? Feed 2 meals...Feed mini-meals???

[Tuxedo Mom]

Over the last 8+ months I have seen different advice as far as feeding. With long-lasting insulin such as Levemir or Lantus I have seen both sides of the advice scale..feed 2 meals per day with a few snacks..feed 4+ mini meals plus snacks. Can someone come up with the reason why pro/con..different feeding schedules should be used and what the reasoning is behind the advice??

 

[Meya14]

I feed Max 2 meals the same size for each AM and PM meal. I do this because at one point he was very carb/food sensitive, and it seemed to work better to keep the food spikes to a minimum and a flatter curve. And it fit into his eating habits a little better (scarf and sleep).

I think "feed what works best for you" is the best option. But that might need some experimenting.

 

[Cat Ma]

I feed CJ several smaller portions throughout the day. That has worked better for her than feeding two large meals a day. As Meya14 says, you need to see what works best for your cat.

 

[Critter Mom]

Other underlying health conditions can affect feeding schedules, particularly things like pancreatitis and IBD. With Saoirse, I look to the needs of her digestive system first and try to harmonise that as best I can with the insulin she's receiving. If something needs to give, I err in favour of her GI needs and work the insulin around those.
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[jane and stewey]

Each of our little critters is quite unique. What works for one does not always work for another. Trial and error is the baseline for all of our care. Try a specific feeding schedule for a period of time. Frequent changes can cause stress to your baby and stress can really send the sugars soaring. I use Lantus twice daily on my cat. However, she is never satisfied with just two feedings. So, I feed her 4 to 5 times a day...the larger feedings prior to insulin delivery. Good luck from Jane and Stewey

 

[Critter Mom]

A further thought. For cats like Saoirse with impaired fasting blood glucose levels (levels rise after a longer fast because either there is not enough of a between-meals (basal) insulin 'trickle'; or there is an element of insulin resistance present) feeding mini meals throughout the day can help keep BG at better levels since the pancreas produces pulses of (bolus) insulin at mealtimes. More frequent pulses help to nudge down the BG level regularly throughout the day.
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[Melanie and Smokey]

Most diabetics do better with eating more often. It eases the load on the pancreas to not be going through feast-and-famine routines. I don't think I've seen any arguments for feeding diabetics less often unless they have some other medical issue or are on really short acting insulin and people are trying to keep all the food within the insulin window. We feed all of our cats at least 4 times a day. While getting them into remission, we had ChrisFarley up to 8 times a day before we saw it help flatten him out, Sly 6 times. Both of them we just adjusted back to 4 times.

 

[Kitty mom]

Cats like humans who have diabetes should keep the bg levels as stable by eating mini meals throughout the day.
We feed our cats every 5-6 hours with a small amout of kibble I between. My cats have gone as long as 8 hours if we're out or their asleep but for the most part it's 5/6 hours.
When we first started this journey we were feeding every 4 hours around the clock, when we went on vacation this years we had no choice to stretch it out because of the cat sitter schedule....this was a blessing as now it's every 5-6 hours instead of 4 .
I suggest trying to get on a few feeding a day if you can.