Tom & Snickers
Member Since 2020
First of all, I would like to thank everyone who was kind enough to help me out in my previous post. You all have been a massive help! Unfortunately, I still have a few concerns that I'm not sure how to handle.
My first concern is with Snickers insulin dosage. Right now my vet instructed to give 2 units of Vensulin, once per day. As many of you have pointed out, 2 is a little too high to be starting off and the insulin should be given twice per day - not once per day. Someone here suggested to give him 1 unit, twice a day. I just want to make sure, is it okay to do that? So far, he's only taken 2 doses over 2 days.
One of the resources on this site says you should wait at least a week before switching doses. Does this only apply to when your increases the dose or does it also apply to when you're decreasing dosage? I would imagine decreasing the dosage is less risky because there's a lower chance of the cat going into hypoglycemia, but I'm still not entirely sure about that. On a side note, I'm going to try to buy some viles of PZI or Lantus and switch Snickers on that after I can get everything under control. How am I supposed to know which one I should get? I would ask my vet, but he was the one who put Snickers on Vensulin and he hasn't been responding to my calls.
My second concern is that Snickers hasn't been eating very much. I never kept track of his food intake to this extent until I found out he was diagnosed two days ago. We've always fed him dry food in an open feeding scenario, which I now know isn't very good for him. For the most part, I've switched him onto Fancy Feast Pate, but he just isn't eating a lot. In the past 24 hours, he's only eaten 1/16 cup of dry food (Merrick Grain Free+Potato Free. I'm not sure of the carbohydrate content of that) and 4/5 of a can of fancy feasts, which only comes out to 85 kcalories. I still don't know a lot about proper cat nutrition, but I'm pretty sure that isn't even close enough to what he needs to eat, especially now that he's on insulin. I've tried researching how many calories he needs and for ~14 pound cat he's supposed to eat ~285 calories, correct?
I'm really afraid of giving him insulin right now because he hasn't eaten much at all. 30 minutes ago I brought him into his food room to see if he would eat and he only ate a small sliver of his fancy feast then went upstairs. (which is a lot of work for him because he has neuropathy and is overweight) I don't know if it's because he doesn't like it or because he isn't hungry. I think he likes the dry food a lot more. Would it be better to feed that to him instead if it means he eats more?
From what I can tell Snickers really likes to graze, and I'm having a difficult time getting him to adjust to timed feeding and a new diet. He likes to be upstairs with me, but its a lot of effort for him to move up and down, much more so than before the neuropathy. I'm afraid he might not be eating a lot because it's too much energy for him to walk up and down the stairs. I would move the bowls upstairs, but my family is going to make a huge fuss over it and they might move it back. Also, he's been eating in the sunroom his entire life, so I don't know if it would be a good idea to switch it right now because he likely associates that room with food. I try to give him food whenever he comes downstairs but he eats a very small amount and then leaves. I'm also trying to monitor every time he goes downstairs, but it can be difficult to monitor him in the night because I'm sleeping. I left out a 1/4 cup of dry food last night, so he wouldn't go hungry, but he only ate 1/16 of a cup.
I really don't want him to come downstairs without me there and not have any food, but at the same time I don't want to have an open feeding situation where he can eat as much as he wants whenever because that's how he became overweight in the first place. It feels like I can't control when he eats or how much he eats, and couple that with having to time insulin doses at consistent times, I'm not sure how to get him in a schedule and still eat enough.
The final thing that is concerning is that I'm pretty sure he peed on the rug near the sunroom, last night. I say pretty sure because we have another cat, Cookie. It might have been Cookie, but over the past several months Snickers has been urinating and defecating in random places in the house, so I'm pretty sure it was him. I don't know how frequently and to what extent because I was away when this was happening and my family does not remember. I don't know if it's because of his diabetes.
In summary, it feels like I'm constantly on the clock, now that Snickers is on insulin. I want to try to be consistent when giving it to him, but now I'm not entirely sure what the right way to go about this is. There's also the added stress that I'm in the process of moving out of my apartment. My parents are yelling at me to leave the house and start moving my stuff out, but I'm scared of leaving Snickers for any extended period of time because I don't have a feeding/insulin situation figured out with him yet. I have to leave either tonight or tomorrow or they're going to freak out at me.
I haven't told my mother about giving Snickers 1 unit twice a day instead of 2 units once a day, but there's no way she would do it because the vet never instructed us to do so. I've tried explaining the importance of home monitoring and food schedules and she rolled her eyes at me and her response was, "if it's so important why didn't the vet tell us to do it?" She also almost gave the insulin to the cat (2 units) today without him eating for 12 hours... I'm terrified.
My first concern is with Snickers insulin dosage. Right now my vet instructed to give 2 units of Vensulin, once per day. As many of you have pointed out, 2 is a little too high to be starting off and the insulin should be given twice per day - not once per day. Someone here suggested to give him 1 unit, twice a day. I just want to make sure, is it okay to do that? So far, he's only taken 2 doses over 2 days.
One of the resources on this site says you should wait at least a week before switching doses. Does this only apply to when your increases the dose or does it also apply to when you're decreasing dosage? I would imagine decreasing the dosage is less risky because there's a lower chance of the cat going into hypoglycemia, but I'm still not entirely sure about that. On a side note, I'm going to try to buy some viles of PZI or Lantus and switch Snickers on that after I can get everything under control. How am I supposed to know which one I should get? I would ask my vet, but he was the one who put Snickers on Vensulin and he hasn't been responding to my calls.
My second concern is that Snickers hasn't been eating very much. I never kept track of his food intake to this extent until I found out he was diagnosed two days ago. We've always fed him dry food in an open feeding scenario, which I now know isn't very good for him. For the most part, I've switched him onto Fancy Feast Pate, but he just isn't eating a lot. In the past 24 hours, he's only eaten 1/16 cup of dry food (Merrick Grain Free+Potato Free. I'm not sure of the carbohydrate content of that) and 4/5 of a can of fancy feasts, which only comes out to 85 kcalories. I still don't know a lot about proper cat nutrition, but I'm pretty sure that isn't even close enough to what he needs to eat, especially now that he's on insulin. I've tried researching how many calories he needs and for ~14 pound cat he's supposed to eat ~285 calories, correct?
I'm really afraid of giving him insulin right now because he hasn't eaten much at all. 30 minutes ago I brought him into his food room to see if he would eat and he only ate a small sliver of his fancy feast then went upstairs. (which is a lot of work for him because he has neuropathy and is overweight) I don't know if it's because he doesn't like it or because he isn't hungry. I think he likes the dry food a lot more. Would it be better to feed that to him instead if it means he eats more?
From what I can tell Snickers really likes to graze, and I'm having a difficult time getting him to adjust to timed feeding and a new diet. He likes to be upstairs with me, but its a lot of effort for him to move up and down, much more so than before the neuropathy. I'm afraid he might not be eating a lot because it's too much energy for him to walk up and down the stairs. I would move the bowls upstairs, but my family is going to make a huge fuss over it and they might move it back. Also, he's been eating in the sunroom his entire life, so I don't know if it would be a good idea to switch it right now because he likely associates that room with food. I try to give him food whenever he comes downstairs but he eats a very small amount and then leaves. I'm also trying to monitor every time he goes downstairs, but it can be difficult to monitor him in the night because I'm sleeping. I left out a 1/4 cup of dry food last night, so he wouldn't go hungry, but he only ate 1/16 of a cup.
I really don't want him to come downstairs without me there and not have any food, but at the same time I don't want to have an open feeding situation where he can eat as much as he wants whenever because that's how he became overweight in the first place. It feels like I can't control when he eats or how much he eats, and couple that with having to time insulin doses at consistent times, I'm not sure how to get him in a schedule and still eat enough.
The final thing that is concerning is that I'm pretty sure he peed on the rug near the sunroom, last night. I say pretty sure because we have another cat, Cookie. It might have been Cookie, but over the past several months Snickers has been urinating and defecating in random places in the house, so I'm pretty sure it was him. I don't know how frequently and to what extent because I was away when this was happening and my family does not remember. I don't know if it's because of his diabetes.
In summary, it feels like I'm constantly on the clock, now that Snickers is on insulin. I want to try to be consistent when giving it to him, but now I'm not entirely sure what the right way to go about this is. There's also the added stress that I'm in the process of moving out of my apartment. My parents are yelling at me to leave the house and start moving my stuff out, but I'm scared of leaving Snickers for any extended period of time because I don't have a feeding/insulin situation figured out with him yet. I have to leave either tonight or tomorrow or they're going to freak out at me.
I haven't told my mother about giving Snickers 1 unit twice a day instead of 2 units once a day, but there's no way she would do it because the vet never instructed us to do so. I've tried explaining the importance of home monitoring and food schedules and she rolled her eyes at me and her response was, "if it's so important why didn't the vet tell us to do it?" She also almost gave the insulin to the cat (2 units) today without him eating for 12 hours... I'm terrified.
