? Can I feed Tulip after giving her insulin??

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Kim Ethier

Kim Ethier

Member Since 2017
After the insulin shot is my Tulip (pictured) allowed to eat, she and her brother and sister were the kind of kitties that ate a little throughout the day and now I am feeding them twice a day only and I find or course they are still hungry.
The 3 of them will cry (meow in stereo, non stop) for 3 hours from 4:30pm when I get home from work until 7:30pm (dinner time) and pace and sit at their feeding area and stare at me. They are good at making me feel guilty.
 
yes. I fed mine often at shot time, again 2 hours later ( second breakfast) and usually again at +6 or 7.

the window you want to avoid feeding is 2 hours before shot time.....

with a diabetic cat, it is better to have more frequent meals spread through out .... I did it day and night.... 4 x a day, 4x a night....
that's why many here have an auto feeder.... so it at least gives them a snack.... or a meal..... especially in your absence.
you can add water to the wet food and it will keep it moist and fresher longer.... unless your cat likes it dried out and crunchy;
and the extra water is good for them, diabetic or not.

a diabetic also really is hungry.... until the numbers are back under 200 all the time.... their body isn't getting the full nutrition from the food they eat.....
that's why they lose weight the longer they go without treatment.
 
Hello and welcome Kim and Tulip. Like Rhiannon said, Tulip can continue to free feed, except for the two hours before her shot. It's best if she eats more of her food in the first 6 hours after the shot, as that's when the insulin has more strength. What is she eating now? Many of us use the Petsafe autofeeder to give meals when we either aren't around or are asleep. It works for wet food too. The thinking of feeding just at meal time is "old thinking" that goes with some of the older insulin and doesn't hold true for Lantus.

Thank you for setting up the spreadsheet. I see a note on it that you are to increase the dose to 2 units. That is too fast an increase. On this forum, the most we'd increase by is 0.5 units, and more often by 0.25 units, so you don't bypass a good dose. Kitties can be incredibly sensitive to small changes in dose. And with just one day's worth of data, that's too little to decide how this dose is working for your cat.

Are you home testing? I presume that curve was done by you. It's best for Tulip's safety if you get at least a test before each shot so you know it's safe to give that shot.
 
Hi Rhiannon and Shadow, thank you for your reply and the help, I am a new user to this spreadsheet and not sure of all the information I need to put in, all suggestions are most welcome.
Marje Blaine has been and still is most helpful but she is only one person and I keep coming up with so many questions and it is so helpful to take some of the burden off her.
 
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Hi Wendy and Neko, thank you for your reply and your help, the vet recommended I increase to 2 units based on her BG tests yesterday, I did curve, what a production that was, Tulip had me chasing her all over the house to catch her, she is quick.
I feed Tulip in the middle and her sister Munchkin to the right and brother 2Bad to her left, Science Diet, Adult Indoor for Mature 7+ and Hairball for Mature 7+, my 3 babies are 11 years and 4 months old now.
I will be looking at a feeder but am I going to need 3???
 

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science diet is often what vets suggest.... they are kind of partnered with vet schools ( hills , that is)
I think we can find much better food options....
as science diet is usually too high in carbs .... i'm going to go look them up on the food chart.... this link

mine wouldn't touch the science diet food.... it's not very good quality....
unfortunately, vets don't specialize much in nutrition.... they just recommend the sponsor food ....


I love the name Tulip...
 
both of those foods are above 20% carb.....

diabetics need 10% or lower in carbs....


be advised, we need to make the transition slowly.... as a dose increase at the same time as a better food ( better carb) is introduced could result
in lower numbers ..... possibly unsafe numbers....
 
I have them on Hills SD because my boy 2Bad had the crystal in his urine when he was a kitten and this was to help him and it was easier then trying to feed 3 kittens 2 different kinds of food.

I am Dutch and Tulip's are my favorite flower
1f642.png
 
I'm not dutch... but I do like tulips... and pansy's....


well..
we can address the crystals still even with getting a better food on board for all of them....
at least you are paying higher costs on the food so it won't be such a shock with some of the other brands....

look over that food chart....


Nature's Variety is a very good brand.... if you cats like it..... it's one of the best for all conditions...
also Wild Calling....
Against the Grain
My cats love Wellness TruFood Tasty Pairings with Chicken, pumpkin and turkey ( available at PetsMart but almost $2 per 3 oz)
Tiki Cat ( I avoid the seafood, just feed the chicken varieties)
 
What adorable pictures of your babies! I am rather partial to the long haired ones too. :kiss:

Feeding dry food or SD food to help self urinary issues is another falsehood marketed by Science Diet. Here is the page on Catinfo.org talking about urinary diseases and how to properly feed to handle them. My non diabetic boy had cystitis and we originally went on the vet food, but in was high carb and incompatible with my diabetic who would sneak his food. The answer was low carb, low phosphorus, wet or raw food with plenty of water added. My guy hasn't had an incident in over 5 years since the diet switch (antijinx). And after that, I could still feed my two the same food and it worked for both diabetes and urinary issues.

As for switching food, we have seen a kitty go from being on an all wet food diet but sneaking his sibblings dry (unbeknowgst to his caregiver) and on over 5 units of insulin, down to zero when she tossed the dry food out of the house. The high carb food really hinders regulation but make changes cautiously and slowly.
 
Thanks Rhiannon, I will check out the Food Chart tonight, some of the foods you listed I have not heard of maybe because I am in Canada but I will Google to see where they are available, and I will check out PetSmart that is where I get the Hills SD currently.

Marje was so right everyone is so helpful and amazingly supportive, I can't thank you all enough!
 
Thanks Wendy I will look into the urinary diseases link you provided also.

I am signing off for now, will try to get back on later, have to go help my brother with our mom's kitty Egypt who is 17 and has had kidney disease for the last 2 years, we give her 200 mls of IV fluids every other day.
 
Hi Kim - waving at you from the west coast of Canada - Vancouver area. :) Tulips are close to blooming here.

Nature's Variety is in Petsmart. They also have Wellness Complete Health/Grain Free that have some low carb options. PetValu is a good source for a number of foods - Weruva are a good brand too that has many options that are low in phosphorus and carbs.
 
Hi Kim, and welcome,
Your kitties are beautiful. Many vets are used to the older insulins and Lantus requires a much different approach with regard to dosing. Be sure to read the "Stickies" (informational posts) at the top of the forum. There is a lot to learn about feline diabetes and Lantus, but you don't have to learn everything at once. Lots of people here to help you.

My cat, Rusty, is a grazer and has food out all the time. (He's a long-time diabetic, so I don't even take up his food dish two hours before shot time.) But it is very important that you withhold food two hours before shot time so that the food doesn't influence the blood glucose reading.

You will love the new food chart that Dr. Lisa Pierson has put together: http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
It is our "Bible" here in FDMB.

Welcome again!

Ella & Rusty
 
Kim Ethier said:
I have them on Hills SD because my boy 2Bad had the crystal in his urine when he was a kitten and this was to help him and it was easier then trying to feed 3 kittens 2 different kinds of food.

I am Dutch and Tulip's are my favorite flower
1f642.png
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome. My Max blocked when he was five and put on Hills CD. The RX foods aren't usually used long term any more. When I switched Max to regular food my vet said any canned food would do. You want to make sure your boy doesn't get dehydrated. Does he drink water? If not you might try a fountain. I didn't fe sues my Tiffany would okay with water and if would have been everywhere, lol. Im not sure it's good for those without issues either.
 
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