New here-Freestyle libre info?

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Oreo’smamma

Oreo’smamma

Member Since 2022
BEZ said:
Yes! Super helpful! Thank you, Wendy&Neko. That seems to describe my Holly exactly. I was beginning to think I was going crazy so good to know I’m not the only one with this experience.
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Hi all,
My name is Dawn, a.k.a. Oreo’s momma, and I am a brand new member to this site. Wow I wish I would’ve found this two years ago. This seems to be exactly what is happening to my sweet boy. We had really good regulation until I couldn’t afford hound and Gatos food any longer and had to switch to less expensive brands. We also have other cats… Oreo had three hypoglycemic events that scared the heck out of me in August. I lowered his insulin from 2.5 units PZI twice a day to two units twice a day. He seemed to be doing really well until the last month. Now he has started drinking water again and I don’t know what’s going on? He is 13. I recently had his first alpha track to put on him and we are on day 10 I believe.
 
Oreo’smamma said:
Hi all,
My name is Dawn, a.k.a. Oreo’s momma, and I am a brand new member to this site. Wow I wish I would’ve found this two years ago. This seems to be exactly what is happening to my sweet boy. We had really good regulation until I couldn’t afford hound and Gatos food any longer and had to switch to less expensive brands. We also have other cats… Oreo had three hypoglycemic events that scared the heck out of me in August. I lowered his insulin from 2.5 units PZI twice a day to two units twice a day. He seemed to be doing really well until the last month. Now he has started drinking water again and I don’t know what’s going on? He is 13. I recently had his first alpha track to put on him and we are on day 10 I believe.
Click to expand...
I also realized that the Friskies seafood cans I was feeding him were a bit too high in carbs so I started feeding him tiki cat food and fancy feast tuna and shrimp. I have not mastered taking his BS with a glucometer. And I know I should. I’ve had this guy since he was three weeks old and had to bottlefeed him so I guess I better figure it out! Thanks in advance for all your help.
 
Oreo’smamma said:
Hi all,
My name is Dawn, a.k.a. Oreo’s momma, and I am a brand new member to this site. Wow I wish I would’ve found this two years ago. This seems to be exactly what is happening to my sweet boy. We had really good regulation until I couldn’t afford hound and Gatos food any longer and had to switch to less expensive brands. We also have other cats… Oreo had three hypoglycemic events that scared the heck out of me in August. I lowered his insulin from 2.5 units PZI twice a day to two units twice a day. He seemed to be doing really well until the last month. Now he has started drinking water again and I don’t know what’s going on? He is 13. I recently had his first alpha track to put on him and we are on day 10 I believe.
Click to expand...
Hi Dawn , welcome, it's best if you start your own thread if you need any help
You can go to the Feline Health forum, I'll post the link below
Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help.






Also can you tap on the blue link here and tell us about Oreo
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-welcome-main-forum.28/
 
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Hi everyone, I just posted on a different topic but I thought I would introduce myself and my tuxedo here. My Oreo was diagnosed in spring 2019 so we are in our fourth year now. He is half Siamese and 13 years old. (But he is tuxedo colored.) I adopted him at three weeks of age and had to bottle feed him so Needless to say I would do anything to help him. I’m sure there are quite a few of you on here who have Siamese or oriental breeds. Wow if I had known what a talker he was…. Anyway, we had good control until back in August when he had three very scary low sugar episodes. I decreased his insulin from 2.5 to 2 units PZI twice a day. He seemed to be doing really well but I did not monitor his daily glucose levels per se. but he was definitely not drinking a ton of water etc. So fast forward to about a month ago when he suddenly started drinking tons of water and I realized that the fancy feast seafood foods I was giving him were still too high in carbs. So about two weeks ago I switched to only fancy feast tuna shrimp, tiki cans, and Stella and Chewy freeze dried raw. About 10 days ago I had an alpha track 2 put on him. He started having crazy up and down spikes. Finally yesterday I decided to lower his insulin because I am afraid he will end up having another episode. Help!
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Hi Dawn , welcome, it's best if you start your own thread if you need any help
You can go to the Feline Health forum, I'll post the link below
Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help.






Also can you tap on the blue link here and tell us about Oreo
Click to expand...
Thank you! Yes I would like to add the numbers I have so far to a better chart because it’s difficult to see it on my phone. I would like to see it overtime.

How do I add those bits of information below my signature?
 
Hi and welcome to you and Oreo.
Would you be able to set up our spreadsheet and put in some data to see could see what is happening?
Also your signature which will tell us about Oreo so we are not repeatedly asking the same questions.
Here is a link spreadsheet and signature as well as the hypo kit and other information HELP US HELP YOU

When you say you had a alphatrak 2 put on him….do you mean a freestyle libre that is attached to the skin and reads the BGs?
From the crazy up and down spikes….that sounds like bouncing, which is when the kitty either drops too fast, too low or lower than they are used to and the body panics and dumps stored glucose and regulatory hormones into the system which causes the BGs to go up high. Bounces can last from 1 to 6 cycles and there is nothing you can do about them but wait them out.
Do you have a hypo kit set up if needed?
What type of meter do you normally use?
If you have any trouble setting up the SS @Bandit's Mom will be able to help you. Just let us know.
Bron
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi and welcome to you and Oreo.
Would you be able to set up our spreadsheet and put in some data to see could see what is happening?
Also your signature which will tell us about Oreo so we are not repeatedly asking the same questions.
Here is a link spreadsheet and signature as well as the hypo kit and other information HELP US HELP YOU

When you say you had a alphatrak 2 put on him….do you mean a freestyle libre that is attached to the skin and reads the BGs?
From the crazy up and down spikes….that sounds like bouncing, which is when the kitty either drops too fast, too low or lower than they are used to and the body panics and dumps stored glucose and regulatory hormones into the system which causes the BGs to go up high. Bounces can last from 1 to 6 cycles and there is nothing you can do about them but wait them out.
Do you have a hypo kit set up if needed?
What type of meter do you normally use?
If you have any trouble setting up the SS @Bandit's Mom will be able to help you. Just let us know.
Bron
Click to expand...
Yes, I meant freestyle libre two. And yes I do want to put all of my current information into a spreadsheet.

OK, so bouncing is what it’s called….

How do I add Oreos basic info to my signature? I have hovered on my name but it didn’t seem like it was letting me add new information.
Sorry I’m a newbie,
 
Dawn if you want to give it a try doing your signature tap on your name all the way up top , you will see a drop down list , tap on the word signature and give us this information
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Do you see mine info about Tyler , it's in gray at the bottom of my posts or replies

One more thing, please don't feed Oreo a lot of fish flavors, maybe only once per week, because of mercury in them

Here is our food list, we like to give 5% carbs or less
Most of us feed Fancy Feast Pate or Friskies, but look at the food list for others you might want to try

Make sure you have med and high carb foods on hand in case Oreo drops too low and some honey such as


Med and High Carb food



Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Good idea to mark the cans withmagic marker how many carbs

Or any on the food chart
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/
 
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Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Dawn if you want to give it a try doing your signature tap on your name all the way up top , you will see a drop down list , tap on the word signature and give us this information
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Do you see mine info about Tyler , it's in gray at the bottom of my posts or replies

One more thing, please don't feed Oreo a lot of fish flavors, maybe only once per week, because of mercury in them

Here is our food list, we like to give 5% carbs or less
Most of us feed Fancy Feast Pate or Friskies, but look at the food list for others you might want to try

Make sure you have med and high carb foods on hand in case Oreo drops too low and some honey such as
Be sure to have med and higher carbs in case you need to bring Cleo's BG up
Such as
Med and High Carb food



Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Good idea to mark the cans withmagic marker how many carbs

Or any on the food chart
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/
Click to expand...
Hi, I think I finally figured out how to add that extra information. I do have higher carb food and Karo syrup and had to use them three separate times last August. OK, I will not feed him only fish..thanks!!
 
We will have @Bandit's Mom contact you to help with setting up your signature if you can't figure it out and set up your spreadsheet
Take a look at mine to see what it looks like, it's at the end of my signature and says Tyler's spreadsheet, you won't see much testing for 2022 because he is now in remission, but if you tap on 202O and 2021 you will see how much testing I did.

You can also look at other members spreadsheet
@Bandit's Mom

Thank you Bhooma
 
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Oreo’smamma said:
Hi, I think I finally figured out how to add that extra information. I do have higher carb food and Karo syrup and had to use them three separate times last August. OK, I will not feed him only fish..thanks!!
Click to expand...
We need you to add what you are feeding such as LC wet only, no kibble correct?
Also you need to add you are using the Freestyle Libre so members don't keep asking you
Can you add the letters DX in front of April2019

Don't know how long you will be using the Freestyle Libre but in case you want to start home testing yourself let us know and we can suggest meters and how to do it
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
We will have @Bandit's Mom contact you to help with setting up your signature if you can't figure it out and set up your spreadsheet
Take a look at mine to see what it looks like, it's at the end of my signature and says Tyler's spreadsheet, you won't see much testing for 2022 because he is now in remission, but if you tap on 202O and 2021 you will see how much testing I did.

You can also look at other members spreadsheet
Click to expand...
What does the dosing mean exactly? Because it said not to put the units of insulin on here somewhere…
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
We need you to add what you are feeding such as LC wet only, no kibble correct?
Also you need to add you are using the Freestyle Libre so members don't keep asking you
Can you add the letters DX in front of April2019

Don't know how long you will be using the Freestyle Libre but in case you want to start home testing yourself let us know and we can suggest meters and how to do it
Click to expand...
I do have a home test kit but I just have not been able to master it. I recently moved 45 minutes away from my vet so by the time I get there with him he is totally stressed which makes it all the harder. It’s alpha track. I need to go feed him and I’ll be back.
 
Oreo’smamma said:
What does the dosing mean exactly? Because it said not to put the units of insulin on here somewhere…
Click to expand...
There are 2 dosing methods for Prozinc/PZI. Tap on this link to read about
Which ever one you wish to follow will let you know when to increase or decrease the dose
We don't base increases or decreases based on the Pre Shot number , we base it in how low the BG is dropping ( called nadir)
When your spreadsheet is set up you can give Bhooma the numbers you have and she can add what you have to the spreadsheet, then you can do the rest yourself

You are talking about where it says Dosing Methods on the spreadsheet correct

On the spreadsheet where it says units you fill in how many units you are giving

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/prozinc-dosing-methods.225629/
 
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Yes Oreo probably gets stressed when you bring him to the vet to be tested, and his BG probably goes up
The Alpha Trak is a pet meter and I'm sure you know how expensive the strips are
Most of us use a human meter, that's what our numbers are based on
Meter is cheaper and so are the test strips

Do you think you want to give it another try testing Oreo yourself?
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up
c2b8079a-b471-4fa6-ac36-9ac1c8d6dcca-jpeg.57072
fec17d29-5ab4-44a8-912b-3a91944c3954-jpeg.57073

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming

Here is a video one of our members did
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar


When you start to test keep put Oreo in the same spot every time.
I would put Tyler on the couch ,he would be against the back of the couch and I would sit against him next to his side
Kitchen counter or whatever it's easier for you
You can give Oreo a freeze dried treat before and after testing
He will then associate getting a treat for testing.
Even if it's a failed test give Oreo a treat

. It got to where I would even test him when he was asleep
Just keep at it. :cat:
 
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Oreo’smamma said:
I do have a home test kit but I just have not been able to master it. I recently moved 45 minutes away from my vet so by the time I get there with him he is totally stressed which makes it all the harder. It’s alpha track. I need to go feed him and I’ll be back.
Click to expand...
You said Oreo was diagnosed April 2019, and he has the Freestyle Libre on for 10 days, who was testing his BG before putting the Libre on ?
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
You said Oreo was diagnosed April 2019, and he has the Freestyle Libre on for 10 days, who was testing his BG before putting the Libre on ?
Click to expand...
Just the vet. They used to do boarding before Covid and so he would calm down after a few hours and then they would take it. But because he is Siamese, and is such a talker, I know when things are going bad when he starts continually meowing and begging for food. I assume there might be a group of Siamese owners on here? (Or drinking a lot of water.) Not that that means I should not be monitoring it… just saying it’s very obvious when it’s not controlled. He did very well for almost 3 years.
Like I said, I just recently moved so I need to find the monitors that I do have.
Do the owners that use freestyle libre, use it every month? Or do they just use it when their cat is not regulated? And then test randomly? I’m also wondering how the numbers from the freestyle libre compare to the regular numbers from blood tests.
Thanks again,

Dawn
 
Oreo’smamma said:
I’m also wondering how the numbers from the freestyle libre compare to the regular numbers from blood tests.
Click to expand...
Here is comparison of the Libre 14 day compared with my human iHealth meter. Note that which device read higher switched about halfway through the 14 period.
BG comparison Libre JPG.jpeg
 

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Larry and Kitties said:
Here is comparison of the Libre 14 day compared with my human iHealth meter. Note that which device read higher switched about halfway through the 14 period.
View attachment 63514
Click to expand...
That’s very interesting. Do you know what it means though? Does it mean that the freestyle libre is not as accurate in the first week or is it less accurate in the second week? I have had one on Oreo for the past two weeks and it’s going to be removed on Wednesday. It’s hard to know whether to trust it or not.
Dawn
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
I Can give you a link to read about the Freestyle Libre, I have never used it
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...stration-explanations-tips-discussion.221630/
You might want to go back and change your title to something like this
? FREESTYLE LIBRE NEW MEMBER
To change your title look to the right , tao on Thread Tools , then Edit Title. after you're done it save

Did you get Bhooma's PM about setting up your spreadsheet?
Click to expand...
Hi Diane,
So I clicked on Tyler’s spreadsheet and I must confess I obviously am not familiar with it at all. Are the numbers I’m seeing the value that was taken on that particular day? Where can I find more information about the spreadsheets?
 
Oreo’smamma said:
Hi Diane,
So I clicked on Tyler’s spreadsheet and I must confess I obviously am not familiar with it at all. Are the numbers I’m seeing the value that was taken on that particular day? Where can I find more information about the spreadsheets?
Click to expand...
Hi Dawn
I'll give you a link so you can read about how the spreadsheet works but first
When you look at Tyler's spreadsheet there isn't much testing because he's in remission since 1-24-21
Look up top on his SS tap on 2020 and 2021 and you'll see a lot more testing
First is the date , then the next row is AMPS which is when you test them first thing in the morning to be sure that the BG you get is safe enough to give insulin
You withhold food 2 hours prior to testing the AMPS ( AM Pre Shot) to it's not food influenced.
The next column is U. How many units of insulin you are giving
The next column says +1 that means if you test your cat one hour after you gave the insulin you will enter their BG there
+2 two hours after giving insulin and so on until you get to the
PMPS ( PM Pre Shot) you withhold food 2 hours prior
Then the same explanation above

Here is the link that explains how the SS works
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-use-the-spreadsheet.241653/
 
OK, so I’m learning the difference between interstitial glucose and blood glucose. Since there’s a delay of a few minutes when the blood glucose level is changing it will lag behind the finger prick numbers.
I’m trying to figure out how I can import a snapshot of Oreos glucose curve without having to enter 15 different things for each day for the last month. I just don’t have time to do that. What I’m really needing is guidelines regarding certain scenarios. I am aware that every cat is different and people are using different types of insulin on here. Could you direct me too that type of information on here?

your help is very much appreciated!
Dawn
 
Chris and Checkers said:
I guess you could insert a image of his glucose curve onto the spreadsheet. I did that when I had a Libre on Checkers.

Are you looking for dosing guidelines, the PZI one an b e found here.

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/prozinc-dosing-methods.225629/
Click to expand...
Hi Chris,
His general nadirs seems to be about 90 (occasionally they will go lower but that isn’t the norm) but his curve is less like a smile and more like a heart EKG! I guess that’s bouncing? The problem is, that’s been the way it has been for a while. I can’t seem to get it calmed down.
There are times when it’s in the 200s and it will be a little more level but that’s still too high right? And I can’t say there has ever been a single time when a pre-shot number is not either in the 300s or off the charts high. So that’s definitely not a worry..

I’m beginning to think that feeding him three meals a day is not enough to keep him stable. Maybe I need to give him six small meals? (i’m lucky enough to not be working right now but I will be soon and how do people manage that?) would he do better only getting the two meals when he gets his insulin and not the lunch? I gave him raw at lunch and low-carb at breakfast and dinner.
I don’t know, I just know he is not doing as well as he was the first two years. So frustrating!
Thanks so much for your help,
Dawn
 
Larry and Kitties said:
‡ Fingersticks are required if your glucose alarms and readings do not match symptoms or when you see Check Blood Glucose symbol during the first 12 hours.

§ Glucose readings are not available during 1-hour warm-up, when sensor is too hot or too cold, when you see an error, "LO" or "HI" message, or no current glucose reading.

https://www.freestyle.abbott/us-en/products/freestyle-libre-2.html
Click to expand...
Larry,
I assumed when I saw the high reading come up that it was just over 400. Is that not the case?
Thanks,
Dawn
 
Oreo’smamma said:
Hi Chris,
His general nadirs seems to be about 90 (occasionally they will go lower but that isn’t the norm) but his curve is less like a smile and more like a heart EKG! I guess that’s bouncing? The problem is, that’s been the way it has been for a while. I can’t seem to get it calmed down.
There are times when it’s in the 200s and it will be a little more level but that’s still too high right? And I can’t say there has ever been a single time when a pre-shot number is not either in the 300s or off the charts high. So that’s definitely not a worry..

I’m beginning to think that feeding him three meals a day is not enough to keep him stable. Maybe I need to give him six small meals? (i’m lucky enough to not be working right now but I will be soon and how do people manage that?) would he do better only getting the two meals when he gets his insulin and not the lunch? I gave him raw at lunch and low-carb at breakfast and dinner.
I don’t know, I just know he is not doing as well as he was the first two years. So frustrating!
Thanks so much for your help,
Dawn
Click to expand...


Checkers is a bouncer, everything he gets a green he bounces to yellow and pink, even red sometimes for 3 days. Have a look at my spreadsheet. Frustrating eh. Nothing you can do, it requires a lot of patience, but eventually they will make progress.
 
Chris and Checkers said:
Checkers is a bouncer, everything he gets a green he bounces to yellow and pink, even red sometimes for 3 days. Have a look at my spreadsheet. Frustrating eh. Nothing you can do, it requires a lot of patience, but eventually they will make progress.
Click to expand...
Hi Chris,
Even though I haven’t technically made a spreadsheet I have the free style libre numbers in front of me every day and that chart looks a lot like mine well. It looks like every time you try and go down a bit on the insulin his numbers go up. Checkers is very cute! Great name!
I’m just wondering if I should start feeding my Oreo more often but smaller meals? I don’t know I’m at my wits end right now…
Sleepless in Nevada,
Dawn
 
Chris and Checkers said:
It can't hurt to try, feeding more smaller meals. I believeit is recommendedfor diabetic cats. Checkers is a grazer, he only eats a bit at a time throughout the day.

You an try 'feeding the curve' which is used to prevent big drops in bg which causes bouncing. You can find information on that here.

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/8-10-tashie-pmps-high-questions.101989/
Click to expand...


Thank you for that link! It was very interesting. So last night I tried giving him a smaller dinner, and about a tablespoon of wet at 2 AM and then it did flatten out his curve. The problem is the curve is still way too high. And although it sounds like a good solution to stop the bouncing, I don’t know how I could maintain it and ever go anywhere or work?
I read somewhere on this forum about a feeder that some folks were putting frozen wet food in and then it defrosted while they were gone etc. maybe that would work.
Dawn
 
Oreo’smamma said:
Thank you for that link! It was very interesting. So last night I tried giving him a smaller dinner, and about a tablespoon of wet at 2 AM and then it did flatten out his curve. The problem is the curve is still way too high. And although it sounds like a good solution to stop the bouncing, I don’t know how I could maintain it and ever go anywhere or work?
I read somewhere on this forum about a feeder that some folks were putting frozen wet food in and then it defrosted while they were gone etc. maybe that would work.
Dawn
Click to expand...

I've heard of several people here using them. The Catmate c500 has 5 compartments and I think you can place an ice pack I it to keep food fresh. Petsafe also has a 5 compartments feeder too.
 
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