12 hour schedule

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NatCat

NatCat

Member Since 2015
Hi everyone!
Do shots have to be given with food each time? I usually shoot at 7 am in the morning, but by 12, the cats are begging, and by 4, they will trip me and hold me hostage. I usually can hold them off till 5. Would it be possible to feed them at 5 and then shoot at 7?
 
The problem with feeding within two hours of shot time is it will be food influenced and you might shoot when it's not safe. Shooting late in the cycle may result in higher preshot numbers. What about a small snack at + 8-9 to tide over until shot time?
 
So is it not okay yo shot with food? How should I do it? My vet said feed and shoot at the same time.
 
Most of us test, feed, and shoot... all within a few minutes. Some leave food out for kitty to munch on all day, but pick the bowl up at +10 in order to get a "clean" preshot number (uninfluenced by food) at the next shot time. Others divide up kitty's normal amount of food into mini-meals offered prior to nadir (the lowest point in the cycle).

As Elise suggested, if your kitties are starving at +10 you could give them a low carb snack to hold them over til their meal at +12.
 
What do you suggest as a snack? My diabetic cat isn't bad, but I have a former street kitty who is really naughty. He will eat plastic or trip me until he gets his way!
 
NatCat said:
What do you suggest as a snack?
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Freeze-dried chicken has always been a hit around here. Some will feed a few cubes of boiled chicken. Others might feed a teaspoon of low carb canned food with water mixed in it. The water helps to fill their tummy til meal time.
 
I use freeze dried chicken or turkey. You could boil chicken too. I buy human from honeyville farms because it is cheaper than pet fd but each can has quite a lot of powder. I use the crumbs as a topper for the food if Max won't eat.
 
I split total food our diabetics eat into multiple meals throughout the day, I do not try to only feed them at shot time. It is easier on their pancreas to eat smaller meals and shorter intervals.
ChrisFarley (OTJ) and Sly are feed every 4 hours (when Chris was on insulin we found every 3 hours helped keep his blood sugar down. He was one of the oddballs that it helped to bring the PM # down if we fed him closer to shot time). They both have auto-feeders for when we cannot be there to feed them.
Cecil (OTJ) eats about 4 times a day, 2 main meals at "shot" time and then 2 other meals at the time we leave and the time we go to bed. Now that he isn't such a piggy when it comes to food, he does have access to the food we leave out for Mittens when we are gone and he does snack on that too.
You don't have to wait to feed them for 12 hours. Just make their meals smaller and feed them at noon or 4, when they get hungry, or somewhere in between.
 
Stella & Chewy's is a good snack choice though it can also be used as a meal. Be sure to add water. You can also add water, freeze, and leave out to defrost. I haven't tried the second option but a lot of members here have with success.

If you feed Stella & Chewy's, check the link below to make sure the item you buy is not on the recall list.

http://www.stellaandchewys.com/stella-chewys-recall-notice/
 
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