? Lantus - Sugars Fluctuating - Food Help

April and Smokey

April and Smokey

Member Since 2015
Hello All,

I need some help. I have been feeding Smokey FF classics for several years now. His sugars have always fluctuated some between morning and night. However, my big issue right now is FOOD! He is getting picky and he is losing weight - yes he has had bloodwork done and everything came back fine. The one vet told me he needed to be on prescription food in order to gain weight - which he will only eat once in a while.

Does anyone have any advice or know of carb friendly foods that will help him gain weight?

I appreciate the help!
April and Smokey
 
Please provide more information. Is Smokey still on insulin? Do you have his SS (spread sheet) up to date? How old is he & how much does he weigh? It's difficult to give advice not knowing much about your cat.

He does NOT need "Prescription" food to gain weight! Vets like to tell us to use an animal Glucose meter & to use prescription food. Neither are necessary. Depending on what he weighs any good quality canned food is fine. My cats have always been fed "when they're hungry". They grew up on a raw diet & usually ate 3 times a day & none were ever over weight.

Now that Ravan has diabetes he still gets his raw food but occasionally eats canned also. He likes Whole Earth Farms brand The real Chicken recipe is 10% carbs If Smokey likes it you can feed him when ever he's hungry. ( if he's underweight) Halo "Rabbit & Garden Greens" is also good 7% carbs.

There's so many good cat foods you can try. It does seem as they get older they get more picky with the food. You can usually buy the small 2.75 OZ cans Most of us here have a variety of food available for when our kitties get Picky.

Here's a chart showing what a cat should look like at the correct weight. https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q2FPH.png (Looking down at him he should have a " waist ")

If his blood work is all OK it's Healthier for him to be slightly thinner than to be over weight. Sometimes we get used to seeing our cat at a certain weight & they're actually over weight. My Vet told me now days almost all the animals he sees are over weight!
Best of Luck to you & Smokey!:)
images
 
This is a link to chart that contains information about both carbs and calories in canned foods. Fancy Feast is generally around 4 - 5% carbs. So I'd stick is a similar range for carbs. Just look for foods that are higher in calories. For example, Wellness has pate styles that are in the target carb range but are much higher in calories due to there being more fat in their food.
 
Thank you for your help. No I have not kept his spreadsheet up to date.
I am not sure exactly what he weighs at the moment. I will weigh him today.
He is also in early stages of kidney disease... but the vet isn't overly worried about that as those values have not changed in the last year.



JoyBee&Ravan said:
Please provide more information. Is Smokey still on insulin? Do you have his SS (spread sheet) up to date? How old is he & how much does he weigh? It's difficult to give advice not knowing much about your cat.

He does NOT need "Prescription" food to gain weight! Vets like to tell us to use an animal Glucose meter & to use prescription food. Neither are necessary. Depending on what he weighs any good quality canned food is fine. My cats have always been fed "when they're hungry". They grew up on a raw diet & usually ate 3 times a day & none were ever over weight.

Now that Ravan has diabetes he still gets his raw food but occasionally eats canned also. He likes Whole Earth Farms brand The real Chicken recipe is 10% carbs If Smokey likes it you can feed him when ever he's hungry. ( if he's underweight) Halo "Rabbit & Garden Greens" is also good 7% carbs.

There's so many good cat foods you can try. It does seem as they get older they get more picky with the food. You can usually buy the small 2.75 OZ cans Most of us here have a variety of food available for when our kitties get Picky.

Here's a chart showing what a cat should look like at the correct weight. https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q2FPH.png (Looking down at him he should have a " waist ")

If his blood work is all OK it's Healthier for him to be slightly thinner than to be over weight. Sometimes we get used to seeing our cat at a certain weight & they're actually over weight. My Vet told me now days almost all the animals he sees are over weight!
Best of Luck to you & Smokey!:)
images
Click to expand...
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
This is a link to chart that contains information about both carbs and calories in canned foods. Fancy Feast is generally around 4 - 5% carbs. So I'd stick is a similar range for carbs. Just look for foods that are higher in calories. For example, Wellness has pate styles that are in the target carb range but are much higher in calories due to there being more fat in their food.
Click to expand...
Thank you!!!
 
April and Smokey said:
early stages of kidney disease
Click to expand...
To help his Kidneys feed Low Phosphorous canned food. ( my cat has Kidney disease & the 2 canned foods I mentioned above are low in Phosphorous. You can look at the Food Chart & see the Phosphorus of each food. Try to keep it below 200 & always have clean water available.
The sooner you start doing things for his Kidneys the better. You don't want to wait till there is a problem !
 
JoyBee&Ravan said:
To help his Kidneys feed Low Phosphorous canned food. ( my cat has Kidney disease & the 2 canned foods I mentioned above are low in Phosphorous. You can look at the Food Chart & see the Phosphorus of each food. Try to keep it below 200 & always have clean water available.
The sooner you start doing things for his Kidneys the better. You don't want to wait till there is a problem !
Click to expand...

Yes! Thank you!!! I've lost 3 babies to CKD - it's awful!!
 
The more you read & learn about diabetes & kidney disease the easier it will be to help your Kitty. Cats can live a long time with Kidney disease if you help them. Losing 3 kitties to CKD is horrible!

Here's a web site that has a lot of very good info about kidney disease https://www.felinecrf.org/
 
JoyBee&Ravan said:
The more you read & learn about diabetes & kidney disease the easier it will be to help your Kitty. Cats can live a long time with Kidney disease if you help them. Losing 3 kitties to CKD is horrible!

Here's a web site that has a lot of very good info about kidney disease https://www.felinecrf.org/
Click to expand...

Smokey is still on insulin. I had a hard time a few months ago getting him regulated but we got back to somewhat norma . The last week or so his sugars have been in the lower 200s.
 
April and Smokey said:
Smokey is still on insulin
Click to expand...

You joined in 2015 so I'm not sure if you were on the Lantus forum or how long you stayed. It would be good if you got Smokey's SS going again. The people here can advise you to get the right dose to help Smokey. I've seen cats go into remission when the people followed their advice.

Diabetic cats may develop chronic kidney disease (CKD) ( normal blood glucose level for cats is 80 to 120 mg )

Weight loss is an important sign of diabetes in cats. In Type II diabetes, the cells in the body are unable to absorb glucose from the blood and they become starved of energy. To get the energy it needs, the body turns to other sources, breaking down fats and proteins to feed glucose-starved cells. This breakdown results in weight loss, despite increased appetite.

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JoyBee&Ravan said:
You joined in 2015 so I'm not sure if you were on the Lantus forum or how long you stayed. It would be good if you got Smokey's SS going again. The people here can advise you to get the right dose to help Smokey. I've seen cats go into remission when the people followed their advice.

Diabetic cats may develop chronic kidney disease (CKD) ( normal blood glucose level for cats is 80 to 120 mg )

Weight loss is an important sign of diabetes in cats. In Type II diabetes, the cells in the body are unable to absorb glucose from the blood and they become starved of energy. To get the energy it needs, the body turns to other sources, breaking down fats and proteins to feed glucose-starved cells. This breakdown results in weight loss, despite increased appetite.

View attachment 51999
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the advice!! I was thinking that normal was about mid 100s. I have started his SS again. I will keep that up and look for help. His weight is now 9lbs. He is skinny. I thought it was the CKD and his no-carb food. But now I am thinking it's his sugars.

Yes I have been part of the Lantus forum since 2015 - we were OTJ for a bit!! But we've been back on for a few years now.
 
JoyBee&Ravan said:
You joined in 2015 so I'm not sure if you were on the Lantus forum or how long you stayed. It would be good if you got Smokey's SS going again. The people here can advise you to get the right dose to help Smokey. I've seen cats go into remission when the people followed their advice.

Diabetic cats may develop chronic kidney disease (CKD) ( normal blood glucose level for cats is 80 to 120 mg )

Weight loss is an important sign of diabetes in cats. In Type II diabetes, the cells in the body are unable to absorb glucose from the blood and they become starved of energy. To get the energy it needs, the body turns to other sources, breaking down fats and proteins to feed glucose-starved cells. This breakdown results in weight loss, despite increased appetite.

View attachment 51999
Click to expand...
I have been updating Smokey's SS! :)
 
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