Theo - OTJ Trial but very hungry

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Arienna

Arienna

Member Since 2014
Hey guys!

So Theo has just proven himself to be a little trooper over here... less than a month after his diagnosis, he's sick and tired of mommy poking him in the ears so badly, so he decided to go into remission. (My continuing lack of skill explains half of why tests are so sporatic. He does not like them). So we're on our tenth day of an OTJ trial... his BG are consistently low when I check him (He was in the 40's during his shed and I was feeding him the FF Grilled stuff with the little bit of gravy for my peace of mind. Now that we're pretty sure his shed is empty, we've gone back to Fancy Feast Classic Pate). At his diagnosis he had lost a ton of weight but he's since rehydrated and fluffed back up so that he is a handsome fellow. His ribs are covered but he looks lean. His energy is very good - I haven't seen him so playful since he was a baby.

But he seems hungry all the time. The vet wanted us to go to a twice a day feeding and to keep his weight at 13 lbs instead of the 15.8 he was before the diabetes (though she didn't tell me then that he should lose weight). If his BG is low, do I need to be worried about how he's processing his food?
 
Hello.
I like that Theo is having low numbers now....
sometimes dka cats can respond that way... system gets shocked by the insulin.

I was wondering if you might get a few more am tests since usually the last number to drop for kitties is the early one...
It's looking good overall ... I just want to say not to become complacent and think it's all behind you because it might change again.
Especially since you say Theo is still so hungry all the time. Small frequent meals are best for diabetics.... keeps their blood sugar more even.

You might also ask your vet about checking the thyroid if Theo's numbers continue to be remission numbers and the hunger continues.
 
Normal BG range without insulin is 40-120. To consider a cat in remission they need to go 14 days without insulin and stay in this range with most of the time at 100 or below.

Regarding food - how many cans of FF are you feeding him? Ideally he should be getting 2 cans a day, but some cats do require more, like 3 maybe even 4 cans.

You may want to (assuming you can) space out the feedings with several small meals (mini meals) throughout the day - ie. giving him 1/2 can every 4 hours or so.

You may also want to add water to the food to help give him the feeling of being full. I tend to give 1/3 - 1/2 can of water for each can of food. Sometimes I'll even give a full can of water to one can of food. It really depends on if your cat will eat it when really wet.

you can also supplement the meals with low carb treats - such as cooked chicken, raw chicken, freeze dried chicken, etc. here is a list of low carb treats viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9172 that you may find helpful.

Just don't give him temptations or whiskas, or anything like that - as that isn't low carb.

When Theo weighed 15 pounds did he appear to be at a good weight? If so, then it's ok for him to be there again.

Maui's ideal weight was 11-12 pounds and once the diabetes was under control she got back to that ideal weight again.
 
15.8 seemed like a good weight for him but so does the 13 or 14 he's at now.^_^; Maybe he was a liiiittle roly-poly before all the weight loss and isn't now.

Generally he gets either 3 cans of the Fancy Feast or one and a half cans of the Friskies pate over a 30 hour time period. Which is to say, normally he gets either a can of FF or half a can of Friskies in the morning and in the evening with either half a can of Friskies or a can of FF for either munching while I'm at school or as nighttime food - depending on what my day's schedule is like. So his means are either a 3 ounce can of FF or half of a 5.5 ounce can of Friskies and he gets about three of them a day. He gets freeze dried chicken liver when I'm testing his BGs. He's also offered many of these low carb dried tuna treats, but he has no interest.

We're on the 10th day of the 14 day OTJ trial./
 
I feed roughly 0.5 to 1.0 ounces per pound weight for the 15 cats at my place. Some eat more; some eat less.
 
wow, Arienna, i had no idea you were doing a trial for Theo - congrats! he looks really good.

just so you know, in general, a cat can't go hypo without injected insulin. so you don't need to give carbs if you see a low number, as long as you haven't been giving shots.

if he holds these great numbers, celebrate! woot! just keep in mind a few things:

he is still diabetic, just diet-controlled. so for the rest of his life, he needs to not have any dry food, or high carb food of any kind.

he also needs to avoid steroids unless it's essential for his life.

continue checking his BGs every week for a couple of weeks, then every month for a few months. don't get complacent about that, because cats can come out of remission at any time and the sooner you catch it, the better the chance of preventing damage and the better the chance of getting him off of insulin again.

any time he gets sick or seems off, check his blood sugar.

have the vet keep an eye on his teeth and gums. if he needs dental cleaning, get it done. that's a big trigger for bringing a cat out of remission.

so glad for you both! fingers crossed that he's going to keep up the good work!
 
You might want to look at this chart, Body Condition Score chart, to see where your Theo falls. Since obesity is cats is a one of the major contributing factor for diabetes in cats, you want to make sure he does not get
a liiiittle roly-poly before all the weight loss
Click to expand...
again.

Cats at their ideal weight, have a bit of a waist just before their hips. We are just so used to seeing so many cats carrying a bit of extra weight, that we think that extra weight is "normal".

It took me a long time to accept the newer, slimmer silhouette for my civie Monet. He was 16.5 pounds and the vet wanted him down to around 12 pounds. It took me a year of slow gradual weight loss to get him there, but he's much healthier and playful now that he is "slimmer".
 
Nice going! Look at my Dusty's numbers, in the early OTJ stages he was in the 40s too and as he put on weight he stabilized in the 60s. Theo's doing great!
 
Hello!
Great going!!! Awesome!

My (OTJ) Pudge goes low if he hasn't eaten for a couple of hours. He's now a grazer and I leave some food mixed with water 24/7. I see no reason to have a cat kept hungry. I have a sister and daughter who need to eat smaller but more frequent meals or their BG goes low- neither is diabetic, both are slender. Anecdotal info but quite possibly genetically based across various species. Just something to consider. ;-) :-D :mrgreen:
Best wishes,
Sophie
 
Hi. Coleman has been OTJ for a little over a month now. I found that twice a day feedings really messed with his numbers, so we do every 6 hours (well, right before bed and then when we get up and THEN every 6 hours) and that seems to keep his levels more stable, and he's not begging for food between. We also do PureBits chicken treats.
 
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