Calley is better...BUT

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Kris10mo

Kris10mo

Member Since 2014
Hi all,

I'm happy to say that Calley seems a lot better. She is no longer sleeping by the water bowl 24/7 and is drinking way less. Her #2's are formed and her #1 is only maybe twice per day. She is roaming around the house more and is sleeping more comfortably I think.

HOWEVER...she is still voraciously hungry. I am feeding her a half can of wet food at each shot 7am and 7pm ish. And then I give her a small scoop around mid point daily. But she is still following me around begging for food. She has even jumped on the table during meals to be fed and she has bitten my 8yr old when she has had food in her hands.

I know she has been starving for months....but how long will this behavior continue? I can feed her more often during the summer while I am off work, but when I go back to teaching in August....she won't have me here to feed her. Do I keep her on the schedule the vet recommended or what?

Thanks all,

Kristin and Calley
 
Hiya Kristin,

I'm glad Calley seems to be feeling better. That's good news. But I am wondering about the voracious hunger...

Do you have any blood glucose test results for her that we could see?
Is there any possibility that she is hyperthyroid..?
(I haven't yet had a chance to read through all your previous posts, sorry).

Eliz
 
How is her weight doing? If she is losing weight and yo do not want the feed more.
If at right weight then just live with it.
My MurrFee eats more than one 5.5 oz can in AM and same for PM. He is always hungry and last week when I bought some dry dog food and and left the bag inside so I could finish unloading the car he bit opened the bag and started eating.
 
Is Calley getting the right amount of calories for her weight? That can make a big difference, you can also try adding some water to her canned food and it will help fill her up.
 
I do not have any blood glucose levels to give as I have not started testing at home.

When Calley was at the vet's last week she had lost a pound and weighed 9lbs but I think that had something to do with the vomiting. She is not vomiting now. The vet did question whether she has thyroid but we are trying to keep expenses down and not do so many tests. But I am to take her back to vet in a week to see if she is still losing weight.

So maybe I should be feeding her more than a can per day? Is there a set amount of food needed for cats per pound of body weight?

Thanks
Kristin
 
The general formula is [13.6 X optimal lean body weight in pounds] + 70, so if your cat's best weight is 12lbs, it'd be [13.6 X 12 pounds] + 70 = 233 calories.

The number of calories per can of cat food is in the last column of this Food Chart. Most are either 3oz cans or 5.5oz cans

Cat Info is a wonderful site with all kinds of information on feeding, transitioning from dry to wet and just about anything else you'd ever want to know about feline nutrition

An unregulated diabetic cat will need to eat more than a regulated cat because without insulin, they can't get the nutrition out of the food they're eating. They're literally starving despite eating large amounts of food. As they become more regulated, they will eat less and less food (well..they SHOULD..we all know some of our kitties are just plain gluttons
 
If I were you I would try feeding her a little more. Dusty eats 2 1/2 cans of Fancy Feast per day. He never begs for food, it's Beni my non-diabetic that does the begging. I feed about 1/2 a can each at about 5 hour intervals. When I'm at work one interval gets stretched out 8 hours and they do fine.
 
1) Add 1-2 tablespoons of water to the food to help fill him up. Fed mini meals so he doesn't get too hungry.

2) You may not be feeding enough food. Unregulated diabetics may need up to 50% more feed than normal cats due to the inability to use all the calories. My cats average 1/2 ounce per pound of body weight per meal and I feed twice a day. They eat it over the next several hours. It is usually all gone by the next feeding. Most of them are at appropriate weights.

3) He may have a 2nd medical condition such as hyperthyroidism. This is not checked in routine bloodwork; it is a separate test. If not done when diagnosing the diabetes, it may be worth doing.
 
Thanks everyone for the information. I will start feeding Calley more food at each meal. Before all the diabetes started she was at a healthy weight of about 12lbs. She is a big cat, but not fat in my opinion.

When she was tested and the diabetes found, in Dec 2013 she was tested for thyroid and the results were normal. When I visited the vet last week she told me that her thyroid test was at a 1 which she said was normal. But that was six months ago. So I do think another test will be in order.

I will in the mean time start giving more food and see if that does not help with her greedy food habits of late. Tonight at dinner my daughter was eating a chicken leg and Calley jumped on her chair and took a bite before any of us knew what was happening. :shock:

I will be going on vacation for 10 days. My neighbor that also has a diabetic cat will be giving Calley her shots and meals. I do hope that she sticks to the schedule and that Calley stays on the path of improvement while I'm gone. It is a bit worrisome.

Kristin and Calley
 
Have a contingency plan for your vacation. You may not need it.
Let your vet know who the pet sitter is.
Provide written authoization to treat in case it might be needed.
Provide contact info for yourself or someone else who has authority to make decisions on your behalf. Be sure that person has some criteria for making decisions.
 
Another big part of the reason Calley is so hungry is because the Humulin N does not last long enough, usually only 6-8 hours in a cat. So the rest of the time, her BG levels are sky high and she can't properly process the food she is eating.

Any chance for a better, long lasing insulin for Calley like Lantus, Levimir or Prozinc?
 
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