Jacques and Pumpkin
Member Since 2023
(There's a question coming after all the background info.)
As I mentioned in my welcome thread, Pumpkin is currently on a hydrolyzed protein (which unfortunately implies high carb) diet because she had previous allergy (we think) issues. For years it was just an occasional scarf and barf, but a year ago it got so severe that she was vomiting multiple times a day and barely eating. A hydrolyzed protein diet with a mix of kibble and canned wet food turned that right around. Unfortunately, it's also 40% carbs on a dry matter basis (both the dry and the wet, confirmed with the manufacturers).
The good news is that our trial of Instinct Limited Ingredient has been going well, with no vomiting or diarrhea so far. I started with their kibble and I've been using it as a lower carb treat (and Pumpkin has been getting lots of treats with all the poking and prodding she's been getting). It's still 20% carbs, which is better than 40% but not good. The other good news is that I should be getting some of their wet food tomorrow, which is only 7% carbs.
My goal is to get her switched to a 100% wet food low carb diet. That's going to take some time because we really don't want to rush and end up with a kitty on insulin to start vomiting up all her food. Also I can't test her consistently yet resulting in a lot of blind shots, so I don't want sudden BG chang
Right now she gets a total of 10 feedings. 5 after her first shot, 5 after her 2nd. The first 5 are each 2-3 hours apart. The second 5 are each 1 hour apart. That matches Pumpkin's appetite (much more active during the evening) and gets us done with food before bed time.
To start with I'm just going to move 20% of her food over. That'll move her overall diet from 40% carbs to 33%, which feels like a safe change. And my hope is that if we hit an allergy problem after introducing only a little more of the new food, it won't result in the repeated vomiting that could completely crash her blood sugar.
The question is whether there's any particular time of day where I should focus the lower carb food to start. I don't want to just mix it across all her feedings. If she has allergy issues, I want her to get it out of her system and be able to keep down her next meal. I'm thinking of maybe doing the evening meals she gets with her PM shot and at +1 (so 7:30 and 8:30 PM) since I'll be home and awake to notice if she vomits it back up. But I'm not sure about that. I put her feeding schedule in a tab in her spreadsheet.
As I mentioned in my welcome thread, Pumpkin is currently on a hydrolyzed protein (which unfortunately implies high carb) diet because she had previous allergy (we think) issues. For years it was just an occasional scarf and barf, but a year ago it got so severe that she was vomiting multiple times a day and barely eating. A hydrolyzed protein diet with a mix of kibble and canned wet food turned that right around. Unfortunately, it's also 40% carbs on a dry matter basis (both the dry and the wet, confirmed with the manufacturers).
The good news is that our trial of Instinct Limited Ingredient has been going well, with no vomiting or diarrhea so far. I started with their kibble and I've been using it as a lower carb treat (and Pumpkin has been getting lots of treats with all the poking and prodding she's been getting). It's still 20% carbs, which is better than 40% but not good. The other good news is that I should be getting some of their wet food tomorrow, which is only 7% carbs.
My goal is to get her switched to a 100% wet food low carb diet. That's going to take some time because we really don't want to rush and end up with a kitty on insulin to start vomiting up all her food. Also I can't test her consistently yet resulting in a lot of blind shots, so I don't want sudden BG chang
Right now she gets a total of 10 feedings. 5 after her first shot, 5 after her 2nd. The first 5 are each 2-3 hours apart. The second 5 are each 1 hour apart. That matches Pumpkin's appetite (much more active during the evening) and gets us done with food before bed time.
To start with I'm just going to move 20% of her food over. That'll move her overall diet from 40% carbs to 33%, which feels like a safe change. And my hope is that if we hit an allergy problem after introducing only a little more of the new food, it won't result in the repeated vomiting that could completely crash her blood sugar.
The question is whether there's any particular time of day where I should focus the lower carb food to start. I don't want to just mix it across all her feedings. If she has allergy issues, I want her to get it out of her system and be able to keep down her next meal. I'm thinking of maybe doing the evening meals she gets with her PM shot and at +1 (so 7:30 and 8:30 PM) since I'll be home and awake to notice if she vomits it back up. But I'm not sure about that. I put her feeding schedule in a tab in her spreadsheet.
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