Diabetic cat no longer on insulin seems more hungry

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gsalazar

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My cat, whose name is Cat, was diagnosed with diabetes last May. He is now 10 years old. I gave him insulin shots twice a day (he got up to 5 units of Lantus) and learned how to check his blood sugar. On January 2, his blood sugar was down to 57 when I checked it, so I didn't give his insulin. I only checked his blood sugar every so often, not every day. I had stopped his insulin per my vet and checked it again on 1/6. It was 49 in the middle of the day. I have not been giving him insulin since then. I checked it again last weekend and it was 49. That seems a little low to me.

Additional background: Cat had been only eating dry food before being diagnosed. I've had him since he was 4 years old. After Cat was diagnosed, I found this website and switched him to mainly wet food with some low carb dry food every so often. Cat used to be one who would eat as he pleased throughout the day, little by little. Now, he wakes me up around 5-6am in the morning every morning for food. He seems more irritable. Maybe I'm not feeding him enough now that he is on wet food. He is around 15lbs. I feed him 1/2 can Fancy Feast and 1/2 pouch of Wellness twice a day (Fancy Feast seems to give my other cat diarrhea, so I combine the two until I find another food these picky cats will eat - they don't like pate-style). I don't want to feed him too much as I don't want him to gain weight. My other cat used to be a little 'chubby' but now he looks good.

How much is a good amount to feed each day of wet food? Do I base it on weight? Am I feeding too little?
 
That doesn't sound like much food for a 15 pound cat.

ECID, but my 11 # civie eats 2-3 cans of Fancy feast and a bit of dry every day, and my 11# sugarcat eats about 12 ounces/day divided into 6 meals (timed feeder). They are 14 years old and sleep a lot, and neither one is fat.

If he's waking you up that early, he sounds hungry to me. If you want to get technical, there are calorie calculators around here somewhere.

If you are interested in the timed feeder. check out petsafe.com
 
Honestly, that is not much food for a 15lb cat. He needs to be eating, I would think, at LEAST 6 ounces a day of food. There are a lot of choices of canned food that are low in carbohydrates if the FF is bothering your other cat's tummy. My 2 Maine Coons and my Bengal mix each eat about 7oz apiece - per day. The MCs weigh 17lb-18lbs each and the Bengal mix weighs 15lbs. Even my 12 pound Siamese eats at least 5 1/2oz per day. And none of my "big" cats are fat, either.

~M
 
An easy rule of thumb is 15 calories per every pound of ideal body weight. For a 15lb cat, that is 225 calories per day. A 3oz can of low-carb Fancy Feast is only 75ish average calories per can.

~M
 
That seems like too little food for him. If he is waking you up, increase it a bit. I do an average of 6-7 ounces per cat per day. Some eat more and some eat less. The 8 cats range from 7.5 to 18 pounds. I have a big Maine Coon and a large domestic short hair. I think they eat more than my little barn cat girls.

I use a combination of Wellness, Merrick, Evo, FF and Friskies. I very it and mix it up. Moving to eliminate the friskies and FF. Then, once I retire raw is on the agenda.

Claudia
 
The best way to determine if you are feeding enough is to frequently weight the cat. Adjust the amount to get the desired result. If loosing weight and you do not not want to loose weight feed more. If gaining weight and d not want to gain feed less. If at the desired weight then you are feeding the right amount. Just remember, if want to gain or loose weight just do it slowly.
 
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