Help! Shadow is starving!!

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Shadowboy

Member Since 2013
Shadow is acting like he is starving. This is even when his blood sugars are in the "more normal" range. He's acted this way since he came to me back in April.

He gets two large cans of food each day- Wellness grain free.

He gets into the trash, attaked by husband this weekend when my husband tried to get his food back from Shadow, he's constantly on the counter...

Mid July he weighed 14lbs.. that was up from 11 in April. The vet felt like 11lbs was a good weight, but it would be ok if he gained a bit...

Ideas? His thyroid was normal back in April but we are going to the vet to get it tested again tomorrow. Any other thoughts I should mention to the vet?
 
One idea may be to divide his meals up, giving him a half can 4 times a day. And what kind of "near normal" glucose readings are you getting?
 
Many of the Wellness are higher in fat so maybe he's not getting enough protein and that's why he's overly hungry? What varieties are you feeding him? You can try supplementing about 20% pure protein (like a boiled chicken breast) and see if that helps ease his hunger a bit.

I also agree with Debby about trying to spread his meals more evenly across the day. One thing you can do is add water to the food and this should help fill him up better and keep the food from getting all gunky if you leave it out for him to graze on it.
 
I'm not the most experienced person here, but from looking at your spreadsheet, it looks like Shadow isn't anywhere near regulated, and that could very well be causing him to continue to be terribly hungry. You haven't had a "normal" reading since 8/7...it's been 2 weeks since you had that and although the night before, you'd gotten a 50 (and I see you reduced from 2 to 1.75), I think you need to go back up to 2 units BID and see if you can get more of those healing numbers in the greens/blues.

I also agree that you should try feeding smaller meals through the day and see if it keeps him from getting SO hungry in between shots that he gets aggressive over it.

Are you following any protocol with your Lantus? It would also help to get some more data (a +2 after each shot if at all possible, and some mid-cycle tests...although I understand if you work full time, that's hard to do during the day)...Maybe on the weekends?

Uncontrolled diabetics can't fully utilize the calories they're getting, so even though it might seem that he's eating a lot, he may not be utilizing enough of it to make his body feel satisfied and may need even more food until he's better under control.

Hopefully some of the more experienced members will have a chance to chime in soon.

I wish you the best of luck with your extra-sweet Shadow!
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm going to go back up to 2units... I was hoping he would even out if I gave him a little time- guess not.

Will work on getting more data and maybe purchasing an automatic feeder would be a good idea.
 
I agree with he's going to be hungry until all of his daily numbers are under 200..... pre-shots and all....

Many of the cats here will also demand food when the numbers drop down really low.... but not all cats do so until you know that about him specifically.....
it would be really great if you could manage at least one random test during each cycle.... try to find out how low he is going....

it's that lowest number of the cycle that determines when he needs his dose adjusted up or down....


You know I'm going to play favorites with anyone named Shadow..... :lol: :-D
 
You may find this helpful in reviewing your spreadsheet.

Here are some glucose reference ranges used for decision making using glucometers. Human glucometer numbers are given first. Numbers in parentheses are for non-US meters. Numbers in curly braces are estimates for an AlphaTrak.

< 40 mg/dL (2.2 mmol/L) {< 70 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- Treat as if HYPO if on insulin
- At nadir (lowest point between shots) in a long term diabetic (more than a year), may earn a reduction.

< 50 mg/dL (2.8 mmol/L) {< 80 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- If before nadir, steer with food, ie, give modest amounts of medium carb food to keep from going below 50 (2.8).
- At nadir, often indicates dose reduction is earned.

50 - 130 mg/dL (2.8 - 7.2 mmol/L) {80 - 160 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- On insulin - great control when following a tight regulation protocol.
- Off insulin - normal numbers. (May even go as low as the upper 30s (1.7 mmol/L){60s for an AlphaTrak}; if not on

insulin, this can be safe.

> 150 mg/dL (8.3 mmol/L) {> 180 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- At nadir, indicates a dose increase may be needed when following a tight regulation protocol.

200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) {230 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- no shot level for beginners; may slowly reduce to 150 mg/dL (8.3 mmol/L) {180 mg/dL} for long-acting insulins (Lantus, Levemir, and

ProZinc) as data collection shows it is safe

180 - 280 mg/dL (10 - 15.6 mmol/L) {may be 210 - 310 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- Any time - The renal threshold (depending on data source and cat's renal function) where glucose spills into the urine.
- Test for ketones, glucose is too high.

>= 280 mg/dL (15.6 mmol/L) {may be >=310 mf/dL for an AlphaTrak}, if for most of the cycle between shots
- Uncontrolled diabetes and thus at risk for diabetic ketoacidosis and hepatic lipidosis
- Follow your insulin protocol for dose adjustments
- Test for ketones; if more than a trace level of ketones, go to vet ASAP.
 
In looking at your spreadsheet, it seems you are only getting pre-shot numbers and are not testing during the cycles. It's important to test during the cycles, so that you know exactly how the insulin is working and if you need to adjust the dose.

Are you able to test more frequently?
 
I see a 52 on the 23rd.. did you reduce the dose back to 1.75? i hope so!! At 53, you just caught one of his lows which confirms what Hillary said about the importance of testing mid cycle. He might be dropping too low more often than you think.

If you can get more tests in you might see more of these lows and be able to reduce dose further.. even ease him into remission. Any time he goes under 80 you want to drop by 1/4 unit.

Wendy
 
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