feeding schedule and amount

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Jecrill

Member Since 2013
Hello,
I'm new here and really glad to have found this resource. I've been feeling desperate and now I feel like there is some hope.

My cat, Hal, is 11 yo and was diagnosed about 7 weeks ago. I'm having a really hard time getting him regulated and though his behavior is better, he still tests from the high 200s to mid 500s most days. One night was 642! I've had him on a low carb diet, first canned DM for 5 weeks then Fancy Feast Classics for the past 2. I've also supplemented with boiled chicken and liver. He goes outside and now that he's feeling better, is an avid hunter, so he has at least 2 mice a day. He's on ProZinc and I'm trying different doses but haven't found what works yet. His drinking has subsided but he's absolutely starving all the time. I put him on a schedule right away. My vet recommended 9 oz. a day based on his weight. He really could eat at least double that, if not more. He started out at 11 lbs and due to his illness, is down to under 9 so I really want to get some weight back on. With his bs so high, it makes me nervous to feed him very much. Any guidance on a feeding schedule and amounts?
 
Hello Jennifer and Hal, and welcome!

First off, newly diagnosed diabetic cats can be absolutely ravenous. That is because their bodies cannot utilise the food they are eating. At this early stage, if it were my cat, I would feed him as much as he wanted. As the blood glucose levels improve the appetite should return to normal.

Many of us here free-feed our cats as we find that small meals throughout the day keep the blood glucose levels more stable then feeding just a couple of large meals. But it does depend too on what works best for the individual cat (and their human!).

I'm guessing that you are hometesting? (ie, testing your cat's blood glucose at home?) At what point in the insulin cycle did you get the numbers that you've quoted? Are these the numbers immediately prior to giving insulin (what in FDMB-speak we call 'pre-shot numbers'?), or are they from different points in the insulin cycle?

We strongly recommend testing the blood glucose prior to every shot. And it's important too to work out how a given dose is affecting the cat by getting some tests mid-cycle to see how low the blood glucose is dropping.

What dose of Prozinc is Hal currently on? And what dose adjustments have been made?

It can take a while for a cat's blood glucose levels to improve: We have a saying here that managing feline diabetes 'is a marathon and not a sprint'. But the good news is that quite a few lucky cats can go into remission (become diet-controlled diabetics) after a short course of insulin and a switch to an appropriate diet (if necessary). And even those that don't go into remission can still lead happy and healthy lives.

Are you testing Hal's pee for ketones at all? Given the high numbers that you're seeing this would be advisable. You can test the pee using Ketostix or Ketodiastix strips (available from pharmacies).

Best wishes,

Eliz
 
Welcome!

Diabeteics cannot properly use the food they eat and may need as much as 50% more, spread out across the first 10 hours after a shot. That way, when you pre-test for the next shot, it is not a food influenced number.

It can help to add some water to the canned food to increase the volume, plus when not yet regulated, this will help prevent dehydration.

I'm guessing from your numbers, that those were either at the vet, or using a pet-specific meter such as the AlphaTrak.

ProZinc can work well if you develop a sliding scale based on the pre-shot numbers. What you'll need to do is test both pre-shot and around the nadir (about +5 hours after the shot, give or take), then look at how much drop you get. The drop can vary significantly depending on how high the pre-shot was, so you have to be careful not to assume that X amount of insulin results in Y amount of drop.
 
Hi Jennifer and welcome the FDMB. We live feline diabetes 24/7 and should be able to answer most questions you have.

We have a few basic questions for you if you would be so kind as to answer them.
What is the dose of the Prozinc? Same dose in the AM and PM?
How far apart are the shots?
What meter are you using?
Any access to food from the neighbors when Hal goes outside?
How often do you test?
Any complicating medical conditions for your cat?
Your location? US, Canada, International. State/province and city if you would like to share this. So we can give country specific suggestions.

Sometimes if one insulin is not working well for you, you may need to try a different insulin. Lantus and Levimir are two other options that work well with cats.

I'd try to develop a sliding scale for use with the Prozinc first. If you can set up that spreadsheet, there are people here that can look at it and suggest a sliding scale for your cat.
 
We started out on 1 unit BID, I do 8:30 am and pm. I left him at the clinic to do a curve and he responded well the first day. When I took him back in a week later he was pretty high so we went to 2 units BID. A week later he was still in the 400s before his am dose so she thought he might be rebounding since ProZinc is long lasting so we went down to 2 units am only. At that point I bought a AlphaTrak 2 because the bills were really adding up and that's an issue for us. Also, he's a pretty chill cat but I thought we might be getting higher results because he was stressed going to the clinic. I did a curve after he'd been on 2 units am only and the lowest he got to was 319 3 hrs post am dose, down from 353 predose. My vet said if he stayed in the 300 range, he should be fine so I stuck with that and tested him randomly, typically 4-6 hrs post his am dose, to see how low he was getting. Until one evening his behavior changed so I tested him before his bedtime meal and he was 674. I took the leap to put him back on the evening dose without consulting my vet. I was a little nervous about it so I did 2 units am and 1 pm for a few days and tested at random times. He has been testing as high as 558 and not getting below 460. Based on what I'd read others have to dose, I upped him to 2.5 BID. I need to get some more test strips then I'll start the spreadsheet.

I tried feeding him smaller amounts throughout the day and took your advise to add water. He seemed more satisfied with that. He still went out and took matters into his own paws and ate two mice. I don't know if that's hunger or instinct though.
I don't think the neighbors feed him. No one else has cats and I know he pretty much just goes to the field next door to hunt. I've tried keeping him inside but he's never tolerated that from kitten stage. I have crate trained him at night because he was peeing all over my house and I wanted to time his doses and limit his activity with his weight loss.

When he was first diagnosed he also had pancreatitis and completed two weeks of antibiotics and a pain meds. He didn't have any sugar in his urine at that time.

We live in Longview, Washington, USA.

I have to say, I'm so extremely grateful to have found this site and the FDMB. I thought this was a death sentence for my baby and I was going to have to make the horrible decision to put him down. Now I have hope.

He just testing the 558 tonight. I'm not sure if I should up his dose again and if so, how much. I can't get into the vet until Friday.

Thank you so much for any advise.
 
Notes on glucose levels:
Vet stress may raise the glucose 100-180 mg/dL

Changing from dry high carb food to raw or canned high protein, low carb food may drop the glucose 100 mg/dL.
 
Once you get that spreadsheet set up, there are people here that can take a look at it and help you with dose suggestions.

I'm glad to read you put your cat back on the Prozinc 2x a day. One dose is not enough for cats, of any insulin.

If you need help with the SS (spreadsheet) setup, send me a PM.I've done this for other folks. How to's are here: SS setup and link to signature

For now, a few numbers in your post, 3 days minimum but a week would be nicer, like this would be helpful:
7/8 AMPS xxx 2U +4 xxx PMPS xxx 2U
7/9 AMPS xxx 2U +6 xxx PMPS xxx 2u +4 xxx
7/10 AMPS xxx 2U

AMPS = morning (AM) pre-shot test
PMPS = evening (PM) pre-shot test
+4 4 hours after shot, +6 = 6 hours after shot, etc.

Since we live in all different time zones around the world, this + hour format levels the playing field so to speak and gets us all on the same format for tracking the numbers.
 
Let us know if you need help with the spreadsheet, it will really help us to advise, plus you and your vet will have a much better idea of what's going on..
 
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