Suggestions on how much to feed?

[Sarah and Blaze]

Im unsure of how much I should be feeding my kitties now that we are on an all canned wet food diet. I have a 12 pound diabetic kitty and two non-diabetic kitties and I’m struggling with how much to feed them with the cans. I do fancy feast classic paté and Friskies paté. Anyone have suggestions on how much they should be fed?

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

General starting place is 20 calories per pound and then weigh the cat once a week and adjust as needed.

The food chart lists the number of calories each can has in it or you can look on the label....it's usually listed somewhere (or on the company's website)

 

[Sarah and Blaze]

General starting place is 20 calories per pound and then weigh the cat once a week and adjust as needed.

The food chart lists the number of calories each can has in it or you can look on the label....it's usually listed somewhere (or on the company's website)

@Chris & China (GA) okay so 20 calories per pound, so if Blaze weighs 12 pounds, he need 240 calories a day?

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

he need 240 calories a day?

At least....until he's better controlled, that may not be enough calories for him since he's diabetic.

Each cell in the body requires glucose to live. Think of insulin like it's a "key" and on every cell of the body there's a "lock"...if you don't have the right number of keys, the cells starve to death because they stay locked.

That's why diabetic cats can be eating huge amounts of food and still be losing weight. No matter how much they eat, the glucose just stays in the bloodstream (thus the high BG numbers)

Now that doesn't necessarily mean you should let him eat as much as he wants, but he may need more than a "normal" cat until he's better regulated.

Here's a good post to read titled "Feed kitty as much as they want?"

 

[Sarah and Blaze]

At least....until he's better controlled, that may not be enough calories for him since he's diabetic.

Each cell in the body requires glucose to live. Think of insulin like it's a "key" and on every cell of the body there's a "lock"...if you don't have the right number of keys, the cells starve to death because they stay locked.

That's why diabetic cats can be eating huge amounts of food and still be losing weight. No matter how much they eat, the glucose just stays in the bloodstream (thus the high BG numbers)

Now that doesn't necessarily mean you should let him eat as much as he wants, but he may need more than a "normal" cat until he's better regulated.

Here's a good post to read titled "Feed kitty as much as they want?"

@Chris & China (GA)
Okay awesome, that makes sense. Thank you!
I just got a timed feeder that holds wet food so I can feed him his normal amount for breakfast but then leave small meals in the feeder to become available during the day when I’m at work, and then I will feed him his normal dinner later. Now that doesn’t mean my other kitties won’t nibble on the smaller meals from the timed feeder too of course, so I’m not sure how much he’s actually eating during the day when I’m not home.

 

[(GA) Gypsy's Parent]

If you decide you need "access control" to food. the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder is incredible. https://www.amazon.com/SureFlap-MPF...eeder/dp/B00O0UIPTY?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20 It's pricey, but there are very few choices for access control feeders and they others at half the price had terrible reviews. There is no timed feeding with this feeder; it's all about access to about a day or so worth of food.

 

[Sarah and Blaze]

If you decide you need "access control" to food. the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder is incredible. https://www.amazon.com/SureFlap-MPF...eeder/dp/B00O0UIPTY?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20 It's pricey, but there are very few choices for access control feeders and they others at half the price had terrible reviews. There is no timed feeding with this feeder; it's all about access to about a day or so worth of food.

Wow, I just watched the video for this feeder and that is so cool! Might be something to look into, it’s a great idea, thank you so much!

 

[(GA) Gypsy's Parent]

A friend told me about it and I have two other people who purchased based on my recommendation and they have been happy with it. My old girl was a grazer and there was no way to move her to two fixed meals per day when two other cats turned into balloons from free feeding. Fortunately, Gypsy adapted. Also, the old girl got to the point where 90% of her diet was Whisker Licken's cat treats for the last two years of her life.