04/18 Ella ,pmps 441+2=336+4=228 +5=165 +6 =156

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tpr

tpr

Member Since 2012
Ella doesn't want to eat her wet again and is searching for the dry. I am in a position of having to force feed her and I'm sure that won't make her like it. I'm really not sure what to do?! She will only eat a bit if I syringe it to and even then only minimal. What do I do?
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

Have you tried warming it for 15 seconds in the microwave? Test to make sure it's not too hot before giving it to her.

I just put some crumpled up freeze dried chicken liver treats on J.D.'s food, and he ate some more of his food.
You can also use FortiFlora sprinkled on top of the food. FortiFlora has some of the same ingredients that they add to dry food to get the cats to eat it.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

Hi Dyana,

Yes I warmed it up and still had to syringe it to her. I really hope this is just a phase due to her feeling un well. I will sprinkle some fortiflora on. Can that affect her bg in any way?
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

In my place some people fry the wet food in a non-stick pan for a second & feed. The frying made the food very smelly & the cat loves it.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

I do not think I have ever been to your condo since we are not as active here as we once were but it took me months............... to get Do Lou over to wet and I had to do it soooo slowly I often mixed his food half wet and half dry to get him to eat it I know this is not ideal but its how we switched over and it took a good while best to you and Ella ;-)
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

Thanks for visiting! Ella is a dry food addict. I started introducing her to wet about 3 weeks ago and over Easter we pretty much switched her cold turkey and she did fine. She hasn't been feeling well recently possibly due to a URI and is turning up her nose at the wet. I don't want to give her dry without raising her insulin as she is carb sensitive. I'm kind of in a tight spot with her as I can't play the tough love card as she needs to eat to balance the insulin.

She has never eaten treats (dry freezed treats incl). I will try feeding her again at 7:30 with the fortiflora.

Thanks for all of the suggestions.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

tpr said:
Thanks for visiting! Ella is a dry food addict. I started introducing her to wet about 3 weeks ago and over Easter we pretty much switched her cold turkey and she did fine. She hasn't been feeling well recently possibly due to a URI and is turning up her nose at the wet. I don't want to give her dry without raising her insulin as she is carb sensitive. I'm kind of in a tight spot with her as I can't play the tough love card as she needs to eat to balance the insulin.

She has never eaten treats (dry freezed treats incl). I will try feeding her again at 7:30 with the fortiflora.

Thanks for all of the suggestions.
Click to expand...
yes Do Lou was also a dry food addict and pretty much would just refuse to eat many times but yes freeze dried often helps a lot I did try that also since he loved anything freeze dried so I did use that also on top of wet but it still took us 4ever or so it seemed he loves freeze dried salmon this is what I order and also no sure if Ella would like the dried tuna flakes that are so easy to put on wet food also
http://www.thecatconnection.com/cat/Wil ... 1-5oz.html
http://www.thecatconnection.com/cat/Cat ... alfoz.html
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

Another suggestion is to pulverize some of the dry stuff (either crush it very thoroughly with a rolling pin, etc. or put it in a food processor or blender) and sprinkle it on top of the canned. If Ella has a URI, chances are she's not smelling things well. You might want to turn on your shower, get the bathroom steamy, and let Ella sit in there for 15 min. to try to break up the URI. I'd try feeding after you use the steam.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

It took four months to get Maverick to eat enough wet food on his own to maintain his weight. Weight loss in cats is risky - see Maverick's story in my signature.

You want to syringe feed a food you don't want her to eat on her own to avoid food aversion - her associating the assist feeding with that food flavour. So pick a really high calorie food to syringe feed her for the biggest bang per ml calorie wise. Wellness Chicken I believe is 200 calories a can.

Things that worked with Maverick.
Making the mixture very soupy so he could lap it up. We were able to gradually reduce the amount of water. Texture was still very important to him all along. You'll find what works for Ella.
The shape of the bowl was really important to him. A low flat bowl wish gently raised edges.

Also consider it assist feeding not forced feeding. The change in your attitude about this will make a difference.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

Thanks Karrie!

Today was the first day I had to force as opposed to assist the first snack. She is actually eating Wellness chicken and was doing fine with it until a few days ago when she started feeling unwell with something...the vet suspected a mild URI. I have been blending the food to a soupy texture and when she doesn't eat it out of the bowl I syringe it (assist) or put it on a spoon for her to lick and she likes that. I'm really hoping that she is just being difficult due to whatever is making her feel off....hopefully it's not the food! Her poo has been good and no vomiting so I can only assume it's not causing her a tummy ache. Fortunately I have a prep this morning so I can stick around to see if I can tempt her with one more bite. She usually eat 5/8 of wellness before I leave and I'd say she's at about 3.5. It makes me nervous to leave her without her wanting to eat...especially with insulin in her system.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

Lots of good suggestions here, Tamara.
FortiFlora will not raise Ella's bgs. Just try sprinkling a little on her wet food. It contains "animal digest", just like dry foods, and cats apparently really like animal digest.
Sending healing vines to Ella and hoping that she feels better soon,

Ella & Rusty
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

Ahhh good to know - I thought you were transitioning from dry to wet. I'm not able to keep up with all the condo's. LL is a crazy busy place. ohmygod_smile :lol:
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

Thanks Sienne! I will try pulverizing some dry and sprinkling it on. I had her in the bathroom this morning for a steam. If she has a URI, it is very mild as I don't see much evidence. Her breathing sounds good to me. I hope it's not something else!
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

Hi guys .. sorry to hear ella is not feeling well and is turning her nose up at the wet cat food .. no advice from me, as mocha took to it right away .. but I know lots of people here who will have good suggestions for you! Have a great day!
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

just checking in - you've gotten all the advice from others that i might add. hope something is working. some cats are pickier than others, so perhaps having a few cans of something else if you need to tempt her might be helpful.

mine LOVE fortiflora - if you don't have it you can buy it online from amazon or from a vet. i haven't found it sold in stores. i'd guess pulverizing the dry and sprinkling it might be similar.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

She seemed to be a bit interested in fortiflora this morning but I still needed to spoon feed and encourage her to eat. I have tried some other canned varieties and she's turned her nose up at those too:(
If she doesn't eat her usual amount of calories in the morning and is not lapping it up on her own during the day do I need to consider giving her some dry? I realize that it's not good for her system and bg but I certainly can't pump her full of insulin without enough calories to balance her out. I pulverized some dry and places it on top of her wet on my way out the door. I'll report back with results and may need some advice in regards to next steps.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

I don't know if this will help with Ella but Racci is the same way and one of the worst I've seen. I get her texture just the way she likes it with water and put it in the microwave to the exact temp she likes. I bring her on the ottoman with me & put it right in front of her making a super fuss about how wonderful her food is so she has to smell it to see what I'm raving about out of curiosity. if she still refuses to eat, I prod her a little and continue to tell her i made it just the way she likes it, and taste it, etc. If she still won't try it, I pick it up and walk into the kitchen and 'fix' it, usually by putting my finger in and stirring it or putting a tiny bit more solid or water to the mix or heating more and stirring again. She will usually eat it the second time when I tell her I fixed it and help her eat it with my fingers.

Melanie & Racci
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

Hi, Tamara,
I used a little pulverized dry on top of wet when Mookie was transitioning to wet food, and it worked very well. He was a kibble addict, too and wouldn't go near wet food at first. When I was still feeding him some dry food I just made sure it was low in carbs with no grains. I used EVO and Orijen, both of which he liked.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335, +10.5=340,pmps 441

Thank you all for your great suggestions:)

So far she likes the fortiflora option best. I was a bad mama and fed her rumbling belly at +10.5. I fed her an 1/8 at a bg of 340. She jumped big time at pmps but I'm not sure if that was from the food or a possible bounce?! Wet food doesn't usually affect her like that when I feed her at +9-10.
SO just to clarify,is fortiflora is totally safe to give her on a daily basis for the next little while? I know I've used it when giving antibiotics to replensih the good bacteria and it has been helpful:)

I left out some pulverized dry on wet today and she did not go for it at all! Maybe she was peeved that I locked her up all day :-x
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335 (refusing wet food)

Tamara,

I'm sorry and feel guilty because I feel like I abandoned you this morning, but I do need to back off a little and take care of J.D. who isn't feeling totally himself right now, because of his pancreatitis.

I only know so much about getting a kitty to eat, and felt others would help you with it. I hope she is eating better tonight. My cats LOVE FortiFlora, and I believe you can give it every day. The package says 1 packet a day, I think.
I usually just sprinkle a little on each cat's food (because if one gets it the other one can't wait to get some too :razz: ).

MelanieAndRacci said:
I don't know if this will help with Ella but Racci is the same way and one of the worst I've seen. I get her texture just the way she likes it with water and put it in the microwave to the exact temp she likes. I bring her on the ottoman with me & put it right in front of her making a super fuss about how wonderful her food is so she has to smell it to see what I'm raving about out of curiosity. if she still refuses to eat, I prod her a little and continue to tell her i made it just the way she likes it, and taste it, etc. If she still won't try it, I pick it up and walk into the kitchen and 'fix' it, usually by putting my finger in and stirring it or putting a tiny bit more solid or water to the mix or heating more and stirring again. She will usually eat it the second time when I tell her I fixed it and help her eat it with my fingers.

Melanie & Racci
Click to expand...
That is so sweet of you Melanie. Just like something I would do :oops: woops, I didn't mean I'm sweet
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335, +10.5=340,pmps 441

Hi Dyana! I didn't feel like you abandoned me at all. I thought you gave me good advice and I totally understand that you have your own kitties to take care of:) Thanks for always looking out for me:) Ella dropped quite a bit to 336. I'm assuming this would be considered to be an active cycle but not sure how low she'll go as she's still in the pinks! I will take a +4. I hope JD feels better soon:) Sending him healing vines to kick that pancreatitis right out of his system!
 
Re: 04/18 Ella pmps 441, +2 336

That's a fair drop in two hours. I would do the +4, too.
I hope you guys have a nice night :smile:
 
Re: 04/18 Ella amps 335, +10.5=340,pmps 441+2=336+4=228

Ella continues to drop significantly. I've never seen such a significant drop within 4 hours. Should I be concerned?
 
Re: 04/18 Ella ,pmps 441+2=336+4=228 (dramatic drops))

i don't think you should worry too much, although if you can get a +6 it would probably be a good idea. the biggest drops seem to happen when they start at the highest numbers. it can be a real high dive.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella ,pmps 441+2=336+4=228 (dramatic drops))

i wanted to answer you quick because you'd bumped your post, but just now looked at her ss. i'm going to hazard a guess that what's happening is that she's clearing the bounce. she had that 163 at pm+2 last night and it looks like she went straight up from there to the pmps tonight. now she's dropping as it clears.

don't think it's a problem, but i do think it would be a good idea to get up and get a +6 - sorry!

when they're clearing a bounce they ignore the "curve rule" that we normally see. so she may go straight down for a while til she gets into greens again. you may have the "what should i do with this number?" at shot time.

take a look at the sticky on what to do with low numbers if you need it. you might want the option of closing her in a room tomorrow with food, or sticking her in the car and leaving her in the parking lot if it's not too warm outside.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella ,pmps 441+2=336+4=228 (dramatic drops))

now she's at 165...just an hour later and she's not even at nadir.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella ,pmps 441+2=336+4=228 +5=165 (dramatic drops)

i've never seen her drop so dramatically when clearing a bounce. i hope she slows down a bit.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella ,pmps 441+2=336+4=228 +5=165 (dramatic drops)

does the insulin have a greater effect when a cat is clearing the bounce?
 
Re: 04/18 Ella ,pmps 441+2=336+4=228 +5=165 (dramatic drops)

no - doesn't work like that.

you have the underlying level of insulin, and then you have these bounces that go "on top" of whatever bg you would see if she weren't bouncing.

ideally, she's going to go back around the numbers she was at on this dose pre-bounce - the lowest i see on her ss is 61.

just remember that normal numbers are 50-120. 61 is smack awesome! you want her to get down out of these high numbers, so as much as it's bad for your sleep, this is good for her.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella ,pmps 441+2=336+4=228 +5=165 (dramatic drops)

ok will test her in half an hour....will you be around?
57 was her lowest number on the 11th.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella ,pmps 441+2=336+4=228 +5=165 (dramatic drops)

i don't think i will, but if you just edit the subject line of your first post, someone will see it and give you a hand if you need it.

you don't have to do anything until she drops below 50. until then, just enjoy having her in better numbers!

eta - oh sorry - i saw the 57 but read it as 67! my eyes are faulty and it's tiny! whoops.
 
Re: 04/18 Ella ,pmps 441+2=336+4=228 +5=165 (dramatic drops)

thanks julie:)
if she goes in greens should i help her surf it out with food or only if she goes below 50?
have a nice night!
 
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