Hi guys,

So I'm hooping someone might be able to give me a bit of advice or guidance..

My cat Gizmo has always been a little bit overweight, at his last checkup the vet told me to try and control the amount he eats (as I have 4 cats they often swap and change bowls halfway through eating) so I do. He started to slowly lose weight but over the last 6 weeks he has lost it really rapidly and he looks so thin.

He has started to not eat as much food, preferring to just eat the jelly off it, and has started drinking water excessively. The vet told me just to keep an eye on him. Now for the last 2 days he's been sick once or twice and I've noticed he has runny poop (sometimes with what looks like blood in it!)

I'm trying to get an appointment with a different vet surgery for today or tomorrow morning but I did a little research myself and it sounds like he might have diabeties. I'll hopefully confirm if this is the case with the vet but I wondered if anyone had a cat with the same problem and also if anyone knows of a low carb wet cat food that I can buy just in case?

So scared for my little man, any advice would be great.
Thanks

Hi there

I'm glad to see you're heading for a different vet. Sounds like it's a sensible thing to do...

If you're prepared to order in from Zooplus or Germany, then you can get many cat foods which are grain free. Animonda and Bozita are 2 who don't list grains anywhere on the label. Grau does a grain free version too, but even their normal version only has 4% rice in, so it's very, very low. Asda do a food called TopLife, but its meat content is a bit less, and I'm not sure what the carb content on that is, so you'd need to look it up.

If he'll eat it though, Animonda, Bozita and Grau are the way to go.

I've heard others with over-weight cats say that they add extra water to the food, particularly with those cats who like to eat the jelly/gravy first. In this way, they lap up the water first and feel fuller for longer, so eat less of the actual food. Only add a little water, mind you. This shouldn't be detrimental to your other cats either.

Do you feed dry at all? If so, Origin and Acana are good, low carb dry foods. Put them in a treat ball rather than in a bowl to make the cats work for the food and burn off more calories.

Hope this helps.

Hi!

Blood tests will show if anything is amiss. What does he eat? If he does have diabetes, then if he's not already on one, shift him, and the rest of your mogs to a grain-free wet diet. The best thing is probably raw but it's not for everyone, but good-quality grain-free is within everyone's capabilities. How old is Gizmo? If he's a bit older, he may be developing kidney problems. Anyway, a blood test will show anything like that up. Wait for the results and take it from there. Good grain-frees are:
Bozita (particularly the tetrapaks)
Animonda
Cosma

All available from zooplus.co.uk

The Germans have got it licked and if you can manage it, some really good brands available from German sites are:
GranataPet
Mac's
Tiger
Om nom nom

Perhaps someone else will step in to recommend where you can easily get these foods from in Germany. I'm in Italy and shipping is often more expensive. Also you'll probably be looking for someone who accepts PayPal as Germans are rather keen on bank transfers for payment which can be costly from the UK. I think one of the sites has really competitive shipping to the UK, but I'm not sure who.

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http://catscanjump.blogspot.com

Wendy, mum to:
Simba von Wurzbachtal, Turkish Van, born Austria, 5/9/10

RIP
Tarka, 1989 - 2008 my gentle Phileas Fogg
Bruno, 2008 - 2010 taken too soon my darling boy
Misi, 1993 - 25/3/2012 My brave, beautiful tabby

I think a few people use: Floyds Pfotenshop

They have all the food I mentioned and shipping is €10.90 to the UK. More for Italy!!!! They accept PayPal.

__________________
http://catscanjump.blogspot.com

Wendy, mum to:
Simba von Wurzbachtal, Turkish Van, born Austria, 5/9/10

RIP
Tarka, 1989 - 2008 my gentle Phileas Fogg
Bruno, 2008 - 2010 taken too soon my darling boy
Misi, 1993 - 25/3/2012 My brave, beautiful tabby

Thank you both so much for your help I will have a look at both sites

No vets today so hopefully I can get in tomorrow morning and see whats wrong with him.

Thank you again

Good show. Let us know what they say

__________________
http://catscanjump.blogspot.com

Wendy, mum to:
Simba von Wurzbachtal, Turkish Van, born Austria, 5/9/10

RIP
Tarka, 1989 - 2008 my gentle Phileas Fogg
Bruno, 2008 - 2010 taken too soon my darling boy
Misi, 1993 - 25/3/2012 My brave, beautiful tabby

Hi guys,

So I took Gizmo to the vets today, they checked him over and said they don't think he is diabetic because his appetite has decreased instead of increasing but they have taken some bloods to check anyway. They did say that one of his kidneys was swollen and it might indicate a number of kidney problems or kidney failure.

I had to get a pee sample for that so I'm going to hopefully find out by tomorrow exactly what it is. I'm glad he's not diabetic but still so worried for the little man as all kidney conditions sound really serious and incurable.. got my fingers crossed for good results.

Thanks for the update. Try not to worry about his kidneys. It might just be a passing problem and not necessarily kidney disease. If it is however, there's no need to panic. Loads can be done these days to prolong the life of a cat with kidney disease while maintaining quality of life too. I forget what the record is, but many cats go on to live for many years with kidney disease as long as it's managed. Misi was diagnosed in 2008 and at nearly 19 is still with me and doing fine.

Keep us posted

__________________
http://catscanjump.blogspot.com

Wendy, mum to:
Simba von Wurzbachtal, Turkish Van, born Austria, 5/9/10

RIP
Tarka, 1989 - 2008 my gentle Phileas Fogg
Bruno, 2008 - 2010 taken too soon my darling boy
Misi, 1993 - 25/3/2012 My brave, beautiful tabby

I got a call from the vet this morning with Gizmo's results. His kidneys are failing and they told me he has weeks to months. I'm so devastated, he has started to eat more the last 2 days and I have a course of antibiotics and zantac for him but I don't know what to do for him but make his remaining time as happy and comfortable as possible.

Love him so much x

Attached Images

DSCN4331.jpg (62.1 KB, 18 views)

I'm so sorry, he is so lovely. I don't have any personal experience of cats with kidney failure but I do know there are people here who will be able to advise you how to make him as comfortable and as happy as possible.

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Harry: Ginger & White b. September 2002
Oscar: Black b. 7th May 2011
Kitty: Grey Tabby b. 7th May 2011

Our lovely cat family