How to fatten up a cat

[Blackrose]

Rush is 14 years old and is diabetic. To make a long story short, the insulin he is on was making him throw up horribly every night, so now he is off of the insulin. We already spent close to $300 on blood tests that got us nowhere, so we are hesitant to take him to the vet again to just be told, $300 dollars later, "we really have no clue, but we can try this...." But that is besides the point.

With him now not on his insulin he has gotten SKINNY. He used to be a plump-ish cat and now he is skin and bones. I don't know how much food he eats (we free feed him), but apparently it isn't enough.

I was wondering if there was any type of food I could feed him to get him to gain some weight? He LOVES canned food and I've been feeding him half a can a night just for a treat. Would giving him the daily ration of canned food ment for a cat of his weight help to plump him up or should I buy a different brand of dry food (currently he is on Iams Hairball as it is high in fiber....the vet said he should have a diet hight in fiber).

[Catty1]

Did the vet take him off the insulin?

I'd try a second opinion, taking the results of the lab tests from the first vet.

Without some sort of insulin, all the best food in the world will do no good.

http://www.petdiabetes.org/faq.htm#types

http://www.petdiabetes.org/faq.htm

http://sugarcats.blogspot.com/2006/0...at-feline.html

smokey the elder has lots of experience with diabetic kitties, so hopefully that point of view will be here shortly.

[Moesha]

Unfortunately, until the sugar levels are controlled, eating alot with weight loss is a symptom of diabetes. What kind of insulin were you giving? Have you thought of trying others? Did you change your kitty to a high protein, low carb diet? Sometimes that will help bring the levels down. My diabetic cat is being controlled by diet without having to take insulin injections anymore. Check out this website for some tips on feeding. How long has your kitty been diabetic?

[tonnerrebird]

I worked at an animal shelter where our humane officers kept getting calls about a very skinny golden retriever mix. Every time they checked in, she had plenty of good food and water. Finally, the dog was taken to the vet, and voila, she was diabetic. Almost immediately after recieving insulin, the dog gained weight.

I know it's hard for both people and pets who are diabetic. It took a year before the doctors were able to find the right dosage of insulin for my brother. What I would suggest is call the vet and let him/her know about the vomiting. It may be as simple as giving a lower dosage, or trying another brand or form of insulin. Depending on the vet, they may be able to give you some advice/options right over the phone, no extra cost. Also, ask about what foods the vet suggests putting your cat on. There are numerous types and brands of prescription or condition specific foods (i.e. weight gain, urinary tract, renal health, cardiac health). Remember to still make that switch in diet gradually.

Anyway, talk to the vet about decreasing the dosage or trying another type of insulin. It's frustrating because it's often a game of too high or too low. Once you've finally stablized your kitty on an ideal diet and insulin dosage, you'll notice. And once stable, diabetic animals can do quiet well, just like people. Unlike people, animals can't always tell you exactly what's not working for them.

Good luck!

[Catlady711]

I worked at an animal shelter where our humane officers kept getting calls about a very skinny golden retriever mix. Every time they checked in, she had plenty of good food and water. Finally, the dog was taken to the vet, and voila, she was diabetic. Almost immediately after recieving insulin, the dog gained weight.

I know it's hard for both people and pets who are diabetic. It took a year before the doctors were able to find the right dosage of insulin for my brother. What I would suggest is call the vet and let him/her know about the vomiting. It may be as simple as giving a lower dosage, or trying another brand or form of insulin. Depending on the vet, they may be able to give you some advice/options right over the phone, no extra cost. Also, ask about what foods the vet suggests putting your cat on. There are numerous types and brands of prescription or condition specific foods (i.e. weight gain, urinary tract, renal health, cardiac health). Remember to still make that switch in diet gradually.

Anyway, talk to the vet about decreasing the dosage or trying another type of insulin. It's frustrating because it's often a game of too high or too low. Once you've finally stablized your kitty on an ideal diet and insulin dosage, you'll notice. And once stable, diabetic animals can do quiet well, just like people. Unlike people, animals can't always tell you exactly what's not working for them.

Good luck!

I second all that.

One addition though... Free feeding a diabetic animal seems like a surefire way to have bad results. All of the diabetic pets we see are put on very strictly controled diets. Everytime an animal eats it affects the blood glucose and will play HAVOC with the insulin dosage. The ones that follow the vets instructions to the letter on insulin AND diet seem to have very few problems and live longer.

[Blackrose]

I'll ask about a different kind of insulin - my dad is a pharmacist and he wondered if a different type would work as well.

We've lowered the dosage for his insulin and he would still vomit. Before the vet wants to "offically" tell us to lower his dosage he wants us to bring Rush in for a blood test again....my mom is loath to pay the money for something that we don't even know will help him in the long run.

We also think that him eating the dry food caused him to vomit. Now that he is off the insulin and only eat moist food (Nutro Max Cat) he hasn't vomited in large quantities at all - only a little spot here or there. He also also gained a bit of weight.

We weighed him the other day and he weighed about eight pounds. Considering at a healthy weight he was 12-14 pounds, he is very skinny.

And once stable, diabetic animals can do quiet well, just like people.

He has been "officially" diabetic for about a year or so now, maybe more. He had been stable and his diet and insulin were working fine. It has just been recentally that this has started happening.

When we took him in for his blood test, the only thing wrong with him was an inflamed pancreas. The vet put him on meds to help that as well as meds to help stop his vomiting. The meds to stop the inflammation were an anti-inflammatory drug (imagine that). When he stayed on those meds he didn't vomit either - but he was on them for about a month longer than he should have been to stop the inflamation. It got to the point where he wouldn't take the pill and when we would liquify it and shoot it down his throat he would cough it back up later.

Once we stopped the pills and the insulin both - no vomiting. Just recentally he has started to vomit whenever he would eat the dry cat food. Now that he only eats moist, no vomiting.

His stomach also gurgles something awful, so I don't think it has anything really to do with the insulin by itself at all, but his digestive tract. Something that the insulin just sets off and the hard food irritates.

I really have no idea. I've talked a couple of times with some vet techs and they really have no idea either. We are all just stumped.