Ideas for gaining weight?

[MClarke087]

Dennis has lost a decent amount of weight since being diagnosed in April; his vet said he's almost at the point of "we should take action". Anyone have a "go-to" method for helping a diabetic cat gain a little bit of weight? I'd be very happy if he gained a pound or two. Please note: Dennis' BG tends to run high and until we get a grip on that I'm looking for a method of weight gain that won't make his BG go any higher.

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

HMMM
I am not a fan of Hills products but AD is a high calorie and a decent amount of water content wet food-(organ meat mostly)

Looking at you ss I am wondering if you may have considered a different insulin choice?
I started on vetsulin and it did not last nearly long enough--I also tried pro zinc but in the end I have found much more control with lantus and it is much more gentle with a depot which helps control. Vetsulin was ideally made for dogs not cats-it hits faster and harder then the rise is pretty quick (generally speaking)
I see that Dennis is not having control (the peeing all over) .... I am not experienced enough to give specific advice but if you wanting more calories AD is high calorie and about 10% carb.
@Chris & China has some great before (controlled) and after (controlled) pictures
Good luck!

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Better BG control will help with gaining weight.
Will Dennis just eat more of the same food you are now feeding? I would rather do that then add another different food.

 

[MClarke087]

HMMM
I am not a fan of Hills products but AD is a high calorie and a decent amount of water content wet food-(organ meat mostly)

Looking at you ss I am wondering if you may have considered a different insulin choice?
I started on vetsulin and it did not last nearly long enough--I also tried pro zinc but in the end I have found much more control with lantus and it is much more gentle with a depot which helps control. Vetsulin was ideally made for dogs not cats-it hits faster and harder then the rise is pretty quick (generally speaking)
I see that Dennis is not having control (the peeing all over) .... I am not experienced enough to give specific advice but if you wanting more calories AD is high calorie and about 10% carb.
@Chris & China has some great before (controlled) and after (controlled) pictures
Good luck!

Yes, I'm considering a different insulin. Thanks for the suggestion; I'm still trying to understand how to interpret cat food labels so any advice is appreciated!!

 

[MClarke087]

Better BG control will help with gaining weight.
Will Dennis just eat more of the same food you are now feeding? I would rather do that then add another different food.

Yes, he would eat and eat and eat if I let him. But I thought that controlling how much he ate was crucial..... Is that not the case? His food consumption drastically changed when he was diagnosed because he went from "free feeding" to having two portioned meals per day.

So long as he is on a food with an acceptable level of carbs, will feeding him more of the food substantially increase his BG? That's what I'm afraid of.

 

[Erica & Carter]

Yes, he would eat and eat and eat if I let him. But I thought that controlling how much he ate was crucial..... Is that not the case? His food consumption drastically changed when he was diagnosed because he went from "free feeding" to having two portioned meals per day.

So long as he is on a food with an acceptable level of carbs, will feeding him more of the food substantially increase his BG? That's what I'm afraid of.

No, as long as the food is under 10% carbs, it will not make his BG other than the common food spike that can sometimes happen an hour or two after meals. Smaller, more frequent meals are easier on the pancreas. Most people here feed their diabetics minimum 4 times per day and a lot of us use autofeeders. I'm not sure if you're home-testing, but the only time you don't want to feed is 2 hours before you're shot time, so your pre-shot number isn't influenced by food. With Vetsulin, it's important to feed two good sized meals about 20 minutes before you shoot the insulin, because Vetsulin is fast-acting and they need a good amount of food on-board for the onset. Other than those specific times, you can feed smaller meals in between shot times. This often helps "feed the curve" to prevent them from dropping too low and potentially bouncing.

 

[MClarke087]

No, as long as the food is under 10% carbs, it will not make his BG other than the common food spike that can sometimes happen an hour or two after meals. Smaller, more frequent meals are easier on the pancreas. Most people here feed their diabetics minimum 4 times per day and a lot of us use autofeeders. I'm not sure if you're home-testing, but the only time you don't want to feed is 2 hours before you're shot time, so your pre-shot number isn't influenced by food. With Vetsulin, it's important to feed two good sized meals about 20 minutes before you shoot the insulin, because Vetsulin is fast-acting and they need a good amount of food on-board for the onset. Other than those specific times, you can feed smaller meals in between shot times. This often helps "feed the curve" to prevent them from dropping too low and potentially bouncing.

Hmmm, I think the food is 12% carbs......although his meals are 50-60% boiled chicken breast and the rest is his regular canned food.... I'm sure since there is so much chicken breast added to his diet, he could eat some more of the canned food without it affecting him too much.....that's just a guess though.
I didn't know that I was supposed to feed him 20 mins before shooting though- I always shoot while he's eating because he doesn't resist the syringe. I've been doing it all wrong!!
I'll look into getting one of the timed feeders because I really like the idea but I have to wait until I have some funds.... Thank you for the input it really helps

 

[Erica & Carter]

Hmmm, I think the food is 12% carbs......although his meals are 50-60% boiled chicken breast and the rest is his regular canned food.... I'm sure since there is so much chicken breast added to his diet, he could eat some more of the canned food without it affecting him too much.....that's just a guess though.
I didn't know that I was supposed to feed him 20 mins before shooting though- I always shoot while he's eating because he doesn't resist the syringe. I've been doing it all wrong!!
I'll look into getting one of the timed feeders because I really like the idea but I have to wait until I have some funds.... Thank you for the input it really helps

It's not the biggest deal if you've been shooting while he's eating, but the risk is that if he starts to eat a bit, and then you shoot, and he runs away or decides he doesn't want to eat anymore - then he wouldn't have enough food on board. Feeding and then shooting about 20 minutes later guarantees you make sure he eats his entire portion and then the food can start acting as a buffer for that shot.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Until you start to get the BG under control, you can feed a lot more because without the correct amount of insulin, the glucose from the food they're eating can't get into the cells to nourish them, so the cat eats more and more trying to satisfy a hunger that can't be satisfied

Think of insulin like it was a key....and each cell of the body has a lock on it....without the right amount of insulin, the glucose that food breaks down into can't get into all the cells, so it ends up staying in the bloodstream (high BG) while the cells continue to starve.

If you want to see how far back China came once we started on Lantus, please look at her Profile page (link in our signature)....it can really be amazing!

As long as you're using Vetsulin it's important that he eat a "good meal" before the shot just to make sure there's something for the insulin to work on when it "hits", but you can feed mini-meals throughout the cycle after that to help him gain. You just don't want to feed him for the 2 hours before the Pre-shot testing so that when you get that test, it's without the influence of food.

With Vetsulin, you should Test, Feed, wait 20-30 minutes and shoot

 

[Alexi]

Rachel, I think you need to reduce his dose again, if you look at Dennis's spreadsheet see what happened the day after the missed shot, yes he started high as was to be expected but then his glucose was pushed down to a red number on 6 units, and bounced back up again by morning. He is still in a bounce and reducing the dose will help him to get out of it. Can you try 5 units for a few days?

 

[MClarke087]

Rachel, I think you need to reduce his dose again, if you look at Dennis's spreadsheet see what happened the day after the missed shot, yes he started high as was to be expected but then his glucose was pushed down to a red number on 6 units, and bounced back up again by morning. He is still in a bounce and reducing the dose will help him to get out of it. Can you try 5 units for a few days?

Okay,
I'm nervous to drop it again since he's staying in the 500-600+ range pre shot, but yes, he is going down to the 200s..... I went up to 6.5 from 6 for the last two shots.... should i decrease slowly to 5?

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

I personally don't think you should reduce at all.....With Vetsulin being a harsher, earlier hitting insulin, I don't think it's a big surprise that he's getting down into yellow/pink/red.....although when he does, it might help to set an alarm and try getting a +9 or +10 just to fill in a few of those big blank spaces

He's not getting down into "healing numbers" on the 6 units....I'd stay with the 6.5 and try to get a few more tests in at different times later on that PM cycle (who needs sleep anyway?)

Have you given any more thought to trying a longer acting insulin like Lantus or Levemir?