand on scales. I'm not sure of her weight yet but she is very obese bless her.

I don't understand something, when she loses weight you increase the food,
Surely she will just put that weight back on? Am imissing something here?
 
AliMA said:
I guess I could weigh her at home? As she would sit on my scales as getting to my vets is tricky due to my own disability needs. So weekly I'd be racking up taxi bills or annoying the neighbour a lot!
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I'm in a very similar boat, AliMA.

I got this scales for my girl; works a treat:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PORTABLE-DIGITAL-ELECTRONIC-WEIGHING-BATHROOM/dp/B01J5QXTX4/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1475063713&sr=8-13&keywords=digital baby scales

It's also available from several vendors on ebay at the same price if you prefer shopping with them.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...scales.TRS0&_nkw=digital+baby+scales&_sacat=0

(Free delivery from vendors on both sites.)


Mogs
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AliMA said:
I've just adopted her.
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Yay! Kitty has found her Person!! :bighug:

AliMA said:
I don't understand something, when she loses weight you increase the food,
Surely she will just put that weight back on? Am i missing something here?
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You only increase food if a kitty loses weight AFTER reaching their ideal weight. As is the case with ourselves, kitties' weight fluctuates a little sometimes so by weighing regularly and tweaking the amount fed as needed you'll be able to keep your lovely new furbaby in tip-top shape.

(I've amended my earlier post to make this a bit clearer.)


Mogs
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Congratulations! If you have a been looking around the site already, then you probably know that all questions are welcome, not just diabetes related.

Combined, we have pretty extensive experiences with almost everything Feline.

We'd love to know her name and see pictures once you get her home and settled!
 
AliMA said:
Yes Hills that sounds right. I've had cats on RD when I was a wee lass.
I'm in the UK. I've not ever had a wet food diet for a cat needing a strict diet though so I definately need your help there please.
I'm going to scoop her up as she is adorable.
I guess I could weigh her at home? As she would sit on my scales as getting to my vets is tricky due to my own disability needs. So weekly I'd be racking up taxi bills or annoying the neighbour a lot!
Click to expand...
I'm not able to stand on my bathroom scale and hold my cat so I bought a digital baby scale. It's easy to train a kitty to sit on one. They're also more accurate at low weights (kitty and baby range) than human scales are. Many of those don't work well under 5 - 6 kg (10 -12 lb).
 
hmm well right now she don't have a name really as she shelter have just nicknamed her; and i don't like it. So i'm trying to think up names for her which suits in well with my other cat i have who has uniqueness too.
Once she is settled i will be snapping pictures for sure, as i am a keen photographer and always been grumped at by my other cat for interrupting pretend snoozles.
 
Thank you much appreciated. I will print it out when I do my next load printing for work.
She is definately a no. 9, so clear.
 
If I was to want to give my cat a few treats when giving my current cat some shop bought treats (or his favourite a chicken); what would be best for my new cat if anything so she isn't left out but not going to impact her diabetes side of things?
Is there somewhere where I can access a list which is 'never' to be given cat with diabetes; like how you get the lists of posionious foods?

Thank you
 
Hi, well you can try giving Thrives (freezed snacks) it's a brand but I don't know were you are at in the world so I don't know if you know that brand ;)
It's not easy having an overweight kitty, I've also one at home, Baco (see picture), who is in remission for almost 5.5 months now and i'm trying to get her to lose the weight but it's going really slow.. She will get there hopefully eventually but i'm not going to lie that it's an easy job.
Please feel free to ask any questions about it!
 
Welcome and congratulations! I'm sure your new kitty will bring you so much joy! :)
I give the thrive treats :) most places sell them like sainsburys in the uk I feed wet food only you can feed many brands of shop bought low carb ones - @Elizabeth and Bertie can give you a list of suitable ones which you can mail order too! I'm going to be trying some new ones shortly.
I just switched to 7+ whiskas from Sheba fine flakes as Tempest decided she wasn't eating that any more but as it does contain 'various sugars' I don't want to soley feed it.
 
I'm in uk and not heard of them before.
I've had an overweight cat before but she didn't lose weight well. That was when I was in school and didn't have access to her diet. Now I have access so I'm hoping I can change things for my new cat.
 
Is there any treats they allowed ? Like my other cat has left over chicken sometimes, can she have any too to not feel left out?
She had a sliver of his by sneakiness. I quickly took away the rest though.
 
AliMA said:
Is there any treats they allowed ? Like my other cat has left over chicken sometimes, can she have any too to not feel left out?
She had a sliver of his by sneakiness. I quickly took away the rest though.
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Many people use small pieces of plain cooked chicken or other meat as a treat. There is a variety of freeze dried meat treats you can buy as well.
 
Sainsbury's do Thrive freeze-dried chicken treats. Cheaper (and better quality) are Cosma Snackies from zooplus.co.uk. The XL snackies are cheaper per kilo; they are a bit large but you can split them into kitty-sized pieces really easily.

How's New Kitty settling in? Has she told you her Name yet?


Mogs
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Phew. They have beeen having arguments but to be expected.
When she has chance to stroll about she is quite content and as though she been here years. No name yet, she doesn't reply to anything and she doesn't suit anything either.
I have got an incling what she may end up with but it's if she ends up replying to it on a regular basis.
 
Even Shen doesn't seem sure about the name yet so not told anyone about what it may be; or that she even exists; you guys are so lucky you know I have her.

They are growling for so long at each other, I hate it as it's upsetting my cat so much but I worry also what is it doing to her (her being over so badly is her heart going to cope with the stress of moving and the stress of the introduction) - so how long should I let them growl and hiss for? It's mainly her doing all the growling and my cat is happily sitting there to start with.
 
PS: Feliway classic diffuser and the new Feliway Friends diffusers might help promote a feeling of safety for both cats. (Best regular prices I've found for these are on animeddirect.co.uk but if you shop at Medicanimal you might get a special offer on their site from time to time which might end up getting you a better discounted price.)


Mogs
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Thanks for link, I live alone so a lot is hard to do but will attempt.
They are sitting near the door either side most the time.
I already have an infuser thanks.
 
I've been using tiny Bits of boiled chicken to get the two cats to eat near each other at same time at different distances.
This is working well and getting a close distance. But then if I don't have chicken and just leave them to walk up to each other then there is scraps and excessive noise.
I'm worried as my other cat is partially sighted and then cos my new cat is excessively overweight (what is the stress doing to her heart? Will she be ok with this running on like this constantly?!)
My partially sighted cat seems to be accepting her and is then coming back to upset that he can't have contact.
Doesn't help as they on separate diets too so feeding is a separate room challenge too as I'm disabled so I can't just lift up quickly whilst monitoring

Sorry ramble
 
Forgive me if this has been answered and I missed it, but what is the diet that your other cat is on? Depending on how specific it is and what it is for, you might be able to get them both on the same diet and not have to worry about it.

Let us know :)
 
I understand that your health issues make things trickier but try not to rush the introduction process; a little bit of patience and a long introduction can make for a much happier household over the long haul. It's very much a case of slow and steady winning the race.


Mogs
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Critter Mom said:
I understand that your health issues make things trickier but try not to rush the introduction process; a little bit of patience and a long introduction can make for a much happier household over the long haul. It's very much a case of slow and steady winning the race.


Mogs
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I agree completely. We adopted our diabetic cat almost exactly a year ago.

We left him in a completely separate room for about two weeks, just letting them sniff under the door and swapping blankets back-and-forth between the two rooms.

That let me focus on getting in a routine with our new diabetic, and I didn't have the "diabetes" stress and the stress of introductions at the same time.

Sandi.
 
They are improving. Tolerating each other and wanting to see each other & im not introducing that .
My other cat is on a sensitive diet as he has the same condition as myself actually ironically and he can't tolerate food well; he can't digest well so needs a sensitive diet. It has took much research and testing with the vet to get the right balance for him whilst he was so poorly. So we cannot adjust his diet to suit easier feeding.


I just found out today the cat centre where I got my new cat from has actually aged her wrongly. So she has two d.o.b's so a lot of her documents are very confusing. But she is younger than thought
 
Ok, then yes definitely don't upset the apple cart with your current cat. I know how hard food sensitivity/allergy issues are to figure out.

I just wanted to ask because a lot of new sugar parents don't realize that they might be able to just get everyone on the same diet -- but of course that assumes no other issues. And then I'll also assume that the sensitive diet is not appropriate for your diabetic (?). Just trying to cover all bases to help you out if possible :-)

When I adopted Whispy last year they only guessed that he was 10-14yrs. Oh how I hope that he is on the younger end of that, too! I'd love to have extra years with him, heaven willing.

Still looking forward to pictures and knowing when her name has revealed itself to you!

Best,
Sandi&Whisper.
 
One name seems to be sticking more than another but inwant to be sure.

Yes I doubt my other cats diet would be allowed to be for diabetic catxanyway. But thank you for trying. Appreciate it.
I do hope you have the longer years too. It was so nice to to know I may have extra years.
 
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