Approaching the 1 month OTJ mark

[Rusty/Jen & Ernie]

Sorry I have been MIA lately, but with things being smoother here lately, we have been spending more time loving on the cats instead of studying on how to care for our Sugar Man.

As you can see by his chart, his blues, for the most part, have turned to greens! Thursday 9/17, will mark 1 month since his last dosing. And things have been pretty good. Thank you BJM, Critter Mom, & Robbin&BB, along with anyone I might have forgotten, for seemingly always being there to offer your wisdom, it is much appreciated.

We have bought 3 Petsafe 5 feeders (for 3 cats) & have been tightening the portion control gradually. The 2 civie females are petite body types, with extra "muffin tops." So they could stand to lose 0.5-1 pound or so & watching to maintain their weight. Ernie, the Sugar Man, has climbed just above 11 pounds, which was his pre-DX weight. We are shooting for having him around 10 pounds once we get meals totally dialed in.

We have also bought a new fountain, with stainless steel, because of cat acne cropping up with one of the civies. And we also bought an infant scale to be able to keep a close eye on weights of all 3 of them & be alerted to any possible weight losses.

I do have a couple of questions though. #1 - How much wet food should a diabetic 10-11 pound cat get per day? I am thinking in the 5 oz range or so. But thought I would check with the masses. #2 - All 3 are eating Friskies Pate - Turkey & Giblets very well, however, I am curious if we would be better off finding something else. Something with similar low carb #'s, but maybe a little lower in calories. Or maybe I shouldn't risk a food change & the possibility of any of them not being interested in it. And instead continue tightening the portion control & see how the weights shake out.

 

[BJM]

Per Cat Info, you can add 1 ounce plain lean meat or poultry to 5 ounces of cat food, mix well and portion out to reduce the fat and carb content further, and boost the protein. That will reduce the calories per serving because the fat is reduced.
There's a section on obesity and feeding there, too.

 

[Rusty/Jen & Ernie]

And, right on cue, there you are again BJM. Thank you from the bottom of 2 human hearts, 1 Sugar Man's heart, & the 2 hearts of his loving sister civies!

I will check out your link. Luckily none of them are too heavy for their body types. But with the switch to wet, we want to make sure they don't head that way. But keeping the BG in check took priority over weight control, briefly anyway!

 

[BJM]

Wet food isn't likely to pack on the weight the way dry food does - the calories are 'diluted' by the moisture content. I had a couple chubby ones lose weight without even trying.

 

[Rusty/Jen & Ernie]

Looking at your link, I am gathering that. Honestly, with all of the studying I have done, I didn't look at food too deep. I looked deep enough to realize that Friskies was a good place to start for diabetes support. But really it isn't calorie overloaded. So, I think I will hold for now to portion control. Approx 5 oz per day, per cat, should be a pretty good mark I would think & that will be spread over 6 smaller meals right now, on the 6's, 10's, & 2's.

 

[granadilla]

Congrats on being OTJ for nearly a month.

 

[Rusty/Jen & Ernie]

I went through & reformatted my spreadsheet this morning, as I was given a heads up about the new SS standards for pet meters. So I am in compliance now! Unfortunately, Ernie's greens turned to blues!

 

[Melanie and Smokey]

Congrats on 1 month OTJ!!!!

The ozs to feed a cat will depend on the food you are feeding. 5oz of Chicken Fancy Feast will only be 151 calories, where 5oz in Chicken Wellness is 200 calories. We've found that those extra 50 calories in a day can cross a cat from weight loss range to weight gain range.

Activity levels also make a difference. I think Dr Lisa says starting place is around 15-20 calories per pound of body weight. In our house, Chris Farley(18.8lbs) eats 4.5oz = 180cals and can't lose weight, Sly (13.25lbs) eats around 150cal and is slowly losing. Mittens (12lbs) eats at least 9oz = 300cals and is lean and doesn't gain, Cecil (13.25lbs) eats 60z+ 180-220 and has lost a bit. Cecil is CRAZY energetic, Mittens plays, but not as crazy, Sly moves a little, but not much, and Chris would sleep the whole day if we let him.