Curve day. Advice welcome

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Kd and Oswald

Kd and Oswald

Member Since 2020
Today is Oswald’s curve day. Can anyone give me a little guidance? I.e. when I should start? Is 12hr or 18hr better? Feed as normal? I’m almost certain he needs a dose increase but I’m unsure how much. I was trying to search general curve rules but just found a bunch of threads to read. Also, I’ve been giving him 3/4 can of friskies pate 2x a day and then a snack of kibbles and/or applaws around +6amps. He’s still pretty hungry for food constantly, should I be feeding him more? He weighs 11.3lbs. Thank you in advance!
 
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Hi I have only done the 12 hour curve, I really don't know if one is better than the other
You feed as you normally would
After you have given the morning insulin you start to test 2 hours after that, test every 2 hours
Am pre shot
2 hours after insulin
4 hours after insulin
6 hours
8 hours
10 hours
12 hours PM pre shot





About feeding more , is 11.3 lbs his normal weight, how many calories are you feeding per day
Most of us feed multiple times a day, just not at amps and pmps
Give the bigger meals at amps and pmps and feed a few smaller meals through the day
Just don't feed anything 2 hours prior to amps and pmps
After you do the curve you can post and ask for someone to look at it and see what they think about is dosage
 
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Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Hi I have only done the 12 hour curve, I really don't know if one is better than the other
You feed as you normally would
After you have given the morning insulin you start to test 2 hours after that, test every 2 hours
Am pre shot
2 hours after insulin
4 hours after insulin
6 hours
8 hours
10 hours
12 hours PM pre shot





About feeding more , is 11.3 lbs his normal weight, how many calories are you feeding per day
Most of us feed multiple times a day, just not at amps and pmps
Give the bigger meals at amps and pmps and feed a few smaller meals through the day
Just don't feed anything 2 hours prior to amps and pmps
After you do the curve you can post and ask for someone to look at it and see what they think about is dosage
Click to expand...
Thank you! I’m unsure about carb intake I don’t know how many carbs per can those friskies are but he eats 1.5 a day plus maybe an 1/8 cup of kibble, the kibble is a mix of diabetic food that I got from the vet which he likes ok, mixed with a science hill low carb food that he doesn’t care for much, which is why I mixed them. I would love to feed him throughout the day but when I go back to work, my boyfriend and I will be gone for 10hrs of the day so I’m trying to get him on this schedule of eating so he’s used to it.
 
Kd9 said:
I would love to feed him throughout the day but when I go back to work, my boyfriend and I will be gone for 10hrs of the day so I’m trying to get him on this schedule of eating so he’s used to it.
Click to expand...
Timed feeders work well for giving your cat food when you are away at work. There are even ones that have a microchip reader, so if there is more than one cat in your home, you can program the feeder to only let the cat with the correct microchip eat.

Frozen cat food "hockey pucks." Take some of the canned food, put it in small portions on a cookie sheet and freeze in your freezer. Bag the frozen "hockey pucks" in a ziploc bag for later use. Take out 1 or 2 and leave out to thaw while you are away.

Kd9 said:
an 1/8 cup of kibble, the kibble is a mix of diabetic food that I got from the vet which he likes ok, mixed with a science hill low carb food that he doesn’t care for much, which is why I mixed them.
Click to expand...
Could you be more specific on what those kibble foods are? I know of no dry food from Hill's or Royal Canin that are low enough in carbs for a diabetic cat to eat. RC Glycobalance? Hill's W/d or M/d? Something else?

Check this list, to see if the canned foods you are feeding are on it. Then, you need to see if the Carb % is <=10% carbs, which is more appropriate for a diabetic cat.
Cat Food - Nutritional Composition, data compiled by Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM (2017)

How much to feed depends on if your cat is gaining, losing or maintaining weight each week. Weigh him at home, and track it on your SS, over in the Remarks column on the right hand side of the spreadsheet.

Hold cat in your arms, step on a human scale, note weight, let cat down, note your weight, subtract 2nd number from first number to get cat's weight.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Timed feeders work well for giving your cat food when you are away at work. There are even ones that have a microchip reader, so if there is more than one cat in your home, you can program the feeder to only let the cat with the correct microchip eat.

Frozen cat food "hockey pucks." Take some of the canned food, put it in small portions on a cookie sheet and freeze in your freezer. Bag the frozen "hockey pucks" in a ziploc bag for later use. Take out 1 or 2 and leave out to thaw while you are away.


Could you be more specific on what those kibble foods are? I know of no dry food from Hill's or Royal Canin that are low enough in carbs for a diabetic cat to eat. RC Glycobalance? Hill's W/d or M/d? Something else?

Check this list, to see if the canned foods you are feeding are on it. Then, you need to see if the Carb % is <=10% carbs, which is more appropriate for a diabetic cat.
Cat Food - Nutritional Composition, data compiled by Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM (2017)

How much to feed depends on if your cat is gaining, losing or maintaining weight each week. Weigh him at home, and track it on your SS, over in the Remarks column on the right hand side of the spreadsheet.

Hold cat in your arms, step on a human scale, note weight, let cat down, note your weight, subtract 2nd number from first number to get cat's weight.
Click to expand...
Oh ok. I was going to go buy that dr elseys food in a day or two. I don’t have money right now to buy a timed feeder or even a scale. I’m out of a job and am using every last penny I have for their food and gas to get their food so unfortunately those two things will have to wait until I have income. But I will look into them while I have all this down time.I’ll try out that hockey puck thing though! Thank you
 
Lol I purposefully do not have an at home scale. They never make me feel very good about myself but once I can pick up my last paycheck, I’ll go get one.
 
So I just calculated the carb content in all three of the dry food I have(yes three I bought hills science diet before my cat was diagnosed, bought royal canin from my vet on day of diagnosis and bought instinct grain free duck recipe after) here’s what I came up with. Note, all may be a little high bc none of them listed the Ash content.

Hills- 43.3%
Royal canon- 32.4%
Instinct- 27.4%

so what is a good percentage to be at for dry food? If that hills is too high, I’ll keep it around and mix with high carb wet food if Oswald ever happens to go hypo. But I want to be able to leave dry food for both cats to graze on when I leave for work.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Timed feeders work well for giving your cat food when you are away at work. There are even ones that have a microchip reader, so if there is more than one cat in your home, you can program the feeder to only let the cat with the correct microchip eat.

Frozen cat food "hockey pucks." Take some of the canned food, put it in small portions on a cookie sheet and freeze in your freezer. Bag the frozen "hockey pucks" in a ziploc bag for later use. Take out 1 or 2 and leave out to thaw while you are away.


Could you be more specific on what those kibble foods are? I know of no dry food from Hill's or Royal Canin that are low enough in carbs for a diabetic cat to eat. RC Glycobalance? Hill's W/d or M/d? Something else?

Check this list, to see if the canned foods you are feeding are on it. Then, you need to see if the Carb % is <=10% carbs, which is more appropriate for a diabetic cat.
Cat Food - Nutritional Composition, data compiled by Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM (2017)

How much to feed depends on if your cat is gaining, losing or maintaining weight each week. Weigh him at home, and track it on your SS, over in the Remarks column on the right hand side of the spreadsheet.

Hold cat in your arms, step on a human scale, note weight, let cat down, note your weight, subtract 2nd number from first number to get cat's weight.
Click to expand...
Also, thanks so much for the chart! Apparently That expensive applaws I was buying isn’t sufficient nutrition so I’m glad I’ve just been giving it as a snack here and there! I am giving him the friskies pate. As per what I read in this forum and fb group in the beginning
 
Yes, those calculations sound about right. Is that the Hill's W/d you are feeding?
Kd9 said:
so what is a good percentage to be at for dry food?
Click to expand...

All foods you give your diabetic cat should be <12% per the (2018) AAHA Diabetes Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats
We recommend <=10% here on this message board. Some cats are more carb sensitive, and you can see that in their BG (blood glucose) levels.
Dry food, wet food, treats, watch the carb ingredients in any medications. Look out for sugars of different types in antibiotics, etc. All foods should be lower carb.

Protein is important too, should be 40% or more. Go read that AAHA document, highly recommend it. AAHA is the American Animal Hospital Association, an organization for veterinary professionals.
 
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The RC glycobalance dry(~32% carbs), is probably part of what is keeping Oswald's BG numbers so high. Saw the note on your SS for today, 3/30/20.
Since you fed him some of the RC glycobalance at +5, expect a good food bounce at the +6 curve test. That will show you what the high carb foods are doing for Oswald's BG levels.
 
Ohhh K. So looking at the dr elseys kibble content its like 8%. So I suppose I should go buy yet one more bag of dry food. I don’t know how to get this right. I wish this was all broken down by vet. I’m over whelmed by the money I’m spending that I don’t have and now what to do with his dosage once I get the new dry food
 
Deb & Wink said:
The RC glycobalance dry(~32% carbs), is probably part of what is keeping Oswald's BG numbers so high. Saw the note on your SS for today, 3/30/20.
Since you fed him some of the RC glycobalance at +5, expect a good food bounce at the +6 curve test. That will show you what the high carb foods are doing for Oswald's BG levels.
Click to expand...
Also he doesn’t really eat the dry food much, he ate maybe 1/8 cup. Probably not even. He leaves it and his sister usually comes along to eat it bc she doesn’t care much for the canned food I try to give her
 
I’m going to have to figure something out with being gone most of the day when I go to work. Hopefully I can afford and get one of those automatic feeders by then. I updated his BS level. It’s dropped
 
Deb & Wink said:
Yes, those calculations sound about right. Is that the Hill's W/d you are feeding?


All foods you give your diabetic cat should be <12% per the (2018) AAHA Diabetes Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats
We recommend <=10% here on this message board. Some cats are more carb sensitive, and you can see that in their BG (blood glucose) levels.
Dry food, wet food, treats, watch the carb ingredients in any medications. Look out for sugars of different types in antibiotics, etc. All foods should be lower carb.

Protein is important too, should be 40% or more. Go read that AAHA document, highly recommend it. AAHA is the American Animal Hospital Association, an organization for veterinary professionals.
Click to expand...
Sorry I forgot to respond to your hills science question. I don’t know what w/d means but it the hills science diet dry food for adult cats 6+. I was giving him a mix of that and the royal canin. But again, he doesn’t eat much of it. Maybe 1/8 cup a day bc he doesn’t care for it much
 
Hill's Prescription W/d is the full name of the food. Sold through vet clinics. Very high in carbs, many vets "prescribe" it for diabetic cats, not knowing much about feline nutrition or the food needs of diabetic cats. It's a weight loss food.

Hill's has an entire line of "Veterinary diets". They all have 2 letter names like W/d, C/d, I/d, Z/d. The only thing veterinary about them is the marketing, by a pet food company.
Kd9 said:
hills science diet dry food for adult cats 6+.
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Ok, That is still too high in carbs.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Wink was a dry food addict. I tell people he was a founding member of DFAA (Dry Food Addicts Anonymous).

I used every trick and tip in this document, to get him off the dry food.
https://catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

Once I did, he went OTJ (off-the-juice, insulin being the juice) diet controlled, remission. For 4+ years.
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I did the same with like results DEB took the dry away and boom he dropped like a rock so testing while doing so is imperative
 
Kd9 said:
Ohhh K. So looking at the dr elseys kibble content its like 8%. So I suppose I should go buy yet one more bag of dry food. I don’t know how to get this right. I wish this was all broken down by vet. I’m over whelmed by the money I’m spending that I don’t have and now what to do with his dosage once I get the new dry food
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The Dr Esleys is very expensive and can only be bought on line its 8.68 for a 2 lb bag and
34.25 for a 6.6 lb bag. Very expensive
On the Chewy site here is what that said about carbs
What is the ACCURATE CARBOHYDRATE % as my cat is diabetic.
This food contains approximately 4.69% Carbohydrates
 
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Kd9 said:
Thank you! I’m unsure about carb intake I don’t know how many carbs per can those friskies are but he eats 1.5 a day plus maybe an 1/8 cup of kibble, the kibble is a mix of diabetic food that I got from the vet which he likes ok, mixed with a science hill low carb food that he doesn’t care for much, which is why I mixed them. I would love to feed him throughout the day but when I go back to work, my boyfriend and I will be gone for 10hrs of the day so I’m trying to get him on this schedule of eating so he’s used to it.
Click to expand...
I had asked how many calories were the Friskie Pate you are feeding Oswald because you said he was always hungry
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
I had asked how many calories were the Friskie Pate you are feeding Oswald because you said he was always hungry
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According to the chart you gave the link to, 177-180 he eats a 3/4 can 2x a day so he’s getting 132-135calories 2x a day plus that small amount of kibble. I’m going to have to get some kind of dry food for him for the whole day while I’m at work and I’d like to try and get in that routine now while I’m laid off
 
Huge bounce from the low earlier today.

p.s. Starting to run a fever. Hope it's just a cold or the flu. May not be able to help much the next few days.
 
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