Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Please?

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Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

My Tiggy inhales those too and it doesnt affect his appetite but he is a pig ;)

maybe crumble the chicken on top (usually there is powder in the bottom of the bag anyway) or mix it up with the wellness? Might speed up the transition!!
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

And remember, as you transition the food, the insulin dose needs to be dropped to avoid a hypo.
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

:RAHCAT :RAHCAT dancing_cat dancing_cat dancing_cat cat_pet_icon
GREAT job on the testing! Huge high five to you!!

The people in this community are amazing. So compassionate and helpful. I know they will help you through this. If I lived nearby, I would help you learn to get the testing down. That is something I am definitely very good at and it came easy to me. Maybe I should have been a phlebotomist instead of a social worker :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

What I'm concerned about today (because there can't be a single rotation of the Earth without a new concern) is that he's eating much less than the recommended amount of Cat Chow for a cat his age, and that just isn't like him. Is loss of appetite a typical symptom of diabetes?

I know this can mean Ketones. I have Ketone sticks and will hopefully test him for Ketones tonight, but thus far his urine's been negative.
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

Usually they eat more. But I have two with diabetes. One ate more when not regulated and the other ate less. Its not so much ketones - although its good to test - but the fact they dont feel well so dont want to eat as much. But I would judge by kittys weight - not the amount they eat since every cat is different in terms of metabolism and activity level etc.
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

Thanks! I hate that he's not feeling well. . . he usually IS a little piggy, and he's still a total vacuum cleaner when the freeze-dried treats come out.
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

Hi Carli,
Are you judging what he *should* eat by what the bag says ? or by calculating his needs ?
I have found that cat food labels are notoriously off when it comes to need to feed amounts. He may be eating better than you think based on that.

An adult cat needs 15-25 calories per pound of ideal weight .

You judge that 15-25 range by how active he is, and if he has any other special needs or breed requirements.

If you post his weight I will be happy to help you calculate his food intake needs. We can even calculate the range, so it gives some wiggle room.

Do you have his weight written down from a recent vet visit?
If not, do you have a bathroom scale to weigh him at home ? You get on alone and then again holding him and subtract the difference. I'm sure you already knew that or could figure it out. No insult meant, I just thought that that since you are overwhelmed having it all written out might help.
It would be a good thing to write the weight in a notebook, so you can keep track of it over time.

Is he over or underweight or just about right ?

I have some a bag of wellness here so I can look at the calories per cup.

Also wondering if Wendall was a grazers w/ his old food too ? Or was he previously a scarfer ?

I'll check back to see what you come up with. Or if I'm not here, I'm sure someone else will jump in.

Good luck w/ testing this weekend !
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

Hi,
Wendell is 14 pounds and is and always has been a grazer.
I guess I just never took notice of how much of his food h was eating.
I do have a scale and I remember his weight from last time at the vet's: 14.1 pounds. He's lost a couple of ounces since his diagnosis. The vet considers him overweight but not grossly so.

Deb and Wink actually worked up what I think is a decent plan for us, and I don't want to put you to any trouble, so we're going to stick with this and maybe change the amount (but not the ratio of old food to new food) a little bit.
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

Great then if he isn't losing weight consistently I wouldn't worry to much. Maybe weigh him every couple of weeks and see..and adjust accordingly..
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

How is it going with the food plan I gave you? Where are you in the ratios of old food to new?

I'm also curious to know what the insulin dose is right now?
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

We are still on day 2. . . 6T of his food, 2T of the Wellness, 2x a day. He really doesn't want it, but he's coming around.
Was able to do a 4-hour test on him today and he was around 230. . . so we have a ways to go.
I've been giving him 2 units 2x a day of Lantus instead of the 3 the vet told me to give him.
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

If he is slow to accept the new food plan, you can spread the change out over more days.

Is he picking around the Wellness and only eating the old food? Or is he eating both?

We certainly don't want him on 3U of insulin while you are changing the food over. You will need to drop the insulin dose again as he eats more of the low carb Wellness and less of the high carb old food.

Keep checking those BG numbers when you can.
 
Re: Feeling Lost. Giving it 1 last try. Recommendations Plea

One change at a time is great. That way you know what, if any thing, is changed by that single change. make sense?

You are doing well. If he is eating something I wouldn't change until you have the food all changed. Just keep an eye on the ketones with the lower food intake.
 
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