Samwise very skinny

We had Sam shaved today and man, is he skinny. I think he may not top even 6 pounds now. He was very matted and I was feeling bones on his spine when ever I petted him. He is still eating pretty well, about a can of FF per day plus whatever dry Evo he nommed during the day and night. I would see him at the dish whenever I had to get in the bathroom in the middle of the night. But.....he's also been at the water bowl again. Not as bad as before the DX but more than usual. We tried a blood test on him tonight but no joy there. We could not get his ear to bleed. It's been over a year and we've lost our blood letting skills. We will really try to get some blood tomorrow, I'm very worried about him right now. He went from 6 am this morning until around 2pm this afternoon with no food. He was at the groomer's that long. He did eat almost 2 cans of FF from 2 until about 9 this evening. So he did eat a lot of food. I am of the opinion that he may need to go back on the juice.

I feel so badly that he got this skinny and I was brushing him a lot. He was mostly matted on his neck, chest and belly. We did shave the worst bits off his neck and chest but after clipper burning him I quit and decided he needed someone that knew what they were doing. To top this story off the pizza lady in the mall called us to come get Sam as the groomer had to go home. Her house was on fire.

 

I am so sorry your Sam is going through this as well as you. You are worried and you probably should be since he seems to be losing weight. If it were me I would be taking Sam to the vet asap. He needs bloodwork done and a complete check up. I hope it is nothing serious. How old is Sam? Can you give us a little history on him?

Your 'blood letting skills' will come back. Remember to warm the ear first. Are your testing supplies up to date? Strips current?

 

I agree with Pamela that vet visit may be in order. The weight loss could be due to many things besides diabetes.

 

agree a vet visit is in order

Also, to help with the blood letting --- do you mix some water into the canned food? It will help improve hydration and that helps blood flow.

 

Sam is 15 and was DX'd with diabetes in Feb of 09. He went on insulin for about a month before we switched his diet to mostly canned with no wheat/corn. I did make an appt for him because we noticed the big weight loss. He was skinny before but was up to about 7 pounds. He gets plenty of water, he's drinking a lot of water in one sitting. He's not constantly at it but more than usual. He usually eats about one can of FF during the day and dry EVO. He's not fond of the dry so doesn't eat much of it. He also gets a pouch of Purrefctly Fish to get him to eat more. We are warming the eat before we try and stick him. We need to illuminate it, that's what we were forgetting. :roll:

 

I mean the ear, not the eat. :lol: I made a vet appt this afternoon for him since his rabies shot is due.

 

Sue, you need to find the reason for the weight loss before even considering giving him a vaccine. You should never vaccinate a sick cat.

 

I doubt they will vaccinate him once they see him. However, at lunch Sam sat on his stool by my chair and put his head under my arm trying to snatch my lunch. I fed him twice during the hour, FF in small portions which he ate all of. He also had some Evo. I'm not sure if he sick, he doesn't act it. I saw him outside rolling on the porch, happy rolling it was scratching his back. I'm not sure what to think. I imagine that blood work will show if anything is truly wrong with him or just his diabetes acting up. I'm not trying to act like stupid pet owner, I love my cats and would do anything for them. I'll let you know the results and what the vet says.

 

sounds like he is feeling pretty good.

There are a number of causes of weight loss -- including not enough calories.

Read http://www.catinfo.org for excellent Feline Nutrition info published by vet Dr. Lisa Pierson

The lowest carb canned foods don't have enough calories for every single cat -- a few cats need to have slightly higher carbs .

 

I was thinking the same thing. He's been eating a lot. Course, it was hard to tell how skinny he was with all the hair. My husband is home all day and he feeds him whenever he asks. He'll eat two cans of FF a day at times. I know the Evo is high calorie and wish I could get him off dry, but he loves the crunch. He ate half a can this morning for breakfast, then out to pee and back in to lay in his favorite spot on the back of the loveseat. I covered him with an afgan, he looked cold. Sound asleep in about 2 minutes. He'll go to the vet today. Keep ya posted.

 

Sam checked out fine. They had no idea over weight loss, said could have been caused by pain caused by mats pulling on skin and not feeling well enough to eat. I thought that may have been it too, but hell, what do I know. So, he is slowiy gaining weight and starting to fill in again behind the rib cage and looks much better today. He's still eating quite a bit at every sitting too. I was relieved by what they said but we will keep an eye on his BG. :mrgreen: