Feeding Schedule Question for Clovis

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Hello everyone-

Just checking as to if I'm feeding my Clovis correctly cause I have a feeling that I'm probably not.

Clovis' shot times are 6am and 6pm. I normally feed her 1/2 hour before her shot time which I understand now I should NOT be doing. At both AM and PM times she gets 1/2 can of her fancy feast sometimes she gets 3/4 of the can if she keeps insisting.

As she's not regulated yet, my Mom often sits with my cat until I get home. Mom normally tells me that Clovis is howling for food again at 10am and sometimes 2 pm -- at each feeding Mom normally gives her 1/4 can. Sometimes Mom gives her cooked chicken instead of the fancy feast food and it seems to fill her up more. The chicken has no seasonings or anything and is baked for a short period in the oven.

When I get home she has her 1/2 can again. I try not to give her anything anymore until 11:30 p.m. but most of the time she is up and howling by like 9:30p.m. or 10:30 p.m. and I'll giver her another 1/4.

Are there certain times that I should not feed her? I understand that she shouldn't have any food at least two hours before her shot times. But is there anything ele I should be doing or NOT doing. Also I see alot of LC and MC on this site. I figure LC means Low Carb?? But what does MC mean?

Thanks for your help,
Sandy
 
I feed twice a day right after BG and before shot. I also give treats occasionally. The key is to feed consistently and, to me, it does not make much difference if you feed some midday as long as it is done consistently. If not consistent the BGs with be different on different days making it hard to determine the optimum dose. The key to dosing is to dose such that the maximum (usually at shot time) is the lowest obtainable while the lowest BG is as low as possible without going too low. Too low is maybe 70.
 
Definitely don't feed after +10 , or you may see a food influenced preshot number. In both cycles..... other than that, feed as much as Clovis will eat - kitties will eat more in the early days, but that does decreased as they become regulated.

It is a good idea to feed normal servings at breakfast/dinner (AMPS/PMPS) and smaller snack size portions thru the day and evening. A lot of us here use timed feeders with multiple compartments set at every two hours, for example, while you're at work or sleeping.

LC is low carb, which is what is ideal to feed....MC is medium carb, sometimes needed in the 50's range, and HC is high carb, used when kitty hits 40's or under, sometimes along with karo....when this happens for you - you will be advised which to reach for, always post your updates, there are many experienced Lantus users and others who have gone thru the LC/MC/ and HC routine in this forum who will guide you along.

I'm not sure where dosing comes in, did you have a question on dosing?
 
Hi Sandy.

I have a different spin on this than Larry. I give larger meals at shot time - essentially there are 2 main meals (about 2+ ounces of raw) and I give 1/8 can of FF as snacks through out the day. Gabby gets snacks at +2, +4, and +6 and sometimes a little later in the cycle if I'm around. (I have an automatic feeder.) My rationale is that it keeps the pancreas gently working -- there isn't the food from one big meal to overcome and hence the need for lots of endogenous insulin production which might tax a healing pancreas. I tend to load the feeding in the front end of the cycle when the Lantus is most active.

The only time we suggest not feeding is, as you noted, 2 hrs pre-shot time. In some cases, you may need to move around snacks to help with BG but for now, it sounds like you have a reasonable schedule. The only other thing to be aware of is if you or your mom aren't going to be around, is how to leave food out so if Clovis is hungry or numbers are running low, there's food available.

There was just a discussion on Health about the different carb content. At least here, we consider less than 10% LC. HC is anything over 15 - 18% carb. MC is in the middle. What usually happens when we suggest MC is to use LC and put some of the HC gravy on it - hence, MC.

ETA: I forgot the most important part. You need to figure out what works for Clovis. There's a difference based on whether she has food spikes or not. I spread out the food because Gabby is prone to dramatic drops. That may not be the case for your cat. Some cats do better with the food spread out over the front end of the cycle whereas other cats do better with mini-meals over the entire cycle. There's no one right answer. It may take some experimenting and observation of Clovis' numbers.
 
I have gone back to free feeding for Morris. That means, I dish out lots of food for him at both AM & PM shot times, then let him decide when to eat.

For the longest time, I used a timed feeder for Morris (Petsafe5 is a WONDERFUL model!). However, in Feb Morris was diagnoses with pancreatitis & 1 of the side effects from that was not eating. While he was experiencing this first flare, I was free feeding him as I wanted him to eat at least something at some point in time! Once the flare was over & he was getting back to his normal routine, I started using the timed feeder once again. Unfortunately, it seemed that Morris was not always hungry when the timed feeder would open for him & he was still missing some of his snacks - which made him very hungry by pre-shot time & was affecting his BG numbers.

Now, I just dish his food into the divided bowl from his timed feeder the same as I used to (he used to have 1 meal & 3 snacks every 12 hours, so was usuing 4 of the 5 divided sections) and just don't close the lid of the feeder. He can then still hear the feeder turning his dish, but he has access to his food whenever he wants to. Since someone is usually home 2 hours before his evening preshot time, we can take up the dish & put it away if he has not eaten everything (rarely happens). The only problem is that no one is usually up 2 hours before his morning shot (my hubby is always first up & he checks on the food situation when he gets up & moves the bowl away if needed, but it is usually empty by then anyway).
 
Thanks everyone. I really appreciate it.

Also Sienne, I just made an appointment with The Cat Hospital and with Dr. Phol. They asked me who referred me as they wanted to send you a thank you --- so, I gave them your first name and Gabby's name.

Thanks again!
 
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