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Shenandoah said:
A lot of people here use pumpkin to avoid constipation issues.
A few weeks after I changed Shenandoah to 100% canned food, we had a couple days of bad constipation. I added the pumpkin and it all cleared up. So I keep it in her diet now.
This is the page that someone here referenced to me at the time http://www.felineconstipation.org/

If you aren't seeing issues, you may not have to worry about it. But if you start seeing some constipation, you might want to add a bit in.
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Here bms are a bit hard compared to before so I think I might introduce pumpkin into it
 
Petsafe 5 feeders are the best I've used to date. Burgle-proof, reliable and you can set out up to 4 timed feeds plus one that's available to the cat immediately. It has a digital timer and will dispense feeds over a maximum period of 24 hours. It's great for night time feeding, too. :)

Don't go for Petpod feeders. They're a lovely design but they're so easy to burgle a semi-conscious amoeba could break into them. :rolleyes:


Mogs
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@MrWorfMen's Mom -

The Petsafe's are the biz for 24-hour feeding. They're quite substantial size-wise, but the feed tray rotates toward the cat so you don't need that much space for them. You can actually set up to 9 feed times on the digital timer. This is really useful if you need to use it during the day (e.g. while you're at work) and at night (while you're asleep) because you don't have to keep reprogramming it.

If ever you needed a feeder for a period longer than 24 hours then Catmate 20s are OK. They have mechanical timers and are a bit clunky but they're burgle-proof. They also come with an ice-pack.

Avoid the Catmate 50 like the plague: the minimum interval between feeds is 4 hours and the mechanical timer on it is an absolute pig. And you need a miniature ballroom for them because the cat has to rotate around the feeder. :rolleyes: (I sent mine back for a refund.)


Mogs
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Welcome to FDMB.
Check my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for a couple ways to check for dehydration, as well as other assessments you may find helpful.
 
Chris & China said:
Either the Confirm or the Micro...both at WalMart

One is a little bigger meter than the other....that's the only difference. They take the same strips. It just depends on your personal preference as to which meter fits your hand best
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The lady at Walmart told me to use the reliOn prime because the strips are cheaper and if it is for my pet to save money , what is your opinion?
 
Lisa coslett said:
The lady at Walmart told me to use the reliOn prime because the strips are cheaper and if it is for my pet to save money , what is your opinion?
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I haven't used it, but I think I read somewhere here that it requires a larger drop of blood. If your kitty's ears bleed easily that may not be a problem, but if you struggle to get enough, you might want to stick with the Confirm or Micro.
 
@Shenandoah You are correct. The Prime needa a 0.5 drop (can't remember the measure short form) and the Confirm needs 0.3. The difference between them though might not be a big issue. I wouldn't recommend anything requiring any larger than the 0.5 drop and some need 0.8.
 
Some people do fine with the Prime, but others have had some problems with getting lots of error messages and using more strips (which negates the benefit of the cheaper strips)

Personally I've used both, and I like the Confirm a lot better...the strips have a "wicking action" that sucks the blood up into the meter really quickly
 
Lisa coslett said:
Ok thanks that helps, she is food crazy over the canned food, I could feed her all night it seems where do u get the times feeder ?
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The petsafe 5 feeders are easy to program and use, and definitely the most popular ones around here! They work great for most cats, and are pretty easy to program. I have 2 unusally mischevous, food crazed cats that think they're raccoons, so I needed something a bit more sturdy because Bandit destroyed our first Petsafe feeder (back in 2007, when they were way more expensive than they are now, along with another $80 feeder!). So I've owned 2 of these feeders since 2007, and they work great. A little harder to program than the petsafe, but not too hard to figure out and they are mostly mischief proof. They don't make them anymore which is why they're expensive on Amazon now (but you can find them for less than $40 on Ebay). There's a six tray feeder made by the same company that's only about $35, but it doesn't have the ice pack compartment, so I think the Petsafe is the better deal (as long as your cats aren't crazy trouble like mine).
 
Chris & China said:
Some people do fine with the Prime, but others have had some problems with getting lots of error messages and using more strips (which negates the benefit of the cheaper strips)

Personally I've used both, and I like the Confirm a lot better...the strips have a "wicking action" that sucks the blood up into the meter really quickly
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Thanks for all your help
 
Larry and Kitties said:
Yes "the reliOn from Walmart is the glucose montitor"
You can purchase the Lantus pen and use a syringe to draw the insulin out of the end of the pen when human attached the pen needle. However, unlike a for a vial you do not inject air into the pen.
You have to go to th site to find the price. You can call them too.
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What size lancets should I get for my cat to use with the reliOn ?
 
It's easier to start out with larger needles (smaller numbers). You can get lancets for "alternative testing sites" that are around 28 gauge.
Once your kitty's ears learn to bleed, the regular 30 or 31 gauge lancets are usually fine.
I only used the 31s, but in the beginning I frequently had to poke twice to get enough blood.

I'd suggest you start a new thread on the Health board. More people hang out there to see your questions, plus this thread is getting long so some people won't read through it all.
 
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Lisa coslett said:
What size lancets should I get for my cat to use with the reliOn ?
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The lancets are just used to "poke" the ear to get a blood drop, so it doesn't matter what size or even what brand you use. If you're using the lancet device and it's the Relion device, they have lancets for "alternate site testing" that are 28 gauge and are better when you're new to testing than the ones that come with the device (which are usually 31-33 gauge and are very tiny)

I don't use the device since I find I can control it better just freehanding, but if you're using the device and like it, get some of the lower numbered (like 28 gauge) until your cats ears "learn to bleed" and then you can go back to the higher numbered gauge lancets
 
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