Weight loss worry

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Bluesmaven

Bluesmaven

Member Since 2017
Ok my boy Reger is a Maine Coon, he's a big cat. In the past a normal weight for him would have been 17-20 pounds. When he first got diagnosed October 5th he weighed 14 pounds yesterday he weighed 12.2 pounds. Will he ever start gaining weight again? How can I help him gain weight without affecting his bg? I am just keeping him on 4 flavors of Fancy Feast that are low in carbs and phospherous. I try to feed him 3 times a day but on my work days I can only feed him twice because I work 12 hour shifts. Ugh! :banghead:
 
Hi. If he is underweight, he should begin to gain some back once his glucose is more controlled. With Mia, once she started insulin, she still kept losing a little over the next month. Then, she began to put some back on. I bought a pet/baby scale so that I can monitor her weight very regularly. I do not think she will ever be back where she was in the past because she as on a dry food diet back then and is on 100% low-carb wet now.

Fancy Feast Classic Chicken Feast says, "Feed an average size adult cat 1 can per 3-1/2 pounds of body weight daily." So, Reger should be getting quite a bit of food. How many cans are you feeding him each day? You may want to consider getting an auto feeder so that you can feed him consistently, and maybe four times a day instead of three would be good (basically, every 6 hours).
 
not yet, have been trying foods but have finally given in to 4 flavors of Fancy Feast since they seem to be the only ones keeping him peeing in the litterbox. I am doing the dance between diabetes and cystitis. When I first changed him from dry to wet and started on the fancy feast he had a dramatic improvement in his neuropathy, he walks almost normally now. He was peeing in the box till I tried wellness and that seemed to set him back totally. I wanted something healthy for him but also in bigger cans with Fancy Feast I am going through 9 cans a day.
 
How many cans are you feeding him each day? You may want to consider getting an auto feeder so that you can feed him consistently, and maybe four times a day instead of three would be good (basically, every 6 hours).[/QUOTE]
he gets 6 cans and my little calico gets 3 cans. How does an auto feeder work with canned cat food and will it work with 2 cats?
 
Lots of people here use an auto feeder for wet food. I have seen posts that many freeze some of the food. I have also seen the suggestion to stick an ice cube in it so that it keeps it cool and melts to add more water as well.. added bonus. That second one is what I did for my sister's cat when she was out of town. You would probably just be putting the food in there before you leave for work to open at lunch time and just before you go to bed to open in the middle of the night, so the food would not be in the feeder an extremely long time anyway.

Up to this point, I have been able to feed my girls all four of their meals without needing an auto feeder (yes, I am crazy enough to get up in the middle of the night to feed them) though I see one in my future. I used to travel but have grounded myself until Mia is at least well regulated (she is a difficult one). Other people on here that actually use the feeders regularly could give you more advice. As far as two cats, if they are used to eating out of separate bowls, you might need two feeders; otherwise, as long as the opening is big enough, I guess they could squeeze in there together. :)
 
A couple more comments that came to me late.. some feeders have ice packs that go under the food tray to keep it cool. I have an older one that has just two compartments. If you were going to just use it for one meal at a time, one like that might be a great option for your two cats. If you needed to use it for multiple meals, you would need the bigger ones.. I have seen them with up to five compartments.
 
Good morning Bluesmaven,

Bluesmaven said:
he gets 6 cans
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I assume you are talking about FF 2.8 oz cans? They are 90 Kcal/can an average so he is eating about 540 Kcal a day which is more than enough to gain, esp if he is indoor kitty and has limited activity level.

He will be able to gain once his FD is controlled. My girl is not well controlled but she began to gain in March on 250 Kcal a day Friskies, then maintained well on 180 Kcal day. Now even though her BG levels have lotsa room for improvement she is 10 lb v. 6.5 in March when we started. BG control is crucial here, I think.
 
FurBabiesMama said:
A couple more comments that came to me late.. some feeders have ice packs that go under the food tray to keep it cool. I have an older one that has just two compartments. If you were going to just use it for one meal at a time, one like that might be a great option for your two cats. If you needed to use it for multiple meals, you would need the bigger ones.. I have seen them with up to five compartments.
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I think I might start feeding in the middle of the night, I have done that a time or two, I will set an alarm and get up at the same time every night
 
I use the PetSafe five compartment feeder. I have it timed for middle of the night feedings and put a flat ice pack on top of the feeder after I close it. There is a space inside for an ice pack but it's very small and can't find one small enough to fit. It works well for Leo so that he doesn't bother me in the middle of the night because he needs to eat every 4 hours or so due to his IBD.
 
Once you figure out how to set the timer it works well. It's a fairly good size feeder and is available on Amazon. I'm very happy with it and so is Leo my cat.
 
Lillie said:
Once you figure out how to set the timer it works well. It's a fairly good size feeder and is available on Amazon. I'm very happy with it and so is Leo my cat.
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Thanks so much Lillie I will check into one my 12 hour shifts might make this a necessary piece of equipment for us!
 
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