Diabetic cat has gotten too skinny, even with her insulin

Cookie turned 15 this year. Back in the spring she was diagnosed with diabetes. I was told she was underweight to begin with - only 4.26 kg. But her sugar was up at 15. She's on Lantus. She was on 3 units twice a day for a few months. When I brought her back in for a checkup, they noticed her numbers dive to a 3 at the lowest point so they dropped her to 1 unit. (yes there were a few other vet visits in between to make sure 3 units was right for her and i was told it was). (at some point I dropped her to 2.5 myself because something didn't seem right.) She's lost a ton of weight (3.8 kg at her last appt). I can feel her ribs. Really feel her ribs. This doesn't feel right to me. Her appetite is not always the best so I've stopped meal feeding her because I don't understand what's going on. My vet indicated she may have 're-set herself' but wasn't prepared to take her off the insulin entirely. Is she still getting too much insulin? Can I be feeding her more often, trying to get her weight up? Is this just the senior years? No, I'm not set up to do home testing. If I take her off the insulin and feed her as often as she wants, am I doing more harm than good? Please help.

 

Without testing her glucose, you really cannot know what is going on with her glucose levels. You say you are 'not set up to do home testing', but are you willing to home test? It is easy to get 'set up', and you can get a lot of advice on that here. It is so important that the insulin dose is correct, and insulin needs can change frequently. An occasional spot check at the vet's office just does not provide enough info to base dosing decisions on. You certainly do not want to be giving her too high of a dose, but you also don't want to just stop the insulin completely if she still needs some.

You can feed her more than a couple of times a day. I feed my girls 4 times a day, and I leave out anything that is left so they can graze. If she is so badly underweight, DEFINITELY feed her more. Cats often do tend to lose weight as they age, but a healthy senior cat will not be a walking skeleton. My Willow is 16.5, and I am always concerned that she is eating enough and maintaining her weight. I make chicken bone broth and add it to every meal. I give them PureBites freeze dried chicken treats, and I cook chicken breast for them. (The chicken breast meat works very well as a reward to Willow for letting me give her capsules. She was nearly impossible to pill all her life, but now we have a routine that is so easy, and she actually comes to me when it is time since all she thinks about is getting her chicken!) I have read that cat's protein requirements increase with age, so make sure she is getting high quality high protein food/treats. Willow has allergies, so I give her Zyrtec every day. I have found that it increases her appetite. I have also been giving her Canna-Pet for awhile now, and I think it may also increase her appetite slightly. If Cookie just will not eat enough, maybe an appetite stimulant of some kind is needed.

Has she been tested to make sure there are no other health issues that could be causing the weight loss and lack of appetite? How does she seem other than the weight loss, do you think she is in any pain?

 

https://feline-nutrition.org/nutrition/dont-let-your-senior-cat-become-a-skinny-old-kitty

https://www.petmd.com/blogs/nutriti...lder-cats-and-nutritional-protein-needs-29524#