Constant begging

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Elizabeth20

Elizabeth20

Member Since 2020
Hi

So Lily was only diagnosed last week, lost a lot of weight very fast as an already small cat, and is not regulated yet, so she is STARVING all the time. I understand why, I'm just wondering if there's any rule of thumb about how long she is likely to take to get her appetite down to normal levels. Will it take till she is regulated?

I'm giving her just over half her food for the day in the morning because that's when she's currently having her single dose of insulin (the second the new syringes arrive she's switching to two 0.5u doses a day, which the vet agreed to yesterday). She then basically stalks me for the rest of the day, hoping I will feed her, eventually just sitting in the kitchen next to her bowl for the two hours before dinner when her BG has started to go up. She's never begged before. It is really hard not to give her what she wants. Everything I read says not to feed more than twice a day, but the vet said yesterday that it was OK to feed her throughout the day. I'm not sure that can be right but it might be because she's underweight. I'm pretty sure if given the chance she would eat till she was sick. She is begging again 10 minutes after eating. It's like having a Labrador! She's eating just over 400g of Bozita a day.

Thanks

Liz
 
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Hi Liz,

If Lily is majorly hungry in the hours immediately following her insulin and in the middle of the cycle, be sure to check her BG and give her regular small amounts of food to make sure she's in safe numbers (low carb by default, but use a higher carb food if numbers need to be raised). She has got down into the 90s on the 0.75IU dose and could potentially go lower.

In the evenings when she's not getting insulin the higher numbers may be contributing to the hunger.

As a rough guide, a 10lb cat needs c. 200 kcals per day. If a kitty is underweight then they need more to regain the weight they've lost. If you check on the zooplus site they may have info on the caloric content of Lily's foods. If they're not listed you should be able to get the info by contacting their customer service team.

As you already know, with Vetsulin it's vital to give a substantial meal and wait 30 minutes before administering the dose. Thereafter, as your vet has (refreshingly!) advised, it is OK to feed regular small amounts between doses, with the exception of the two hours before the preshot BG check to make sure the reading is a fasting BG level.

When Lily becomes better regulated then her appetite and her body weight should normalise.

Another common cause of polyphagia (excessive hunger) is hyperthyroidism. Has Lily been checked for that?


Mogs
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Hi Mogs

Yes Lily was checked for thyroid problems at the same time as she was checked for high glucose because she was losing weight and very acquisitive (I found her with her face in my cherries and cream pudding when I turned my back for 30 seconds!). The food info chart I found here shows her food as having 75kcal/100g so I am giving her quite a lot for her weight I think. She was 3kg before her dramatic weight loss. At some point I calculated she should be having about 400g but happy to take advice on that as on everything.

She is at her usual nadir time now and having just checked her she's dropped to 48 - I did three strips and got 1 (!) 2.7 and 2.9mmol. She's still alert and hungry (and fighting testing hard!) so I managed not to panic and assume the higher figures are correct, but I've given her a small meal with a tiny bit of honey - her nadir seems to run till about 4 hours so she should be OK once that hits. I'll check her again in half an hour and keep a close eye on her in the meantime. She's only giving me blood out of one ear at the moment for some reason, and it took 7 attempts to get 3 reads so we are not friends right now!

Thank you for being here and giving such useful advice Mogs, I really appreciate it. I'll start giving her a bit of food after each test during the day and hopefully she will like me a bit more.

Liz
 
She's not going to improve while only on one dose so I'm glad you are moving to two shots. Vetsulin only lasts about 6 hours (some more some less) which means for 18ish hours he's not getting any insulin support. I would start the second shot tonight. The hunger will subside once the numbers are better. No reason not to feed her any time she's hungry, especially if she is underweight. Just no food 2 hours prior to the preshot test so the number is not food influenced. My cats eat any time they want.
 
Hi Liz,

Elizabeth20 said:
She is at her usual nadir time now and having just checked her she's dropped to 48 - I did three strips and got 1 (!) 2.7 and 2.9mmol.
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OMG! One!! :nailbiting:

Good job testing again straight away. I can imagine how much of a relief, while still low, the following readings must have been. (((Liz and Lily)))

NB: The dose needs to be reduced immediately.

Be sure to keep an eye on Lily's BG for the next few hours till she's clearly up and staying up without food. Sometimes cats on a dose that's too high can stay in lower numbers for the full cycle.


Mogs
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She recovered to 3.1 within 45 minutes and then 3.4 an hour and a half later so yes she's stayed low. I'll check her again in half an hour and make sure she's still on her way up. She's in a good mood (she purred today when I stroked her!) and for the first time hasn't flooded the litter tray - I wouldn't have thought my main expense during this would be cat litter!

I'll give her a much lower dose tomorrow. I might see how her numbers are at bedtime before deciding whether to give her any more today given the reaction today.

Thank you all, I feel a lot better about feeding her through the day. She's already less fussed now her sugar is temporarily lower. I'm sure we're both looking forward to getting her stabilised so the constant worrying and stabbing can stop!
 
Most of us feed the bulk of the food around shot times but also smaller meals throughout the day. Cats are grazers and it’s also easier on their pancreas. Dogs do okay with eating twice a day, but cats need more meals spread out. You can also give low carb treats. She needs to gain so she needs to eat as much as she wants right now. They also burn calories just by peeing since there’s sugar in their urine.
 
Elizabeth20 said:
for the first time hasn't flooded the litter tray - I wouldn't have thought my main expense during this would be cat litter!
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If you've not already tried it, Liz, I can't recommend OKO Plus Cat's Best wood-based litter highly enough (granules, not pellets - the latter aren't nearly as good ). Forms really good clumps that are much easier to scoop than clay clumping litters, up to 3 times more absorbent, OK to top up box after removing clumps, little or no odour from the box, biodegradable. A real game-changer in general, but especially for cats with PU/PD.

I wish, wish, wish I'd discovered it years earlier. It's a godsend.

(No, I don't own shares. ;) )


Mogs
.
 
Critter Mom said:
If you've not already tried it, Liz, I can't recommend OKO Plus Cat's Best wood-based litter highly enough (granules, not pellets - the latter aren't nearly as good ). Forms really good clumps that are much easier to scoop than clay clumping litters, up to 3 times more absorbent, OK to top up box after removing clumps, little or no odour from the box, biodegradable. A real game-changer in general, but especially for cats with PU/PD.

I wish, wish, wish I'd discovered it years earlier. It's a godsend.

(No, I don't own shares. ;) )


Mogs
.
Click to expand...
I use OKOcat also!!
 
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