'Dry' Babies?

My kitty is on some dry food the vet strongly recommended (Royal Canin GI). I'm not giving as much as vet said to - but I've had to increase the insulin (lantus) to counteract the higher numbers from the dry food. For those who allow 'dry', how much extra insulin is involved in regulating your cat coz of eating dry?

 

There is not set amount on insulin that is need for dry food. Each cat is different. My Smokey who is on only dry get 2 units bid while my Tonis get 10 units bid.

 

Hi there Marilyn,

I'm not sure how much extra insulin you'd need as it would depend on how carb sensitive LB is. With Max I know dry food pushes his numbers up quite a lot. As a very rough guess if I was to feed him all dry I think I would need in the vicinity of 50 - 100% more insulin, but that's him and every cat is different.

How did LB's stay in the cattery go? I picked Max up from the Cat Clinic on thursday and although it was ridiculously expensive I am happy with the care he got while he was there. Max has never been well regulated and has always been a bit all over the place with his BG. They did lots of dose changes to keep his BG under control - he was on 2.5u when I left and they increased right up to 4.5 and then he was down to 3.5u when I picked him up. Although he didn't get to come out of his cage much he seemed to be much less attention starved than usual after a stay in a cattery. When I picked him up the girl at reception said he was beautiful and they took quite a while to bring him out - she explained they were all having there last cuddles with him. I emailed a few times while we were away and they kept me updated as to how he was doing. Since he has been home he has had better and more consistent BG numbers than ever so hopefully that continues. Its never easy to leave him when I go away and this was the first time I have been away since he was diagnosed but I think its all worked out ok. Now he's trying his best to re-establish himself as the master of the house and seeing how high he can get us to jump :lol:

Anyway, thought I'd see how LB went with his stay and let you know how we went.

Cheers,

Amy

 

Larry, thanx for your input. I am going to have to raise LBs dose. It's good to hear that others go as high as 10 units. I'm @ 6.5 and it's going ho hum....ingly

Amy, did you go to see the Collingwood cattery? I heard a whisper ... but not sure that it was you?

WEll maybe the Cat Clinic is for us next time. LB was troublesome at Collingwood. Lots of emails between me and the main care-giver. Richard told me that not everyone can cope with the guy at Collingwood coz he comes across as a little different. I had a feeling he would be careful of a sickie kitty and he really did give his all to LB. But I think it might have been smarter to put him in the Cat Clinic for the specialist care. As it was LB hated being in Collingwood and they didn't like to increase his insulin for fear of a hypo. I don't think a hypo was on the agenda - he's up on his levels significantly and we've been to see Richard for blood tests etc. They phoned me with the results the night of the storm (u might have been away) and we were having a black out so we decided that wine was the only way to past the time. So Richard calls with his thoughts on LB and I pretend like I know what he's on about. The next day I made an appointment to see him with DH. We both listen intently. But have I really grasped why LB in on Royal Canin Dry with a touch of raw on the side? I kinda get what he's up to but it's scary to deal with the higher numbers.

Richard is very bright. I'm not surprised Max is doing better.

Have you worked out the spread sheet yet? Ours has stopped working on US and I'm being told to get it fixed for the American's to comprehende`! Drives my DH crazy trying to fix it.

DD wants us back in the UK for arrival of baby no. 1 next March. Darn cat... it's so hard to leave him.... but this is important right? :?

PS, FORGOT TO ASK WHERE YOU GET THE KILO BAGS OF RABBIT? I can't buy it in batches of 15 any more... I'm over it!

Marilyn

 

Hi Marilyn,

yeah I did go and check out the collingwood cattery. I had max booked in there as well and was going to leave him there if his BG settled down. As it was, he had 3 dose changes in the last couple of weeks so I opted for the cat clinic instead as I thought they'd be better at handling his ever-changing dose. I saw LB not long after he arrived and he looked a little stressed but was settling down fairly quickly. Richard is right, that guy running the place is a bit strange! Definitely go back to the UK for baby no 1 - you can't miss that one! I'm sure LB would be just fine staying at the cat clinic and they'd do a good job handling his special needs. Max's stay definitely did him some good and he is no longer the bouncy cat he was and has had 5 dose reductions since he has been home. Not sure they'll all stick, just have to wait and see.

I don't have a spreadsheet up on here just a similar one that I use at home that I created myself. The one I made auto converts into the World and US format for here in case I ever decide to put one up - then its just a matter of using the US one and typing in the auto-converted numbers. I can send it to you if you like. I have been following the cat clinic's dosing since just before I left and that seems to be working well for Max. The spreadsheet is set up for that dosing but converts to both FMDB formats also. Their dosing has been working well so far - yesterday he had some low numbers (2.8 at +2.5 - I shot low though) but otherwise its been all good. Guess with LB its just a matter of upping the dose every few days until you get to a level that balances out the dry food.

I've been getting the rabbit from a pet supplies store called Jay Bees Pet Food & Produce on McIntyre Rd right up near where it joins the western ring road. I bought some more last week but wasn't impressed with the first bag as the grind was not as fine as usual and there were some bigger sharp bits of bone in it and have thrown that bag out. The chicken I get from them is ok this time. Will see how I go with the next bag of rabbit. There's has preservatives added (not sure what) so not sure if that's a problem for LB.

Anyway, this is an essay! Hope LB gets under control soon.

Amy