Old cats, new tricks

[cowgyrl1975]

I started Garnet on Lantus this morning all by myself with my husband as moral support. Now I need to get both of my girls on a consistant feeding schedule. Before the diabetes diagnosis, they were eating at 430am and 530pm. Give or take an hour or two. In the past two weeks, pre-insulin, they were eating whenever Garnet was hungry. This was all the time and I was getting up or not sleeping at least half the night. Now that the insulin is in place, I am hoping to get some sleep again. Last night was a struggle. I was up with them at 1am and finally fed at 6am. Anyone have any pointers or tips on how I can get them to get on a schedule? I do use a water bottle when I have to, most times just shaking it will scare them off for a few minutes. I hate to lock them up, and it generally does not help!

HELP! I need some sleep!!!!!

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

How about automatic feeders? We love our PetSmart 5. It has 5 sections and you can set it for any times that you want. You could set it for 5 separate times overnight, feeding a little bit each time?

 

[Rob & Harley (GA)]

Actually I free feed my guys. Unless your girls are hoovers and eat until they puke (scarf & barf) it should be ok to leave food out for them to eat whenever they need too.

What are you feeding? Kibble or Low Carb Wet?

Until regulated, your diabetic can't process her food correctly and is literaly starving.

 

[cowgyrl1975]

thanks for the advice. free feeding got me in this dilemma in the first place. I might look into the feeder. Garnets insulin is still brand new, so i am a little concerned about not feeding her myself. as far as my other cat, she is a grazer and eats on the counter. Gross i know but it keeps garnet from eating all her food, and she prefers it. but she is a puker....
thanks again,
jen, garnet and soma

 

[Gail & Houdini (GA)]

I feed 4 times a day.....this satisfies the "grazers" and I can control what and how much Houdini eats. If I left food out all the time he would eat until he exploded!

Everyone sleeps through the night after the 10pm feeding....at least until they hear the automatic coffee pot start at 4:30 and then I get pestered until I fix their breakfast

 

[Anonymous]

well things will get better, a big late nite snack before you go to bed. like right before. and learn to ignore them :lol:
in the beginning tom was a free feeder of the crack. then the dire beasties came along and he had to eat the wet food and let me tell ya, he ate the bowl full every time i put it down.
he was not accustomed to not eatting middle of the night and would paw at me to feed him some more. i faked snoring. he also got me up like clockwork for his breffis.
now he's calmed down about eatting. i give him 3 squares a day, a couple of snacks when i'm home and i figure he's a well fed kitty.
he never trys to wake me anymore.
i think it was the fake snoring that did it... :mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

5:30 for a last meal...like i said, another meal right the minute before you hit the bed. that ought to alleviate any guilt you have. also 2 meals a day is a little skimpy for a cat. especially a diabetic one, they need to eat more frequently.