hello from sweetie

[m1069jt@gmail. com]

Hi everyone. My name is melissa and my cat,sweetie, was diagnosed the first week of january this year. He is 11 and will be 12 next month. He use to weight 20 pounds but has now (as of day before yesterday) lost to 15 pounds. He is on 2units of prozinc twice a day. I do home test. He eats fancy feast classics,which I just changed him over to from friskies before that he was on dry food his whole life. I have 2 other cats that are non diabetic and decided to go ahead and change everyone's food as a preventative measure all the way around. Thing is, i cant seem to find a happy feeding schedule to fit all 3. ( any schedule suggestions are appreciated btw). I thnk that covers it for now. Thanks

 

[BJM]

Welcome to FDMB.
It is OK to leave food out for grazing during the day. If you have scarfers, freezing some and putting it out frozen, to be eaten when thawed may help. Or, a timed feeder, such as the Pet Safe 5, can help spread out the food distribution.
If you have some heavier cats, adding some extra water to the food helps fill them up, not out.

 

[Vegjeta]

Hi Melissa and Sweetie, it was very smart to get off the dry food. Read labels,can cat food can have carbs in them stay away from corn,wheat,maize and soy.I add real chicken,hormone free,to my cats every meal. I only have the one cat so I'm not sure how to work feeding time with multiples cats.

 

[phlika29]

Hi melissa and sweetie

Welcome to the forum. I feed lots of mini meals but I am lucky in that my partner if at home in the mornings and I am usually in each evening but again remi is my only cat.. So I give four small meals in am and 4 meals in the pm. I have a timed feeder and so could use that if no one is about. I find this is better for remi and I couldn't free feed him as he would eat it all up straight away.

If you have changed to a wet low carb food after being on the insulin you may find she doesn't need as much insulin as before so please watch for signs of low blood glucose
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

I have 7 cats and only feed mine twice a day. If there is any food left in the bowls, I leave them out so they can come back and finish it. Your cats may complain at first, but it is possible to change them over to a regular feeding schedule.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hi Melissa, and extra-sweet Sweetie, and welcome to FDMB

Thing is, i cant seem to find a happy feeding schedule to fit all 3.

Do I understand correctly that before Sweetie's diagnosis you did have a schedule that suited all three cats?
And if that's the case, what did you change after his diagnosis, and why? (And is it possible to switch back to the schedule you had before (but without the dry food...?))
It is important that a diabetic cat eats some food at the time they get insulin, but after that you can really feed as you wish (and as suits your kitties' particular needs) throughout the rest of the day.
Do either of your other 2 kitties have particular needs as regards food/feeding?

Eliz

 

[m1069jt@gmail. com]

Hello. Before,when they were on dry they were free fed,now I am trying to get them on a healthier schedule with the fancy feast. Right now its 2 cans evety 2-3 hours from 8:30 am til 9 pm. I don't want to under fed but I also don't want to over fed. Sweetie actually eats less then his sisters.

 

[manxcat419]

You can still free-feed with the fancy feast. Rosa is completely free-fed apart from the 2 hours before her shots when I take the food away so it doesn't influence her pre-shot reading. If you add some water to the wet food it'll stop it drying out too quickly (most cats won't eat the food once it starts to dry up). I haven't been able to find a good argument against free-feeding if that's what your cats are used to - little and often with food seems to work for a lot of cats.

 

[m1069jt@gmail. com]

That sounds like it may work for my furbabies. Ty