My tabby, Levon, grew up on dry food and is a devoted free feeder.
I've been reading up on it, and have Dr Lisa's page bookmarked on my phone for reference, but the rubber meets the road this week -- persnickety-eater Levon must start insulin, I feel I cannot put it off any longer while we dork around with his crazy-making eating habits.
How important is it that we get Levon to eat at "meal times" if I am checking his BG before he gets a dose of insulin? Will he feel terrible if he has very little in his stomach when he gets his insulin?
Is it a bad thing to let him free feed wet food like Fancy Feast?
Any new ideas or suggestions on how to get the little guy to just eat something already? I would expect a diabetic cat to be MORE hungry instead of less. He's certainly more thirsty, and drinking a lot.
Levon is not overweight. Never has been. Now with his poor health, and the UTI, he is actually under what he should be at 9.5 lbs. He would be happy and healthiest at about 10.5 to 12 lbs. He has a history of constipation (he's had to be hospitalized a few times for vomiting and refusing to eat during bouts of constipation).
Diagnosed the last week of June during a regular checkup -- after finding FDMB and catinfo.org, I immediately switched him to wet food. We tried several recommended brands and flavors and had finally hit on Tiki Cat chicken flavors, which he was actually eating. During the 3 weeks of transitioning to wet, he regurgitated a LOT. But we had nearly a week of him eating two 3 oz cans, twice a day...still free feeding.
He had what I thought was a bout of constipation, but ended up diagnosed as a UTI in mid July. He was hospitalized for a few days. He absolutely refused any wet prescription food and the vet put him on D/M dry as that was the only thing he would eat. He came home on D/M dry. After a few days, he refused to eat the D/M dry, nor would he go back to eating the Tiki Cat (other than to lick some of the juice from the can).
I found that he will eat EVO dry and I've been offering wet as well -- Fancy Feast and Tiki Cat, but I am throwing away a lot of wet food and the little sucker refuses to eat at a "meal time". When offered food first thing in the morning, he will acknowledge the dry, lick a bit of wet, and walk away. Checking his bowls over the course of the day, he will pick at both, eating about half of the amount I would like to see him eat. In any 24 hour period he consumes about half of what he should be eating (half of two 3 oz cans - one a.m., one p.m. -- and about 1/4 cup dry EVO).
He was at one time a tuna monster, but hasn't been interested even in his beloved tuna these days. He just does not want to eat.
Any advice or experiences transitioning an incredibly picky eater would be appreciated!
I've been reading up on it, and have Dr Lisa's page bookmarked on my phone for reference, but the rubber meets the road this week -- persnickety-eater Levon must start insulin, I feel I cannot put it off any longer while we dork around with his crazy-making eating habits.
How important is it that we get Levon to eat at "meal times" if I am checking his BG before he gets a dose of insulin? Will he feel terrible if he has very little in his stomach when he gets his insulin?
Is it a bad thing to let him free feed wet food like Fancy Feast?
Any new ideas or suggestions on how to get the little guy to just eat something already? I would expect a diabetic cat to be MORE hungry instead of less. He's certainly more thirsty, and drinking a lot.
Levon is not overweight. Never has been. Now with his poor health, and the UTI, he is actually under what he should be at 9.5 lbs. He would be happy and healthiest at about 10.5 to 12 lbs. He has a history of constipation (he's had to be hospitalized a few times for vomiting and refusing to eat during bouts of constipation).
Diagnosed the last week of June during a regular checkup -- after finding FDMB and catinfo.org, I immediately switched him to wet food. We tried several recommended brands and flavors and had finally hit on Tiki Cat chicken flavors, which he was actually eating. During the 3 weeks of transitioning to wet, he regurgitated a LOT. But we had nearly a week of him eating two 3 oz cans, twice a day...still free feeding.
He had what I thought was a bout of constipation, but ended up diagnosed as a UTI in mid July. He was hospitalized for a few days. He absolutely refused any wet prescription food and the vet put him on D/M dry as that was the only thing he would eat. He came home on D/M dry. After a few days, he refused to eat the D/M dry, nor would he go back to eating the Tiki Cat (other than to lick some of the juice from the can).
I found that he will eat EVO dry and I've been offering wet as well -- Fancy Feast and Tiki Cat, but I am throwing away a lot of wet food and the little sucker refuses to eat at a "meal time". When offered food first thing in the morning, he will acknowledge the dry, lick a bit of wet, and walk away. Checking his bowls over the course of the day, he will pick at both, eating about half of the amount I would like to see him eat. In any 24 hour period he consumes about half of what he should be eating (half of two 3 oz cans - one a.m., one p.m. -- and about 1/4 cup dry EVO).
He was at one time a tuna monster, but hasn't been interested even in his beloved tuna these days. He just does not want to eat.
Any advice or experiences transitioning an incredibly picky eater would be appreciated!
