Safe and effective weight gain for older diabetic kitties?

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3Cats_1Studio

3Cats_1Studio

Member Since 2013
Hello FDMB!

I was wondering if anyone here has ever needed to help their diabetic kitties gain a bit of weight, and if so how did they do it?

I've been scanning posts and I saw a couple of suggestions:

* Someone suggested "Young Again 0 Carb" I noticed within the post that suggested this, nobody was very sure of the phosphorus content. I did a bit of sleuthing and it seems that this brand has 0.8% Phosphorus. I also see its proteins are not plant based (correct me if I'm wrong). Which means the protein in this food is more available/ digestible to cats.

* Another person suggested coconut oil. This seemed odd to me. Is there ay substance behind this? - did it work well?

What merit does either of these two options have? Does anyone else have any other suggestions?
 
Re: Safe and effective weight gain for older diabetic kitti

The young again zero carb food is high calorie. The website says a normal feeding amount for most cats after the initial introduction is about 2 Tablespoons a day.

The coconut oil is often used for hairball. Most of the hairball products out there have molasses or added sugars.
The higher protein diet can be constipating for some cats.

I favor giving smaller meals more frequently since a diabetic cat isn't able to use all the nutrition of what they eat. They literally are starving to death.
This will continue until your cat is in regulation ( bg numbers are under 200) or in remission.
Giving your kitty frequent meals and getting insulin should help your cat improve overall.
 
Re: Safe and effective weight gain for older diabetic kitti

Use a low carb kitten food - its designed for growth an development. Fancy Feast Kitten Turkey & Giblets fits the bill. Or feed a slightly higher fat food. Fat has 8.5 calories per gram vs protein's 3.5 calories per gram (FYI: the numbers are different for humans)

Feed frequent moderate meals so scarf 'n' barf doesn't happen.

Do as good a job as you can controlling the diabetes; insulin allows the glucose to be used so that fat isn't broken down for energy instead.
 
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