Question about portion size re: low numbers

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

I have to ask because really I'm clueless.

During a "low-numbers" test feed, "lather, rinse, repeat" event, the usual advice is "feed 2 tsps of LC food" and test again in 30 minutes. I've typed it lots of times.

But how much food is that???

When you say "teaspoon", is that a level teaspoon, a rounded teaspoon, or a heaping teaspoon. Because if I grab a teaspoon out of the drawer, and I stick it in a 3oz. can of Fancy Feast and put it on Bob's plate, well, it's half the can. That's 1.5oz of LC goodness.

But as I just fed him his midnight snack, I thought "no way is that a "tsp of LC", right? I mean, I'd be giving him a whole can of FF every 30 minutes, and even though Bob is a little piggy who can hoover a can of Fancy Feast in five minutes or less, there's no way he's going to do it every half hour for three or four hours.

So, are you talking about a level teaspoon of food? Approximately how many ounces of food would "2 tsps LC" be?

 

[Amy & Papaya (GA)]

This is going to get fraction-y . . .

One actual, measuring tablespoon (15 mL) is 1/8 of a can of Friskies. I usually just carve it up like a pie so I know how much I'm feeding, but I did test it out and a 1/8 portion of the can is exactly one tablespoon. Fancy Feast is very close to half the size of a can of Friskies, so 1 measuring tablespoon of Fancy Feast would be approximately 1/4 of a can.

One actual, measuring teaspoon (5 mL) would be 1/3 of the above amounts. So a can of Fancy Feast would be about 12 teaspoons-full. If you divided it into 6 portions they would each be 2 teaspoons.

But I don't know if the guidelines were talking about measuring spoon preciseness, or just . . . a glob of food.

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

But I don't know if the guidelines were talking about measuring spoon preciseness, or just . . . a glob of food.

Exactly why I asked the question, Amy. I never had to do the late-night hypo watch feed every 30 routine with Bob. So I never had to worry about measuring out portions, or worrying about his tummy getting filled up while his numbers were dropping or at least not rising.

But I routinely tell people to feed 1 or 2 tsp of food, but I really don't know what I'm telling them in terms of "how much food" it is. And like I said, a teaspoon of food, to me and Bob, is a big glob of food. I'm thinking much more than the size of the portions people are feeding during one of the PJ party feed fests.

I'm just trying to see if there's a "standard", or if my tsp, your tsp, and Marje's tsp are about the same amount (not only to us, but to the folks who are doling out the snacks every 30 minutes)

 

[Jamie & Jupiter]

I always used an actual tsp measuring spoon... so 5ml... i always gave a little tiny bit extra so probably about 7ml i would give for 1 tsp. So a lot less then the big glob you are talking about :lol:

 

[Marje and Gracie]

I don't think there is a specific precision....your two will be different than mine.

And basically, this is just a starter recommendation. Once the CG learns to control the curve, they can experiment and see what it takes. If Gracie is coming down fast, I feed her a little higher LC.

I also might vary the amount depending on how fast she is dropping vs how low (but flat) she might be.

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

I think we say one or two teaspoons in order to demonstrate just feed a small amount of food - like a bite or two. Reason being we don't want kitty to eat 1/2 or whole can of food and get full before the episode is over.

When I did this, I used the smaller of my two spoons and just scooped a flat amount of food or gravy.

I believe when telling this to someone, you want to emphasize no more than one or two cat bites of food (not people bites) :lol: and you can also adjust your saying to one level teaspoon and yes please use a true measuring spoon not your eating spoons. that may help and give someone a bit more perspective.

Hope that helps or at least further confuses the situation! ;-)

 

[Dyana]

I've always wondered the same thing, Bob.
When J.D. is low I take out a regular spoon from the drawer and feed him about 1/8 can of FF or so.
When I am instructing someone else to feed 1 to 2 teaspoons, I am imagining them giving flat measuring teaspoons, because I don't want their cat to get too full. I guess I'll start saying measuring teaspoons, too.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

And I'll complicate things further. I don't feed a HC canned food since the majority of the gravy-based foods contain gluten. Gluten and Gabby are not a good combo. So, she gets LC with a Karo or honey topper. I give her between 1/16 - 1/8 of a can of Wellness with a few drops of syrup. For me, Hillary's post captures the intent of the instructions.