Question about feeding times

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fenderrae

fenderrae

Member Since 2021
Hello,
My cat was just diagnosed recently and I used to always just feed her a few times in the afternoon in smaller portions at a time. Usually a mix of dry food and wet food since she doesn't really like wet food, the only kind I can usually get her to eat is Royal Canin wet foods. I got the glycobalance royal canin wet food and dry food to have on hand (I know these aren't the best options but I can't get her to eat most wet foods so I'm trying to take small steps). I'm trying to give her more wet food than dry since she got diagnosed but she's more of a grazer when it comes to wet food so I have a few questions because I'm starting her insulin tomorrow and am so nervous:

Trying to switch her to two meal times a day for her insulin but since she will only eat 1/2 of a 3oz can of wet food at a time, will i need to supplement with dry food in the morning and how much should I give her? She is 12 pounds and the vet said she's a little overweight. Does she have to eat her meal all within a certain period of time? For example if I feed her in the morning and it takes her 1.5 hours or so to finish is it safe to give insulin after or does she need to eat it all within a certain window? I was thinking of putting out her food at 6 and then administering insulin by 7:30 and then doing the same thing in the evening but not sure that's okay.

Since I'm not used to feeding her two big meals it seems like sooo much food at once when I try to measure it out. So overwhelmed with all these changes and don't want to stress her out too much. Any help is appreciated :)
 
fenderrae said:
Hello,
My cat was just diagnosed recently and I used to always just feed her a few times in the afternoon in smaller portions at a time. Usually a mix of dry food and wet food since she doesn't really like wet food, the only kind I can usually get her to eat is Royal Canin wet foods. I got the glycobalance royal canin wet food and dry food to have on hand (I know these aren't the best options but I can't get her to eat most wet foods so I'm trying to take small steps). I'm trying to give her more wet food than dry since she got diagnosed but she's more of a grazer when it comes to wet food so I have a few questions because I'm starting her insulin tomorrow and am so nervous:

Trying to switch her to two meal times a day for her insulin but since she will only eat 1/2 of a 3oz can of wet food at a time, will i need to supplement with dry food in the morning and how much should I give her? She is 12 pounds and the vet said she's a little overweight. Does she have to eat her meal all within a certain period of time? For example if I feed her in the morning and it takes her 1.5 hours or so to finish is it safe to give insulin after or does she need to eat it all within a certain window? I was thinking of putting out her food at 6 and then administering insulin by 7:30 and then doing the same thing in the evening but not sure that's okay.

Since I'm not used to feeding her two big meals it seems like sooo much food at once when I try to measure it out. So overwhelmed with all these changes and don't want to stress her out too much. Any help is appreciated :)
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Most members here feed their cats 4x a day or more!! So there's not need to switch to only two meals a day. Also, you need to not feed 2 hours before you administer insulin so the BG is not impacted by the food. More members will come comment soon but I wanted to respond. :) Good luck!
 
April & Quincy said:
Most members here feed their cats 4x a day or more!! So there's not need to switch to only two meals a day. Also, you need to not feed 2 hours before you administer insulin so the BG is not impacted by the food. More members will come comment soon but I wanted to respond. :) Good luck!
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That's good to know, the vet made it seem like she had to have 1/2 of her daily food in her system prior to getting the shot and I was panicking a little! Since I've been trying to spread out her food more she's been eating half a can of wet food in the morning and then goes to sleep for a few hours and I wasn't sure if she needs a certain amount in her system.
 
Ok so if Ducky if 12 pounds, is 240 to 260 a good number of calories to estimate per day total?

Her current wet food is 55 kcal ME/can, and her current dry food is 320 kcal/cup.

Probably overthinking this!! Sigh. She did just eat a whole 3 oz can for her dinner without any dry food so it seems like she is growing to like the wet food. I just want to know if there's a good way to measure the dry food just in case she has those days she refuses to eat all her wet food? :confused:
 
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fenderrae said:
Ok so if Ducky if 12 pounds, is 240 to 260 a good number of calories to estimate per day total?

Her current wet food is 55 kcal ME/can, and her current dry food is 320 kcal/cup.

Probably overthinking this!! Sigh. She did just eat a whole 3 oz can for her dinner without any dry food so it seems like she is growing to like the wet food. I just want to know if there's a good way to measure the dry food just in case she has those days she refuses to eat all her wet food? :confused:
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I'm surprised no one else has come on here to answer your questions yet! They must be busy, plus the Thanksgiving week. I SUCK at calculating calories. I did have the formula at one time but I'm no longer sure what it is. I don't feed my cat ANY dry food at all so I can't help you with that, but again, I hope other members come on and answer these things. I would definitely be feeding more than twice a day though. I give my cat 3 3oz cans of wet food a day for reference.
 
As April said, with Lantus it's fine to feed several small meals. Just try to feed most of those meals in the first half of the cycle after the shot and when you are new, try not to feed for two hours before the shot. Some people here have grazers, that's fine too, just pick up the food a couple hours before next shot time. With older in and out style insulins, it was important to get a good feed before the shot. With Lantus, onset (when insulin starts working), is typically 2-3 hours after the shot. So if you test her, put down food, then shoot all within 20 minutes or so, that should work.
fenderrae said:
Ok so if Ducky if 12 pounds, is 240 to 260 a good number of calories to estimate per day total?
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It depends a bit on the cat and their metabolism. Neko at 14.5 lbs ish (not allowed to go over 15!), got a little over 200 calories per day. I used my scale once a week to see if she was going in the right direction weight wise. Your vet may have some thoughts on Ducky's ideal weight for you.

For measuring dry food, should it remain in the picture, you can buy small measuring cups for dry goods. Sometimes pet food stores will give away small cups too, about 1/2 cup size.
 
I had the same issues with the amounts of food, ended up going with whatever they can eat in 1/2hr then removing it to start.

Just for reference, getting my cats to their recommended weight of 10lbs they get 1.8 oz of wet food twice a day.

I don't think the recommended feeding amounts or calories listed on the cans are accurate. The DM wet food I have says they should be eating 1 3/4 cans a day which is impossible for my cats to eat. I weigh them weekly to see how much they actually need.

Both my cats are pretty active and they get only wet food.
 
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Thanks everyone for the advice. So would it be okay to administer the Lantus while she first starts her meal? I was hoping to do that so she would be a bit distracted when I give the shot. In the morning so far she eats a bit and then tends to sleep for a few hours, would this cause hypoglycaemia if she didn't eat more throughout the morning? Like would half of a three oz can be enough for the first few hours or do I need to make sure she eats more? Sorry for all the questions, just so nervous about doing something wrong.
 
Lot of people give the shot once the head is in the bowl, for exactly the reason you state. Keeps them busy!
fenderrae said:
Like would half of a three oz can be enough for the first few hours
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Depends on the carbs of the food. Neko in total per day got about 4 oz of raw or 5.5 oz of canned food. If you think your kitty will eat again after 3 hours, what you state is probably enough.
 
Thanks everyone. I have been mostly feeding her wet food when she used to mostly eat dry - is it safe to transition to only wet food so quickly or can this make her sick? Should I be including some dry food for a little bit or is going cold turkey on the dry food okay? :nailbiting: So worried I made the switch too quickly and she's going to get sick :(
 
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Some cats get GI upset from a fast food change, some don't. So you could try going a little slowly. Also, make sure you are hometesting regularly if kitty is getting insulin. Dose requirements can drop quickly with a food change. A gradual change will be easier for that reason too.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Some cats get GI upset from a fast food change, some don't. So you could try going a little slowly. Also, make sure you are hometesting regularly if kitty is getting insulin. Dose requirements can drop quickly with a food change. A gradual change will be easier for that reason too.
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Thank you, I probably did switch a little too quickly but so far she seems okay, i'm just giving a little of her dry food on the side and will watch out for GI issues. I've been having trouble with the home testing as it has been very stressful for both me and kitty but will keep practicing, in the meantime I emailed my vet letting them know of the diet changes and if it would be okay to see how that affects her BG before starting the insulin. They wanted me to just start at 1 unit twice a day and didn't recommend home testing, but I'm just too nervous to give her insulin with all the changes going on and not able to know what her blood sugar is.
 
I would definitely try wet food only once you get the home testing down. She may not even need insulin with a diet change, no need to start it if she doesn't need it. With her 2 #s I saw on her spreadsheet going to only wet food could possibly put her in the normal BG range. This group has helped me & my boy so much. Good luck to you & Ducky :cat:
 
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