How to feed a snack at PMBG +7 or +8?

[Manuel]

Hi! Thanks to the fine information and advice on this forum, my cat Emma is doing very well, on something of a food trial. She reliably and consistently naturally dips in blood glucose a few hours after feeding, so that yesterday she reached 50 at +6 AMBG, not having had any insulin for over 11 days.

However, there is a discrepancy between her PMBG, which tends to be lower and more what we'd like to see (at or below 80) and her AMBG. I think this comes down to excellent advice I received to try giving Emma a snack at +7 or +8, so that her pancreas can kick in a little bit and bring the glucose down. I've been able to do that at AMBG +8, but I have not been able to do that at PMBG +8, well, because it's at 3:30am and she gets only wet food now. I often go to bed 4 hours before then.

Do y'all have any tips for giving snacks overnight, when sleeping? Since becoming regulated Emma has become a fair deal pickier... she doesn't eat all her food at once (which she always used to) and often leaves things for a few hours. I'm worried about her eating food that's going bad, and I am concerned that if it's super cold she simply won't eat it.

(The most recent condo: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/11-27-emma-ambg-88.271212/)

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

What about buying an automatic timed feeder and setting the timer for 3.30 am. If you are concerned about the food going off you could either buy a feeder that has room for a small ice pack under it or you could freeze the portion of food before putting it into the feeder each night.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I don’t think cat food goes bad in a few hours. I understand most folks won’t do what I do, but I leave Bobo’s leftovers covered and when I get up to go to the bathroom around 1-2am I feed him then whatever is left gets fed to the outside critters, like possums and skunks the next day

 

[Manuel]

Thanks! I do have an automatic timed feeder, but I've not put wet food in it for fear the food might go bad. I hadn't thought about slipping an ice pack in there somewhere... maybe in a plastic sandwich bag so she doesn't eat it?

And it's true, I could probably just have it set aside and feed whenever I variably get up in the night. :O

 

[Wendy&Neko]

You can even set an ice cube on the food to keep it cool. It'll melt and add water too, also good for a diabetic. Or freeze a "foodsicle" of cat food, and pop it into the feeder before you go to bed.