Carbs

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Sylvia Sheaffer

Member Since 2019
Does anyone know the proportion of carbs, (fancy feast pate) with giving 1U of insulin twice a day? I feed George about 4 times a day. Biggest meal is at 7:15 am, a spoonful of Fancy Feast at about 9:30 or 10:00, another spoonful at about 2:00 pm, and then nothing until 7:15 pm. The Vet would not answer my question.
 
Not sure what you are asking when you say 'proportion of carbs'. Could you try saying this another way and maybe my old brain will understand better.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Not sure what you are asking when you say 'proportion of carbs'. Could you try saying this another way and maybe my old brain will understand better.
Click to expand...
George is ONLY on Fancy Feast Pate. A few couple treats, I don't count. Maybe I should put this another way. Is there a chart, or does anyone know the proportion of the amount of Fancy Feast Classic Pate to 1U of insulin twice a day?
 
There is no chart, because their is no correlation to the amount of food being fed and the insulin dose.

How much food you should be feeding depends on if your cat is at his ideal weight, needs to gain weight, or needs to lose weight. What has your vet said about George's weight? Just right, too little, too much.

One of those Body Condition Score charts like you see in the vets office could help you assess things. Here is an example with descriptions to tell you how to check your cat's Body Condition Score.

And this part has the drawings so you can visualize how your cat looks compared to what they are talking about.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Do you mean calories a day?
Do you mean what is the carbohydrate content of the Fancy Feast pates?
Do you mean how much food you should be feeding your cat?
Click to expand...
Yes, I would like to know how much to feed George, w/ 1U of Lantus twice a day. He only eats Fancy Feast Pate. He loves soft food, and I'm grateful for that. I do have Orijen dry food, and I put just a few pieces out overnight. But, I don't know if George or Bailey (my non-diabetic) eats it. It's grain free. Can I leave a bunch of it out overnight?
 
I've had several cats over the last decade. Some were bigger cats, some were smaller cats. My bigger cats needed more food than the smaller cats.

Without knowing how much George weighs now, and if he is underweight, overweight or ideal weight will help determine how much food he needs. So, current weight is? Underweight? Overweight? Just right(ideal)?

No, I would not leave the Orijen dry food out overnight. I have no idea which of the many types of Orijen foods you have, but most of those Orijen dry foods are 25-30% carb content. Yes, it's grain free, but they have replaced grains with all sorts of peas and beans and lentils which increases the carb content quite a bit, making them too high for a diabetic. Remember, you are looking for foods that are <10% carbs, >40% protein.
 
Deb & Wink said:
I've had several cats over the last decade. Some were bigger cats, some were smaller cats. My bigger cats needed more food than the smaller cats.

Without knowing how much George weighs now, and if he is underweight, overweight or ideal weight will help determine how much food he needs. So, current weight is? Underweight? Overweight? Just right(ideal)?

No, I would not leave the Orijen dry food out overnight. I have no idea which of the many types of Orijen foods you have, but most of those Orijen dry foods are 25-30% carb content. Yes, it's grain free, but they have replaced grains with all sorts of peas and beans and lentils which increases the carb content quite a bit, making them too high for a diabetic. Remember, you are looking for foods that are <10% carbs, >40% protein.
Click to expand...
George is 13.2 lbs. and is not losing or gaining weight. I give Orijen Cat & Kitten and George doesn't even really like it. That's why I put a little bit out overnight
 
Ok, i understand that George is not losing or gaining weight. His weight is stable at 13.2 pounds.

But my question for you is that the 'ideal' weight' for George? Has your vet told you recently (in the last month) that George is overweight and should lose a bit of weight? Has your vet told you that George is underweight and needs to gain weight? Has your vet told you that George is just the right weight for his size (what we call the 'ideal' weight)? Has George lost or gained weight since the diabetes diagnosis? Was a rapid loss of weight one of the reasons you took him to the vet in the first place?
 
Could you please look at that link I gave you to Body Condition Scoring (BCS) and tell us where George falls on that BCS range? If your vet is unable (or unwilling) to tell where George falls on the BCS range, You can check yourself. Or call your vet and ask for a copy of the vet records.

Here is the link again to the Body Condition Scoring system. Simply click on the blue highlighted text to open the link.

Here is an example with descriptions to tell you how to check your cat's Body Condition Score.

Or do a search yourself on the internet for 'Body Conditioning Scoring Cats".

Without knowing if George is at his 'Ideal' weight, it is impossible to guide you on how much to feed him. The goal of feeding our cats is to keep them healthy and at a good weight, using a species appropriate diet. Being overweight for a cat comes with many risk factors for health, just as it does for humans.

It would be ok to leave a little bit of the canned Fancy Feast food out for George at night. Better for him than the high carb Orijen dry food.
 
There is no correlation between the amount of carbohydrates in food and the amount of insulin being given. The carbohydrate content of food does not change depending on how much you are feeding either, it stays the same. I think what you’re actually referring to is calories, which is the amount of energy from food, but once again there is no correlation between calories and the amount of insulin being given. As Deb has mentioned, how much you should feed depends on how much your cat weighs (or should weigh), not how much insulin you are giving.
 
Agree with Deb and Sarah. You base how much you feed your cat on it's ideal weight, not how much insulin it is taking. That is factored by how many calories, not how many carbs. Everything George eats should be less than 10% calories from carbs, but the amount of calories he needs in a day depends on if he is at a good weight right now. We don't know how big your cat is, so we can't tell from weight alone. I had a giant cat that was at his ideal weight at 18 lbs. I have a tiny cat whose ideal weight is about 7 lbs. The amount of food each would need each day would be very different. The Origen Cat and Kitten is one of the lowest carb dry foods, but it is still 20% carbs, which is too much for a diabetic cat. It has a whole herd of different beans in it, and beans are carbs.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top