? How much food at each feeding? (RAW)

[Summers Mom]

Hi My kitty Summer is on raw diet. Before being diagnosed with diabetes summer ate one time a day with some days having a morning snack of cooked chicken and broth. She was eating anywhere from 4-5 ounces of raw each day at one sitting. Now i have broken down her meal into at least 4 meals a day with a few very small snacks when getting poked. From me measuring her single meals, it is an 1/8 of a cup 4-5 times a day which would be around 5/8 of a cup each day. Is this enough or too much? And mostly what i need to know is how much is too much at one feeding?? I want her pancreas to heal so i don't want to give her too much at each feeding, so how much is too much at each feeding? I was giving her a 1/8 of a cup each feeding but that looks like a lot of food when in her dish but i am not sure. Summer weighs 9 lbs. How much do yo raw feeders feed your kitties all day and how much do you feed at each feeding? Thank you.

 

[tiffmaxee]

Hi. There’s no easy answer to your question as it’s an ECID. (every cat is different) thing. I’m experiencing this with my two year one year olds. The best answer is to weigh her once a week. If she is at her ideal weight you want to keep her there and if she needs to gain or lose adjust accordingly. Small meals are great for lots of reasons. I suggest that you invest in a digital baby scale which you can buy for about $40-50 from eBay or amazon. I have a Salter scale and found a Health-o- meter for my friend when I saw her cat was obese. Then divide the food into however many small meals she’s used to eating. If possible don’t feed more than a small snack in the second half of the cycle. I hope this helps.

 

[Summers Mom]

Hi. There’s no easy answer to your question as it’s an ECID. (every cat is different) thing. I’m experiencing this with my two year one year olds. The best answer is to weigh her once a week. If she is at her ideal weight you want to keep her there and if she needs to gain or lose adjust accordingly. Small meals are great for lots of reasons. I suggest that you invest in a digital baby scale which you can buy for about $40-50 from eBay or amazon. I have a Salter scale and found a Health-o- meter for my friend when I saw her cat was obese. Then divide the food into however many small meals she’s used to eating. If possible don’t feed more than a small snack in the second half of the cycle. I hope this helps.

Thank you for you response! And the second half of the cycle would be +6?? Why not feed her no more than a small snack on +6? She eats her meals at preshot, +4, +8, and then again at pm preshot. I don't think i have gave her anything at +6.

 

[tiffmaxee]

You can feed normally at preshot. If you feed a lot between +7-preshot it can raise the preshot number.

 

[Summers Mom]

You can feed normally at preshot. If you feed a lot between +7-preshot it can raise the preshot number.

Thank you again for your response. Summers AM preshot is at 9am and i feed her then and i have been feeding her at 1pm and 5pm and then again at 9pm preshot. So i think what i will do is feed her the same but change her 5 pm feeding which was at her +8 to a 4pm feeding which will be at +7. Then she won't eat again until 9pm at preshot. That will give her 5 hours with no food before the pm preshot. Does that sound okay?? And thanks for the tips on a baby scale! I will be looking into one.
One last question, do all sugar kitties have bloated looking bellies?

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

Actually you can feed at any time just don't feed 2 hours before shooting (AM or PM) so that when you test preshot the result won't be food influenced.

The best time for you will depend on his appetite your schedule and how his BG changes in the cycle in case you have to stir it (each cat is diferent)

 

[Wendy&Neko]

As a rough guideline - both my 13 lb civie and 13 lb sugar cat were getting 4 oz of raw a day. Now they were in their teens and less active than a younger cat, so needed less food. A friend with a good sized yearling was feeding almost 8 oz a day. A small cat might 3 ounces a day. We usually measure by weight, not by volume.

Why not feed her no more than a small snack on +6?

After nadir (which may or may not be +6), the insulin is starting to wear off, and any carbs will make it wear off faster. I've had it described as a car slowing down to a stop sign, by taking the food off the gas. Adding carbs is like slamming on the brakes and the car (insulin effect) stops early, meaning you lose duration and numbers go up at the end of the cycle. Now if you are feeding a zero carb snack, that's OK. Some kitties are grazers so not everyone feeds mini meals.

One last question, do all sugar kitties have bloated looking bellies?

No they don't. There are some secondary conditions that cause diabetes, two of which can cause pot bellies. One of them is called acromegaly, which my Neko had. It's a benign tumour in the pituitary gland - one in four diabetic cats has it. The other is caused Cushing's disease. It's less common - but thin skin/skin tearing is also a symptom. Mary Ann @Tuxedo Mom knows more about this condition. It can be caused either by steroid overuse, a tumour on the pituitary (like but different from acromegaly) or one on the adrenals. Both of those conditions have either special blood tests or urine tests to identify them.

 

[Tuxedo Mom]

Cushing's can give the appearance of a bloated belly...almost looks like a pregnant kitty. This is caused by organamegaly...enlargement of the abdominal organs...generally the adrenals, liver and pancreas. Hair loss and thinning fur, is another sign. My Tuxie had his first ultrasound done a few months after he was diagnosed. He was shaved in the belly region for the U/S and when he passed 2 1/2 years later the fur still had not grown back. He was also impossible to regulate. Cushing's causes an over-production of cortisol in the system, which can wax and wane.

However these symptoms alone do not mean a kitty has Cushing's. Summer does not have the crazy wild glucose swings and high numbers that Tuxie had. Tuxie could easily go from high black to lime greens in the same cycle. If there is any doubt, the easiest and cheapest test is the UCCR (Urine cortisol creatinine ratio). This test needs to be sent to an outside lab such as IDEEX (amongst others) and merely involves collecting a urine sample AT HOME ( so there is no stress) and having your vet submit it to the outside lab. If it is negative then no further testing is needed. If it is borderline or positive then other tests are needed to determine if it is pituitary or adrenal based. If you require more information, just tag me.

 

[Summers Mom]

As a rough guideline - both my 13 lb civie and 13 lb sugar cat were getting 4 oz of raw a day. Now they were in their teens and less active than a younger cat, so needed less food. A friend with a good sized yearling was feeding almost 8 oz a day. A small cat might 3 ounces a day. We usually measure by weight, not by volume.

After nadir (which may or may not be +6), the insulin is starting to wear off, and any carbs will make it wear off faster. I've had it described as a car slowing down to a stop sign, by taking the food off the gas. Adding carbs is like slamming on the brakes and the car (insulin effect) stops early, meaning you lose duration and numbers go up at the end of the cycle. Now if you are feeding a zero carb snack, that's OK. Some kitties are grazers so not everyone feeds mini meals.

No they don't. There are some secondary conditions that cause diabetes, two of which can cause pot bellies. One of them is called acromegaly, which my Neko had. It's a benign tumour in the pituitary gland - one in four diabetic cats has it. The other is caused Cushing's disease. It's less common - but thin skin/skin tearing is also a symptom. Mary Ann @Tuxedo Mom knows more about this condition. It can be caused either by steroid overuse, a tumour on the pituitary (like but different from acromegaly) or one on the adrenals. Both of those conditions have either special blood tests or urine tests to identify them.

Thank you so much for the info! I only give summer a raw diet i make which is basically Dr. Lisa's recipe and i give her a little boiled chicken and broth at times too. She does get a little pure pumpkin in her food one time a day. about 2 teaspoons and a 1/4 tsp of flax meal plus some organic coconut oil. But that's it. Summer is suspected to have cushings because her skin is thin and rips easy. She scratches and tears her skin at times.