1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303 PMBG 116 +6 134

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SabrinaFaire

Member Since 2011
Yesterday

Well Hobbs was up again this morning. Can we blame it on the dry food? Or the lowered dose? Or who knows?

I am SO HAPPY it is FRIDAY!!! And a three day weekend. I really need it. It's been a rough 2012.
 
Re: 1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303

Well better he's too high than too low I guess. I'm going to do another curve this weekend, just not sure when, waiting to hear from a friend on when she wants to get together.
 
Re: 1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303

Hi Sabrina! Thought I'd check in on you and see how Hobbs was doing--what a change getting rid of the dry food made! It looks like he's doing some bouncing, so keep up with those mid-cycle checks whenever you can. Even if you can't stay up to get a check 6 hrs in the PM cycle, get a test in before you go to bed. It will give you some clues to how he's dropping at night.

I would recommend you pick up a few cans of high carb wet food (anything with gravy works--get something in a small can). That way if Hobbs drops too low right before bed and you want to boost his BG, you have something on hand. The high carb canned food will start working on raising the BG faster, and the higher numbers caused by the food clear a lot sooner. For example, higher numbers from dry food takes about 24 hours to clear from Bandit's system, where higher numbers from canned food take just a few hours.

I see that you're feeding EVO--on thing to keep in mind is that EVO is high calorie, so you may have to adjust the amount of food down from what you were feeding before. For example, when Bandit ate Fancy Feast he needed 7.5 oz a day to maintain his weight of 13 lbs, but when he ate EVO 95% he only needed 6 oz. If Hobbs is underweight, I wouldn't worry about it too much because it'll be good if he gains some weight, but if he's overweight it's something you want to figure out sooner than later to prevent further weight gain. Carrying around extra weight can affect BG.
 
Re: 1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303

Thanks, Julia. I actually did pick up some FF last night that was on the "list" of being HC for that purpose. I want to find a red bag to put it in so DH doesn't accidentally give it to him and so I can tell him "get me the red bag" or "give him one in the red bag" something like that if I'm not around.

Good to know about the higher calorie count. Hobbs is ~14lbs, a bit overweight. The can says to feed 1/2 can (6.6oz) per day per 7lbs of cat. I've been giving him that and somewhat worried I was underfeeding him. I'm not sure what his "ideal" is but I'm guessing ~10lbs. But maybe that's fine for him.

So in yesterday's scenario, I came home at lunch, he'd gone from 91 to 85 and I was worried about him dropping more, so I gave him the dry, would it be better to have given him a can of FF? A whole can or just part? I don't want to overfeed him but if he goes hypo that's not going to matter as much.

I'm also going to start to give him 4 smaller meals this weekend instead of 2 larger ones to hopefully space things out.
 
Re: 1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303

Once you get your auto feeder and are feeding 4 times a day this won't be as much of a problem because he'll have his food at +6 to offset low numbers. For now, if you're worried I would give him just a little bit of the high carb fancy feast--maybe mix some in with his regular food. Not a whole can, but just a few teaspoons. BTW, if you don't have pet can covers you should grab some at petsmart or petco--the ones for the 3 oz cans, the 5.5oz cans, and the 13 oz cans (which I believe are the same size as the 5.5 oz). They make storing food in the fridge much more convenient.

The feeding recommendations on the back cans are always more than what you should feed. Bandit needed 6 oz to maintain around 13 lbs (and actually he was still gaining weight so I would have gone lower if I hadn't decided to switch to Merrick's). I would confirm Hobbs ideal weight with your vet, but you think Hobbs needs to lose over a quarter of his body weight (that's a significant amount of weight for cat), I would say 6.6 oz is probably too much. I would start at 6 oz a day and work back from there (and that's being conservatively high because of his diabetes--if he wasn't uncontrolled I would say start at 5.5 oz--I doubt he'll need that much food).

Did you get the big cans? I used to measure out Bandit's food with those with a tablespoon (but make sure you don't do heaping tablespoons! I used a long, easy to level measuring spoon like this . 2 tbsp=1 oz. So if you're starting with 6 oz a day, that's 1.5 oz (3 tbsp) at each meal. If he continues to gain weight on 6 oz (make sure you weigh him at least once a week while you're determining how much food he needs), take away .5 oz from one of his meals so that he's getting 5.5 oz a day. Weigh every week, and after a few more weeks evaluate again and remove another .5 oz as needed and so on.

If you got the 5.5 oz cans just cut them into quarters and feed one can per day and see what happens. I wouldn't worry about the extra .5oz since I doubt he needs 6 oz anyway.

http://catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity#Implementing_a_Safe_Weight-Loss_Program
 
Re: 1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303

The can says to feed 1/2 can (6.6oz) per day per 7lbs of cat. I've been giving him that and somewhat worried I was underfeeding him. I'm not sure what his "ideal" is but I'm guessing ~10lbs. But maybe that's fine for him.

I just re-read this--have you been feeding him 6.6 oz of food twice a day? If so that is WAY too much EVO! (You'd have a very fat cat indeed with that diet :-D )If Hobbs ideal weight is 10-12 lbs, he needs about 200-230 calories per day to maintain a healthy weight. 5.5 oz of EVO 95% chicken & turkey is 210 cal.
 
Re: 1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303

Oh, no, not 6.6oz twice a day. :) 3.3 oz twice a day. I have a food scale that I measure out the big cans into containers that I keep in the fridge until it's time to feed him. It's got a tare on it so I just put the plastic thing on the scale, hit tare, and I can scoop food into it right to where I need it. :)
 
Re: 1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303

SabrinaFaire said:
Oh, no, not 6.6oz twice a day. :) 3.3 oz twice a day. I have a food scale that I measure out the big cans into containers that I keep in the fridge until it's time to feed him. It's got a tare on it so I just put the plastic thing on the scale, hit tare, and I can scoop food into it right to where I need it. :)

That's neat! If I ever go back to the big cans I'll have to check that out!
 
Re: 1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303

Julia & Bandit said:
SabrinaFaire said:
Oh, no, not 6.6oz twice a day. :) 3.3 oz twice a day. I have a food scale that I measure out the big cans into containers that I keep in the fridge until it's time to feed him. It's got a tare on it so I just put the plastic thing on the scale, hit tare, and I can scoop food into it right to where I need it. :)

That's neat! If I ever go back to the big cans I'll have to check that out!
It's handy. I bought it for measuring out hamburgers to be honest LOL. It's the Biggest Loser one, wasn't too expensive but comes pretty highly rated. I'm not a huge cook, but I've found it to be quite useful.
 
Re: 1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303 PMBG 116

His PM poke was at 116! NO SHOT!

From the "He's darn lucky he's cute files..." I had to open a new can tonight to feed him. I measured out his dinner (I get the big 13.2 oz cans) and set it down for him. After that I got out some plastic tubs to measure out his next few meals. I was sitting at the table doing this while he was eating right next to me. Well half way through I ran out of tubs so I got up to wash out a few more that hadn't made it through the dishwasher yet. I'm standing at the sink, not 5 feet away, and he's up on the chair, sniffing around the table and trying to get at the food I was putting in tubs!! He hadn't even finished what I had given him yet!! Silly cat. Like I'm not standing right there watching what he's doing! :lol: He didn't get any though.
 
Re: 1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303 PMBG 116

Hi Sabrina!

Just catching myself up...its been a tough week back at work and I've been so exhausted trying to get back into the swing of things. I hope you're feeling better!!!

Had a little laugh to read about sneaky Hobbs....keep up all the great work you do with him.

Thank goodness for the weekend. Longest week ever! Gonna do another curve on Kit as well either tomorrow or Sunday...You guys have a 3 day weekend? Ummm...why do I not have this!?
 
Re: 1/13 Hobbs AMPS 303 PMBG 116

LILandKIT said:
Thank goodness for the weekend. Longest week ever! Gonna do another curve on Kit as well either tomorrow or Sunday...You guys have a 3 day weekend? Ummm...why do I not have this!?
Guessing Martin Luther King Jr's birthday isn't a holiday in Canada? :) Truth be told this is the first time I've had this day off since I was in high school! Other than the year I was unemployed that is...
 
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