4/10 Star OTJ trial day 9; first test 70; second test 53

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quilterkitty

Member Since 2013
yesterday's condo

Instituting random testing today. :mrgreen: Back later with results.

We've finally gotten some good rain here in Iowa. We've got a lot of catching up to do. A robin has built a nest in the corner of the window above our front door, and Maggie and Star are finding it quite entertaining. Okay, I enjoy watching, too. :lol: And with the rain, earthworms are all over the pavement, so our robin friend has plenty of food. My daughter had an awesome side trip to Seoul over the weekend; perfect timing because I heard the SK government is encouraging tourists to clear out. She is back in Shanghai now, back to classes and homework and her internship. She is very excited about Star's remission, even though she has missed the entire diabetes adventure!
 
Re: 4/10 Star OTJ trial day 9

Looking good, and what a nice report about the bird/kitty activity. One of my civvies is currently watching the birds outside our office window, too. :lol: Have a great day!
 
Re: 4/10 Star OTJ trial day 9; first test 70

Thanks, Angela!

First test at food+1 is 70. Went to Petco on Monday and got some Nature's Variety dog food in a few flavors to try (the dog and cat food formulas are exactly the same, even the taurine content). I am gradually converting DH to the "better food makes for a healthier cat" philosophy. It helps that all the premium foods are 10% off through April 27, and I have a coupon. = :cool: (Signed up at the Nature's Variety website. They are offering one for raw food, too.) And the food is a little less expensive in the 13.2 oz. cans. Star will eat anything; I really need to figure out how many calories he needs and feed him accordingly. He should lose another couple of pounds to reach "his" goal. Keeping him at a better weight will improve his chances for a full remission, but it's hard. He's like a mini George Costanza--he can always eat a little something! :lol: :lol:
 
Re: 4/10 Star OTJ trial day 9; first test 70

Go Star Go!​


:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:​

Not far to go now.

Yes, the weight loss can be tricky. Took my civvie Monet from 16.5 to 12 pounds, very slowly over a year's time. He was only getting fed about 5.5 ounces a day and he always wanted more. Slow and gradual is the way to go with the weight loss, about 1-2% a week. Dr. Lisa Pierson's website has some good info. She is the vet whose food chart we use to find the <10% carb foods.

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity

I stopped all free feeding, meal feeding only, was still feeding dry with some canned. Now, I think I would do the only canned food route if I had another overweight kitty who needed to lose weight. Replaced some food time begging with play time, affection, brushing.
 
Re: 4/10 Star OTJ trial day 9; first test 70

Thanks, Deb and Lisa!

Yep, I love Dr. Lisa's site and have learned so much there. (Warning, though: it is like a black hole for time, as you can spend hours totally absorbed in her accounts of various cats and their diets!) So far this week I've been feeding Star as he asks for it, whereas before I was trying to stick to specific feeding times to coordinate with his insulin. Monet (and you) did really well! Knowing that it took a year is good information. Star has already lost more than a pound just by switching over to an all wet food diet, but given how hard it is for me to lose weight, why am I expecting it to be quick and easy for Star? :lol: One positive: I've noticed that he isn't begging for food as often now that he's been eating the Nature's Variety dog formula (unlike the Fancy Feast, which is pure Kitty Crack, at least for my cats :lol: ). Maybe it takes longer to digest? I don't know. But that will surely help him over time. And he has more energy and is more easily engaged in play, so that's a bonus.

Since I'm using the 13.2 oz cans it's harder to figure out how much he's eating over a day's time, but your comment about giving Monet 5.5 oz./day gave me the idea to save an empty 5.5 oz cat food can and fill it up in the morning from the big can. That's how much I will give Star over the course of a day, and I don't have to buy a food scale! :idea: Even if I have to adjust a bit, I still know better how much he's had. The trick is to keep him away from Maggie's bowl because he will eat his portion and hers, too!

Thanks for the prompt to go back to Dr. Lisa's site and revisit the section on weight loss. If I remember correctly, she is a big proponent of raw diets (and feeds her cats mostly homemade food), but there is much to learn from her about feeding cats in general. I really like her no-nonsense approach. :mrgreen:

Everyone here has been so supportive and helpful, and I'm feeling lots of warm fuzzies for you all! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!! :YMHUG:
 
Tested tonight just before dinner and got 53. Interesting pattern, though I suppose there aren't enough numbers yet at the same times of day to establish a pattern. But still in green, and that's great! Star had a long play session today with his favorite toy: a long knotted piece of twine tied to a fishing pole-like stick. This time I tied on a spider sort of thing made from several twist-ties twisted together, and Star chased that for a long time. It is so wonderful to see his energy levels now compared to a month ago. What a difference! bcatrun_gif
 
This is such great news! You're almost there too. These last few days have gone by so fast. I'm trying to figure out how much to feed Mego as well. He's an oldie and not as active as he used to be, so he eats less than 5 oz per day. I really need to go back to Dr. Lisa's site and read AGAIN about MORE nutrition. I swear I've read so much, but retaining all of that info is hard. I like your reference to the "black hole." :lol: It's so true.

Numbers look great today and we've got our paws crossed for you too! :mrgreen:
 
Thanks, Katie! Good luck with Mego. It's hard to be the resident nutritionist, chef, server, AND cleanup crew for our furry friends, especially with their changing needs! :lol: :lol:
 
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