feeding time advice

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Lucy and Julian

Lucy and Julian

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Hello all!
Julian was DXed at the start of the month, and since then we have been making some big changes!
He used to belong to a really good friend of mine, who in September could no longer take care of him, and gave the little sweetheart to me. My friend had always just put out dry food for him- always some in his cup, so he was used to grazing. When the food was low he would complain. He was a large kitty.
When I got him in September, I hadn't seen him in 3 months. He was huge, but I live in a 3 floor house (he has never been on more than one floor) He started losing weight, and I was so happy! I continued his routine of dry food always in the bowl, but he seemed like he was getting healthier from all the exercise. And then... he kept losing weight... and kept losing weight... I started feeding him wet food twice a day, he gained about a pound, then stopped eating altogether. We went to the vet for an emergency checkup later that day after he peed on me, and turned out he was diabetic. Probably since just before I got him in September. I feel so guilty, but that is not what this post is about. Its about his food, and changing his feeding schedule.

I have cut dry food out of his diet (yaay! a 200 point drop!) and now I'm feeding him Friskies Pate Collection Turkey Giblets dinner, two cans a day, one with my am Lantus injection (6-7am-ish) one with my pm Lantus injection (12 hours later) He loves the food, and HATES the schedule. He cries all day. He has gained some good weight since he has begun all his medications (two antibiotics and a liver support) and insulin, as well as weekly B-12 injections.
Should I stick to my guns and keep feeding him like this? He literally cries all day, and my last day off when I listened to it, I cried all day. He wakes me up at 4am and cries at my feet which makes me feel guilty cause he has a mild case of neuropathy, and has made the 3 floor climb to my bedroom 3 times since 4am today. I tried making catsikles for him for a mid day snack, and to have one before I went to bed at night. But I don't want to feed him to much and see him overweight again.
I know this has been a long post, and I am thankful for you taking the time to read it, and I would love any advice you can give me!
-Lucy
 
You could always just break up his meals, I personally feed all 11 (only one diabetic) 4 times a day. They get a fourth in the morning at 6am then 1/4 at 11am, then 1/4 at 4pm and the last at 8pm. I also add quite a bit of water to it.

Now since my diabetic guy is in remission I don't feed him as much as I did when he was still unregulated. But Maxwell is a 15.8lb BIG cat, his is not overweight he's just a big guy. Very tall and long. Even at his size, he only eats a can and a half of a 5.5 oz can of friskies.

Mel, Maxwell and The Fur Gang.
 
I think I should actually add- I just watched him bound up the stairs... not take them slowly one step at a time.. but flat out run up them. So I think it's safe to say he is improving!

Breaking it up sounds like a lovely idea! I'll start that this afternoon!
 
I agree. If I don't feed Bandit at least 4 times a day, he tries to destroy my house! So he gets fed every 6 hours.

Is he underweight at all? What's his ideal weight? Unregulated cats often act like they're starving (because their bodies are) and it's okay to feed extra for a bit especially if they lost weight. I know I fed Bandit 3 cans of FF a day when he was unregulated, and his ideal weight is about 12.5 lbs. We reduced it to 2 1/2 cans (7.5oz) when he regulated, and that was the amount of FF he needed to maintain his weight at about 13 lbs.
 
I just looked at Julian's spreadsheet and I'm really concerned. I believe that he is being overdosed right now. 4u of insulin is a LOT of insulin, and if you just switched him to a wet diet then his numbers are going to drop dramatically. He should of had a dose reduction after that 64. Are you posting in the Lantus forum? There are dosing experts there that can help you adjust his dose. I would urge you to seek advice there because I'm afraid 4u is very dangerous for Julian right now!

Please read about the correct dosing protocol for Lantus: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581. I think Julian was started on too high a dose to begin with, which is incredibly counterproductive. When a cat is on too much insulin, the liver will release glucose into the blood and cause high numbers. The only way to stop the rebound is to lower the dose.
 
I think he is on too high of a dose as well. Im calling his vet today to see what he says. I am on the Lantus group, and people there are concerned as well.
I have to run to work now, but thank you for the advice and I'll update as much as I can soon!
 
Julia & Bandit said:
I just looked at Julian's spreadsheet and I'm really concerned. I believe that he is being overdosed right now. 4u of insulin is a LOT of insulin, and if you just switched him to a wet diet then his numbers are going to drop dramatically. He should of had a dose reduction after that 64. Are you posting in the Lantus forum? There are dosing experts there that can help you adjust his dose. I would urge you to seek advice there because I'm afraid 4u is very dangerous for Julian right now!

Please read about the correct dosing protocol for Lantus: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581. I think Julian was started on too high a dose to begin with, which is incredibly counterproductive. When a cat is on too much insulin, the liver will release glucose into the blood and cause high numbers. The only way to stop the rebound is to lower the dose.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much Julia! I am very concerned about the 4U dose as well. I posted in her Lantus condo last night about it. Julian is the 3rd cat I've seen come to FDMB this month receiving too much insulin! With a spreadsheet it's pretty easy to see - most 500s are the result of too much insulin, especially after the cat has been receiving insulin for a while.

Lucy, the bad thing is that your vet is simply going to look at his high numbers and think Julian's isn't getting enough insulin. Although Lantus is being used more by vets, few understand how it should be dosed and what the blood glucose levels which result really mean. For starters, I've begun recommending that members print the AAHA diabetes guidelines out and take them to their vet. http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/AAHADiabetesGuidelines.pdf Highlight the parts which speak about diet and insulin starting dose for cats, which is listed at 1U.

Again, thank you Julia for speaking up. Lucy, we want to help you help Julian! You haven't done anything wrong! I wish we could all trust our vets, but most have plenty on their plate and sometimes miss important points about diabetes in cats.

Keep posting and asking questions and we'll help you do what's best.
 
Please post back later, Lucy. If your vet has not been following the protocol to begin with (a cat should never be started on 3u of Lantus off the bat), then I am concerned about the dosing advice he/she is giving you.
 
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