https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/11-24-emma-ambg-108-4-56.271132/ Happy post-Thanksgiving grogginess to my American friends! I got the advice from @tiffmaxee and @Wendy&Neko to feed a late snack (between +7 and +9) to kickstart Emma's pancreas a little while before BG time. It has definitely worked! Two days ago I was up quite early and was able to give her a snack before AMBG and boom . Did the same a few hours before PMBG and again, . Yesterday AM no late snack before AMBG and she was at 104 ; did so before evening and again. As for this morning, well, she went to bed having eaten only some of her late snack, and I woke up this morning with it mostly gone. What is weird is that Emma hasn't seemed that interested in the food. This might be a function of eating more regularly around the clock, compared to her eating one big meal and smaller snacks before. I still feed her a main meal but she won't eat all of it. I think she wants/expects the dry food, but she hasn't been getting any. The poor thing, I gave her a single kibble to trick her into her old routine of finishing her wet food after dry kibble, and it worked... I'm not complaining that she's not ravenous as usual, but writing it here in case it's a red flag for cats on a food trial.
Very encouraging! Have you weighed her recently? Was he overweight or underweight when she became diabetic? Unregistered cats are often ravenous. Do you think she’s at her ideal weight now? Do you have any idea how many calories she used to get and how many she’s eating now? Have you tried freeze dried treats that are 100% protein that have some crunch?
Thanks! She was overweight when she became diabetic, but she was losing weight when we diagnosed her (we had put her on a diet, and so, apparently, had diabetes). She was ideal maybe 2 months ago, but I think Emma has gained weight in the last 1.5 months, probably from the treats at test time... she gets 220 calories per day, maybe a few more if I test lots. Her treats are freeze-dried but only 70% protein (Origen tundra). I think I need to get her to lose weight, back closer to 12.5lb whereas I suspect she's around 14 right now (no scale). So maybe this is a blessing in disguise. I just wasn't sure if regulated cats perhaps eat less, and I've been overfeeding her relative to what I should have been!
This is helpful. Regulated cats do need less food so she may be self regulating. So if she’s eating a little less that’s great. You want her to lose slowly. Dr. Lisa Pierson has a section on weight loss and how to determine how many calories your cat needs. Part of that is how active your cat is. Max was old and a couch potato so didn’t need many calories. It’s been awhile but I helped a friend help her obese cat get down to his ideal weight using Dr. Lisa’s advice as a guide. So check out her site. catinfo.org
Thank you! That makes sense. I was so concerned on making sure she had the right number of calories that I didn't stop to think whether the amount of calories she needed might be less. The extra pound or so she's gained makes sense especially if it's true that she has really only become regulated in the past 2 months. I'll reduce calories and look at Dr. Lisa's page.
