Only Feed Twice a Day? Or Many Small Meals?

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KizzysMom

KizzysMom

Member Since 2015
Quick question...

My sugar cat, Kizzy, was dx early August of this year. Vet wants her to only eat twice a day. However, Kizzy acts starving in-between those meal times and I'll catch her snacking on my civie cat's low-carb dry food (working on getting all dry out of the house, but at a 'happy medium' at the moment where both cats don't hate me...lol)

I know ECID, but do you feel it's best to only allow food at two feeding times a day? Or more smaller meals?

I feel the type of insulin comes into play with this question - Kizzy is on Lantus (which is longer acting so *should* be only 2 meals a day?)

And is it ok/healthy for civie cats to only eat twice a day also with no access to food in-between meals?

Thank you!
 
FD starves a cat, so let Kizzy eat as much low carb (6-7 % carbs) wet food as she wants. My sugar kitty weights 15# and eats 3- 3oz cans of Sheba Turkey Pate a day, as a result she always has food available and she paces herself quit nicely. I do not feed any dry food at all. I practice Tight Regulation so shots are not tied to food.
 
Feeding multiple small meals is actually easier on their pancreas than feeding 2 huge ones

The only time you want to make sure they don't eat is for the 2 hours before Pre-shot times so the numbers aren't influenced by food

A lot of us will try to get all their food in before nadir too so that once the insulin is starting to wear off anyway (later in the cycle) you're not adding carbs too, but some cats do fine eating all the way up to +10

That's where good record keeping will give you answers!!
 
Multiple smaller meals makes more sense (and I am sure Miss Kizzy will be VERY happy with that idea...lol!)

The trick is finding Kizzy's nadir. Yesterday, her lowest numbers started at +10 and PMPS was even lower (except for one weird +2 number). I'm running more random spot tests today and will continue to do so until I find Kizzy's sweet spot.

I really appreciate y'all - thank you!
 
Well a good place to start is to try to get most of the food in before +6....then as you get more data, you can adjust as needed
 
I'd like to invite you over to the Lantus/Levemir Forum too

You'll get the most experienced eyes there since everybody there has or is using either Lantus or Levemir

Each day we start a new post (we call them "condo's") with the date, cats name and the AMPS number in the subject line....and as the day goes on and you get more tests in, you just "edit" the subject line and add the new results so the people scanning the forum for problems can keep track of you

In the body of the post you'd put the link to the prior post and then give the "WCR" (Whole Cat Report)...how Kizzy is doing otherwise...are the 5 P's present? (peeing, pooping, preening, purring and playing) How's her appetite? Any questions you have? Just a general "how's Kizzy doing" update

At some point, you'll need to decide on either using the Tight Regulation Protocol or the Start Low, Go Slow method too. TR gives the best chance at remission, but they can ONLY be eating low carb canned or raw food and generally you'll need to be able to test a little more often because we let them go into lower numbers so we want them to stay safe. We've had cats that used SLGS go into remission too though ....TR just has a better track record and has a protocol that's been published in a veterinary journal.

Would also be great if you'd add your name to your signature!! Don't want to just keep calling you "Kizzy's mom" ;)
 
My bad! My name is Jennifer...nice to meet everyone! (add to my sig line as well.)

I'm planning on visiting the Lantus/Levemir forum very soon. I just thought I should collect a bit more data for folks to look at - I sure don't want to waste anyone's time.

Plus, I have to be out of town for a couple days this weekend, so no telling what will happen here with her FD issues, but she will be fed properly. Funny how you ask, "Can I show you how to shoot my cat?" that people get really weird...what's with that? :rolleyes:

I figured I'll wait to join that Lantus forum when I get back... plus, I'm going to get dry food out of the picture. Still trying to talk my civie into it tho - she's really not a fan of the idea. Go figure.

For now, I am planning on the SLGS protocol until all dry food is out and I am here to be on top of things. I've been reading a lot of threads in there (the 'condos' as you call them) and it's super helpful. I look forward to being able to provide good data to get Kizzy some help, too.

Y'all are truly wonderful!

Jennifer
 
What brand of low carb dry food do you use? I always like to keep a little in the house just in case. I have been using the Purina DM dry but its getting too costly!
 
We really don't suggest using dry food at all....what destroys most of our sugarcat's quality of life ends up being kidney disease, so we want to get as much water into them as possible to keep those kidneys healthy!!

Having dry in the picture also means you can't do Tight Regulation, which gives your cat the best chance at remission. Low carb canned or raw is required for TR

There's lots of great info on why you should TRY to keep getting your civvie onto wet food at Dr. Lisa's site on Feeding Your Cat (as well as lots of tips on Transitioning the hard core kibble addict!!)

All that being said, the only low carb dry foods that are available are Young Again Zero Carb (but it's no cheaper than DM and only available online...and it's actually about 5% carbs, not zero like the name) and Evo Cat and Kitten (which also isn't cheap)
 
Yes i understand about the no dry food. I have been dealing with a diabetic cat for over a year now. He does not need insulin anymore...just sticking to low carb canned but he has always gotten like a 1/4 scoop dry before i go to bed. Thanks
 
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