10/9/24 New Member - Need support to create a plan for Tiger

Status
Not open for further replies.
J9 Pearson

J9 Pearson

Member
I'm Janine and Tiger is 8 years old and diagnosed with diabetes in early July. I have a child with Type 1 diabetes so I noticed the signs in Tiger and we "caught it early" with his blood sugars in the 300s. Tiger is a big cat 17lbs (likely part Mainecoon), 8 years old and goes outdoors. The vet recommended we start off on a decent dose of Lantus (I honestly can't remember if it was 1 or 2 units.) They also recommended Glycobalance food. So, he's been eating both the wet and dry food and the vet has recommended going up in insulin and most recently we have been at 5 units. None of this has been helping so I reached out to the facebook group a couple days ago and got some advice. I have changed his food (luckily he's never been picky) to Fancy Feast Savory Centers and Tiki Cat Carnivore High Protein (I ordered the Young Again Mature Hero) and have been giving him 4 units of insulin, as well as, keeping him inside.
My questions are:
1. Where do I go from here? Start from scratch with insulin at 1 unit and follow the Start Low and Go Slow? 2. How do I present this approach to my vet (appointment tomorrow afternoon)?
3. I'd really prefer to use an insulin pen with him but I get I'll likely need to use a needle with the SLGS approach.
4. I've tried to open the Sugar Sheet but I can only get "View Only" despite following the trouble shooting steps.
Thank you so much for all the help I'm hoping to get on this message board!
 
Welcome Jannie and Tiger ,you couldn't have found a better group to join. We have many experienced members here . I can answer some of your questions ,but then I will tag a few members for you
 
J9 Pearson said:
I'd really prefer to use an insulin pen with him but I get I'll likely need to use a needle with the SLGS approach.
Click to expand...
With the pen you can only increase by whole units. We use the U-100 syringes with the half unit markings, since we increase or decrease by 0.25 units at a time . It doesn't matter what dosing method you follow you still need the syringes

You can order the U-100 syringes with half unit markings from Amazon without a doctors script
https://www.amazon.com/UltiCare-31-Gauge-Veterinary-Insulin-Syringes/dp/B009LTE0DO


upload_2024-10-5_9-40-51-jpeg.71138

The ones in the left is what we use

Just take the cap off the pen and use a U100 syringes and pull the insulin out of the pen! You will see a small gray rubber stopper, insert the syringe there
syringe-in-pen-pic-jpg.45006


We use the syringes because with using the pens instead of a vial you can only adjust the dose by whole units with a pen so we use the syringes since we either increase or decrease by 0.25 units at a time
 
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
This link will also explain how to use the spreadsheet, if you are still having trouble I will tag @Bandit's Mom

See if this helps
To set spreadsheet sharing permission:
* At the top right of the spreadsheet screen click on Share.

* In the pop-up dialog box click on the Get Link section.

* Change link access from 'Restricted' to 'Anyone with the link' and make sure that the permission on the right hand side is set to 'Viewer'.

* Click Done to save the changes.
 
J9 Pearson said:
I'm Janine and Tiger is 8 years old and diagnosed with diabetes in early July. I have a child with Type 1 diabetes so I noticed the signs in Tiger and we "caught it early" with his blood sugars in the 300s. Tiger is a big cat 17lbs (likely part Mainecoon), 8 years old and goes outdoors. The vet recommended we start off on a decent dose of Lantus (I honestly can't remember if it was 1 or 2 units.) They also recommended Glycobalance food. So, he's been eating both the wet and dry food and the vet has recommended going up in insulin and most recently we have been at 5 units. None of this has been helping so I reached out to the facebook group a couple days ago and got some advice. I have changed his food (luckily he's never been picky) to Fancy Feast Savory Centers and Tiki Cat Carnivore High Protein (I ordered the Young Again Mature Hero) and have been giving him 4 units of insulin, as well as, keeping him inside.
My questions are:
1. Where do I go from here? Start from scratch with insulin at 1 unit and follow the Start Low and Go Slow? 2. How do I present this approach to my vet (appointment tomorrow afternoon)?
3. I'd really prefer to use an insulin pen with him but I get I'll likely need to use a needle with the SLGS approach.
4. I've tried to open the Sugar Sheet but I can only get "View Only" despite following the trouble shooting steps.
Thank you so much for all the help I'm hoping to get on this message board!
Click to expand...
@tiffmaxee
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
@Bandit's Mom
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
 
Last edited:
Hypo kit if needed
Med and High Carb food and have honey in your house



Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs



Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Good idea to mark the cans with magic marker how many carbs

Or any on the food chart. Doesn't have to be Fancy Feast just an example about the med and high carb foods



https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-

10% and under is low carb
11% -15 is medium carbs.

16- 24 is high carb.
 
Can you please set up your signature
Information we need about Tiger
This is where you can set up what we call your signature, it's at the end of everyone's post in gray letters. Just tap on your name up top then tap on signature and add this information. You will link it to your spreadsheet

  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Bexacat or Senvelgo (if applicable) and dates
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

After you get your spreadsheet set up you will put it under your signature
 
Last edited:
Diane Tyler's Mom GA said:
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
This link will also explain how to use the spreadsheet, if you are still having trouble I will tag @Bandit's Mom

See if this helps
To set spreadsheet sharing permission:
* At the top right of the spreadsheet screen click on Share.

* In the pop-up dialog box click on the Get Link section.

* Change link access from 'Restricted' to 'Anyone with the link' and make sure that the permission on the right hand side is set to 'Viewer'.

* Click Done to save the changes.
Click to expand...

I think I got it all set up and the link on my signature. THANK YOU!
 
Your spreadsheet looked fine before , but now it has changed ,it doesn't look right look at mine Tyler SS
Do you see what it looks up at top ,
All the color codes are missing. Like I said before it looked right when I tapped on it the first time
@J9 Pearson

I'll check back later, I have a doctor's appointment now
 
Last edited:
Diane Tyler's Mom GA said:
Hypo kit if needed
Med and High Carb food and have honey in your house



Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs



Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Good idea to mark the cans with magic marker how many carbs

Or any on the food chart. Doesn't have to be Fancy Feast just an example about the med and high carb foods



https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-

10% and under is low carb
11% -15 is medium carbs.

16- 24 is high carb.
Click to expand...

Do you know if Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers is the same as Fancy Feast Savory Centers? I don't see the Savory Centers specifically on the list. Can you see if I set up my signature properly?
Last question (for now...) if I want to start the SLGS asap should I start him at 1 unit? or less than that? He is 17lbs. I do have the insulin needles (thanks to my diabetic child!) Cats are apparantly *very* different than humans.
 
J9 Pearson said:
Do you know if Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers is the same as Fancy Feast Savory Centers? I don't see the Savory Centers specifically on the list. Can you see if I set up my signature properly?
Last question (for now...) if I want to start the SLGS asap should I start him at 1 unit? or less than that? He is 17lbs. I do have the insulin needles (thanks to my diabetic child!) Cats are apparantly *very* different than humans.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the Forum, you can call Chewy.com and get the Carb % of the foods you are referring to, I only feed FF and purchase from Chewy.com, and they have these, make sure you ask the % of carbs for each one :bighug::cat::cat:
 
Diane Tyler's Mom GA said:
Is this kibble, if so I think it's too high in carbs
If you are feeding any dry food you would have to follow the SLGS method
Click to expand...

I'm hoping to feed dry food (he's a grazer) with small supplements of wet when he's hungry. Hoping to get some advice on starting point for SLGS
CORKY said:
Welcome to the Forum, you can call Chewy.com and get the Carb % of the foods you are referring to, I only feed FF and purchase from Chewy.com, and they have these, make sure you ask the % of carbs for each one :bighug::cat::cat:
Click to expand...

Chewy told me they only can tell me what it says on the box. Any tips on what to ask for specifically?
 
J9 Pearson said:
Do you know if Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers is the same as Fancy Feast Savory Centers? I don't see the Savory Centers specifically on the list. Can you see if I set up my signature properly?
Last question (for now...) if I want to start the SLGS asap should I start him at 1 unit? or less than that? He is 17lbs. I do have the insulin needles (thanks to my diabetic child!) Cats are apparantly *very* different than humans.
Click to expand...
No the Gravy Lovers is higher carbs in case Tiger drops too low and you need to bring up his BG
Yes your signature and spreadsheet looks good now
@J9 Pearson
 
Last edited:
J9 Pearson said:
? I don't see the Savory Centers specifically on the list. Can you see if I set up my signature properly?
Click to expand...
Just go to the Chewy site and put in which flavor of the Savory Center's you are feeding and on the site you will see questions to the right that people have asked , click on it and see if someone asked about how many carbs. Tell me the flavor you are feeding. @J9 Pearson
 
J9 Pearson said:
I'm hoping to feed dry food (he's a grazer) with small supplements of wet when he's hungry. Hoping to get some advice on starting point for SLGS


Chewy told me they only can tell me what it says on the box. Any tips on what to ask for specifically?
Click to expand...
Ok - so I called Purina and they told me for the Fancy Feast Savory Centers the carb % is only 1.71% to 1.85% for the 4 flavors. Could this be possible?!
 
J9 Pearson said:
I'm hoping to feed dry food (he's a grazer) with small supplements of wet when he's hungry. Hoping to get some advice on starting point for SLGS
Click to expand...
If you must feed dry food these are about 5 or 6% carbs

About the kibble
Here are some low carb dry foods ,they are about 5 or 6% carbs
None of them are cheap
You need to order them online they are not cheap
Dr Elseys you can buy on chewey site
https://www.chewy.com/dr-elseys-cleanprotein-chicken/dp/146269?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12791446238&utm_content=Dr. Elsey's&utm_term=&show-search=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0PvU2Zj79wIVRIdbCh3JawEkEAQYASABEgIInfD_BwE

Young again on their web site
https://www.youngagainpetfood.com
Take a look at the young again zero or the zero mature. Some members have said the Young Again caused stinky poops

In the past I have used The Dr Elseys and had no problem

Dr Elsey's also at Walmart
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dr-Elsey...ViI3ICh0suwO_EAQYAiABEgJrOPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Dr Elsey's Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FCJHDPR/ref=twister_B09GHFJY65?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

the Dr Elsey's comes in different size bags
None of these can be bought in stores

Also
Wysong Epigen 90

If you call they will send you samples
Phone: 877-311-2287… Dr Elsey's

PHONE:
800.311.6646. Young Again

1-800-748-0188 •Wysong Epigen 90
 
Until someone answers you
From the SLGS method
Starting Dose:
  • 1u BID if kitty is not on a wet/canned low carb diet
  • 0.5u BID if kitty has been switched to a wet/canned low carb diet
  • If the cat was previously on another insulin, the starting dose should be increased or decreased by taking prior data into consideration
  • Generally, shots are to be given 12 hours apart.
Hold the dose for at least a week:
  • Unless your cat won’t eat or you suspect hypoglycemia
  • Unless your kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L). If kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L) decrease the dose by 0.25 unit immediately.
After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet. The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.
  • If nadirs are more than 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), increase the dose by 0.25 unit
  • If nadirs are between 90 (5 mmol/L) and 149 mg/dl (8.2 mmol/L), maintain the same dose
  • If nadirs are below 90 mg/dl (5mmol/L), decrease the dose by 0.25 unit
 
The Savory Centers are low carb. And yes, the percentages that Purina provided are possible. The Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers are high in carbs.

There are only very few dry cat foods that are low in carbs -- Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein and the Young Again Zero Carb. You might want to take a look at this website on feline nutrition. There are any number of very good reasons to feed a canned food diet versus a dry food diet. Notably, cats have a low thirst drive. Canned food better addresses their need for moisture in their diet. This is especially important in a diabetic. Low moisture is hard on a cat's kidneys. Diabetes is hard on the kidneys. The combination is really not great for kidney health. You would be far better off feeding your cat a largely canned food diet and supplementing that with low carb, dry food.

Have you been home testing your kitty? It would be helpful to know what your cat's blood glucose test data looks like. Given the current dose and that you've been feeding your cat a high carb diet, making a suggestion about dose without any test data is difficult.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom GA said:
Just go to the Chewy site and put in which flavor of the Savory Center's you are feeding and on the site you will see questions to the right that people have asked , click on it and see if someone asked about how many carbs. Tell me the flavor you are feeding. @J9 Pearson
Click to expand...
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
The Savory Centers are low carb. And yes, the percentages that Purina provided are possible. The Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers are high in carbs.

There are only very few dry cat foods that are low in carbs -- Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein and the Young Again Zero Carb. You might want to take a look at this website on feline nutrition. There are any number of very good reasons to feed a canned food diet versus a dry food diet. Notably, cats have a low thirst drive. Canned food better addresses their need for moisture in their diet. This is especially important in a diabetic. Low moisture is hard on a cat's kidneys. Diabetes is hard on the kidneys. The combination is really not great for kidney health. You would be far better off feeding your cat a largely canned food diet and supplementing that with low carb, dry food.

Have you been home testing your kitty? It would be helpful to know what your cat's blood glucose test data looks like. Given the current dose and that you've been feeding your cat a high carb diet, making a suggestion about dose without any test data is difficult.
Click to expand...

I will fill out my most recent curve when he was eating the glycobalance wet and dry food.
 
J9 Pearson said:
I'm hoping to feed dry food (he's a grazer) with small supplements of wet when he's hungry. Hoping to get some advice on starting point for SLGS


Chewy told me they only can tell me what it says on the box. Any tips on what to ask for specifically?
Click to expand...
J9 Pearson said:
I'm hoping to feed dry food (he's a grazer) with small supplements of wet when he's hungry. Hoping to get some advice on starting point for SLGS


Chewy told me they only can tell me what it says on the box. Any tips on what to ask for specifically?
Click to expand...
Grazing on dry food is dangerous, dry foods have approximately between 25-30% carbs, he will have a difficult time keeping the BG numbers low and no opportunity to heal the pancreas, diabetic cats need a diet of low carbs between 0-10%, if you feed a main meal on APMS and PMPS (before each shot) and two small meals as I do it keeps them satisfied, my Corky is 16.5lbs very large cat not overweight, and I have Coco 1/2 Main Coon weighing 15.6 very very big cat, and they are satisfied with the portions, you can see Corky's Spreadsheet and scroll to the right on remarks his feeding schedule to have an idea:bighug::bighug::cat::cat:
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
It looks as if you have only been doing curves and not testing every day. Is that correct?
You can do SLGS without changing the dose at the moment. If you are going to change the food over to a lower carb option, I would do that first and test before every dose and then try and get a test in during all the cycles somewhere around the +4 to +7 timeframe (that is 4 to 7 hours after the dose is given). And don’t forget the pm cycles. They are just as important as the am cycles.
Just be aware that changing over to a lower carb diet needs to be done slowly and you will need to be monitoring the BGs to check they are not dropping too fast.
If you have been giving Tiger 4 units I would stay with that and let us see what the BG numbers are for a week. You would not go back to 1 unit. That is not a good idea at all.

CORKY said:
Grazing on dry food is dangerous,
Click to expand...
I would not say dry food is dangerous. I would say it is not a good choice for diabetic cats….it isn’t a good choice for any cats to be honest. If you need to feed dry food look at the low carb options mentioned above.
And you will struggle to get a diabetic cat in good numbers when feeding high carb food. It’s the same with a human diabetic. They need suitable food for diabetics.

From the SLGS dosing method
After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet. The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi and welcome to the forum.
It looks as if you have only been doing curves and not testing every day. Is that correct?
You can do SLGS without changing the dose at the moment. If you are going to change the food over to a lower carb option, I would do that first and test before every dose and then try and get a test in during all the cycles somewhere around the +4 to +7 timeframe (that is 4 to 7 hours after the dose is given). And don’t forget the pm cycles. They are just as important as the am cycles.
Just be aware that changing over to a lower carb diet needs to be done slowly and you will need to be monitoring the BGs to check they are not dropping too fast.
If you have been giving Tiger 4 units I would stay with that and let us see what the BG numbers are for a week. You would not go back to 1 unit. That is not a good idea at all.


I would not say dry food is dangerous. I would say it is not a good choice for diabetic cats….it isn’t a good choice for any cats to be honest.
And you will struggle to get a diabetic cat in good numbers when feeding high carb food. It’s the same with a human diabetic. They need suitable food for diabetics.

From the SLGS dosing method
After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet. The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.
Click to expand...
Better said than me thank you Bron
 
@Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Diane Tyler's Mom GA said:
Tell me the flavors you are feeding
@J9 Pearson
Click to expand...
Chicken, Beef, Salmon and Tuna (I bought the Collection pack and he loves it!)

I can't thank you enough for all your help today. I will definately feed mostly canned wet food for all the reasons you described and supplement sparingly with the Young Again dry (which arrives tomorrow.) I'm thinking for tonight and tomorrow morning I will give him 1 unit of Lantus since I have the pens and he's still got some carbs in him. Tomorrow I will be able to get some of the needles.
 
J9 Pearson said:
@Diane Tyler's Mom GA

Chicken, Beef, Salmon and Tuna (I bought the Collection pack and he loves it!)

I can't thank you enough for all your help today. I will definately feed mostly canned wet food for all the reasons you described and supplement sparingly with the Young Again dry (which arrives tomorrow.) I'm thinking for tonight and tomorrow morning I will give him 1 unit of Lantus since I have the pens and he's still got some carbs in him. Tomorrow I will be able to get some of the needles.
Click to expand...
Why do you want to go back to 1 unit?
Looking at the SS he is still in high numbers with the 4 units. Dropping back to 1 unit is not a good idea. Doing that could cause other problems such as ketones because he may not be getting enough insulin. If you have been testing the BGs and they do not drop down into more normal numbers, you do not reduce the dose.
You need to carry on as you have been and test more often so we can see what is happening. If the BG drops under 90, then you would reduce the dose. Does that make sense?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi and welcome to the forum.
It looks as if you have only been doing curves and not testing every day. Is that correct?
You can do SLGS without changing the dose at the moment. If you are going to change the food over to a lower carb option, I would do that first and test before every dose and then try and get a test in during all the cycles somewhere around the +4 to +7 timeframe (that is 4 to 7 hours after the dose is given). And don’t forget the pm cycles. They are just as important as the am cycles.
Just be aware that changing over to a lower carb diet needs to be done slowly and you will need to be monitoring the BGs to check they are not dropping too fast.
If you have been giving Tiger 4 units I would stay with that and let us see what the BG numbers are for a week. You would not go back to 1 unit. That is not a good idea at all.


I would not say dry food is dangerous. I would say it is not a good choice for diabetic cats….it isn’t a good choice for any cats to be honest. If you need to feed dry food look at the low carb options mentioned above.
And you will struggle to get a diabetic cat in good numbers when feeding high carb food. It’s the same with a human diabetic. They need suitable food for diabetics.

From the SLGS dosing method
After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet. The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.
Click to expand...

Yes, mostly curves bit with spot checking. Sorry, I am having a bit of trouble getting used to the organization of the message board (I'll get used to it!) I have already been adding the low carb over the past 3 days and he is tolerating it well.Tiger has stayed steady in the 300s since the last glucose curve on 9/27/24. I have been spot checking and it's been in the 300s consistently. Any help on where to go from today would be wonderful - especially if dropping to 1 unit is not a good idea. I will start tomorrow since he just ate with testing before meals and the +4 and +7 testing.

I'm going to argue your point with humans and diabetes. My son has been Type 1 for 8 years. He doesn't have to restrict his food at all - he just needs to know his carb counts and bolus properly for them. I'm am quickly learning how different feline vs. human diabetes is. Type 2, yes restricting is a better choice. The difference between Type 1 and Type 2 is Type 1 the pancreas doesn't work at all (hence insulin dependent) with Type 2 the pancreas is stressed and only partially works, that's why people who lose weight and change their diet can become "no longer diabetic" if they stop stessing their pancreas. I wish I hadn't made the mistake of thinking I 'understand diabetes' and also relying on the vet and just increasing his insulin and putting Tiger on the glycobalance. :(

Thank you for your advice.
Janine
 
Last edited:
Are you able to put in the SS, any of those spot checks you did with Tiger please? They would be helpful.

J9 Pearson said:
Do I drop each week by a unit? Is
Click to expand...
Any dose changes are governed by the BGs. The dose is only reduced if the BG drops under 90.
You follow what the SLGS dosing method says. Every cat’s journey is different. So you will not know ahead of time when you will be decreasing or increasing the dose.
You can start the change over of food as soon as you like. Just do it slowly and monitor closely as any change to low carb food can drop the BGs up to 100 points.
 
Hi Janine
I found this on the Chewy site, someone asked the question about the carbs
Yes they are all low carb
What is the dry matter carbohydrate percentage?
Answer by • Mar 11, 2024
The recipes in this variety pack contain the following carbohydrate values: Chicken & Gourmet Gravy Recipe As Fed - 1.71% Dry Matter - 7.88% Beef & Gourmet Gravy Recipe As Fed - 1.71% Dry Matter - 7.84% Salmon & Gourmet Gravy Recipe As Fed - 1.73% Dry Matter - 7.88% Tuna & Gourmet Gravy Recipe As Fed - 1.85% Dry Matter - 8.53%

@J9 Pearson
 
Last edited:
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Are you able to put in the SS, any of those spot checks you did with Tiger please? They would be helpful.


Any dose changes are governed by the BGs. The dose is only reduced if the BG drops under 90.
You follow what the SLGS dosing method says. Every cat’s journey is different. So you will not know ahead of time when you will be decreasing or increasing the dose.
You can start the change over of food as soon as you like. Just do it slowly and monitor closely as any change to low carb food can drop the BGs up to 100 points.
Click to expand...

I will continue with the 4 units. Thank you for the explanations. I'm clearly a bit overwhelmed with all this and can't express enough thanks for you breaking it down. Sorry to make you repeat yourself! I had tossed my sticky note with the spot tests since his last 9/27 curve and even dug through the trash and recycle that had been brought out to the cans and I still can't find it :(

After reading everything my plan is as follows:
1) Continue to transition to the Fancy Feast primarily with a snack of the YA Mature kibble when it comes tomorrow.
2) Continue with 4 units of Lantus AM and PM. No dose changes until a BG drops below 90.
3) Test prior to meals AM/PM, as well as, sometime between +4 and +7. Input in spreadsheet.
4) Keep him indoors so I can have a close eye on him.

Do I have it?

Last two questions:
1) Do you have any idea how much I should be feeding Tiger? I think from what I've read it's 5-6 cans per day based on his 17lbs.
tiffmaxee said:
Welcome. Many people listen to their vets and feed hc dry food. No point looking back. I’m glad you found us. Why were you considering going back to 1 unit? If it’s because of it being the starting dose for SLGS ignore that. That is for starting SLGS and not on insulin when starting SLGS.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Trying not to look back. and yes, I was thinking 1 unit based on SLGS but think I get is now. Also, feel like a huge step in the right direction. His BG at +5 today was 253 (down from 372 @ AMPS. Seems like the right food is making a difference and he's not even at 100% low carb yet.
 
Most BG meters keep the last couple week worth of data. You should be able to look up the recent data.
J9 Pearson said:
Do you have any idea how much I should be feeding Tiger? I think from what I've read it's 5-6 cans per day based on his 17lbs.
Click to expand...
Is 17 lbs his ideal weight or does he need to lose a bit. What type of food are you feeding? Or do you know the calories per can? Formulas for amount of food usually talk in terms of calories.
 
I confirmed with his vet that 15lbs is his ideal weight. As of tonight he should be 100% on Fancy Feasts Savory Centers (I'm thinking he should have 5 cans per day) and supplement as needed with small amounts of Young Again Mature dry food. I am also going to update those BG numbers now. Thanks for the tip on the meter keeping the data.
 
J9 Pearson said:
I confirmed with his vet that 15lbs is his ideal weight. As of tonight he should be 100% on Fancy Feasts Savory Centers (I'm thinking he should have 5 cans per day) and supplement as needed with small amounts of Young Again Mature dry food. I am also going to update those BG numbers now. Thanks for the tip on the meter keeping the data.
Click to expand...
That’s good, I do have to say that my Corky 16.5 lbs a very large cat and Coco, half Main Coon 15 lbs and neither are overweight, eat 1/2 can per meal each which is a total of 3 meals and 1 ham snack @ +3 I think 5 cans per day is a lot of food and they both eat 0-10% carbs only, I’m just saying:bighug::cat::cat:
 
It is overwhelming in the beginning. We all felt it. But you are on the right track now.
Are you able to get at least one test in during the pm cycles? Cats often drop lower at night. Even a before bed test is fine. If that test is lower than the pre shot test, that could be a red flag that he is going to drop further so you might want to get up and test later on. You will get to know his patterns.
When you get any results of ketones tests, could you put them into the remarks column of the SS please so we can see it easily please?
 
If you haven't read it already, the Catinfo website has some good information on safe weight loss. https://catinfo.org/feline-obesity-an-epidemic-of-fat-cats/#How_Much_Do_I_Feed One method on that page to approximate how much to feed is
Required calories per day = [13.6 X optimal lean body weight in pounds] + 70
Click to expand...
So if his optimal weight is 15 lbs, that works out to 274 calories. One of the example Savory Centers I looked at was 88 calories, so that would be a little over 3 cans.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
It is overwhelming in the beginning. We all felt it. But you are on the right track now.
Are you able to get at least one test in during the pm cycles? Cats often drop lower at night. Even a before bed test is fine. If that test is lower than the pre shot test, that could be a red flag that he is going to drop further so you might want to get up and test later on. You will get to know his patterns.
When you get any results of ketones tests, could you put them into the remarks column of the SS please so we can see it easily please?
Click to expand...
Wendy&Neko said:
If you haven't read it already, the Catinfo website has some good information on safe weight loss. https://catinfo.org/feline-obesity-an-epidemic-of-fat-cats/#How_Much_Do_I_Feed One method on that page to approximate how much to feed is So if his optimal weight is 15 lbs, that works out to 274 calories. One of the example Savory Centers I looked at was 88 calories, so that would be a little over 3 cans.
Click to expand...
I, honestly have never looked or even thought to worry about calories for Corky, I assume is because when I got himto the emergency last January 2nd and he was weighed he had lost an astonishing 8.5 lbs in less than maybe 2 months, and he was eating the same amount as a matter of fact he was eating MEAUMIX hard food all his life , thanks to the assistance and expertise of everyone here he got back to his same weight of 16.5 before diabetes, and I weigh both my cats monthly after the scare of such quick weight loss he had. , he is very healthy so I have always focused only on the % of his carb intakes, of course all cats are different and have different needs, this information is knowledge:bighug::bighug::cat::cat:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top