Newly Diagnosed, general feeding questions

[Dee Dee C]

Hello,
We are deedee and Clarence (13 y/o neutered male, currently 12-13 lbs and recently (June 6) diagnosed).

Clarence had a curve done at the vet from 6/11 - 6/13 a.m. He is on Vetsulin 1.5 units every 12 hours. I have been doing the feeding and injections with no issues since 6/13 p.m.

Five days prior to diagnosis, I switched his diet to fancy feast. I have had him for 11 years and fed him: (first few years) dry food, then switched to wet food for a number of years, then back to dry for a year, then wet for a few months, then dry again (for about 10 months) until the most recent switch. He tends to be a grazer, preferring several smaller meals throughout the day, supplemented by whatever rodents or birds he might catch and consume.

1) The vet tech told me I should only feed him twice a day to make sure that he ate good before his injection. He very much wants to eat more often than that. He was eating between 3 1/2 and 4 cans of FF a day. Now that I am only feeding him at injection time, it is hard to get him to eat a whole can in one sitting. Is it really necessary only to feed him twice a day, and if so, should I only give him what he will eat at one time, or let him leave some and eat that later?

2) I am feeding him a variety of FF 'flavors' so he won't get bored with just one flavor. Is this okay when they have different carbs in the different flavors? If I feed him the very lowest carb flavors (1 and 0), is that going be dangerous with the insulin, or will it not matter how many carbs he has in a meal? My only experience has been with humans and they count carbs and adjust insulin, but it doesn't appear to be done that way in animals. Being new to this, I'm really afraid of the hypoglycemia thing being a problem if he's not eating enough carbs.

Thanks for any thoughts or help you can give.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

You want to feed at shot time, but you don't have to feed only at that time. Many of us feed multiple meals throughout the day. (I feed 4 times, once every 6 hours, and leave the leftovers out for grazing.)

You can feed multiple flavors of food, if you want, and that is what your cat likes (mine get only one kind of wet food). I would think that keeping the carb % pretty close to the same would be helpful since I have found consistency to be important. It is okay to feed very low carb. Every cat is different, and some people have found that it works out better for their cat to have a little carbs in their food... you will find out with time whether that is the case.

Are you home testing yet? It is very important. Just like it would be dangerous to give insulin to a person without knowing their current glucose level, the same is true with a cat. If Clarence were to be running lower than expected, and you did not know and blindly gave 1.5u of Vetsulin, you could cause hypoglycemia. So, if hypo is your fear, there is nothing better you can do to avoid it than test! In addition to testing before feeding and giving insulin, tests taken during the cycle (between shots) are what let you see the impact the insulin dose had. Again, this allows you to prevent hypo by catching it if he is going too low so you can intervene. Also, if you see that a dose is taking him too low, you know to adjust the dose down and vice versa.

There is so much helpful info on this site, and you can always post any questions you have and get input from people who live and breathe this. Welcome!

 

[Dee Dee C]

Thank you, Mia. I have been really overwhelmed by all of this and keep thinking of more and more questions with each day. I am not home testing. Actually, my vet didn't recommend it (trying to save me $, I think), but the vet tech did, so I ordered a kit and should be here tomorrow. I suppose Clarence will probably start trying to run everytime he sees me coming once I start doing that in addition to his injections! I am trying to keep the carbs relatively balanced, but that doesn't seem easy for me. I'm feeding him the following, all of which are low carbs, but some lower than others:

Fish and Shrimp (flaked)
Savory Salmon (pate)
Turkey & Giblets (pate)
Liver & Chicken (pate)
Beef & Chicken (pate)

According to a low carb canned food list, the carb content for these is (respectively):

0
1
3
4
5

The pdf I downloaded didn't say whether those numbers are % or actual carbs. My vet had suggested feeding him a DM food, but I see a lot of people feeding FF and it seems to be maybe better than the DM food out there.

Thanks for you help!

 

[Idjit's mom]

Hi DeeDee and Clarence. Welcome to FDMB! I second FurBabiesMama on congratulating you on changing the diet and agree with the suggestion to test to help prevent any hypo situations.
The canned food you are feeding him is fine, and the numbers are the %, all under 10% which is great!

Testing is a process of patience and practice, some of us are more successful than others starting out. However, there are members here whose kitties run to the testing station when they hear the strip bottle rattling, because they know it's treat time. It does not have to be a struggle or traumatic for either of you.
Start Clarence getting used to the idea. Look around and find a place to test that is comfortable for both of you, with good lighting. Take him there, stroke, rub and fondle his ears, it seems many cats object to ear handling much more than that actual pricking of the ears. There are fewer nerve receptors in the cat ears than on human fingers, and if you have ever used one of those lancets on yourself, you know it's not that terrible.
Then give him a low carb treat, a little chunk of cooked plain chicken breast, a little water packed tuna if he likes it, or a small dollop of canned wet food. Many members use PureBites freeze dried chicken. Make it a good experience.

Review videos on how to test: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
lots more on YouTube.
And post for suggestions and help as you go along. We all had to learn to do this, and the skill and ability worked differently for each one. Don't give up though, it's essential to keep Clarence safe, especially since changing the diet can significantly lower the blood sugar levels.
Just FYI, in case and I hope you never need it:

• How to treat HYPOS - THEY CAN KILL! Print this Out!!
• jojo and bunny's HYPO TOOL BOX

Going forward it would be helpful if you created your signature and set up the spreadsheet.
Setting up your signature (light grey text under a post). Here's how:
click on your name in the upper right corner of this page
click on "signature" in the menu that drops down
type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using and dosage amount /glucose meter you're using/what he eats/any other meds or health issues he has. You can add your name, and a geographic location (sometimes the time zone matters) Be sure to SAVE when you are finished.
Another thing that will help us help you when you get started BG testing at home is to set up a spreadsheet like the one we use here. You will see how the trends and patterns emerge, and members can review his progress before offering suggestions or advice:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/

There is a lot to learn at the beginning of this sugar dance DeeDee, but we are here to help you, as others helped us when we arrived. It's doable, and you have the support of the entire community. Step by step, you are going to get Clarence to better health and well being, and relieve the confusion and fears that come with that diabetes diagnosis.