Rebuilding Lost Muscle Mass....

[heavensslave]

We had a very bad experience with a vet and don't really trust her when she says that nothing we can do can help our older cat develop more muscles. She says once it's gone, it's gone for good. How can that even be true when muscles are one of the most regenerative tissues in the body? Would a high protein diet help him? What about supplements and exercise?

His blood work was clean. No kidney problems.

He is an older (12+) tuxedo Manx Coon. The Vet prescribed Hill's Z/D hydrolyzed protein canned food or dry for both his nutritional upkeep and hairball treatment. However, this has less protein than the Fancy Feast we had been giving him.

 

[arouetta]

I just did a google search on muscle mass for seniors, both cats and humans. The human stuff had more info that the pet stuff just barely touched, which is that muscle wasting (sarcopenia) is inevitable. Two factors at play, you start losing muscle fibers once you hit middle age (up to 40% of your muscle fibers are gone by the time a human is 80), and what's left starts atrophying. Nothing can bring back the lost ones, but the ones that are atrophying can be rebuilt, resulting in pretty decently strong muscles. And since your cat is just touching on middle age, you can actually prevent part of the fiber loss through keeping him really active, since being sedentary in humans just accelerates and worsens the process.

You are right, high protein, assuming the rest of the body can handle it, is needed to rebuild muscles. The human stuff said that seniors need twice the amount of recommended protein if they are trying to rebuild muscles. The pet stuff just said high protein diets or slipping them high protein human foods every day to supplement their diets. The NIH had an article overview saying that additional nutrients found in cheese and milk and eggs may also be helpful in delaying sarcopenia as well as minimizing the fibers loss and the atrophying.

Exercise is definitely also needed. The human stuff said weight lifting, not cardio. Of course getting our kitties to bench press their fresh litter containers isn't exactly easy, so the pet stuff just said "exercise", though some recommended getting them to go up and down stairs repeatedly. Some of the other pet stuff involved getting them relaxed and stretching their limbs for them, which sounded really similar to what the PT is currently doing with me part of the session to rebuild my shoulder muscles. And since you have a Maine Coon, the recommendation a dog owner had for someone was water aerobics might actually be doable, since they tend to love water.

 

[abyeb]

I agree with Arouetta completely. A high-protein diet (so meat as the first ingredient!) would help him the most. In addition to that, exercise is important, so encourage him to play his favorite games. As Arouetta already mentioned, water therapy is a possibility- maybe even swimming if you have a large kiddie pool or something like that, IF your cat tolerates it, of course.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

..., but the ones that are atrophying can be rebuilt, resulting in pretty decently strong muscles. And since your cat is just touching on middle age, you can actually prevent part of the fiber loss through keeping him really active, since being sedentary in humans just accelerates and worsens the process.

.... And since you have a Maine Coon, the recommendation a dog owner had for someone was water aerobics might actually be doable, since they tend to love water.

Hydrotherapy for animals is actually really helpful, if they are comfortable with the water. It's often recommended for animals with arthritis, or for animals post-surgery. It can be expensive, though, depending on who you work with.

 

[heavensslave]

Thank you. Btw, a correction. My lady informed me that our boy is NOT a Maine Coon. I thought sure she told me that once. He's a basic handsome Tuxedo cat.

 

[arouetta]

Hydrotherapy for animals is actually really helpful, if they are comfortable with the water. It's often recommended for animals with arthritis, or for animals post-surgery. It can be expensive, though, depending on who you work with.

There's articles and YouTube videos showing how to do it yourself. The one article I read in depth started off with a great opening ["Caveat: Please check with your veterinarian before trying these exercises with your pet. In addition, keep in mind that the number one rule of physical therapy is to stop any exercise that it is painful for your dog."] but had really good descriptions for several things, including home hydrotherapy. And since my PT sends me home with a list of home exercises to do until the next appointment, I'm pretty sure there's gotta be legitimate and helpful home exercises for pets too.

 

[arouetta]

Thank you. Btw, a correction. My lady informed me that our boy is NOT a Maine Coon. I thought sure she told me that once. He's a basic handsome Tuxedo cat.

We cross-posted, lol. He might still take to water, it can't hurt. Okay, let me clarify, it can't hurt him. You, there's a definite risk of it hurting.

 

[heavensslave]

I also just noticed I originally wrote Manx & you all corrected it to Manx. That makes you all more awesome & me looking more like a doofus.

 

[arouetta]

Naw, it makes you look like you were posting on your phone and got caught by the dreaded Autocorrect.

 

[orange&white]

My 13 year old senior has been on a diet for a year, so I've been doing a lot of reading on how to get him to lose fat but not muscle. He is at the age where I have to start worry about muscle wasting.

High protein is right on target. Some of the nutritional vets recommend at least 50% protein diet (which is really hard to do). Treats of boneless/skinless chicken breast have 6 grams of protein per ounce and only add 31 calories.

I looked at animal-based protein powders, including hydrolyzed meat proteins, and found that most are over 31 calories for 6 grams of protein. I was using chicken breast as a benchmark. If your cat is skinny, more calories may be a good thing. If he is overweight and losing muscle, it is not a good thing. I started supplementing Tangent's diet with grass-fed beef collagen (gelatin). It has 6.4 grams of protein with only 24 calories (per packet of dry gelatin), and zero fat. He is slowly losing weight and maintaining his muscle.

 

[arouetta]

I started supplementing Tangent's diet with grass-fed beef collagen (gelatin).

Pardon me for having a giggle over feeding a cat Jello.

One thing I did read while googling seniors and muscle loss was that if you are on a diet and losing weight, for every pound you lose ¾ is fat and ¼ is muscle. Something to keep in mind for our middle-age and senior cats. No wonder the vet was thrilled Shadow was overweight a year ago.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

There's articles and YouTube videos showing how to do it yourself. The one article I read in depth started off with a great opening ["Caveat: Please check with your veterinarian before trying these exercises with your pet. In addition, keep in mind that the number one rule of physical therapy is to stop any exercise that it is painful for your dog."] but had really good descriptions for several things, including home hydrotherapy. And since my PT sends me home with a list of home exercises to do until the next appointment, I'm pretty sure there's gotta be legitimate and helpful home exercises for pets too.

Very good point! I'll google that sentence and find the article

My only problem with trying to do aquatic therapy at home with my kitty is that she can be more cantankerous with me than with a PT person if I go over her boundaries... e.g. if I put her in water at home, I envision her getting spastic and full of claws and teeth with me, lol. She has a little more "white coat fear" with a vet or vet's PT person, so I think she'd be more, well, malleable, with a stranger.