Personality change?

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Beck and Philly

Beck and Philly

Member Since 2018
For the year we've had Grandpa, he has been the most gentle soul imaginable. He's never minded other cats and has been perfect with using the litter boxes.

During the past couple of weeks, that has changed. One of the cats here is very nervous when another cat gets too close, so I thought I'd give him a break and let him share my bedroom with Grandpa and me. The anxious cat gave a growl when Grandpa got too close and Grandpa charged at him. Ever since, Grandpa stalks that cat and as well as another male cat here. He will pace the house looking for these cats and terrorize them. It is very much out of character.

I've also caught him peeing on the bathroom floor, another new behavior . Has anyone else seen such personality changes?

Grandpa is fed 1 1/2 cans of Royal Canin diabetic can food plus 1/8 cup of Royal Canin diabetic dry food twice a day at 12-hour intervals. He gets 2 units of Vetsulin with each feeding. He was diagnosed just under a month ago. We started at 1 unit 2x a day for 2 weeks. The vet raised him to 2 units about 2 weeks ago. We've just started home testing. His 6 hour post feeding reading yesterday was 366.
 
When Idjit was diagnosed and I found this board, one of the first things I learned was that a low carb wet food diet was best for diabetics. There is a food chart at the top of this forum, and you can possibly find the stats on the Royal Canin food. It's quite possible that there are better alternatives to the "diabetic" food you are using. A lot of members use Fancy Feast classics and Friskies pates. I weaned Idj off all dry food, he was already getting 2 small servings of wet a day, and it enabled him to go off insulin very quickly. I don't know about the behavior issues, maybe he's not feeling very well with the diabetes, and is doing a bully, macho thing with the other cats? I'm glad you are home testing, it's so important to keep Grandpa safe.
 
Thanks. I'll order some Feliway. I've seen it, but not tried it. Grandpa has already started intimidating his two male victims this morning.

I gave Grandpa Friskies pate instead of the Royal Canin for breakfast this morning. I did not add his normal 1/8 cup of dry. He was super excited to have something different. I have some 13 oz cans here which have 458 calories. Grandpa has dropped from 12 lbs to 9.5 lbs. The vet and I want him to gain some back. Based on what I've read here, I'm thinking he would get 1/4 can a day. (Note: Realized my typo after a reply. This was supposed to be 1/4 can per meal. ) Does that sound right?
 
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There should be feeding instructions on the can. I believe it's about an ounce of wet food per kg of ideal body weight. Cat's are gonna eat what cats are gonna eat. Lol. If your mixing wet and dry, take that into consideration.

When Lucy was diagnosed she had a ravenous hunger and had lost a lot of weight. She'd eat anything I put down and lots of it. Fortunately there was some overlap between her large appetite and getting regulated and she gained some weight back fairly quickly. I'd recommend getting Grandpa on some healthy, low carb, high protein food, and giving him as much as he wants. Once he's regulated he should put on some weight and his appetite will go back to normal.
 
Beck and Grandpa said:
Thanks. I'll order some Feliway. I've seen it, but not tried it. Grandpa has already started intimidating his two male victims this morning.

I gave Grandpa Friskies pate instead of the Royal Canin for breakfast this morning. I did not add his normal 1/8 cup of dry. He was super excited to have something different. I have some 13 oz cans here which have 458 calories. Grandpa has dropped from 12 lbs to 9.5 lbs. The vet and I want him to gain some back. Based on what I've read here, I'm thinking he would get 1/4 can a day. Does that sound right?
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20 calories per pound. If his goal weight is 12 lbs then you would want to feed him at least 240 calories per day. So a little more than half a can. If his numbers are unregulated then you could give more than that. 3/4 can. 1/4 of the can is only a little over 3 Oz.... Definitly not enough. That's like one tiny fancy feast can a day.
 
JanetNJ said:
20 calories per pound. If his goal weight is 12 lbs then you would want to feed him at least 240 calories per day. So a little more than half a can. If his numbers are unregulated then you could give more than that. 3/4 can. 1/4 of the can is only a little over 3 Oz.... Definitly not enough. That's like one tiny fancy feast can a day.
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Yikes I didn't realize my typo until I read your reply. I had meant 1/4 can per meal, not per day. I originally was thinking of 1/2 can per day, which would be 229 calories. He was so hungry, though, for today I let him eat the whole can... half at 7 am and the other half at 7 PM. We tested him at 8:30 PM and he was st 321. We plan to do a curve this weekend.

Thanks for catching that.
 
Beck and Grandpa said:
Yikes I didn't realize my typo until I read your reply. I had meant 1/4 can per meal, not per day. I originally was thinking of 1/2 can per day, which would be 229 calories. He was so hungry, though, for today I let him eat the whole can... half at 7 am and the other half at 7 PM. We tested him at 8:30 PM and he was st 321. We plan to do a curve this weekend.

Thanks for catching that.
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Ah ok yes that's better.
 
Grandpa doesn’t want other cats in the bedroom with you! Maybe the plug ins will help! He’s a one person, only me cat. I had one similar to that for 17 yrs & she finally mellowed & realized the other cats are staying. Best wishes to you & kits!
 
Since you are changing his food to a low carb diet you should monitor his blood glucose because the chage of food may bring it down and you may have to change the dose you are giving please test always before shooting
 
Thanks for the reply. Grandpa came from a place with nearly 100 cats. He was fine with them. He's lived here with my large gang for over a year with zero issues. Now since he has been diabetic, he goes out of his way to threaten a couple the other cats. They are terrified. Yet last night there were four cats in my bedroom, and he was fine. Makes no sense.
 
Veronica & Babu-chiri said:
Since you are changing his food to a low carb diet you should monitor his blood glucose because the chage of food may bring it down and you may have to change the dose you are giving please test always before shooting
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Thanks. Yes, we are testing pre-shot. Today was 412 AMPS. He has been on the Royal Canin glycobalance for a month, which I think is already low carb. I've started giving him Friskies pate instead, but I'm thinking that won't be as drastic a change as when we went from regular dry food to Royal Canin wet food last month. We hope to do a curve this weekend.
 
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Beck and Grandpa said:
Thanks for the reply. Grandpa came from a place with nearly 100 cats. He was fine with them. He's lived here with my large gang for over a year with zero issues. Now since he has been diabetic, he goes out of his way to threaten a couple the other cats. They are terrified. Yet last night there were four cats in my bedroom, and he was fine. Makes no sense.
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Maybe it is like with humans...I know diabetes can cause some to become very grouchy...I have 2 diabetic friends who both have become downright mean since they were diagnosed. ????
 
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