? 4/9 Oren; AMPS-367;PMPS-159; pm+2.5-52;+3-58;+3.75-82;+4.5-138;+6-378

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Megan & Oren

Megan & Oren

Member Since 2015
YesterBADday

Yesterday was not good. bounce all day, not really cleared. Not much movement this AMPS either. Wondering about dose now; been at 5.75 for a while, and though it brought lots of blue, and even green, only verified 1 day (probably close 1 or 2 others) of green.

I'm back at work today, so didn't do a dose adjustment this a.m, but would appreciate advice. I'm inclined to only go to 6 if I go up (partially because I'm going away next wk for 6 days and the dose would be easier for vet tech to handle (the .25/.75 readings are tricky). Thoughts?
 
Paws crossed, Megan, that Oren will do much better for you today! I don't know enough to give advice, but a hurdle for us was food. When Zoey was staying high I had to look at her food (among five hundred other things I questioned and of course, charting stars to see their alignment ;)). When she went to the vet she was gaining weight so I reduced her food by a considerable amount from what I "felt/thought" was adequate to what Dr. Pierson had suggested according to calories based upon the food I was feeding. I was surprised by how much I was overfeeding Zoey. If you've not calculated Oren's food according to Dr. Pierson, where she talks about calories per pound of cat, it might be worth checking into.

Otherwise, Nasa has a pretty good site for studying the stars. :bookworm:

Hope you guys have a better day today!
 
Thanks Rose! i have read Dr. Pierson's page before, but for the life of me, i can never seem to find the section talking about calories per lb. of cat ?! Can you give me the actual URL of the page for that? I too have noticed Oren has gained a bit of weight (which I think was good and necessary) and is getting nothing but LC fancy feast and poached chicken. and yeah, all these 500+ things to read/learn/absorb gets so overwhelming sometimes!

hope Zoey has another great day and you guys are on the road to better regulation! I was hopeful for a while, but feel we've slipped back again... :blackeye:
 
I'm linking the page and here's the paragraph: The average cat should eat ~180 - 220 calories per day which will be found in 5-6 ounces of the average canned food.

It can be found four paragraphs above the picture of Andy and Calvin (several pictures of cats so find Andy and Calvin -->)
Andy%20licking%20Calvin%27s%20ear.jpg


Zoey needed to lose weight and reading that link she said her experience shows that a cat needs to be below 180 calories to do that. That's what I've had Zoey at and I've been adding some cooked meat (not much, just enough to bulk it up a bit) to help her with feeling like she's had enough. It was an eye opener for me because I was feeding Zoey two cans, at least, per day with the vet's blessing. (Not too sure they know about the calorie contents other than what they learn from the prescription foods that lobby their profession.)

Don't despair .. the perfect combination of everything working just right is always the last thing you try. Just keep trying!
 
And this is on the obesity site and the portion highlighted, italicized and bold is the basic math formula to start with on an average-size cat (Not suggesting Oren lose any weight, at all - but it's where the caloric equation is found):
How Much Should I Feed?

I cannot stress this enough - I can give you a formula that will provide an approximation of the optimal caloric intake for a safe weight-loss program but the bottom line is that you need to weigh your cat every 3-4 days to make sure that he is not losing weight too rapidly - or not losing weight at all.

Why is weighing your cat so important? Because:

1) Every cat is different in terms of how they metabolize food and their caloric needs.

2) We have no way of knowing if the calorie information given out by the pet food companies is accurate.

Also, as stated above, it is very important to pay attention to your cat's top line (back bone area) and the back of his head for signs of excessive loss of muscle mass.

There are three ways to arrive at a starting figure for the amount of calories to be fed.

First method:

The most accurate way is to calculate how many calories your cat is currently eating to maintain his not-so-svelte figure. Then take 80% of those calories as a starting point. Check the bag of dry food that you are feeding and see if it lists the calories/cup. Most dry foods do list the calorie content on the bag but canned foods do not. See the Cat Food Composition chart to see if the canned food that you are currently feeding is listed.

Second method:

Since most people free-feed dry food, the amount of calories consumed in a day is not known. In this case, figure out what you think your cat *should* weigh and plug that number into this formula:

Required calories per day = [13.6 X optimal lean body weight in pounds] + 70

Most female cats should weigh a nice, lean 10 -11 pounds. Most male cats should fall into the 11 -13 pound range.

Using an optimal body weight of 12 pounds as an example, we come up with 233 calories/day as a starting point.

[13.6 X 12 pounds] + 70 = 233

This formula provides a very generous starting point (usually far too generous) so be aware that some (most) cats will not lose weight when eating the number of calories generated by this formula. I would suggest feeding according to this formula for 10--14 days (or less) and then re-evaluating the caloric needs based on the cat's weight loss, or lack thereof.
 
Yaaay!! thanks so much Rose, I truly am not sure I'd seen those pages before?! SO much information on her site, and its easy to get sidetracked clicking in-page links etc! I'll try and review this carefully tonight. I'm pretty confident Oren is at a good weight now (pretty much close to what he was when I adopted him 8 yrs ago) but now the goal is to keep him there and of course help to regulate his BG levels.

Nothing to do but soldier on for the little boy! You and Zoey have a great day!!:)
 
I would go ahead and adjust his dose based upon his BGs now, then the day before you leave, ask here for suggestions for a vacation dose. Will hte vet tech be doing any mid-cycle tests, or just preshots?

He may be on his way down with his BGs this evening.
 
Keep doling out the low carb and keep testing every 30 minutes while he's in the 50's. Remind yourself that you want this! :D Even though it's a bit unnerving! You're doing great and he's doing great too.
 
just bounced up to 82! guess i can wait a little longer for next test? that was short in 50s (unless he was there at +1 ). thankfully off tomorrow, so i can stay up later tonight.

@julie & punkin (ga) that was VERY close to 50 and/or a dose reduction! wonder how hard he might bounce from these greens again. I note these are lower than the last set, which was in 60s. If he breaks 50 in next few days, he would get a .25 reduction, correct?
 
Way to break that bounce Oren! I'm loving all that green - keep on surfing little one. :D Nothing like starting to even think about a dose increase to get them showing a little action. :cool:
 
poo! short visit to green (maybe +1-4?) but it's better than nothing! I haven't fed him any more since +3. I may try to get a +6 to see if he's still rising, and if so, off to bed!
 
bizzare cycle tonight, big swings. Sigh. Not sure what to make of it. But I guess I'm holding 5.75 for a little longer?
 
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