6/17 Lulu AMPS-149,+5-166,PMPS-169,+2-86,+3-63,+4-47,+4.5-65,+5-74,+6-83

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I am in a quandary and thus the question. Lulu is gaining weight, I just weighed her and she is now up over 15 lbs, having gained about 1 1/2 lbs since her dx in March. She was once obese, about 22 lbs, which was a contributory factor to her diabetes (she should be about 10-12 lbs at her healthiest weight). Now that we are managing the diabetes, I find that Lulu is gaining again. I keep wet food out all the time (and load Otto during the night and during days I`m away) due to my fear of her going hypo because of not enough food to balance out her BG levels. If any of you have faced similar problems, can you provide some tips on how to manage this? TIA.
P.S. the pic on her profile is not current, it's what I call her on-line dating profile photo ;)

Addendum: In the interest of complete transparency, the slender Lulu picture has been replaced with a current picture.
 
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Haha too funny about her dating picture!

You're right to be concerned about it. I think I'd figure out how much food she needs per day, then try to stick to only that much divided between the feeder and meals.

Www.catinfo.org has a calorie calculator and calories for the different commercial cat foods. Fat is the enemy of diabetes, so it's good to deal with it. Just remember that cats have to lose weight slowly to avoid hepatic lepidosis. Do I have that spelled right? It's fatty liver.
 
Here is Dr. Lisa's page on implementing a safe weight loss program. It talks about how fast you can take the weight off without getting hepatic lipidosis. @julie & punkin (ga) - I only know how to spell it cause I fostered a kitty with FHL. ;) And yes, you don't want to go there! That page also has a couple of ways of determining the optimal number of calories per day. For a 12 lb cat (optimum weight) it would be about 233 calories. Look at the calories on the cans you are giving her and figure out how many calories she's getting now.

Neko would gain weight if I didn't watch her like a hawk. Now part of that is the excess growth hormone from the acro tumor (think teen ager appetite), but she's been fond of food all her life. I have to do portion control. I can't leave food out all the time. We have set meal times and the only thing she gets in between those mini meals are her pokey treats. The civie has also learned that he has to eat at meal/mini meal times, and those are the only feeding times. I set aside what she's allowed to eat during the day, and give part of that for her meals. Adding water to the food helps fill them a bit too. The amount you feed is the largest contributor to what they weigh, but exercise also helps.
 
Sheba was once a fat cat many years ago when she had unlimited access to dry food (cringe!) about 9 Kgm or 20 lbs.
The vet said she was too fat and we restricted the amount of food she had access to. It was hard as I had another cat who was a slow grazer. She levelled out at about 7 kgms.
When she got FD the first time ( and the second time when she fell out of remission) she lost a lot of weight....down to 4.7 kgm (10lbs). It took ages both times for her to regain the weight but she is now at 6kgm...a good weight for her. To make sure she doesn't gain further weight I weigh the amount of food she has each day .... I home prepare it.....and I don't give her any extra ( unless it is MC or HC for low BSLs ). And I add water to all her food.
I don't leave food out all the time. Sheba would just eat it straight away.
I feed her at preshot and +2 or +3 and tiny treats for testing. At night I use an auto feeder (6 portions) and put a chicken broth ice block in each with a tiny piece of chicken ( total amount of chicken would be about 5 or 6 grams). That keeps her happy. After she has had her second meal of the day she takes herself off for the rest of the day and doesn't ask for more food unless she can smell something yummy in the kitchen...she will come and try her chances then.
 
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Thanks Julie, Wendy & Bron for the great information. I have been doing a lot of reading since I posted the question. My other concern is my kitten (Coco), ensuring that she gets enough food to ensure healthy development while Lulu does not get more than her fair share, so I weigh all three of my kitties regularly. I was relieved to learn that Coco is just fine, her weight has stabilized, but she will be one year old in mid-July and according to my readings, her weight gain would have slowed down at about 8 mos. Otis is at the same weight he`s been and he`s going on six, so all`s good with him. It`s my little piggy, Lulu, who has only lost weight because of diabetes. Now that she`s on insulin, she is starting to pack it on again. I have decided to set meal times, which I did starting at dinner time. Once their bowls were empty, that was it. When I made my own dinner, Lulu was right there, wanting more, but I was strong. Tonight, I am going to divide a can and put about a tsp into each of the five compartments overnight...just too scared that Lulu may go hyper after PMPS.

As for exercise, Otis and Coco play and chase each other around, but Lulu gets very defensive if they approach her for play. Might have to get a harness and start taking her for walks (I can just picture this :rolleyes:)

I`m going to post a recent picture of Lulu on our profile. No more deceiving the boy kitties, Lulu, sorry.:p
 
she is lovely! It is a better problem to have than too thin and won't eat.;)
When I had one that didn't eat much or fast and Sheba who loves her food, I separated them at night and put Maxie in a room with a bowl of food he could eat at his leisure. That worked quite well.
When Sheba became diabetic they ate different food. Sheba sometimes got into Maxie's food despite my best efforts but I had to shut one of them up for the duration of the feeding time to ensure both got the correct food.
Picking up the bowls is a good idea. They will get used to it.
 
I am no expert on dosing but if you are going to cut down on her food intake or change her pattern of eating I would test a bit more for a bit (or be aware that it might change things) to see how she goes as she runs quite low anyway doesn't she? She is doing really well.
 
They used to all eat kibble until I found this board. Now they`re all on wet. I could put Otis and Coco's food up because Lulu can't jump very high at her weight. Separating them at night would be hard, spoiled kitties all like to sleep on my bed with me. When I tried keeping them out, they destroyed the carpet behind my bedroom door trying to dig a hole to get in, I guess. Puddin (GA) used to jump on the railing outside my door and try to turn the doorknob. Kitties are so darn smart!!!

Yes, I am going to have to test more, especially at night. They get brekky, lunch, and dinner, and then the autofeeder at night but who know who eats how much out of that? And because I've been free feeding them, many times I have to throw out a lot of food from the autofeeder in the morning.

Looks like I'm just going to have to be more vigilant.
 
Looks like I`m going to have to space Lulu`s mealtimes out better if I`m not going to free feed her anymore. Just took a +2 and she`s dropped quite a bit. I think it is going to be a long night, just have that feeling.
 
You might want to think about doing some early in the cycle mini meals. When Neko started Lantus, I'd give her a +1 and +2 snack to try to slow things down a little.

Time for surfing Lulu!
 
I was thinking the same thing, Wendy, so I trusted my instincts and gave her some LC after that +2 drop. She's still dropping at +3, so a little more LC and we'll see what the next test shows. As you suggest, I'm going to give mini meals to start with before I move to giving complete meals of breffis, lunch & dinner with nothing but pokey treats in between. After some thought, it seemed silly for me to even consider starting this change abruptly and late in the day.
 
Lulu...I'm out there paddling around, but don't make me come out there!! Come on in a little and let's have some fun on the rope swing!

cat on a swing.PNG
 
I SO love that picture :joyful::joyful::joyful:

Hey, China, dat look like fun. I's gonna try to make my way back so's we can play! Mama gonna poke again soon, don't like dat too much, but I's gets a treat, she gonna give me two so I give one to you, k?
Wuv,
Lulu
 
She must have heard you were planning to put her on a diet - she's grabbing the good stuff while she can!!

That's far enough now Lulu...back in you come!
 
That's better!! Now that she's in the mid-60's, no more food for now, but test again in 30 to make sure she's still up there (or higher) and if she is, then get at least 1 more test (I like to wait an hour but some will just test again in another 30) before going to bed for any length of time
 
Coming up, thankfully. She's not happy about the pokeys, took off running and hid, then growled all the way to the testing room, lol.
The little monkey knows that Mama has an early a.m. appointment to get her grey roots coloured, so is getting her revenge by keeping me up half the night. sigh.

I's sorry, China, I dint come play on rope, too much fun making Mama crazy. teehee
 
Oh on your spreadsheet, what I do when I have 2 numbers I need in the same cell is "stack" them, so with her, I'd type in 47 space 65 space@space 4.5

If you look at China's spreadsheet for 6/9, you'll see at +4, I entered two numbers,,,the one at +4 and then the +4.5 .....if you look at the +5 cell I did the same thing again

When you enter them like that, you do have to go back and color code them yourself, but that's easy
 
Chris & China said:
That's better!! Now that she's in the mid-60's, no more food for now, but test again in 30 to make sure she's still up there (or higher) and if she is, then get at least 1 more test (I like to wait an hour but some will just test again in another 30) before going to bed for any length of time
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Ack!! The auto-feeder just turned and by the time I got upstairs to get it away from her, she had scarfed down the small amount in it!
 
Chris & China said:
Oh on your spreadsheet, what I do when I have 2 numbers I need in the same cell is "stack" them, so with her, I'd type in 47 space 65 space@space 4.5

If you look at China's spreadsheet for 6/9, you'll see at +4, I entered two numbers,,,the one at +4 and then the +4.5 .....if you look at the +5 cell I did the same thing again

When you enter them like that, you do have to go back and color code them yourself, but that's easy
Click to expand...
Thanks, will do that tomorrow when I am of sounder mind. (I'm sure glad I didn't take my meds tonight)
 
I bet at +5 she'll be stable or a little higher, and at +6 she'll be high enough to safely get some sleep....now that she's in the 60's, don't feed anymore unless she drops below 50 again
 
Hi Lori!

Just getting online and caught up on your wild night. Lulu is sure messing with you! I think she read her condo today and is getting revenge for your saying you're putting her on a diet. How picky is she about her food? You might look over Dr. Lisa's list and see if you can find some foods she will eat that have a lower calorie count. That way, she can eat more, feel full and not be getting as many calories. Just a thought.

Now, Ms. Lulu. Mama needs to get some shut eye, so you hop up on your pretty little surf board and be a good girl!
smiley-sport007.gif
 
Hi Tricia,
Yes, she was something else tonight! I just took one final test, it`s looking fine, so I`m going to bed. I`ll check out Dr. Lisa`s list more closely tomorrow for the lower calorie foods, thanks for that tip. I`ve been feeding all 3 of them the same thing, but have been always having something in Lulu`s bowl, I`m so scared she`ll go hypo. I think that`s why she didn`t hold the last reduction -- she`s getting too much food. So she`s earned another reducie tonight, and with her new diet coming up, maybe it`ll go better.
Anyway, I can hardly think straight, I don`t do so well on little sleep (and supposed to be taking some Rx meds because I was so sick lately - skipped them tonight, and I`m glad I did).
Thanks for checking in.
Night night! Give Cinco a cuddle for me.
 
Just back on and saw your diet plans. Max is up nearly two pounds since he started insulin and I keep trying to get him to lose but then he keeps crying for food and I give in. I hope you are more successful than I have been. In my case he's getting about the same amount of food except for all the FD treats.
 
Lulu isn't really vocal when she wants food, which makes it easier for sure. She just sits by her empty bowl and looks forlornly at me. She'll check out the other two kitties' bowls and give me the same pitiful look. I've been trying to watch that she doesn't scarf from the other two cats, but cats can be oh so furtive. Weigh day is Wednesday, so we'll see how everyone looks.
 
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