New to group with some questions

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MelissaEbby

MelissaEbby

Member Since 2012
Hello all,
My cat Ebby was just diagnosed with diabetes last Friday. I have visited this forum a lot and it has been very helpful so far. I have the generous, donated home testing kit on the way, but until then have been giving her 1 unit of Prozinc, and she has been showing signs of improvement. She was previously on Halo, spots stew dry and wet food, and since the diagnosis am in the process of switching her to the wet food only. I will also be ordering supplies to make homemade raw food as well. I do have a couple questions:

1. She does not like her shots! I have had some success in giving them to her when she's eating, but I think she's onto my tricks, and now does not want me to even touch her when she's eating. I have also tried to simply lay her down on the bed after she eats, and get her really calm, but she's catching on to this already too, and last night did not let me use this approach. I was able to get a shot down her when I fed her a treat though.

Another thought is letting her eat, then have her go lay down and sleep, which she almost always does, and giving her the shot about an hour after eating when she's really tired. Is this too long to wait? I know Ideally I will be testing her glucose, but don't have the kit yet. The vet never even mentioned the home testing as an option which I'm surprised by.

2. How often to feed? I was previously feeding both cats freely, but since the diagnosis have tried to get them to only eat 2-3 times a day, but they just seem so hungry. Neither cat has a weight problem, so is it ok to maybe feed 4 small meals a day? I was worried if I did this Ebby would not eat enough when it came time for the shot.

Also if anyone can figure out the protein/carb content on this food I'm feeding them, that would be great. I cannot find it on the charts. It is grain free Spot's Pate by Halo: Crude Protein (min.) 11% Crude fat (min.) 8.5% Crude fiber (max) 0.75% Moisture (max) 78%

Thanks in advance for any help/advise!
 
Sorry you are having trouble with the shot. What size needle? Sometimes the bigger ones (29 gauge for example) can hurt. Where are you giving the shot?

Yes, you could give the shot once she goes to sleep, but an hour is quite a while. Let's work on getting the shot in because doing the testing will also have to fit into this equation. Have you been getting her ready for testing:

First pick a place where you want to test. Some people use the kitchen counter, a blanket on the floor, between your legs while sitting – whatever works for you. Take the kitty there and give her lots of praise while you play with her ears. Give a treat and release. Next time, add the rice sack (thin sock filled with raw rice, heated in the microwave until very warm but not hot) or a prescription pill bottle filled with very warm water. Lots of praise, treat and release. Finally add the lancet so she will get used to the noise. The hope is that when you finally poke, they will be used to the process and know a treat is coming!

Most of us let our cats snack during the day using frozen food or an automatic feeder. The only thing you want to do is to not feed 2 hours before you are planning to give the preshot so your testing number is not influenced by food. This is especially easy to do with the feeder as you can set it to an empty slot 2 hours before the shot time. Unregulated cats are often very hungry as their bodies are not utilizing the food well so we tend to feed them more than usual. How much are you feeding per cat?

I haven't heard of that food. Check the labels - what sort of fiber is included?
 
It's actually best to feed diabetic frequent small meals, so yes, feeding four times a day is great! Bandit eats 4 times a day, and when I wanted him to lose a bit of weight he ate 6 times a day. It actually helps level out blood glucose levels.

In order to figure out the percentage of carbs/protein/fat, you'll have to call the company and obtain the as-fed or dry weight values. The values on the can are the guaranteed analysis, and because they are in minimum and maximums they're pretty much worthless trying to figure out the nutritional content of the food. Here's an explanation of what values to ask for, and how to convert them to %/kcal. Sometimes you can tell if something is low carb just based on the ingredients, but with the amount of vegetables in that particular food you'll have to have the as-fed values. You're not going to be able to tell if the actual amount of vegetables in the food is minimal until you can figure out the carb %.

Or, if you're looking for a good premium food (if you're shopping at an independent or a holistic pet food store, they're likely to have some or all of these), here's a list of just premium foods that don't contain byproducts: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8U...TkxOGM4NThk/edit?num=50&sort=name&layout=list. I personally feed Bandit the lower fat/lower carb flavors of Merricks, and after going through many different kinds of food that one has given us the best results, especially in terms of maintaining him at a healthy weight.
 
Thanks Julia, I emailed Halo for the as-fed values. I will also check into the Merricks, and hope to try some homemade recipes in the future. Glad to hear everyone is feeding their cats a little more often. It seems they naturally want to eat about 4 times a day, so this should work out. Thanks again for the help.
 
Just a follow up in case any one else wants the as-fed values for Halo, spot's chicken pate. They got back to me with the numbers...protein 43.3%; fat 38%; fiber 1.18%; carbs 4.99%; ash 12.53%
 
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