11/24 Marley Lantus AMPS 284, +2 276, +4 216, +10 303, PMPS 235

So this food timer thing. I have 4 meals set at +1, +2, +3 and +4

I end up taking the food to him where he is sleeping on the bed because otherwise he doesnt generally respond. I was hoping that he would start to associate the sound with the feed and then get in the habit himself. But even when the food is right next to him, he sometimes looks and seems to say, 'can't be bothered right now, I'll have it in a bit thanks'!!

When I go to work early, (which I will need to start doing) I wont be able to be there to move the feeders.

I am wondering, if I leave them on the landing and he either gets up or he doesnt.

I want to see what happens when I'm not there to wait on him!

I am home for 4 days so its a good experiment?

I have the timers set in such a way, that even if he is late, its there for him.

(There are two types of times set. One is a circular one that disappears under the cover when the next feed moves into the open space. The other - is a manual dial timer and opens and remains open. The +1 is the first circular one- he is still awake by this point, so he never misses that one, so that doesn't disappear without him eating it. Feed 2 and 3 are the manual open ones - so they always remain open so he could never miss those. Feed 4 is the circular one. Bit on that digital timer, the next feed is set to after the next shot so 12 hours ish later...so he will never miss that one. So if I leave him to his own devices, he might well not eat at the desired intervals - but the food will remain accessible to him.......

He's had 3 hypos now and each one he has come downstairs or come to be near me. I feel like when he is in hypo mode he is extra hungry. So I hope that if that happened, he would be looking for food?

What do you think of my plan?

Otherwise I feel I'll never train him, and I wont know what might happen when I am not there....
 
I agree. Leave the feeder at one place which is accessible to him and let him go to it over the next 4 days when you are home to monitor him. Normally when their numbers drop low, they will go looking for food.

I'm a little confused on the manual vs circular timer bit. So the +1 will disappear when the +2 opens but the +4 will disappear when?
And the +2 and +3 will stay open once they open and never close? Till you come home?
 
Ok perfect, thank you!

Yes its confusing.

He has two feeders. One is digital, 4 preset, circular, and when a new meal appears, the old tray disappears under the cover. The other is two portion manual dial set, that you set each time you feed. When these trays open, they remain open and accessible to Marley, until I manually shut them again when I refill them.

At first I discarded the older 2 portion manual one and was filling the 4 portion one and setting it each time. But he kept missing the feeds as they would disappear when the next portion appeared. (Well he didnt miss feeds as I would open the time and retrieve it- but he would have if I wasn't there)


So I realised the best way to work it was to use the digital one to +1 and +4 after the am shot and +1 and +4 after the pm shot. As he is always up and about still at +1 after his shots, he never misses that + 1 feed. But anyway say he's late, as the next feed in that timer isnt til +4, so it doesnt move on til +4 he has 3 hours to catch it.

Because +2 and +3 portions are a different manual feeder, and these doors simply open and stay open until I move them, he has forever access to those meals.

Then at + 4 the original circular feeder moves to reveal the +4 portion.

That feeder then doesnt move til the next +1 after the next shot, which is actually 9 hours later.

So even if hes not on time, the food is available to him

Does that make sense?

It a bit tricky to explain!
 
+ 1 disappears when it is time for +4 but that gives him a 3 hour window to eat it, and as he is usually still up and about at +1, he always eats that immediately anyway
 
+2 and +3 stay open until I refill them.

+4 is open for 9 hours but anyway I will have refilled it by then for the next +1 after the next shot
 
So the digital circular feeder is set at

730 am (+1 after am shot)
10 am (+4 after am shot)
730 pm (+1 after pm shot)
10 pm (+4 after pm shot)

Manual feeder I do each feed to be set for
830 am (+2 after am shot)
930 am (+3 after am shot)
830 pm (+2 after pm shot)
930 pm (+3 after pm shot)
 
The old manual timer is a bit hit and miss when it actually opens as its a dial that isnt particularly accurate.......but its generally about right
 
I had the same problem with the mechanical timer feeder, I much preferred the design of the trays and that it stays open for him but the timer was not accurate enough to trust. I also switched to a round digital feeder :cat:
 
Carole & Indigo said:
I had the same problem with the mechanical timer feeder, I much preferred the design of the trays and that it stays open for him but the timer was not accurate enough to trust. I also switched to a round digital feeder :cat:
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Totally! But with the digital feeder - going round, he just doesnt eat it and it disappears out of reach.

So today I have just left him to his own devices.

As predicted he ate +1 as he was still up. But he ;eft + 2 and +3. It hasn't been +4 yet.

I have just handed him +2.

I probably should have totally left him to see what he'd do without me here. I shall from now on

How did you get him to eat his portions on time before it disappeared?
 
Jdubs said:
Totally! But with the digital feeder - going round, he just doesn't eat it and it disappears out of reach.

How did you get him to eat his portions on time before it disappeared?
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I use the feeder for night time and set it for 2 hours after his last meal and the 2 hours after that. Most days the first meal is barely touched or half eaten and the second is gone but I like to know it's there for him if he needs to eat. He is pretty good about eating when he needs to, this is the best option for us. I would continue to do feeder only until he adjusts, be sure to leave it in one spot so he know that's where his food will be when he gest hungry. With my guy consistency and keeping to routines has been what works best :)
 
Carole & Indigo said:
I use the feeder for night time and set it for 2 hours after his last meal and the 2 hours after that. Most days the first meal is barely touched or half eaten and the second is gone but I like to know it's there for him if he needs to eat. He is pretty good about eating when he needs to, this is the best option for us. I would continue to do feeder only until he adjusts, be sure to leave it in one spot so he know that's where his food will be when he gest hungry. With my guy consistency and keeping to routines has been what works best :)
Click to expand...
Thank you for sharing your process and thoughts. When you say "I would continue to do feeder only until he adjusts," do you mean that once he is regulated he may not need the extra feeds? Is it likely he will get more regulated at this stage or do some cats not?
 
Jdubs said:
Thank you for sharing your process and thoughts. When you say "I would continue to do feeder only until he adjusts," do you mean that once he is regulated he may not need the extra feeds? Is it likely he will get more regulated at this stage or do some cats not?
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Sorry, I just meant when he adjusts to using the auto feeder regularly. This is a marathon not a sprint, some people are really lucky and regulate early on or even achieve remission. My guy was diagnosed January 2021 and he is still not regulated, he has had stretches of great numbers and some not so great. Overall though he is doing SO much better! He has put weight back on, his neuropathy is gone, his coat is looking good and he is back to playing and being a bratty catty :cat:
I test a lot and keep track off all his numbers and am still working at getting him regulated but you have to look at how they are doing and feeling as well and take the wins when you can. Marley’s sheet is looking good his number have improved, I still scroll back through the months to remind myself that we are making progress even if it’s not as fast as I would like it to be :bighug:
 
Carole & Indigo said:
Sorry, I just meant when he adjusts to using the auto feeder regularly. This is a marathon not a sprint, some people are really lucky and regulate early on or even achieve remission. My guy was diagnosed January 2021 and he is still not regulated, he has had stretches of great numbers and some not so great. Overall though he is doing SO much better! He has put weight back on, his neuropathy is gone, his coat is looking good and he is back to playing and being a bratty catty :cat:
I test a lot and keep track off all his numbers and am still working at getting him regulated but you have to look at how they are doing and feeling as well and take the wins when you can. Marley’s sheet is looking good his number have improved, I still scroll back through the months to remind myself that we are making progress even if it’s not as fast as I would like it to be :bighug:
Click to expand...
Well done you, definite progress! Like you say you really have to look at the bigger picture sounds like Indigo is so much healthier and happier. Marley was diagnosed a similar time and it has been a struggle but both of us are much happier and more settled since coming on her. I cant tell you, the first several months were so hard and so even though like you say, he's not as regulated as I would have liked I'm just so happy he is as well and settled as he is. So much gratitude for everyone (particularly Bhooma who helps us daily). Its so sweet when their cheek returns!!
 
I managed to get some tests in but not note them down till now as my niece was ill and my sister had to go to work so she came to mine today so I was busy with her, bless her!
 
Carole & Indigo said:
Sorry, I just meant when he adjusts to using the auto feeder regularly. This is a marathon not a sprint, some people are really lucky and regulate early on or even achieve remission. My guy was diagnosed January 2021 and he is still not regulated, he has had stretches of great numbers and some not so great. Overall though he is doing SO much better! He has put weight back on, his neuropathy is gone, his coat is looking good and he is back to playing and being a bratty catty :cat:
I test a lot and keep track off all his numbers and am still working at getting him regulated but you have to look at how they are doing and feeling as well and take the wins when you can. Marley’s sheet is looking good his number have improved, I still scroll back through the months to remind myself that we are making progress even if it’s not as fast as I would like it to be :bighug:
Click to expand...

Jdubs said:
Well done you, definite progress! Like you say you really have to look at the bigger picture sounds like Indigo is so much healthier and happier. Marley was diagnosed a similar time and it has been a struggle but both of us are much happier and more settled since coming on her. I cant tell you, the first several months were so hard and so even though like you say, he's not as regulated as I would have liked I'm just so happy he is as well and settled as he is. So much gratitude for everyone (particularly Bhooma who helps us daily). Its so sweet when their cheek returns!!
Click to expand...

It is at this moment precisely that made me much in aw with humanity! I consider myself lucky to find this forum and have Oreo regulated very early, and I still remember how helpless I felt the first month with his BG all over places that I wasn't sure if there's a way out. But wonderful people like you guys, really show me how to view thing differently in a positive way even though we may still run into something not so lucky, whether it's concern of cat or of human, in the future. I'm just want to say, I'm lucky to have Oreo, but both Indigo and Marley are super super lucky to have you guys as their human! :bighug::bighug:
 
Elaine Lai said:
It is at this moment precisely that made me much in aw with humanity! I consider myself lucky to find this forum and have Oreo regulated very early, and I still remember how helpless I felt the first month with his BG all over places that I wasn't sure if there's a way out. But wonderful people like you guys, really show me how to view thing differently in a positive way even though we may still run into something not so lucky, whether it's concern of cat or of human, in the future. I'm just want to say, I'm lucky to have Oreo, but both Indigo and Marley are super super lucky to have you guys as their human! :bighug::bighug:
Click to expand...

Oreo is doing so well, his sheet is beautiful! I've been following along with your OTJ trial and rooting for you guys :bighug:
 
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