very skinny after eating fancyfeast

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hairlesscatlover

Member Since 2014
HI everyone! I Have a 16 year old hairless cat named Nicodemus. Nick for short. He was diagnosed with diabetes one year ago. The vet put him on lantus insulin and I home test. I tried to keep him regulated but it had been so hard. one week he would be okay the next off the meter. The vet never told me I should feed canned food, nor 250 is to high. About a month ago I got online and started researching. I found fancy feast classic canned food is good for diabetics and some friskies. He has been on ff and his number have improved dramatically. I have been giving him a half unit of insulin when he reaches 150. So far he is doing great, jumping, drinking less, Other than he is very skinny now. I believe it is because he is on low carbs, thus making him lose weight like people. He was at a normal weight before starting the canned food. He acts and seems fine. I had a blood panel ran on him a couple months ago when he had an exam and everything looked normal.


Also, he is eating anywhere from 2-4 cans of fancy feast a day. (along with my other cats sneaking the leftovers) It is costing me a lot per month, so i was thinking about a raw diet. I raise my own chickens so I would have a fresh healthy source of meat. I have read several websites about raw diets. Lisa A. Pierson has some great information. After the start up cost for a grinder and supplements I think I could cut my food bill in half. What do you guys think about all of this? thanks!!!
 
Here is a list of low-carb canned. Many of us here feed Friskies which is less expensive than FF.
I would just try feeding more.
Is it rage for a one year old cat to have diabetes. I suspect the cat has other problems that is causing the high food consumption. Have you discussed that with your vet?
Most cats are fine with 2-3 cans of FF a day.
 
Low carb diets cause people to lose fat, not muscle mass.

I would feed him as much wet or raw food as he wants. Unregulated diabetes can cause muscle wasting. I would also look at possibly doing a kidney panel. Senior cats can often have kidney disease can sneak in and Fancy Feast is high in phosphorus which is hard on the kidneys.
 
Another condition causing weight loss common in older cats is hyperthyroidism.
 
BJM, I was just thinking that it could be hyperthyroidism.... I am currently looking for a new vet since this one doesn't seem to know much about diabetes... When I find a new one what kind of tests should I ask to have performed on him?

Also which friskies are okay i haven't really found a list?
 
I feed my diabetic cat Wink the Fancy Feast pate style foods, the Friskies Special Diet pate style foods, and some of the Friskies pate foods. I tend to stay away from the Friskies Mixed Grill flavor since it's a bit higher in carbs then our ideal limit of 10% carbs. Wink has been OTJ (off-the-juice, no insulin needed) for 20 months now. Here's hoping you can get your kitty OTJ with a course of insulin and low carb food.

One good resource for how much carb content is in most of the canned cat foods available in the US, is vet Dr. Lisa Pierson's Cat Food Info Chart, link here: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf There have been a few updates since Dr. Pierson first published this chart back in September 2012, but most of the information is believed to be still relevant. Look in the 3rd column of the chart under calorie % and look for foods that are <10% carb for your diabetic kitty to eat.

Basically, foods in gravy are higher in carbs and you want to have a few cans in your pantry in case your extra sweet kitty's BG (blood glucose) levels drop too low. The higher carb content in the gravy will help to raise the BG levels back up quickly.

Are your cats BG levels still unregulated? Your cat may require more food than normal if this is the case, up to 50% more. I know it can be difficult to get a cat to eat as much as they should to gain weight.

Have you seen this Body Condition Score chart? It could be helpful to you to determine if your cat is too skinny and needs to gain weight. We kind of get used to seeing our cats a bit overweight and it takes a while to get used to their new slimmer selves. Well, at least it took time for me to get used to seeing normal weight cats after having them a bit too plump for years.
 
See the vet interview topics in my signature link (yes, we need them that often!)
 
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