Midnight Snacks?

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Hedwig and Stef

Hedwig and Stef

Member Since 2016
I plan on starting Hedwig on Lantus today as recommended by my vet now that I have her eating and responding well to her meds for fatty liver disease. The fact it is 5.30 am and she wants a snack is a good sign. Due to the (imo) contradictory nature of both diseases... How do you guys handle feedings and snacks? I have to make sure she is eating a lot to defeat FL, but I also know scheduled feedings and the like are obviously a necessity. Any help would be really appreciated. I plan to do food every 6 hours to make sure she is getting her caloric intake still. The last few days struggling with FL I am feeding her about every 3 hours. Half a small can at each sitting to avoid complications.

Also, does anyone else have a burpy cat? It's a bit worse when she inhales her meal. Also, anyone use clavamox and/or ursidiol in conjunction with diabetes stuff? Just curious. Tbis double disease is slightly daunting.

Thank you!
 
Clavamox makes my cat violently sick. We don't use it anymore. I feed mine full meals as much as they can eat in the morning and at night. Before I leave for work I'll lay out 1/2 a can of Friskies or special kitty for them to snack on throughout the day, and the same thing before I go to bed at night. Otherwise they'll wake me up in the early AM screaming for food. Keeping some food in their systems pretty much all of the time is good since they have high metabolisms. The burping could be due to her taking those medications and it upsetting her normal microbiota.
 
Hi Stef,

With Lantus being a long-acting insulin many of us here feed mini meals right the way through the cycle but then lift all food for 2 hours prior to the time when the next injection is due so that the preshot blood test won't be influenced by food and you'll know whether it's safe to give the next dose. Unless there's some overriding reason to the contrary then it should not be a problem to continue feeding Hedwig once every three hours.

Re the food inhalation and burping, maybe try using a plate to feed Hedwig? Spreading the food out across the plate may slow her down a bit and possibly help with the burpies.

If Hedwig would scoff everything straight away if allowed then you might consider getting her a timed feeder to dispense mini meals for her at regular intervals (e.g. Petsafe 5).


Mogs
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Stefanie Gunderson said:
Also, anyone use clavamox and/or ursidiol in conjunction with diabetes stuff?
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Squallie has been on Clavamox several times since Dx, has never had a problem with it, and it never seemed to have any effect on his BG. :) But he's just one cat, and ECID (Every Cat Is Different)! ;)
 
Good luck with starting Lantus today!

Lincoln is an inhaler of food so I spread his food across a plate (when not using his feeder) and literally mush it into the plate and much as possible. The auto feeder slows him down slightly 'cause its more awkward to eat out of.

We use Clavamox a lot, its the first AB our vets try. Some cats have gotten upset tummies on it, some are fine. Watch the appetite and if that starts to go, you might want to switch to something else. Smokey took it for years, then just suddenly couldn't tolerate it anymore.

Smokey was on Ursodiol for years. I don't remember if the liver hepatitis diagnosis came before or after the diabetes. We had her's compounded into a liquid, didn't seem to cause problems. Just make sure any compounded meds are done without sugar added.

We fed Smokey and ChrisFarley every 2-3 hrs. Smokey eventually we free fed. Sly was every 8 hrs, Lincoln 4-6. You just find what works for your cat. Its better for diabetics to keep the meals smaller and more frequent.
 
I use a PetSafe 5 for my girl. I actually have 2 of them because I have 2 cats, though my hyperthyroid civvie (recently diagnosed - we're working on his meds now) sometimes gets the food from both machines. I have it set up to dispense food at +3, +6 and +9, then at +9.5, it dispenses a few bonito flakes, mainly to make sure any food from the +9 isn't available 2 hours before a shot in case someone slept through the machine spinning. This keeps her eating throughout the day/night and if her number was a little low, I might put a little extra in the machine.

Sorry, no ideas on the burping or clavamox. My civvie can't take clavamox (he goes all exorcist and spews it everywhere).
 
To be fair, Mogs, he goes exorcist most times he throws up. And since he's hyperthyroid right now, that's often. I try to get to him and hold him in place, comforting him (controlling things a bit). My husband stands back, afraid "The Sprinkler" will get him.
 
stacia said:
To be fair, Mogs, he goes exorcist most times he throws up. And since he's hyperthyroid right now, that's often. I try to get to him and hold him in place, comforting him (controlling things a bit). My husband stands back, afraid "The Sprinkler" will get him.
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Scary, yet that kind of funny that you know shouldn't be funny but it sorta is. Hedwig just sounds kind of like she's dying when she vomits. That's enough for me.
 
stacia said:
To be fair, Mogs, he goes exorcist most times he throws up. And since he's hyperthyroid right now, that's often. I try to get to him and hold him in place, comforting him (controlling things a bit). My husband stands back, afraid "The Sprinkler" will get him.
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The poor wee thing! :( (Kitty, not hubby.)

How does the vomiting connect with the hyperthyroidism, Stacia?


Mogs
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The vet said it's a common thing for hyperthyroid kitties to vomit. And then vomiting is ALSO a common side effect of the medication. Husband is traveling for work this week. I woke up to Exorcist-in-progress. Too late to do anything about it but clean up the after. Good grief and happy Monday. I'm going to email the vet today, actually, to see if we should be expecting improvement at this point - we're 2 weeks in.
 
Poor fella. Be interested to hear what the vet says. I hope that between you and the vet you'll be able to find something to help with the vomiting.
 
Mine puked on and off for a good couple weeks following his diagnosis. I chalked it up to his out of control, erratic BG values along with the introduction of exogenous insulin, the abrupt cold turkey switch to an all-canned low carb diet, plus probably the stress of having to adapt to a completely different lifestyle with me poking his little ears and giving him shots every day. Vet sides with me on that as well. He eventually stopped. He never did test positive for hyperthyroid though. Sometimes he still pukes when he goes longer than 5 or so hours without any food. I've woken up a few times to the sound of him heaving because the little piglet scarfed down his nighttime snack at 12am and didn't have anything left to eat. Hoping you start seeing less and less vomit very soon.
 
I've just been suffering through having to get up in the middle of the night and give him some food. Every time I get close to ordering an auto-feeder, some other bill pops up that is more important. You know how that is
 
Critter Mom said:
I saw this and thought of you ...



(Intended for light relief only. On a serious note, I hope Ripley's vomiting issues have improved. :bighug: )


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LOL, yes, it did look sort of like that. My poor boy.

I've been a busy cat-mama. He HAS improved. His thyroid numbers were back in the normal range on recheck and he's gained half a pound. He had another number out of whack and an ear infection, plus he was still vomiting at the time, so she didn't want to recommend the radioactive iodine treatment that's standard for hyperT kitties yet. But we've now been 10 days with any exorcisms!
 
Hi Stacia,

I'm really glad to hear that Ripley's feeling better. Wishing him many, many more days without any Linda Blair moments. :smuggrin:


Mogs
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