Oonagh's Mom
Member Since 2014
I started posting about Oonagh back in January. We still haven't started insulin and I won't even go there, but she has an amazing amount of energy now--like she used to a few years ago. She fetches her mouse, she leaps, she bounds....in short, if there was a feline Olympic volleyball team, she'd be on it--until, that is, an actual competition came along--then being cats, the entire team would naturally suddenly decide they had no interest in playing at all. :lol:
I've been giving her Friskie's pate half a can twice a day. I have no idea if this is too much. But the can alots an ounce of food per pound of cat, and the cans are only 5.5 oz and she was 7 lbs at vets back in January. So now I also give her another half can or so dividing it up into two quarters.
Her urine output is much better. She's not drinking near as much water, but i've read that giving them wet food can substitute for this.... still, she's doing pretty well. Weight has not gone up much. I could tell a small difference at first, but that has stopped, but it may be because she is no longer sedentary.
I admit, I watch her daily to see if anything changes towards the negative. At that time, I will probably have to change my game plan. But as long as her quality of life is good, and she is happy, I don't want to change things. Here is an interesting note: Before she was diagnosed, the other cat, Mabb, started to attack her. It didn't matter where Oonagh was--on the bed, in a chair, etc. If Mabb happened upon her, she would attack. Since we switched her to only meat based food, this has basically stopped. I realize now that most likely, Oonagh's scent had changed--something I hadn't noticed, but that Mabb probably did.))
It's hard to really know if her appetite is bigger due to the diabetes, or because she and Mabb were both used to free feeding. She devours her food like a tiger where Mabb (my Diva) licks hers, but by the end of meal time, all food has been consumed. Sometimes, Oonagh does eat all of Mabb's, other times, Mabb eats all of Mabb's.
But with my little "Olympian" back "in training" it's hard to know if it's diabetes or exercise. She doesn't howl or meow loudly for food, but might give me these little pathetic mews and lead me into the kitchen. Hard to know....hard to know....but I am grateful to all of you who have been there before me and have put me on the right track about the cat food. I had thought about maybe buying a bag of dried "Blue Buffalo" so they could free feed--until I saw the price....nope, not gonna happen....not unless I win the lottery! :lol:
Anyway, I'll let everyone know how she's doing from time to time. It's really a watching game right now, but as long as she is happy, then I am happy....
I've been giving her Friskie's pate half a can twice a day. I have no idea if this is too much. But the can alots an ounce of food per pound of cat, and the cans are only 5.5 oz and she was 7 lbs at vets back in January. So now I also give her another half can or so dividing it up into two quarters.
Her urine output is much better. She's not drinking near as much water, but i've read that giving them wet food can substitute for this.... still, she's doing pretty well. Weight has not gone up much. I could tell a small difference at first, but that has stopped, but it may be because she is no longer sedentary.
I admit, I watch her daily to see if anything changes towards the negative. At that time, I will probably have to change my game plan. But as long as her quality of life is good, and she is happy, I don't want to change things. Here is an interesting note: Before she was diagnosed, the other cat, Mabb, started to attack her. It didn't matter where Oonagh was--on the bed, in a chair, etc. If Mabb happened upon her, she would attack. Since we switched her to only meat based food, this has basically stopped. I realize now that most likely, Oonagh's scent had changed--something I hadn't noticed, but that Mabb probably did.))
It's hard to really know if her appetite is bigger due to the diabetes, or because she and Mabb were both used to free feeding. She devours her food like a tiger where Mabb (my Diva) licks hers, but by the end of meal time, all food has been consumed. Sometimes, Oonagh does eat all of Mabb's, other times, Mabb eats all of Mabb's.
But with my little "Olympian" back "in training" it's hard to know if it's diabetes or exercise. She doesn't howl or meow loudly for food, but might give me these little pathetic mews and lead me into the kitchen. Hard to know....hard to know....but I am grateful to all of you who have been there before me and have put me on the right track about the cat food. I had thought about maybe buying a bag of dried "Blue Buffalo" so they could free feed--until I saw the price....nope, not gonna happen....not unless I win the lottery! :lol:
Anyway, I'll let everyone know how she's doing from time to time. It's really a watching game right now, but as long as she is happy, then I am happy....
