Newly Diagnosed. Need diet advice

[Kdog253]

Hi Folks,

My cat has been recently diagnosed as diabetic and my vet has Instructed me to give 1 insulin shot every 12 hours after he has eaten.

What I would be great full for if someone can help me, is feeding frequencies and volumes. From my understanding my vet wants me to feed him every 12 hours and afterward a shot of insulin.

Is this good to make my cat wait 12 hours between meals? How much food should I give him at a time?

I have no idea what I'm doing so any help anyone can off would be appreciated.

Thanks you.

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

Hi and welcome!
I do not give dosing advice but I will bump this for someone more experienced to help you…
things that will help to know are~~~
what kind of insulin are you on?
what does your cat weigh ?
how old is your cat?
any other health issues?
Are you home testing?
bumpily bump….

 

[Critter Mom]

Hi Kdog, and welcome to you and your kitty.

As Jayla has advised above we need to know the type of insulin your kitty is receiving because it has a bearing on when and how to feed. Also have you changed foods. Can you also let us know whether you are home testing your kitty's blood glucose levels yet. We;ll do our best to help you.


Mogs
.

 

[Kdog253]

Hi All,

Thank you very much for your reply. I certainly appreciate it.

Baby's weight is currently 10lbs. He is usually a thick cat and I believe his previous time weighted he was around 15 pounds. He has lost weight fairly drastically over the past year.

He is 9 years old. The vet prescribed a 1 unit dose of INSULIN GLARGINE (Lantus brand) every 12 hours after meals.

12 hours just seems like a big gap to me. Is he able to have anything to eat in between? Also, how big should his portions be?

Thanks very much for your help.

 

[Kdog253]

Sorry guys, no I haven't done any home testing as of yet. I have not even been treating Baby for a full week yet.

Bet instructed me for follow up testing in a months time

Thanks

 

[Ferndoc]

Ok with lantus he does not need to eat only 2x a day. Most of us feed multiple times a day or allow for free feeding with the insulin.

I can tell you what I do. I have 3 cats (this makes a difference). I feed 4 5.5 ounce cans of low carb wet food a day with some Young Again dry food available in a more hard to reach spot for if they really want dry food. I feed 1 can at shot time and 1 can 2-4 hours later. (either before I leave for work or before I go to bed.) Both cans are left out for the rest of the 12 hours. If I can I keep my sugar cat from eating 2 hours before his next reading and shot. Others here use a timed bowl or even freeze food that they can leave out for later feedings.

 

[Ferndoc]

Also I would recommend home testing. I use an Onsync meter from Meijers, others use relions from Walmart. We test prior to every shot and in between to see how our cats react to their insulin and to make sure they are not going into Hypoglycemia. It is actually pretty easy and just like giving shots much harder on the cat guardians nerves than on the cat itself.

 

[Critter Mom]

We can help you learn to home test if you wish. It is the best thing to help keep a kitty safe on insulin.


Mogs
.

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

Hi All,

Thank you very much for your reply. I certainly appreciate it.

Baby's weight is currently 10lbs. He is usually a thick cat and I believe his previous time weighted he was around 15 pounds. He has lost weight fairly drastically over the past year.

He is 9 years old. The vet prescribed a 1 unit dose of INSULIN GLARGINE (Lantus brand) every 12 hours after meals.

12 hours just seems like a big gap to me. Is he able to have anything to eat in between? Also, how big should his portions be?

Thanks very much for your help.

With Lantus, it's actually best to feed smaller, more frequent meals, as it helps level out their blood sugar levels. 4x a day is a good amount to feed. Bandit eats every 6 hours, and I have an auto feeder that I set to release a frozen chunk of canned food when I'm at work or in bed.

With Lantus, you want to home test at least three times a day--once before each shot to makes sure it's safe to give insulin, and once in the middle of a cycle (about 6 hours after one of the shots) to determine his nadir (the lowest number of the cycle). Dosing with Lantus us based off the nadir.

If 10lbs is a good weight for him, how much you should feed him at each meal depends on the food you're feeding. Bandit is at his ideal weight of 11 lbs, and he eats the equivalent of 1 5.5 oz can of Wellness (1/4 can at each meal), or 1 to 1 and 1/3 cans of Weruva depending on the flavor. When he ate the smaller Fancy Feast/Sheba pates, he got 2 3oz cans a day (1/2 can for each meal). If Baby needs to gain weight, you'll want to feed him more until he's back to where he should be.

Food choice is important because diabetic cats need a low carb, canned diet. Dry food, even the lower carb ones, can present problems with regulation, so I wouldn't recommend one of those foods unless your cat absolutely refuses to eat canned food.