Help! Monsters!

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Cher

Cher

Member Since 2019
One of my cats was diagnosed withe Diabetes right before Christmas. I have done a lot of reading here and at catinfo.org but never joined because it seems like other people already asked all the questions I had. But now I have a problem.
All my research and reading said that I needed to switch my cats to wet food. I did this, but it has changed both of their personalities. They start begging for food - constant meowing - 1-2 hours. Before feeding time. I can’t get the food out of the cans in the kitchen because they jump up on the counter or try to climb up my pants. I prep their food in the basement and bring it up. When I open the door and enter, Amy hisses. They jump on the counter and lick dirty dishes. They sit on the kitchen table. They beg with incessant meowing every time I’m in the kitchen. They swipe and swat at me while I’m cooking or cleaning the kitchen. I also know one or both of them has started getting into the garbage and pulling out items that may have food crumbs on them. The vet has confirmed they are a healthy weight and I am not under feeding them. Other than Amy’s diabetes, the vet says there are not other health concerns.
It seems to me that wet food is associated with dog-like begging and trash digging. They are obsessed with eating and have become somewhat aggressive. Any suggestions for modifying these monster-like behaviors?
 
Are you leaving food out for them? Or just feeding them twice/day? It might help if you leave some food out, or if that doesn't work, spreading the food out in snacks over the day. It could also be that the insulin is either too much or too little in which case your diabetic cat will definitely be showing frantic signs around feeding, and the other cat might mimic that.

Are you home testing the blood glucose? If you changed the food, but not the dose, it's quite possible that the previous dose is now inappropriate for your diabetic. Food changes can cause dramatic changes in BG.

If you're not testing and are willing to start, we can help you learn how.
 
You need to feed them more or more often. Most feed several smaller meals a day. Cats that are diabetic often need extra food until they are better regulated because their bodies can not properly utilize the nutrients. How many ounces are you feeding each cat per day?
 
I hear what you are saying, but am single and I work. There is no way to feed them multiple times during the day. When they ate dry food, I used to leave it out. But Amy ate it all. I used slow feeders, which helped at first. She only ate when she was willing to dig the food out. Then that changed. She became overweight again because she ate all of her food and her brother’s food. I had to try to feed him separately. She doesn’t seem to have an off button when it comes to food.

I don’t glucose test at home because she is highly sensitive. She is afraid of everything and only tolerates petting in small doses. I firmly believe that if we could diagnose a cat with a sensory disorder, Amy has one. I was told to desensitize her before injecting the insulin by petting and leave the cap on the needle and put that against her, then take the needle off and stick her. But the more she is touched, the worse it is. She tries to get away. I just have to put the food down so she is distracted by eating, walk up to her, grab, and stick in the needle. I can’t grab her and test her because she is so afraid of being hurt. In hear mind, needle sticks are super awful.

I want to do what is best for her, I just feel like she is super difficult.
 
Welcome!!

Both the testing and the shooting get easier with time and practice, and believe it or not they get used to it some even associate it with the rewards they get afterwards (this is really important you have to give her a nice tasty reward that she loves after each test ) so they even look forward to it

You could use an automatic time feeder that you can program to open at certain time so that they get small amounts of food during the day so that they are not so hungry and desperate at dinner time
 
Start another thread asking about automatic feeders, lots of people use them. Lets hope they don't read the manual.
Of our five cats one is a lunatic about wet food and eats more than you can imagine. Every morning is a tragedy until the food hits the dish. We free fed our last two diabetics. I recall a rule about only feeding twice a day but it's just not practical.
I'm too tired to write something thoughtful about testing but it has to be done. I had problems with Nigel but then put a huge towel on the table so he'd have traction and I had better lighting. After that he would jump on the table, "I'm ready papa". It will come with time, sorry, that's all I've got right now.
 
Max was very sensitive too but he let me test him. So you never know. Special treats did wonders. You can get an auto feeder so he eats more often or feed more in the morning and leave the rest out if it isn’t finished. It won’t hurt him.The latter is if you can leave them in different rooms while you are not home.
 
Omg @Cher I know that they are being a total nightmare for you but I had to laugh! The way you’re describing your cats sounds sooooo CUUUUUUTE!! I’m loving the visuals that your descriptions are giving me :p:smuggrin:
 
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