Desperate newbie: Feeding in a multi-cat home?

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Harper'sHuman

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Hi, all. I am so relieved to have found this forum! I have two 8 year old kitties (brother and sister), and my boy was diagnosed with diabetes one week ago. His sister is not diabetic. I'm having a very difficult time working out a feeding schedule that keeps them from starving and me from losing my marbles. After a one night stay at the vet, I brought diabetic kitty home this past weekend with instructions for glucose monitoring, injections and Purina DM canned (primarily) with a bit of DM dry for feeding. Although he ate the canned food at the vet, he won't touch it a home. (They were used to free feeding on Science Diet dry and splitting a small can of wet when I get home in the evenings.) On my vet's advice I tried isolating him with the food but all he did was howl and throw himself against the door for 6 hours. And as a result of the upheaval in their normal dining habits, my non-diabetic girl wouldn't eat either (she's also became very agitated after he came home). They would both, however, happily eat the treats I offered to test if they couldn't or just wouldn't eat. After missing an insulin injection because of his not eating, I finally broke down and gave him some of his old canned food (Fancy Feast, although it wasn't the Classic version I've read about here - it was all I had in the house and I was desperate). He gobbled it down. I decided to take him back to the vet yesterday a.m. to stay for a few days until he's a little better regulated (and thank heavens I did, because yesterday his gb dropped to 32, and if he had been at home he probably would have died before I got home from work). He won't eat the DM canned there now, either, and they are "stuffing" him (not force feeding, but opening his mouth and putting it in there). My vet keeps telling me if he won't eat the canned DM I'll have to "hand feed" him, which I suspect will quickly turn into force feeding once I get him home. She won't even discuss the possibility of trying any other food, and I do not believe I can endure forcibly feeding my cat twice a day, and I'm concerned he'll start to avoid me completely. Forgive me for going on at such length, but how do I a.) figure out a way to feed them different in the same room (separating them isn't going to work); b) how do I make sure my non-diabetic cat gets enough to eat since I can't leave dry food out for her; and c.) if he won't eat the DM voluntarily at home, how can I convince my vet to help me try something else? Thank you!!!!
 
Feeding a multicat household with diabetics I can so help you out with...there are 13 cats here, only 2 of which are diabetics...And out of those 13 not a single one of them will touch that nasty DM stuff. So you aren't alone there and there are much better foods out there on the commerical market.

While the carb content of the DM canned is fine for diabetics the ingredients are pretty much junk and you are paying a fortune for the label. Everyone here eats exactly what my diabetics eat with the exception of Musette (one of my diabetics who is super carb sensitive). Everyone but Musette eats just good old fashioned Friskies Pate, on this diet Maxwell my other diabetic went into remission and off insulin altogether. Musette is a little more carb sensitive so she gets her Fancy Feast Classics in the bathroom while everyone else eats, but she has only been with us since last June so doesn't care to much that she is missing out of the group dinning experience.

If they both like Fancy Feast you can just switch them both over to that but you will want them to eat the classics as those are the ones that are the lowest in carbs. Now here is the really great part...his non-diabetic sister is going to do better on an all wet diet too. I was stunned at the improvement in all my cats when we switched everyone over to a low carb/high protein diet, the over weigh kids lost weight effortlessly, the skinny minis put on weight and all their coats became so shiny they looked wet, and oh so soft to touch. And you never have to worry about your boy getting into food he shouldn't have. After seeing the difference in even my non-diabetics I will never feed dry food of any kind again. It is a lousy food for any cat since they are meant to eat meat and are obligated carnivorses. Most dry food contains high amounts of grains like corn and wheat and you never see a lion munching on a corn cob in the wild...lol the only grain a cat should be ingesting is that which has already been ingested by a mouse first.

As far as working out a feedng schedule that works for both to keep them from starving there are several ways to go about it, some folks feed twice a day at shot times, others feed small meals throughout the day and then there are those like myself that free feed the canned food by either freezing it and setting it out frozen so they can nibble on it as it thaws or will use a timed feeder. You can mix a little water into the canned to make it kind of like applesauce and just leave it down for them to eat at their leisure unless they are like a couple of mine that will hover up any amount of food the moment it is set down,that is why I freeze part of mine so they can't just wolf it all down.

Mel, Macwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Thank you so much for the information and support! MommaOfMuse, I already feel so much better about all this. I knew there had to be another way. If my current doctor won't help me find a better solution, I think I'm going to have to seek treatment elsewhere.
 
We can help you out with anything you may need short of writting the prescription for the insulin.

Which by the way what type of insulin is Harper on? At what dose and how often are you giving it?

Are you testing him at home? If so how is that going and do you need any help with it?

Neither of my diabetics have seen the vet other than for everyday kitty stuff, like dentals and bloodwork. Everything else I do for them here at home because I adopted them both as diabetics from this very board. On this board you will find a huge community of Sugarcats and the people that love them, we can help you with adjusting doses, making sense of the numbers you see on the meter when you are home testing and even finding the best diet as well as a host of other things that can go wrong with a kitty, many of our members juggle not only diabetes but CRF, Asthma, food allergies etc.

No question is ever a stupid one and there will always be someone around to answer them or at least point you in the right direction. Feline Diabetes like human diabetes is a disease best handled at home with the power in learning to test your cat with a regular human glucometer.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
MommaOfMuse: my kitty is on ProZinc, varying dosages depending on bg levels, between two and three units so far. I will be testing him at home (he's at the vet right now, over the weekend I was calling the doctor morning and evening to report bg level so she could tell me how much to give him). We are still in the regulating phase. Fortunately, he doesn't mind the ear sticks very much, thank goodness, or the injections. Thanks again for your advice and support. I have a feeling I'll be a very frequent visitor to this forum. God bless all of you who take the time to put this life saving information out into the world!
 
Once you have Harper home, we have a wonderful PZI insulin support group that will help you with every step of the way. I unfortunately can't as my girl is on Levemir and my guy was a Lantus boy before going into remission a year and a half ago.

Please feel free to wander over to the PZI ISG and introduce yourself and Harper. :-D I'm sure the wonderful folks over there can answer any questions you might have about PZI as they all use that insulin.

Oh and BTW Welcome to the FDMB family...from your very first post you are considered adopted by a bunch of crazy cat lovers, who will make you laugh, cry, cheer your successes, worry over you and your baby if we don't hear from you, and walk the floor with you should you ever need us too. And unlike the vet's office we never close, we have no office hours or do we shut down for holidays or vacations. We literally have members all over the world so be it 2am on a sunday morning or 6pm at night during the week someone is always here to lean a hand and paw.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Welcome Harper & Harper's bean -

I'm Lu-Ann and my extra sweet boy is Grayson. Come on over to PZI and a lot of us will be able to help you through specific ProZinc questions. General cat questions are welcome both here and there. Stop in & introduce yourself!

Lu
 
So great to hear about the PZI support group! This just confirms what I've always known - animal lovers are the best folks in the world1
 
Reay helpful words about DM(can't get her to eat it) and multiple cat house. Thanks.
I've been at it 2 weeks. Learning a lot.
 
Hello!

I'm still a newbie here as well, my cat was diagnosed at the beginning of January. This was my most pressing concern as I have four cats and only 1 is diabetic. They were all free fed dry food and given a can of wet as a treat.
Thankfully my diabetic kitty Morlei LOVES wet food and took to her diet no problem, you just have to make sure you're feeding enough, www.catinfo.org has some good info about that and most people say 20-30 cal per lb is a good range. Until they become regulated they may need more calories though, Morlei was scarfing down food in the beginning and now the vet wants her to lose some weight so I have to restrict it somewhat.
As for my other three....let me tell you there were days I wanted to rip my hair out. I still cannot get them off the dry food because they refuse to eat enough wet food. So we feed them 4 times a day, two "meals" where shots are given and two "snacks." I am able to separate them now with hardly a problem and Morlei has practically zero interest in dry...but I know if I left it out while I'm gone she would eat it.

Hmm...can you try like a dog kennel or some type of cage that one could go in and eat yet they'll still be in the same room?
For your other cat, you may not want to take away the dry completely right now, wean her off it if possible. My boys rebelled the first week after diagnosis because I took it away completely. They weren't eating enough so I had to give it to them, now they only get a small portion that is meant to bump up their calorie intake into the acceptable range.
Let her eat it while you're watching her or in a spot that her brother can't get it. You can try some low carb freeze dried chicken treats from PetsMart sprinkled over the wet food, my boys love that. Also, you can buy FortiFlora off of Amazon, it's a probiotic but the base ingredient is animal digest, the ingredient that makes dry food so enticing.
Some vets only want diabetic cats to eat prescription diets, that's one reason why we refuse to see one of the vets at our clinic. The vet we now see says as long as the cat is eating low carb she's happy and Fancy Feast is one of her favorites.
Remember, the vet works for you, and you are the one that knows your cat best. If you know he's not going to eat that prescription food (and most cats on here have hated it from what I've read) then get him Fancy Feast classics...he has to eat and like you said he may come to avoid you and dislike any interaction with you if you try to force feed the DM.
I hope that helps a little! It'll get easier I promise!
 
Becky: thanks so much for your input. I hope I'll be as knowledgeable as you in a few months. This is just overwhelming, and I got the diagnosis only three days after losing my 14 year old dog. But, I've made a decision today that has loosened the knot in my stomach, and this forum has been invaluable. I've hospitalized Harper during the regulation phase because his levels are fluctuating so wildly I'm afraid for him to be alone during the day (if he had been here yesterday he'd have been dead by the time I got home from work - scared the stuffing out of me!). Also, I have to leave to go out of town next week and I'm going to have to med board him during that time. As much as i hate for him to be at the vet's for so long, it's the only way I can be sure he'll be safe during this horrendous adjustment period. They are still trying to entice him to eat the DM with various games and plenty of coaxing, and he is eating a little better (albeit without enthusiasm). At least I know he's getting lots of extra attention as a result. Miraculously, this kitty who had formerly been acknowledged as the second-worst behaved cat EVER by the vet techs (sweet and loving at home, but an absolute demon to treat) is calm, purring and friendly with all the same folks he would have tried to rip to shreds two weeks ago! So, I'm going to keep him there for now but once i get him home I'm going to get a second opinion about how to safely transition him onto the Fancy Feast with a vet who will support my choice. I've been a client there for six years and have been happy on balance, but I just can't accept these absolutes when I know there has to be a better way. I'm so relieved to know I've found a community to look to for advice and support. Take care, everyone.
 
Hello!

Welcome to LL! Ive got a multiple cat household; 21 of them with one diabetic. Transition from free fed dry to scheduled canned for all of them is not easy. If I can do it, sure you can do it too!
 
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