Successfully in Remission but STILL losing weight?

Hi All,

Thank you for the great help this forum has been. I'm posting because I can't seem to find any information on the problem I'm having with my cat, Kashmir.

He is a ~15 year old Siamese male diagnosed with Diabetes approx. 8 months ago. We had some initial trouble with managing him including a DKA episode, but since then we have used the info on this forum to get him under control.

He has been off Insulin for about 3-4 months after we replaced his diet with a low-carb, high protein wet food diet (Friskies Pate Series), with occasional freeze-dried chicken protein treats. We stopped administering insulin since his BG has been consistently between 100-200.

The problem is that, despite being fed regularly whenever he is hungry, he has been consistently losing weight. He's currently at ~9.6lbs, down from 10 about last month (He was about 12lbs when he was diagnosed). He is bony and we can easily feel his spinal column under his fur.

Other than that, his behavior is normal - he is grooming himself, loves to go briefly go outside (under supervision) and seems to have a healthy appetite. His stool looks healthier too since being diagnosed.

He recently had a full examination about 6 months ago and nothing odd was detected aside from the diabetes.

I am getting concerned about the weight loss and I'm questioning what I am doing wrong for him to be in such a skinny condition. Does anyone have any advice or input?

Thank you,

Austin

 

Hi Austin,

How much water is Kashmir drinking? Also how much is he peeing? I ask because if his BG levels are ranging between 100 and 200 then he is spending part of the time in diabetic numbers. (Normal BG reference range is 50-120mg/dL as measured on a human meter.)


Mogs
.

 

I would say he is drinking/urinating normally (as compared to before he was diabetic). If I were to compare an average for his BG numbers, for the last 2 months its been fluctuating in the 130-180 range.

 

A lot can change in cats in 6 months. I would take him to the vet and get senior labs done. Hyperthyroid can cause the symptoms you're describing also.

 

Thank you for this, I just scheduled the vet appointment today. Hyperthyroid could be possible...I'll try to follow up with what the vet says so others can be helped by the thread.

 

If it is hyper-T then that can impact BG levels.


Mogs
.

 

UPDATE:

So the bloodwork has come back okay, the only thing the Doc noticed is that he's anemic. This is new since he did bloodwork a few months back. Other than that nothing unusual in the blood. She also says that the X-ray is showing some sort of 'calcified mass' in his intestinal track that is about 3 inches long. She asked if he's been eating anything unusual, which I don't think he has been. My spouse has been home for the last 6 months during the pandemic and would definitely have seen something if that were the case.

We were given stool softener for him to see if whatever it is can be passed. He's going back in tomorrow for another x-ray to see if it has been dislodged.

No clue what it could be, does anyone have any guesses?

 

great point and so common--if it is they have a transdermal that works.

 

I wish I knew--these kitties keep us on our toes-it sounds like your boy is a strong fighter-anemia is tough but manageable and depending how low high HCT is there are things you can do just make sure you know the risks and what to look for. Darbo and Epogen are injections to help build red blood cells but it does come with some risk-and will need to be monitored but most have good rate of success. Im praying for your boy that the mass is nothing serious....Please keep us informed. Iron shots are also for anemia but again comes with risks.