Boo new diabetic - Feeding & Pen

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jlyons30

jlyons30

Member Since 2021
Hi All,

First off great forum, lots of information, thank you, I've been going over the FAQ, messages and think I'm ready for Boo's first shot.

Boo was diagnosed last week and I've been trying to transition from 24/dry food with PM 1/2 can wet food to 1/2 can wet food twice daily first. I have two cats and they're always loved classic fancy feast at night, but now I'm finding they're both kind of reluctant for the wet food. Typical cat stuff, like you gave us this last time kind of attitude. Boo will eat a small amount, then walk away so I've been leaving it out and when I come home all the food is eaten. I wanted to make sure 1 can a day was enough food, which leads me to my questions.

My plan is leave food out for 1hr and then remove it so they eat it all and then I can give her the shot?

Should I wait on starting the shots until food is sorted?

Does boo need to eat all of the 1/2 can then shot? If she eats only a little bit do I need to reduce the shot amount? Or is it enough that she eats something?

I just started testing/spreadsheet and just got my pen so the lowest I can it 1u and it seems like I shouldn't have gotten the pen so I could do SLGS?
 
Half a can of wet food does not seem like enough at all but I'll let others chime in too. It's based on weight and how many calories in a can. I don't know the exact formula but I wanted to reply while you wait for someone else to. :)
 
Yep, thats my concern about the food amount, they're 12lbs, they probably should be 9-10ish but the can says 3oz (1can) per 3-4lbs which means 3 cans each doesn't seem like they can physically eat that much. Its been a few days and previously when hungry they let me know, now theyr'e kinda meh so I'm really confused.
 
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A good starting point is 20 calories per pound of ideal weight and then weigh
So if Boo's ideal weight is 10
It's 20x10=200 He would be eating around 200 calories per day


Can you please set up your signature
For your signature
Go all the way up top to you name tap on it and a drop box will appear , you will see the word signature, tap that and just add all your information about Chubba and hit save.
If you are still having trouble setting things up we can have someone help you just ask
Take a look at my signature all about Tyler

Add info we need to help you:
  • Caregiver & kitty's name
  • DX: Date
  • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
  • Name of your meter
  • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
  • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
  • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
  • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
  • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
A good starting point is 20 calories per pound of ideal weight and then weigh
So if Boo's ideal weight is 10
It's 20x10=200 He would be eating around 200 calories per day


Can you please set up your signature
For your signature
Go all the way up top to you name tap on it and a drop box will appear , you will see the word signature, tap that and just add all your information about Chubba and hit save.
If you are still having trouble setting things up we can have someone help you just ask
Take a look at my signature all about Tyler

Add info we need to help you:
  • Caregiver & kitty's name
  • DX: Date
  • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
  • Name of your meter
  • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
  • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
  • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
  • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
  • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
Click to expand...


Thank you, I updated my signature.

So each cat needs 2-1/2 to 3 3oz cans per day of fancy feast, I just assumed since they both loved their daily PM wet food transitioning to all wet would be a little easier. Guess I'll add more wet food and leave out the dry food until they're ready for wet food only. In the mean time I should I be giving Boo her insulin shot?
 
jlyons30 said:
In the mean time I should I be giving Boo her insulin shot?
Click to expand...
Does Boo have ketones? If not, I would complete the transition to wet food first. Some cats get diet controlled with just a chage to a low carb diet and end up not needing insulin!
Do you think you will be able to make the transition within a week? Do they like the wet food enough to ditch the dry?

Btw, I cannot see your SS. You need to go to the Sharing option set it to "Anyone with this link can View".
 
jlyons30 said:
My plan is leave food out for 1hr and then remove it so they eat it all and then I can give her the shot?
Click to expand...
When you do start giving insulin you should pick up all food 2 hours prior to testing so the BG is not food influenced ,then you can feed and shoot after he's done eating

We always like to feed the bigger meals in the AM his first meal and the same with his PM dose then feed smaller meals during each 12 hour cycle.
It's easier on the pancreas
Maybe around +3 (3 hrs after giving insulin and +5 (5 hours after giving insulin)
About 2 tablespoons of FF Pate and always add some water to it
You would want to try and test at least 2 times after his AMPS ( AM Pre Shot)
Maybe around +3 and +6. Same goes for the PMPS
Then the next day +2 then +5. Ditto
Maybe also get a +8
Scatter the test times

@jlyons30
 
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jlyons30 said:
I just started testing/spreadsheet and just got my pen so the lowest I can it 1u and it seems like I shouldn't have gotten the pen so I could do SLGS?
Click to expand...
The pen has nothing to do with SLGS that has to do with the dosing method you choose
With the pen you can only adjust by full units
We use syringes with half unit markings so we can increase or decrease by 0.25 units at a time
You just insert the syringe in the rubber stopper on the pen and draw out the insulin
I will show you what syringes you can use just tap on the blue names of the syringes any one is fine
Using syringes with a pen, cartridge, or vial:
  • U-100 3/10cc syringes with half unit markings are the best to use for drawing Lantus, Basaglar, or Levemir from vials, cartridges, and pens.
  • BD Ultra-Fine, CarePoint Vet,, GNP, UltiCare Vet Rx, Sure Comfort, and ReliOn are just some of the brands available with half unit markings.
  • Syringes come in ½ inch or 5/16 inch needle lengths. Needle gauges are 29, 30 or 31 (31 being the thinnest)
  • Full and half-unit syringe scales:
49823063143_3437e9e997_o.jpg

  • Don't reuse syringes. You'll not only run the risk of contaminating the vial/cartridge/pen, but re-using a syringe may be very uncomfortable for your
@jlyons30
 
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Welcome Jon & Boo!
We can't see your spreadsheet yet (I did the same thing when I started--you have to make it public).
The type of insulin usually determines the time of feeding.
You are lucky that you have 2 cats that aren't totally averse to wet food. The dry to wet has been a very hard transition for my 2 fur babies. They both flat out refused wet food! It sounds like you're already ahead of the curve if they both like wet food. Now the key is finding what they both want & working out a schedule.

I'm a couple weeks in and can't even get Mocha to even eat a full 1/4 can of the ONLY one he likes :banghead:. I'm still trying! He's got some dry low carb to snack on during the day so I'm sure he's not gonna starve. But I'm trying lots of different brands & textures of wet food to see if anything sticks.

But depending on what kind of insulin Boo is getting you'll work out a feeding schedule for that. Some of the mods here will help you with that. If you look under Forums you'll find pages for each individual type of insulin and dosing there.
 
Here are the dosing methods you can let us know when Boo is on an all wet low carb diet, As long as Boo is eating dry food it must be the SLGS method
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...-low-go-slow-slgs-tight-regulation-tr.210110/



You can read all about Lantus here
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-basaglar-glargine-and-levemir-detemir.9/



Here is the food chart in case you want to look at other food choices, just stay under 10% carbs. I have always fed FF Pates they are 2 or 3% carbs , so many different flavors , there are other FF on here that are below 10 % also

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/
Also, the roasted, flaked and chunky Fancy Feast are ok just take a look at the food chart to be sure
Just don't feed any fish flavors a lot, too much mercury
I have never fed any if the fish flavors
@jlyons30
 
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Mocha's_mom said:
Welcome Jon & Boo!
We can't see your spreadsheet yet (I did the same thing when I started--you have to make it public).
The type of insulin usually determines the time of feeding.
You are lucky that you have 2 cats that aren't totally averse to wet food. The dry to wet has been a very hard transition for my 2 fur babies. They both flat out refused wet food! It sounds like you're already ahead of the curve if they both like wet food. Now the key is finding what they both want & working out a schedule.

I'm a couple weeks in and can't even get Mocha to even eat a full 1/4 can of the ONLY one he likes :banghead:. I'm still trying! He's got some dry low carb to snack on during the day so I'm sure he's not gonna starve. But I'm trying lots of different brands & textures of wet food to see if anything sticks.

But depending on what kind of insulin Boo is getting you'll work out a feeding schedule for that. Some of the mods here will help you with that. If you look under Forums you'll find pages for each individual type of insulin and dosing there.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I made my spreadsheet public.

My girlfriend called me out last night.

A few months back her dog was going thru feeding issues I said in my know it all tone: "Put the food out and then pick it up after 1/2hr, sooner or later the dog will get hungry enough she'll eat it all next time".

Dog eats everything right away now.

Last night I removed the food after 1hr, this am you bet they were hungry, they didn't eat all of it, but most of it. :)
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
The pen has nothing to do with SLGS that has to do with the dosing method you choose
With the pen you can only adjust by full units
We use syringes with half unit markings so we can increase or decrease by 0.25 units at a time
You just insert the syringe in the rubber stopper on the pen and draw out the insulin
I will show you what syringes you can use just tap on the blue names of the syringes any one is fine
Using syringes with a pen, cartridge, or vial:
  • U-100 3/10cc syringes with half unit markings are the best to use for drawing Lantus, Basaglar, or Levemir from vials, cartridges, and pens.
  • BD Ultra-Fine, CarePoint Vet,, GNP, UltiCare Vet Rx, Sure Comfort, and ReliOn are just some of the brands available with half unit markings.
  • Syringes come in ½ inch or 5/16 inch needle lengths. Needle gauges are 29, 30 or 31 (31 being the thinnest)
  • Full and half-unit syringe scales:
49823063143_3437e9e997_o.jpg

  • Don't reuse syringes. You'll not only run the risk of contaminating the vial/cartridge/pen, but re-using a syringe may be very uncomfortable for your
@jlyons30
Click to expand...

Great, thank you!
 
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