Feeding a diabetic cat

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rbrumbaugh82

So I have a new question. I should get my Bovine PZI insulin sometime next week. Hopefully first of the week like Tuesday. However, when it comes to feeding, a lady at my Vet office told me to give him a half a can 2 times a day. I have been giving Pooper's like 2-3 cans a day because when I get up I give him a fresh new can and he almosts eats it all up in the morning. Its usually gone by Noon and so I give him another can. I usually do this because when I check his AMPS its high like 400s. I give him his shot followed by him eating. Noon time which would be like +4 from his shot his food is pretty much gone and then I check his glucose. Most of the time its still high above 240 so I open up a new can of food for him because I thought giving him food would help his pancreas to wake up and therefore drop his numbers down. Later in the afternoon his food is gone and so I want to make sure he is eating. That is when I will open up another can of food. So usually he gets 3 cans a day but the lady at the Vet office thinks a half of a can twice a day is enough especially for him to lose weight. However, if I did that then he would eat his half a can in the morning and then go all early afternoon without food which I would be worried it would spike his insulin high for not eating consistently. I let him eat throughout the day because I am trying to see if the eating would wake his pancreas up to drop his numbers. Its just a frustrating process and maybe if he is actually on this Bovine insulin from BCP Pharmacy that the insulin itself will drop his BG to healthy levels and therefore he won't have to eat so much throughout the day?
 
The unregulated diabetic is ravenous because he can't use much of what he is eating. Getting on a decent insulin should help with that.

Some options:
Adding 1-2 tablespoons of water to the food ups the volume without upping the calories.
Spreading the food out thinly on a plate slows down eating.
Freezing part of the food to be eaten as it thaws may help slow down the eating.
Splitting the food into mini-meals spreads the calories out so he doesn't get too hungry at one time.
Getting a timed feeder such as the Pet Safe 5 may further help spread out the food ingestion.
 
Are you still feeding FF Classic Turkey and Giblets? (I think that's what you said in previous posts.) And she wants you to feed a total of one can per day? That's only 94 calories...not nearly enough, especially for a diabetic cat.
 
The vet may think she is feeding larger sized cans. Maybe clarify that the cans you are feeding are 3 ounces, not 5.5-6 ounces.
 
How much does he weigh? What does your vet feel would be an ideal weight for him?
 
BJM said:
The unregulated diabetic is ravenous because he can't use much of what he is eating. Getting on a decent insulin should help with that.

Some options:
Adding 1-2 tablespoons of water to the food ups the volume without upping the calories.
Spreading the food out thinly on a plate slows down eating.
Freezing part of the food to be eaten as it thaws may help slow down the eating.
Splitting the food into mini-meals spreads the calories out so he doesn't get too hungry at one time.
Getting a timed feeder such as the Pet Safe 5 may further help spread out the food ingestion.
Click to expand...
Thanks BJ! I know that he sleeps a lot throughout the day so that keeps him from eating all day. However when he does eat, he will eat half a can or 3 of the cans a day. Do you think it sounds about right that Poopers given he is overweight at 20 pounds should just get 1 can a day separated by a half 2 times a day?
 
ramonaghan said:
Are you still feeding FF Classic Turkey and Giblets? (I think that's what you said in previous posts.) And she wants you to feed a total of one can per day? That's only 94 calories...not nearly enough, especially for a diabetic cat.
Click to expand...
Yes, she told me on the phone when I called them to ask about when I was getting that sample insulin that he should only be getting a half of a can twice a day because I told her I was giving him upwards to 3 cans a day. She is the same one that said about him going into diabetic shock because of his numbers going up and down drastically. Also that what will I do if something happens to him and he needs help and she said that because I told her that I am on a diabetic forum site and that you guys are VETS so I should listen to professionals even though I told her most of you on here have saved diabetic cats and gotten them off of insulin due to being healthy. Gotta love VETS just like doctors! No offense to anyone who is a doctor.
 
ramonaghan said:
Are you still feeding FF Classic Turkey and Giblets? (I think that's what you said in previous posts.) And she wants you to feed a total of one can per day? That's only 94 calories...not nearly enough, especially for a diabetic cat.
Click to expand...
Still feeding strictly Turkey and Giblets FF classic only!
 
BJM said:
The vet may think she is feeding larger sized cans. Maybe clarify that the cans you are feeding are 3 ounces, not 5.5-6 ounces.
Click to expand...
No, I believe I told her they were the 3.0 oz cans or so. She should know FF classics are only those size cans unlike Friskies.
 
Wow, that is crazy. Henry is 15.6 pounds and I am trying to get some weight off him, so he gets about 180-190 calories a day (so, if all I fed was FF Classics, he'd get 2 cans daily, since most flavors I give are 91-94 calories). The "generous" formula on Dr. Lisa's site is: 13.6 x [cat's ideal weight in pounds] + 70 = required calories per day. So if Pooper should be 12 lbs, he would need about 233 calories a day. Obviously it varies some depending on the cat's activity level and other health concerns (like diabetes!) but you can see that your 2-3 cans per day is actually a pretty good amount. You definitely don't want him to lose too quickly either. There's lots of good info on feline obesity and safe weight loss here. I track Henry's calories and weight far more than I do my own! :)
 
If Poopers were on a gentler, longer acting insulin it might be possible to divide up his daily food allowance into mini meals (from a timed feeder if required). That's what I do with Saoirse. I feed her a small meal every 2 hours to encourage her pancreas to produce insulin pulses and it seems to stop her BG from spiking (which it does if she fasts for >3 hours). She does look for more food a lot of the time ( :( ) but I have to feed her according to what's best for her overall.

With a harsh insulin like Novolin, I would have reservations about feeding mini meals for fear that my cat would not have enough carbs on board to cope with the insulin's action. I don't know how feeding mini meals might work with a PZI insulin. Hopefully other members will post suggestions.
 
I used to feed Bob 4x per day. He got 3 cans of FF classics per day, roughly 250 calories. A whole can at each shot time, and a half can for "lunch" and the other for a "midnight snack".
He weighed 18 (and actually as much as 22) pounds about 5 months before he was diagnosed. On the day he was diagnosed, he was 12 pounds. He looked like a skeleton.
The 3 cans of FF got him up to 14 pounds and kept him there.
 
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