What to do with a graze eater?

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Cat girl

Cat girl

Member Since 2015
Miss kitty is the type of cat who just eats a few bites then leaves comes back later on same thing On and on.a half a can of food takes her forever to eat.i keep picking it up so my civie don't eat it on her and giving miss kitty more later.is this ok?how can I get her to eat 2-3 meals without picking at the food all day and night?her bg won't ever be right if she does this right or can cats that are free feed get regulated bg?it seems when she does eat a good amount of food she ends up throwing up I have noticed.will I just have to use more insulin to get results?
 
We generally don't want diabetic cats to only eat 2 meals a day. It is harder on the pancreas than feeding more frequent smaller meals. I find that more feedings help get the BGs under control. I never feed less than 4 times a day, ChrisFarley took 8 times a day before his BGs settled down. If you free feed, its often recommended to pick up the food a couple hours before shot time so that your preshot test is not influenced by food.

BJM - Cat girl is posting in the Lantus and Lev forum. Just asking general Qs over here too I think.
 
BJM said:
Its OK to let her graze. She'll eat when she's hungry and won't have a huge food spike from a big meal. With a gentle insulin like Lantus, it is OK to let her do this.
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I'm SO glad I saw this! Both my kitties are grazers & Ive been very concerned that I'm over doing it for my
diabetic kitty! What I do is feed 2 x's a day with some grilled chicken for in between snacks. Perhaps someone
Will see this & help me with a new problem. I've recently noticed that Socrates (the diabetic) is losing his
appetite & has gone from "minimally " eating to not wanting to eat at all. Today can't even get him interested
in the chicken!! Seems to want his brother's brand of food, though. Is there an over the counter brand I can
switch off to without throwing his bs totally out of whack??? He currently takes 1 1/2 units of Vetsulin.
 
There are several over the counter, low carb cat foods. In the UsA, fancy Feast Classic pates, Friskies pates except Mixed Grill, and many of the 9 Lives pates are suitable.
Make food changes gradually so that GI upsets are less likely.
If a diabetic cat isn't eating, check the glucose levels, check for any signs of infection, check for abdominal tenderness (pancreatitis or hepatic lipidosis), check for dehydration (see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools), and check for urine or blood ketones. If you find high glucose, infection or abdominal tenderness, and ketones, get to the vet as you could have a case of diabetic ketoacidosis brewing.
 
Merianne Hadley said:
eems to want his brother's brand of food, though. Is there an over the counter brand I can
switch off to without throwing his bs totally out of whack??
Click to expand...

In this chart of OTC cat foods by Dr Lisa Pierson, DVM CAT FOOD - NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION, if the C% in the first section is under 10, then it should be ok for a diabetic cat to eat it. If it is a senior cat, I try to also keep the phosphorus down under 250 too because kidney disease becomes a bigger concern in older cats and phosphorus is hard on their kidneys. My go to has always been Chicken or Turkey Wellness.

Many cats get tired of the prescription foods and stop eating them. I've only ever seen a couple cats willing to eat DM for a long time.
 
BJM said:
There are several over the counter, low carb cat foods. In the UsA, fancy Feast Classic pates, Friskies pates except Mixed Grill, and many of the 9 Lives pates are suitable.
Make food changes gradually so that GI upsets are less likely.
If a diabetic cat isn't eating, check the glucose levels, check for any signs of infection, check for abdominal tenderness (pancreatitis or hepatic lipidosis), check for dehydration (see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools), and check for urine or blood ketones. If you find high glucose, infection or abdominal tenderness, and ketones, get to the vet as you could have a case of diabetic ketoacidosis brewing.
Click to expand...


Thanks so much!!!
 
Melanie and Smokey said:
In this chart of OTC cat foods by Dr Lisa Pierson, DVM CAT FOOD - NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION, if the C% in the first section is under 10, then it should be ok for a diabetic cat to eat it. If it is a senior cat, I try to also keep the phosphorus down under 250 too because kidney disease becomes a bigger concern in older cats and phosphorus is hard on their kidneys. My go to has always been Chicken or Turkey Wellness.

Many cats get tired of the prescription foods and stop eating them. I've only ever seen a couple cats willing to eat DM for a long time.
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I'm sorry.....does the "C" stand for Calories or Carbs??? Also.....I'm pretty new to reading cat food
labels. Where can I find the Phosphorus amount on the labels???
 
Merianne Hadley said:
I'm sorry.....does the "C" stand for Calories or Carbs??? Also.....I'm pretty new to reading cat food
labels. Where can I find the Phosphorus amount on the labels???
Click to expand...

Most labels don't have phosphorus %s on them. The numbers on the labels for protein, fat, etc are guaranteed analysis and not actual as fed numbers so they aren't really that useful. I usually take that chart with me when I shop. The first set of columns have a header Calories %, then 3 columns under it P(rotein),F(at), and C(arbohydrates). Those columns are giving you what percentage of the calories your cat is getting for each of those. You want the carbohydrates to be less than 10% for a diabetic. Many of us are usually feeding around 3-5%. As long as you keep that carbohydrate amount down, you shouldn't need to change insulin types or dose unless you are coming off of a high carb food. If the food you are feeding is higher carb you might need to reduce your dose. Purina DM canned food is about 3% so you should be ok during a switch if you are feeding the canned. DM canned is ok for diabetics, it is just mostly liver and most cats get sick of eating it. My Smokey started out knocking the other cats over to get to it, 2 weeks later and a case in the cupboard she wouldn't touch it.
 
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