OT - question re Honey/Syrup vs HC food

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Pip & Rupert

Pip & Rupert

Member Since 2012
so, just trying to figure out the 'Amazing Bouncing Rupert', and wondering about the different effects of honey/karo vs HC food.

does the honey act faster and clear quicker than HC or even MC? Wondering if when he does one of his massive swoops and dives if giving him a bit of honey/syrup would be better than feeding him HC/MC that maybe stays in the system longer and maybe contributes to the usual rocket back up to high numbers later on? Does the honey/syrup break down quicker and dissipate, or is it the same? Just wondering what other's experiences have been.
 
Honey is somewhere in the 85% carb range. I don't think you can find a HC canned food that high (I do have a can of Feline EN and that's 30% carbs).

Honey gives an immediate, short term boost whereas canned food is metabolized longer thus the reason why you don't want to feed in that 2 hour window before taking an AM/PMPS.
 
I guess I should rephrase. I know that honey is waaaaaaay high in carbs, what I'm wondering is does it clear the body quicker (simple sugars, vs complex etc.etc.) than the carbs you'd find in prepared foods??
 
Yes. I'm wondering the same too. Is it better to feed a wee bit of honey or maple syrup added to the usual LC to raise the bg than to feed a tsp of HC gravy food. From the info to treat hypo, it's said that karo, syrup, honey wears off faster than food that's why we have to give food in hypo. :?:
 
ahhh. good to know. I"m thinking perhaps next time Rupie takes a swan dive, perhaps I'll LC with a bit of honey vs giving him the MC/higher carb food, maybe that will prevent the bounce? who knows. Grasping at ideas here.
 
Pip & Rupert said:
ahhh. good to know. I"m thinking perhaps next time Rupie takes a swan dive, perhaps I'll LC with a bit of honey vs giving him the MC/higher carb food, maybe that will prevent the bounce? who knows. Grasping at ideas here.
Click to expand...

What I am hearing you say is that you think the MC/HC is exacerbating Ruperts bounces, correct?
If Rupert is that sensitive to MC/HC, then maybe all he needs is LC for some of those lower numbers.
I don't know why, and I don't want to be a debbie downer or dismiss a potential idea that would help...it just does not sit right with me. I think the key is to try and prevent the enormous drops....somehow. I think you have more control on that end than you do with how high a cat will bounce. Does that make sense? The bounce is still going to be there, just as high once the food (or Karo) wears off. I think you may also end up with a lot more bobbling around in numbers during the cycle.

I used karo on a daily basis mixed in LC food. I ONLY did this because my cat could not have any of the mc/hc food due to other health conditions. It was our way of making the food she could eat bring her up or surf. For quite a while I also used it in the attempt to prevent large drops...the same way the average cat would be fed mc/hc to 'feed the curve'. I still think it worked quite well for us. But it was tricky! i would have much preferred using normal foods.

Sorry if none of this makes sense. My brain is a tad fried tonight.
 
That's what we've been trying lately w/ Tess. I can't find a low phosphorus 8% to 10% carb food she will eat. So to see her through the low low drops we give a drop of honey. That will usually even her out and/or bring her up a little. From past experience w/ Tess the drop of honey or syrup last about 2 hours when we are using it to bring her up from a low. W/ MC her BG would just keep on climbing. I like the quick effect and the short duration of honey/syrup as opposed to MC which tends to bring her up further than needed for safety. I've tried just using LC food too, for Tess it won't stop a fast drop, but if things have slowed down we divide her mini-meals up even more and give them hourly w/ each test when she is low. How you handle a low or immanent drop depends on where you are in the cycle as well as just what you are trying to accomplish.

The last few days we have also been adding a drop of honey if we see any sign of an early drop, because that usually means she is ready to bungee jump. The first time she did bounce, the second we didn't catch her in time and last night it seems to have worked pretty well, but the jury is still out. Last night could have been a fluke. :roll: If you are going to try using it to put early brakes on a drop you really have to know your cat's cycles.

BTW we just use honey because it is easy to control the number of drops. I get those I get those honey tubes that are supposed to be a snack. Just clip a corner and you can get nice even drops out. Keep it closed w/ a paperclip.
 
Check out Gabbys SS? Sienne uses honey to control drops. However, she has to use the honey because the gravy makes Gabby sick.

BeforenI jumped into using HC or syrup/honey, I'd try a higher LC or a lower MC to try and slow the drop and see if those will work. I often wonder if HC in any form can increase the bounce. No data or anything else to support that...it's just something I wonder. I have noticed with Gracie that the less of it I use, the less she bounces but that does not mean there is a correlation there...it could be coincidence.
 
Marje is correct -- I've used both Karo syrup and honey to steer Gabby's numbers. Karo has a higher glycemic index than honey and at least for Gabby, kicks in more quickly than honey. Gabby is sensitive to the gluten in gravy-based food. Rather than upset her stomach and have to deal with diarrhea, I opt to use Karo or honey.

I think Carolyn's point is well taken. If you are thinking about how carbs may be contributing to a bounce, it may be worth experimenting with using a LC to MC option to see if that has the effect you want.
 
Mikey likes to high dive sometimes, too. Personally, I like to use the least amount of carbs possible to slow the dive, so Honey/Karo is a last resort (and thankfully one we don't have to resort to often-anti-jinx!). If a helping of LC doesn't slow him down, I try adding enough HC to make it a MC, then go straight to the HC if he's still dropping. I do find if I give too many carbs that at some point he shoots up like he was shot out of a cannon-luckily, that usually clears in the next cycle, but if I can stop the dive early with fewer carbs it does seem to help the next cycle start out better.
 
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