How much is to much?

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csepulveda85

csepulveda85

Member Since 2012
Hey all!

I started giving my cat Fancy Feast two days ago...
I used to give her Hills Prescription M/D and i learned from all of you how much carbs that really had and i was shocked!
A diabetic food that was high in carbs.. crazy

Well before i was feeding her a regular size can (bigger then FF) half in morning and half at night.. In the middle of the day she had her Hills Prescription M/D Hard food to munch on...

Now that shes on FF im lost to how much to feed her.. i feed her a can in the morning 9 am - afternoon 3 pm and at night 9pm .... so thats three cans...
two cans of FF probably equals a regular can of Hills Prescription M/D ... ( maybe a TINY bit more)

She WAS over weight before Hills Prescription M/D .. She weighed 17 pounds and went down to 10 pounds.. Now she is 13 pounds (which im happy with because she was getting very thin) but i dont want her weight to go back up...

Am i feeding her to much? i dont want her to starve between morning and night... I was thinking maybe cutting down one can in the afternoon to half a can...

What should i do?
 
A couple of things...
Can you ask your vet what he/she thinks an ideal weight for your girl would be? Maybe it's more than 13 pounds, or maybe 13 is just about right?

As long as she's being treated for diabetes, she'll need more food than she would need if she weren't diabetic, just because cats can't "use" food very efficiently.
Daily calorie intake is more important than just the number of ounces in a can. FF classics are around 80-90 calories a can. Hills MD, according to Dr. Lisa's most recent chart is a little over 150 calories a can. So, she might be getting a few more calories with 3 cans of FF, but I don't think it's necessarily "too much".

Is she stressed out by vet visits? If not, maybe they'll just let you swing by every couple weeks and weigh her (free of charge). Or you could try to weigh her at home.

Find out what the vet thinks is a "good weight", and then just monitor her every couple of weeks to see if she's gaining, losing, or holding. And adjust her food accordingly as you go.

Carl
 
Can you ask your vet what he/she thinks an ideal weight for your girl would be? Maybe it's more than 13 pounds, or maybe 13 is just about right?
Click to expand...

I took my cat to the vet on the 8th to the vet and they weighed her at 13.. Right now she wont be going back to that vet and has a new vet appt soon.
Shes not on Insulin yet but plan to start her by next week.. and plan to do home testing. Heres a link of my last post regarding this issue - viewtopic.php?f=28&t=80781

I just started the food change yesterday i just want to make sure she stays between 10-13 and stays there...
So three cans sounds good?
 
How much she needs depends on how active she is and her ideal weight. Most cats need between 20 and 30 kcal a day per pound of ideal weight, depending on how active they are. A 10 pound inactive cat would need about 200 kcal a day, an active 10 pound cat about 300. At 13 pounds she would need 260 to 390kcal a day depending on how active she is. Did your old vet think she needed to lose weight from the 13 pounds? If so be careful about trying to drops the weight too quickly, no more than 1 to 2 % of current weight per week. Dr Lisa's page on obesity is a great source for a safe weight loss program. Keeping track of her weight is important if you do try to reduce her weight, a baby scale works well and you can often find them at thrift shops or on Craig's list.

Hills comes in a 5.5oz can. Hills MD is 28.36 kcal/oz x 5.5 = 156kcal/can. FF comes in 3oz cans, three per day would be 9 oz., the FF Classic pate varieties are 27 to 32 kcal per ounce x 9oz. = 243 to 288 kcal. That is quite a bit more w/ the FF, of course there is also the kibble to add in to the Hills number. So you are in a good range.

If you want to leave a snack out for the time you won't be home, you can freeze a portion and set it out before you leave. It will slowly thaw and she will have a fresh snack later.
 
Did your old vet think she needed to lose weight from the 13 pounds?
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No he didnt say anything about her weight now, but when she was 17 pounds he did say that she needed to lose weight because that was part of her diebieties issue.. She went down 7 pounds but seemed to skinny because she is a large cat and tall ...
Shes not very active but she does get her energy moments but not like when she was younger...
Most of her activity now is running away from the puppy who annoys her lol

ill try the half a can in the afternoon and see how hungry she is after... anyone know about the wellness brand? would you think that brand is for her then FF?
 
The three cans a day sound good for her then. Wellness is a good food, higher quality ingredients. Turkey seems to be a fave w/ most cats, Tess won't touch the chicken. :roll: It's around 40 kcal an ounce, so you would feed less. If you can find the 12.5 oz cans it comes out to about the same price as FF.
 
When Maui started on this journey. She could eat 2 - 3 cans of FF in one sitting. As the insulin kicked in and the diabetes got regulated, she tapered this down to 1 -2 and 1 can per meal.

Today, several years later and off insulin, she may eat up 2 cans of FF per day, along with Stella & Chewy's raw food dinner. I don't keep track of the amount of of SC she eats.

And she is at her ideal weight around 12 pounds.

Until you have the diabetes under control, I wouldn't be overly concerned about her weight and I would feed as much as she needs/wants to eat. That's just how I would handle it.
 
Wellness is good food for diabetics. I feed mine the turkey and chicken flavors. One of my cats has a fish allergy and another reacts to beef. I like that you can get Wellness in the big cans since I have 4 cats. That said - they do like Fancy feast better, so I mix in two cans of Fancy Feast to one big can of Wellness.

During these early days of diabetes, your cat is literally starving -- with inadequate insulin, the energy from the food (blood sugar) just gets flushed out by the kidneys. The Insulin is needed to get the sugar out of the blood and into the muscles where it is burned.

unlimited food is ok for now -- when you start the insulin, she will be less hungry because her body can use the food energy.
 
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