What about treats?

[Amina&M'row]

Hi everyone ! M'row has been doing on great on Lantus 1.0 twice/24 hours since diagnosis Jan. 1 this year. I took him right off kibble, went on fancy feast classic. Using Relion Prime glucometer, no scary numbers/behaviors. He eats 3-4 cans of FF Classic every 24 hours. Basically, everything is pretty good. Here's my question: what about treats? These are important, I think, in rewarding behavior etc. I used feline greenies pre-diagnosis, but now he doesn't like this so much, it looks like kibble, 27% protein, 12% fat, (min. for both these),10% fiber (max) and 10%moisture (max.) So what can I give him? I suspect the following is maybe dangerous, but he has always just loved about 5 cc peanut butter. This is organic, no added sugar, and I grind myself. Five--at most less than 10 doses a day. Here's what's in one cup/146grams/828 Kcals of peanuts: fat, 72grams, carbs, 24grams; protein, 38 grams; sugar, 6 grams. I could cut back on number/size of doses, but I would love to feel all right about giving him some. What do you think? What other good wholesome treats in similar numbers of daily doses would be good? Thanks so much, Amina & M'row

 

[Tanya and Ducia]

What do you think? What other good wholesome treats in similar numbers of daily doses would be good?

I had tremendous success with making plain, over-easy home cooked chicken pieces.
Tight + drumstick meat goes better than the breast.

I bake with skin and bone on until just ready, let it rest/ chill covered, remove skin and bone and cut meat in small pieces (like Pinky's fingernail size) - some goes to the freezer and the rest is good up to a week in air tight contained refrigerated.
Ducia gets 2 pieces right before her shot + one more after ea cycle.
One or two pieces for good cooperation - like when she pees into a spoon for me to take ketone test.

I was surprised how ballistic she went after that boring, dull home cooked chicken - but I never seen such enthusiasm with any commercial snacks.

Home made snacks won't have any carbs at all and will have very little effect on the BG level.
@Amina&M'row

ETA: home cooked is easier on the wallet also!

 

[Sylvie]

i think if my quick math is right 5cc/1 tsp is like 1/2 gram of carb per tsp/dose & 18 calories per tsp/dose.
10 tsp of peanut butter per day is way too much carb calories i think (and fat) but, my math could be off a some..
If that is his favorite treat, maybe compromise and just give him one tsp after his injections. that is what i did with tux who loves high carb temptation treats and i didn;t want to take everything he loved away from him, i use to give him 2-3 after injections and he was a happy boy who looked forward to his injections becuase of it..

i use low carb dry kibbles now since i took him off of it and he misses it. The dr. elsey dry kibble food is great for treats for cats who love kibbles but, need to eat wet food for meals only. the food is 5% carbs so it won't mess up BG by much, if it even does, when giving a few pieces as treats. i give tux 6 pieces after each injection in the CatIt sense digger thing and it doesn't affect his BG at all, if you want to give him treats up to 10 times a day (spoiled one you got there lol) that would be a decent choice especially if you need to keep or put weight on him. most give freeze dried types of treats though, they often have no carbs in them and low in calories.

 

[JanetNJ]

Purebites! They are just freeze dried chicken. My diabetic loves them. You can get them on amazon or chewy. I get the big bag packaged for dogs. Catnip is fine too

 

[tiffmaxee]

Any freeze dried all protein .

 

[Amina&M'row]

Thank you all for your wisdom. Yes, M'row is a bit spoiled, but then what's the point of having a kitty that's not at all spoiled?? Interesting: you all talk about your sugar kitties hating injections the most; M'row hates BG blood draw from ear the most. I feel able to deal much better with the treats thing now; further ideas much appreciated too. He will be getting good treats after I attack his ear; he surely deserves this. Purrs to you all.

 

[JanetNJ]

Thank you all for your wisdom. Yes, M'row is a bit spoiled, but then what's the point of having a kitty that's not at all spoiled?? Interesting: you all talk about your sugar kitties hating injections the most; M'row hates BG blood draw from ear the most. I feel able to deal much better with the treats thing now; further ideas much appreciated too. He will be getting good treats after I attack his ear; he surely deserves this. Purrs to you all.

And you're careful not to hit the vein when you test, right?