Best feeding schedule for BG testing?

[Katherine&Ruby]

Hello everyone,

Looking for some clarity on feeding Ruby. She gets her shots at 8 AM and 8 PM, and I want her to be hungry during those times. Her eating has been really inconsistent in the past few days. When she was first diagnosed, I would put down ½ - 3/4 of a 5.5 oz can in the morning and she would graze on that until about 4 PM when it would be all gone, and then I feed her the other half while she is getting her evening shot. All of that food would usually be gone by morning.

She hasn't been eating consistently in the last few days. When she does eat, she's eating small bits of it all day long and there's still food left in the bowl in the mornings and the evenings before I have to give her the shot. She's clearly not feeling well and eating below her needed caloric intake (233 calories, each can of DM is 178). I have been topping her wet with small teaspoons of the MD dry to bump up the calories and encourage her to eat.

I know I should be splitting the food up into smaller portions to feed through the day, but I also want her to eat more and to make sure I'm getting good BG numbers that aren't too influenced by food.

What do y'all do?

 

[jt and trouble (GA)]

Ha I went to the lantus forum and expected to copy and paste a link here for you... couldnt find it and I dont remember it.
Soooo @Critter Mom
please do yo thang!

 

[Critter Mom]

Hi Katherine,

Only just seeing this tag now.

When she does eat, she's eating small bits of it all day long and there's still food left in the bowl in the mornings and the evenings before I have to give her the shot. She's clearly not feeling well and eating below her needed caloric intake

Could she be experiencing nausea? There's a helpful checklist here:

Nausea Symptoms and Treatments

I know I should be splitting the food up into smaller portions to feed through the day, but I also want her to eat more and to make sure I'm getting good BG numbers that aren't too influenced by food.

With Lantus, it's OK to feed small meals throughout the cycle (with the exception of the two hours before each preshot test) although it's generally better for BG levels to do most of the feeding before +6. All that said, first and foremost a kitty's got to eat and there are times when don't have much choice but to follow their lead and leave food available later in the cycle, for example:

* if the kitty is a habitual grazer and needs longer to eat enough food to supply adequate calories.

* if the cat is newly diagnosed, unregulated and/or us underweight.

* if appetite is sluggish or cat is experiencing difficulty eating (e.g. nauseated).


Mogs
.

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

Hi Katherine,

Only just seeing this tag now.


Could she be experiencing nausea? There's a helpful checklist here:

Nausea Symptoms and Treatments


With Lantus, it's OK to feed small meals throughout the cycle (with the exception of the two hours before each preshot test) although it's generally better for BG levels to do most of the feeding before +6. All that said, first and foremost a kitty's got to eat and there are times when don't have much choice but to follow their lead and leave food available later in the cycle, for example:

* if the kitty is a habitual grazer and needs longer to eat enough food to supply adequate calories.

* if the cat is newly diagnosed, unregulated and/or us underweight.

* if appetite is sluggish or cat is experiencing difficulty eating (e.g. nauseated).


Mogs
.

I'm not sure it's nausea. It seems like a lot has been thrown off since I increased her dose to 2 united. I gave her Cerenia for two days and yesterday she didn't eat after 3 PM until this morning, but it might have been because I was plying her with a lot of different kinds of treats to get her BG up after her hypo episode. I gave her Mirtazapine this morning and she has been grazing all day since then. Her lab tests in the SS show her BUN and Creatine levels to be fairly good, but it's been a few weeks since her last panel was done. Was planning to bring her to the vet later this week once I did another curve on Wednesday. There has been no vomiting over the past four days.

She's definitely still unregulated and only slightly underweight at 11 lbs (she's big boned!).

Prior to her DX, she was never much of a grazer. I fed her before I went to work and after I got home and her bowls were always clean. She knew that lobbying for food before hand would never work. Now that she's sick and lost about 5 lbs., I feel like giving her everything she wants whenever she wants it, but at the same time, I think some consistent schedule would be good as long as it helped me help her with her dosage.

Following your advice, I'll stick to feeding her in portions during the day before +6, and give her a treat or two between then and her PM shot. Nights, I can feed her a portion in the evening during her PM shot and a portion before I go to bed. She may be walking on me at 5 AM for her food but I can throw a few freeze dried treats in her bowl and see if that works. I wish I had a timed feeder, but because she has a sister who steals her food and vice versa, I have microchipped Sure Feeders for them both.

As always Mogs, THANK YOU for your insights!