Help! My kitty is a grazer and I am worried!

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Simon'sMommy

Simon'sMommy

Member Since 2013
Hi, I am a brand new FD Mommy and this forum has been very helpful for me. I just did my first BG test this morning and gave my second shot of insulin. The vet did the BG yesterday while I watched and he let me shoot the insulin while he watched. ohmygod_smile

I am using a Bayer Contour BG meter that I already had as my Dad is a diabetic and it took three test strips (two error coded) but I finally got a reading of 332 and gave my Simon 2U of insulin as instructed by my vet. I thought that was a lot of insulin to start with, but apparently it isn't as he never crashed on this yesterday and this morning his reading was good in comparison to the 454 it was prior to his first shot yesterday evening. We are giving ProZinc long acting insulin. I did not do readings last night as he was already traumatized by two vet visits this week and so I just watched him like a hawk after he had his first shot which as I said was 2 U of PZ.

My worry is this. My cat is a grazer. He never eats more than a few bites at a time. I took his food away after dinner last night and put it down this morning (transitioning from hard food that was prescribed for him due to skin issues to a high protein diet) I gave him half a can of Fancy Feast which he licked and he ate NONE of his hard food. With his sugar so high, I still gave the shot and left the food out and he has gone back for a bite or two since but still, not enough to really make me happy! :YMSIGH:

My question is will he be alright with the shot of insulin in him and grazing on his food through out the day? I am scared that he won't have enough in him to counteract the shot! nailbite_smile
 
Grazing is fine, even with the wet food...if you're concerned about it drying out while you're away, or if kitty is picky, you can try freezing part of the food (add a little water, and don't freeze it in the can, silicone cupcake pans are good, or ice cube trays) (You don't have to, just leaving the wet out is fine if your kitty isn't picky.) It's usually better for them to eat multiple smaller meals vs one or two larger ones, the idea being smaller more frequent meals keep the blood sugar levels 'more even' throughout the day.

I agree with you, 2u is pretty high to start out. I'm a newbie here tho, I'm sure one of the more experienced members will weigh in soon.
 
Grazing is fine - I leave canned foot out all day and night, though I give an amount that will be mostly eaten up in 12 hours to keep it fresher -- I give fresh at shot times, or bed time.
 
What my main concern is though is that he has enough food in him for 2 U of insulin. Does grazing provide this? Should I check his BS at the mid-point to make sure he is not hypo and not showing any signs? So worried! Hope someone has an answer for me regarding the not eating and still getting 2 U of insulin.

He has taken a few more bites, but not enough I think. Less than half a can of the Fancy Feast and none of the hard food he normally eats (Hills SD DD) and he was supposed to go 75/25 the first week to transition slowly to the wet food. He seems to like the FF thank goodness, but that is all he ate was the few bits. This is so nerve wracking in the beginning stages, isn't it????? I just want to make sure he doesn't crash on me cause he is my heart and I would be so scared if he was to crash!

Oh and meant to say thank you for both of the responses so far! I have been reading on here for a few days and have gotten a lot of good information!
 
You are right - he does need to eat more. Here are a couple tricks that have worked for others:

Add some warm water to make the food "gravy like" Sometimes it is the texture, not the taste that they are unfamiliar with.
Put some Parmesan cheese, tuna juice or some treat he really likes on top as "dressing"
Warm the food up in the microwave for a few seconds so it is nice and stinky

If he is a grazer and will come back to eat it during the day, that is great. The food can help keep things even as the insulin works.

Yes, it is a good idea to check the number in the 5-7 hour range after the shot. That should be the time when the insulin takes him lowest.
 
See, I am not sure what would work as he had no "treats" that he liked because of his skin issues. He was on a special prescription diet (Hills DD) and so we carefully monitored everything he ate due to the skin eruptions. So, cheese, tuna etc was not part of his life although my DH occasionally gave him bits of meat from his plate and also an occasional "Temptation" treat which I would yell at DH for doing..lol.

As it is, switching to high protein food may not even be doable but we are trying it out. He gets unbelievable skin issues when he is not eating a single protein food (duck and peas) but that is very high in carbs (dry was what he ate) and so we are going to try the fancy feast. They sold us two cans of the Purina DM and he ate a small amount of that last night, but he was not crazy about it (liver flavor I think?) so sent the hubby to the store last night and had him buy some FF classics.

This morning, gave him turkey/giblets classic and he seems to like this. He has eaten most of a can at this point, but he is not a small cat and should be eating at least a can twice a day as he weighs 14.25 lbs. He did weigh close to 19 lbs just a few weeks ago which is how we found out he had something going on...weight loss, thirst and peeing a lot.

I am going to check his BS again at the 6 hour mark which will be at 12:45 EST. If his BS is below 100, is this when I should be worried or is it below 40 that I should be worried? I am confused about that. Thanks for any help/advice you can give me.
 
There are some duck flavors in the higher quality brands like Merrick and Wellness. You might check those out also. My boys loved Bonito flakes (freeze dried flakes of fish) and PureBites (also freeze dried but chunks that you could crumble up on top of the wet.)

40 is the number that we consider in the hypo zone. 100s would be a nice nadir. Be sure you print off the hypo thread at the top of this page, just in case.


Just for reference:

A regulated kitty, on insulin, is generally in the mid 200s at preshot and in double digits at nadir, but above 40. A cat is considered in remission if they range from the 40s to 120, off insulin, for 2 weeks.
 
Just took his mid (a little early but couldn't wait) BG and it was 269 which is still pretty high considering the two units of insulin and the high protein breakfast he ate (finally finished most of the can of FF) so I guess it is going to be a while before we see improvement in his numbers? I was hoping to see it down around 150 or less at the "nadir" point, but not yet. Considering he is on two units 2 x a day, I guess he really does need that much, at least at this point or his BS would be lower? Or, does it take a few days/weeks/months before the insulin works and regulates the BS? I am so new to this that I am have not a clue. I just know that when I check my dad's BS and then give insulin, it brings him down closer to normal by the mid day check.

Thanks for the information. My vet called to check on him and were surprised that I checked his BS myself as I guess not many attempt it but I found all of you and just went for it after reading and watching a few videos on how to poke the ear. Simon is not happy about the ear pokes, but I gave him a couple of treats the vet gave me called "Lean Treats" by a company called "Nutrisentials" Does anyone know if these are ok? It says they are boneless/skinless chicken and are a low fat treat. Not sure of the carbs but I only gave him two of them and they are tiny.
confused_cat Thanks for your responses. They really mean a lot when you are new and scared!
 
It's one of the many ECID (every cat is different) things we see in Feline diabetes. Some cats go down in the first 12 hours; some go down a little bit over weeks. You should seem an improvement if he stays with all wet for the next few days. If it is 5 hours after the shot, you might get a number at +7. It is helpful to see a pattern. Sometimes cats have an early nadir (lowest point); sometimes a later one.

What was his number at preshot this am?
 
Not a huge drop, but I would test again later. If the dose is too high, sometimes the nadir is late in the cycle. Or he may just take some time to settle into the wet low carb food. Patience. As someone said long ago here, this sugar dance is a marathon, not a sprint. :mrgreen:
 
I took it at 6:45 am and it was 332 and then 5.75 hours later it is 269. Yesterday, it was 454 before his very first shot of insulin. I did not test again last night as he had been so stressed from the trip to the vet and the poking etc so I left him alone and watched him like a hawk. But, even though the vet did not tell me to test him, this morning, fortified with information from this website, I tested and I was pleased that it was down over 100 points from yesterday. So, I guess if I look at the 269 as opposed to the 454, that is almost 200 points lower in less than 24 hours. I know all about the marathon vs the sprint for sure.

I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer (January) and all of my treatment seemed to take forever and so my patience is getting there. I couldn't believe that my poor baby ended up with diabetes after all of the other turmoil in our family lately. It is just one more thing I guess but I am pretty low these days. Thanks so much for your help and concern. It really means a lot.

I will not check him again until before I give him the shot tonight. Hoping I get this all right for my sweet little boy. He has been through so much already having spent an entire year in a shelter before we brought him home three years ago this week.

Thank you.
 
My cat is a grazer too. What I have discovered is that he is "food shy" and is much less likely to eat if I am around. So, if he heads into the kitchen I stay away and let him do his thing.

Maybe you could do a taste test day for him? When mine gets tired of what he is eating (every few months) I just put out spoonfuls of 3 or 4 different foods and see which he eats the most of. Usually he will gravitate to one or two, and then I stick with those.
 
My cat also grazes, and we've been fine. She gets 1.5 units 2x a day. I put out one small can of friskies in the morning, then usually another one after I get home from work, and another one before bed. (This is to feed two cats.) The only problem with grazing is that we have to keep the food up on a TV tray or else our dog will eat it!
 
Could not get a pre insulin BG reading tonight. I stuck him like 4 times and could not get the blood on the test strip. Finally gave up and gave him the shot. Food intake was so so tonight and because I left his food out today, he did eat some this afternoon so not too worried as I think his intake was adequate. Now I watch him to make sure he doesn't crash. I will try to check his BS a little later at the +15-16 mark to see how he is doing.

Thanks so much for all of your help! This is so amazingly nerve-wracking! My husband seems to think this has to be my job only and that is not happening. cat(2)_steam He needs to know how to do this stuff so that in case I am not here, he can handle it! ohmygod_smile
 
Hubby did insulin this morning and calmed Simon when I did the BG sticks today.

So far today, AMPI BG was 318
+6 = 276
+7 = 288

He is on PZ 2U 2X a day. He is still grazing for his eating and he seems to prefer the FF over his old Hill SD DD food which is good (at least so far because we have not seen the skin issues yet which is why he was eating DD prescription food to begin with) and so far, no problems with vomiting or diarrhea with the switch over to wet food which the vet said might happen.

Hoping we can get a lower reading soon or I guess he might need more insulin that the 2 U 2 x a day. Will not up it without going at least a week on this and letting the vet see him (apt next Friday morning with no shot and no food at 8:00am) for the one week checkup.

So far, lowest reading we had was 269 at the +6 yesterday... :YMSIGH:
 
Good job getting some numbers. It looks a little flat this cycle but it may take a while for the good food to kick in as the bad food goes away. I like your plan of waiting before raising.
 
Thanks. This is not easy but so worth it. I just wish my boy did not mind the ear sticks so much but he really screamed bloody murder this time..LOL. But he sure dove on the treats. I told him that he had to pay the gatekeeper the toll with a drop of his blood. He is snoozing away now like he hasn't a care in the world and of course, I am up half the night checking on him and making sure he doesn't crash on me.

I am thinking at this point that he is unlikely to crash on the 2 units which is what I was so worried about as that seemed like a high amount to start him out on. I guess the vet knows more than I gave him credit for :o
 
I would love to set up a spread sheet, but the link doesn't work for me for some reason. Received the following message which I copied and pasted below:

Sorry, the page (or document) you have requested does not exist.

Please check the address and try again.

Hoping you can provide me with a new link since I am not too technical...lol. I do already have a google account so that was not an issue. Just can't get the template!

BTW, tonight's PMPI reading was 345 :sad:

Very disappointed
 
That's not a bad number for a new diabetic. It was a smile curve , which we want. A little less of a smile than ideal, but not bad. Keep feeding that wet food, keep getting numbers and be patient. He didn't become diabetic in a day; he won't be "cured" overnight. :mrgreen:

Think of how much you have learned this weekend. You can test him to see how the insulin is working and if your dose is safe. You've researched foods and have him on a better nutrition track. You've taken charge of his diabetes.
 
Thank you Sue. I know you are right. I just worry when I see numbers in the 300+ range as it seems so dangerous for his health! I worry about neuropathy and all the other things that could happen to him that might shorten his life. He is counting on me to make him better and I feel as though I have to get it right soon!

Tomorrow I will be in work all day so can't do the daytime readings but can do the pre shot in the AM and PM and then maybe one in the evening. I am also going to worry about him when I am in work as well. nailbite_smile

Thanks again for all of your help. I know I am doing all I can right now. He is counting on me and I won't let him down! :sad:
 
Not sure why that link didnt work.. Sue do you want to give her a hand to set it up or I can ask Marje?

For neuropathy you can treat with methylcobalamin (a form of vitamin b12) . You can get a cat version called zobaline.
 
Hi Simon's Mom! My diabetic cat is also Simon and we have been here for about 2 1/2 years.

I want to make sure I have read this right:

he weighs 14.25 lbs. He did weigh close to 19 lbs just a few weeks ago which is how we found out he had something going on...weight loss,
Click to expand...
Is that correct? Has he lost almost 5 pounds in a few weeks?

I don't want to alarm you, but losing that much weight in a few weeks is something I think you need to talk to your vet about immediately. Cats can't lose weight too quickly or they may have serious liver issues. Bloodwork can tell if there is any problems. It is very important that you get him checked out, especially if he is not eating much.

Big hugs to you and your Simon and I hope he starts eating well soon.
 
That should have read 16 lbs, not 19 lbs! Typo...so sorry. OMG, that is a huge difference! He had full blood tests and everything checked out. Liver, kidneys, urinary tract etc. Over 400,00 in blood work and all he came out with is the diabetes. I know he weighed 15.4 lbs last year at the vet and so he is really only down a pound plus from last vet visit in Feb of 2012 for his yearly check up. When I took him on the scale with me in March, it seemed he was almost 16 lbs so he lost close to two pounds in an unofficial hop on the scale with me cause I thought he was getting really chubby!

He does not show any signs of neuropathy. I am just worried he could get it if his blood sugar stays this high..It is all speculation on the what if. He is completely healthy other than the diabetes diagnosis thank goodness!

Also, he is eating much better. He ate two cans of FF today and about 10-15 of his crunchy food (duck and peas) as we are trying to transition from dry to wet but he loves the wet it appears which is a good thing. I am just worried about his skin issues now as that is why he was eating DD food to begin with at 24 bucks for a three pound bag. I hope he can continue on the FF. If not, there is a canned duck food someone said above. So far, no skin issues, but it has only been two days. His allergies were pretty bad they tell me (when we got him from the shelter, he was already on the prescription DD food)

I will check for the spreadsheet now. Thanks!~
 
BG this morning is 340. He loves hanging out in the high 2's and mid 3's pre shot. Oh well. He is eating the canned food and doing well with that. He was good and hungry this morning and is still eating. I am going to give him his insulin at 6:30 instead of 6:45. I think that 6:45 is too late.
 
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