And I thought my cat was fat...

I think the point most people are missing is that most cats wouldn't EAT all
that meat even when presented, every day. I know mine wouldn't. I still say
that for cats that large there is a medical problem too.

Karen

That's right, Karen. Four pounds is almost unbelievable for a cat to consume in
one day. (not to mention expensive). I hope the cat survives, but it sounds
like he's in pretty bad shape.

Sherry

In , Laura R.
wrote:

| That's my feeling on it, too. Alex would have died long before he did
| had he not been a *big* boy before he got lymphoma, and Jacob can't
| afford to lose even ounces because he's a little guy.

How small is he?

My Scruffy isn't old, but CRF is a wasting affliction. He's a pound off
his regular weight now - he used to be 12.5 lbs. He lost weight rapidly
when he crashed in Feb 03, down to 9+ at hospitalization. I got him to
over 11 in a few months, and he has been there since (except a couple of
weeks ago, when a reading of 10 lbs 13 oz nearly freaked me out).

It's a struggle maintaining the weight. The key seems to be hydration:
the more hydrated he is, the more he'll eat. (Though, he has had good
appetite all along, and he's not shy about drinking water by himself.)

In , Laura R.
wrote:

| That's my feeling on it, too. Alex would have died long before he did
| had he not been a *big* boy before he got lymphoma, and Jacob can't
| afford to lose even ounces because he's a little guy.

How small is he?

My Scruffy isn't old, but CRF is a wasting affliction. He's a pound off
his regular weight now - he used to be 12.5 lbs. He lost weight rapidly
when he crashed in Feb 03, down to 9+ at hospitalization. I got him to
over 11 in a few months, and he has been there since (except a couple of
weeks ago, when a reading of 10 lbs 13 oz nearly freaked me out).

It's a struggle maintaining the weight. The key seems to be hydration:
the more hydrated he is, the more he'll eat. (Though, he has had good
appetite all along, and he's not shy about drinking water by himself.)

In , Laura R.
wrote:

| Jacob has been on daily fluids since fall, and at his last bloodwork
| in February, I was shocked to find that his numbers had *improved*.
| In fact, his numbers have been pretty steady throughout, thankfully.

That's great. Scruffy's numbers have been essentially the same since
last May. BUN in the high 50's low 60's, and Creatinine at mid-5. This
is somewhat remarkable in that Creatinine this high usually triggers
persistent nausea, but he shows no signs of that. Stomach acidity is
also a problem, but he's figured out that drinking water (which he does
quite copiously) can help - especially if it results in a barf ;-)

| Jacob eats well. However, he is eating a lot more canned food in
| proportion to dry than he used to. [...] I do suspect, though, that
| the increased proportion of wet-to-dry food in his diet is a small
| part of the weight loss. Wet food just isn't as fattening as dry.

Yeah, the carbs. I've cut out dry completely. Maybe a treat snack for
all of them once every couple of weeks, that's it. (This was somewhat
forced, in that I had to wean Marie off a dry food diet: if she knows
that dry is part of the daily routine, she'll ignore her regular food.)
When I was giving them dry snacks regularly, Scruffy was drinking truly
incredible amounts of water, with consequent barfing. (e.g. he jumps
into my lap, the momentum is transfered to the stomach contents, and my
trousers are the beneficiary.)

| I've been trying to find a calorie supplement for cats, but I just
| haven't been able to find anything. Do you know of one?

No, sorry. The weight loss is inevitable; I think the idea is to
establish an equilibrium, even if it's an underweight one. My friend
Meredith's cat, Zeke, had CRF for about two years. His initial weight
loss was drastic, down from just under 16 to 12.5. He stayed there for
a long time - nothing worked to put weight back on - and then, towards
the end, he slipped to just below 11. A month later, he was gone. So,
as long as the cat is on a plateau and stable, I think that's the best
that can be done. If Jacob's muscle tone is still good at 7.75 lbs, I
think it's best to live with it. Keep a mental note of a cut-off
weight: if he goes below that, take him in for IV (I have 10.5 as my
cutoff for Scruffy at the moment.)

| Pepcid A/C ground and dissolved in water.

This works? Thanks! (Pilling Scruffy is a bear, and a quarter Pepcid
is so teeny that no pill-gun will hold it.)

In , Laura R.
wrote:

| Jacob has been on daily fluids since fall, and at his last bloodwork
| in February, I was shocked to find that his numbers had *improved*.
| In fact, his numbers have been pretty steady throughout, thankfully.

That's great. Scruffy's numbers have been essentially the same since
last May. BUN in the high 50's low 60's, and Creatinine at mid-5. This
is somewhat remarkable in that Creatinine this high usually triggers
persistent nausea, but he shows no signs of that. Stomach acidity is
also a problem, but he's figured out that drinking water (which he does
quite copiously) can help - especially if it results in a barf ;-)

| Jacob eats well. However, he is eating a lot more canned food in
| proportion to dry than he used to. [...] I do suspect, though, that
| the increased proportion of wet-to-dry food in his diet is a small
| part of the weight loss. Wet food just isn't as fattening as dry.

Yeah, the carbs. I've cut out dry completely. Maybe a treat snack for
all of them once every couple of weeks, that's it. (This was somewhat
forced, in that I had to wean Marie off a dry food diet: if she knows
that dry is part of the daily routine, she'll ignore her regular food.)
When I was giving them dry snacks regularly, Scruffy was drinking truly
incredible amounts of water, with consequent barfing. (e.g. he jumps
into my lap, the momentum is transfered to the stomach contents, and my
trousers are the beneficiary.)

| I've been trying to find a calorie supplement for cats, but I just
| haven't been able to find anything. Do you know of one?

No, sorry. The weight loss is inevitable; I think the idea is to
establish an equilibrium, even if it's an underweight one. My friend
Meredith's cat, Zeke, had CRF for about two years. His initial weight
loss was drastic, down from just under 16 to 12.5. He stayed there for
a long time - nothing worked to put weight back on - and then, towards
the end, he slipped to just below 11. A month later, he was gone. So,
as long as the cat is on a plateau and stable, I think that's the best
that can be done. If Jacob's muscle tone is still good at 7.75 lbs, I
think it's best to live with it. Keep a mental note of a cut-off
weight: if he goes below that, take him in for IV (I have 10.5 as my
cutoff for Scruffy at the moment.)

| Pepcid A/C ground and dissolved in water.

This works? Thanks! (Pilling Scruffy is a bear, and a quarter Pepcid
is so teeny that no pill-gun will hold it.)