Food! I just don't know what to do.

[The Mum]

Gracie had 1/2 3 oz. FF pate at 4:45 pm. Relaxed for about 1/2 hour then was back looking for more. 6:25 pm she had some home cooked chicken pieces and actually jumped up on counter scrounging for for more. She never jumps on the counter! Total today she has had 2 1/2 3 oz. FF cans, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours apart. Should I feed more often, smaller abounts, or larger amounts not as often?

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi Becky,
When are you feeding Gracie?
Are you giving her a good meal before the insulin dose?
Most of us give a meal before the insulin and then several smaller snacks during the day and night.....most of it during the first half of the cycle. For example feed preshot, +2 +4 and +6 then PMPS and +2 +4 and +6
Or you could do +2 +5 and +7 .......what ever you think suits you and Gracie best.

Is she underweight?
A lot of cats when first diagnosed are starving hungry. This is because they can't utilise the nutrients in the food because they are not getting enough insulin. This will settle down as the BG numbers improve.

Looking at the SS I see you are not testing before every insulin dose.
It's really important to test before every shot to ensure that it is safe to give the insulin.
Also always get a 'before bed' test done every night as a lot of cats drop lower at night.
If the before bed test is lower than the preshot you may need to get up and test again later to see it hasn't dropped too low.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Hi Becky I went back and looked at some of your posts from the beginning, I see you said you feed Gracie 4-5 small meals a day.
After I feed Tyler his AM meal the larger meal, then I probably feed him maybe 3-4 small meals about a tablespoon with water to fill him up a little, then his PM meal
Just don't feed any food 2 hrs prior to his pre shots
I was just about to say the same thing Bron said about always testing before giving insulin, and through the night you are not doing any tests after giving insulin
It's the only way to keep Gracie safe

 

[Juls and Billy]

Testing pre-shot is important. And a couple of tests mid-cycle might be just as important. If you are already feeding many small meals, and she is that hungry, her BGL could be dropping too low. Her body would be yelling at her to eat to raise it back up.

Right now, to be safe, I would feed her any time she is hungry, except for the two hours before shot time. Even if she is overweight. Without the BGL testing, you have no way to see if she is dropping dangerously low. And no way to tell if her insulin dose needs to be reduced. Feeding nothing but low carb wet food can have big results quickly, which can result in lows and bounces. You are running risks by not testing her BGL more regularly.

If you take a look at my Billy's spreadsheet, you can see just how quickly a dose can need to be reduced.

Now, eating is a good thing. We just need to know if she's so hungry because she's feeling better, or if it's because her BGL is dropping too much.

 

[The Mum]

Hi Becky,
When are you feeding Gracie?
Are you giving her a good meal before the insulin dose?
Most of us give a meal before the insulin and then several smaller snacks during the day and night.....most of it during the first half of the cycle. For example feed preshot, +2 +4 and +6 then PMPS and +2 +4 and +6
Or you could do +2 +5 and +7 .......what ever you think suits you and Gracie best.

Is she underweight?
A lot of cats when first diagnosed are starving hungry. This is because they can't utilise the nutrients in the food because they are not getting enough insulin. This will settle down as the BG numbers improve.

Looking at the SS I see you are not testing before every insulin dose.
It's really important to test before every shot to ensure that it is safe to give the insulin.
Also always get a 'before bed' test done every night as a lot of cats drop lower at night.
If the before bed test is lower than the preshot you may need to get up and test again later to see it hasn't dropped too low.

Gracie is 10 lbs. Pre shot meals are 1/2 3 oz. FF. Before diagnosis she ate a whole can in morning and whole can in evening with grazing dry food. No more dry food. Now I am doing 1/2 can or 1/4 every 2 hoursish. Today I baked some chicken tenders and gave her one tender cut up. Too much? At first I just gave her half of it, but she wanted more. Gave the other half and she settled down for just shy of 2 hours. I held her off because I wanted to do a glucose test before her evening shot.

 

[The Mum]

Hi Becky,
When are you feeding Gracie?
Are you giving her a good meal before the insulin dose?
Most of us give a meal before the insulin and then several smaller snacks during the day and night.....most of it during the first half of the cycle. For example feed preshot, +2 +4 and +6 then PMPS and +2 +4 and +6
Or you could do +2 +5 and +7 .......what ever you think suits you and Gracie best.

Is she underweight?
A lot of cats when first diagnosed are starving hungry. This is because they can't utilise the nutrients in the food because they are not getting enough insulin. This will settle down as the BG numbers improve.

Looking at the SS I see you are not testing before every insulin dose.
It's really important to test before every shot to ensure that it is safe to give the insulin.
Also always get a 'before bed' test done every night as a lot of cats drop lower at night.
If the before bed test is lower than the preshot you may need to get up and test again later to see it hasn't dropped too low.

So she had insulin at 9:00 pm EST. She had a 1/2 can of FF prior to shot and 1/3 of fresh cooked chicken tender after as a reward. Are you saying I should test again at 11:30ish pm? Surprisingly, she doesn't wake me up during the night.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Always get a before bed test in to see if she is going to to be dropping low. If she is lower than the Preshot number she may drop further and you may need to set the alarm and get up and test around +5 to see she is in safe numbers

Can you get any tests in during the day? We base our dosing on the nadir or lowest point in the cycle.

 

[The Mum]

Always get a before bed test in to see if she is going to to be dropping low. If she is lower than the Preshot number she may drop further and you may need to set the alarm and get up and test around +5 to see she is in safe numbers

Can you get any tests in during the day? We base our dosing on the nadir or lowest point in the cycle.

I am going to do a curve tomorrow. If I struggle with it like the first one, I may do an overnight curve (9:00 pm to 9:00 am) as she doesn't wake me for food during the night.

 

[Juls and Billy]

I am going to do a curve tomorrow. If I struggle with it like the first one, I may do an overnight curve (9:00 pm to 9:00 am) as she doesn't wake me for food during the night.

Yay for the curve tomorrow! That will help answer some questions. What was the struggle the first time? And I'm not sure why overnight is better because she doesn't wake you. There's no need to withhold food during a curve, if that is what you are thinking. Feed as normal on a curve day.

 

[The Mum]

Yay for the curve tomorrow! That will help answer some questions. What was the struggle the first time? And I'm not sure why overnight is better because she doesn't wake you. There's no need to withhold food during a curve, if that is what you are thinking. Feed as normal on a curve day.

My vet said to feed just 2 meals and small snacks on curve day. Define "small snacks". Just did a test +3. 335 from 369 PMPS.

 

[The Mum]

My vet said to feed just 2 meals and small snacks on curve day. Define "small snacks". Just did a test +3. 335 from 369 PMPS.

335. Not sure where that decimal point came from.

 

[The Mum]

12:32 am here in Maine, USA. I'm going to bed. Thanks for the support. Gracie is happy and sound asleep.

 

[Judy and Freckles]

Here is a link to a body condition score chart - that may help a bit.

https://www.petmania.ie/utilities/news-events/operation-transpawmation/body-condition-score-for-cats