Two Issues with feeding

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Liz&Gus

Member Since 2013
Hi Everyone!

I have 2 issues with Gus that I would love some feedback on.

1. Hungry Cat = Angry Cat: I feed Gus right before giving his insulin. However, he is hungry and antsy, which causes a problem with blood testing before feeding him. He will not stay still for testing. Claws, teeth, and yowling are involved. I give up sometimes because he and I get very frustrated. After I feed him, he'll eat for about 15 minutes, groom, relax and then is perfectly happy staying still for the test, about 30-45 minutes after I feed him. I've had my husband help me hold Gus still for the test, but often my husband is not available due to work schedules. Is it okay to test him after he relaxes? I know in humans, eating raises blood sugar in a little as 15 minutes.

2. Playing with Food: Gus has decided that eating wet food in the bowl is boring. He grabs a mouthful out of the bowl, drops it on the kitchen floor, bats it around and then eats it. I'm glad that my cat is feeling better, likes the wet cat food and wants to play, but I end up with nasty, crusty food on the kitchen floor every day.

Thanks!

Liz
 
Would he be interested in a small bit of a favorite treat before eating his meal? Then you could get the test in and feed him after. Yes, we think most cats' levels rise in about 20 minutes after eating.

Would it help if you added some water to his food and made a gravy? Then he couldn't get it to "move"?
 
1. Mikey had this same problem with his AM shot time for a long while. What I would do is let him eat a little bit first, pick him up in the middle of his eating, test him, let him go back to eating, and shoot him. It usually takes about fifteen minutes to a half hour for the food to kick in so if you test him quick, the numbers shouldn't be affected by feeding.

The problem that arises with doing this, however, is if they have a low pre-shot. If you're new to testing and don't know how they'll react to shooting at low numbers (below 200), this can make it difficult on whether or not to give a shot. Once you know how food affects his BGs and once you're familiar with shooting and handling low numbers, this isn't so much a problem.

2. Aw! He just wants to play with it to make sure it's dead first. :lol: Both Mikey and Henry are messy eaters, too. So I got them a vinyl food mat that their dishes are on. I just have to rinse it off once a day and not worry about my floor getting all dirty.
 
Play with him a good 15-20 minutes before testing.

Spread the food thinly across a wide plate and/or add some water.

Let him eat for 5 minutes or so before you attemp tsting.

Feed more food; unregulated diabetic can be fed as much as 50% more food because they can't use it as well and they're HUNGRY.
 
Hi Liz
Not sure what your schedule is like, but is it possible to feed a mini meal 3-3.5hrs before shot time? We would recommend not feeding for up to 2 hours preshot, but I wonder if a mini meal a little earlier than that would help...
My guy was a ravenous mess when he was unregulated and unfortunately I was unable to feed the mini meal, but I did start giving him a 0 carb treat at every test (4-5 times/day) and he quickly understood that testing=treats. He could still be a wiggly ball of energy and too playful, but it was easier :lol: :roll: And now he jumps up to his "test spot" when he knows it's time.
Hope this helps a bit :smile:
 
Hi Liz,
I have the same issue with my cat. She is just out right mean waiting for her food. I get nipped on the ankle every time lol but this is what I do:
1. prep the test kit - I get the lancet ready and put the strip in but not so far as it sets off the monitor.
2. grab the insulin and syringe
3. Hide in the bathroom with the door shut while I fix her food (she gets 2 cans of FF + a little water so it takes her a bit to plow thru it all but it also takes me a little longer than she likes to prepare it)

With everything in hand I head to the feeding spot (I feed her on my spare couch as it is elevated and I have a light over it so I can see)
Put food down, fully insert strip to turn monitor on, grab ear, prick, suck blood, wait for reading, pull insulin into syringe and then shoot

It took a lot of trial and error and chasing (and scratching and biting) but we finally got it down to where she is ok with it all.

If I need a mid day test I moisten the freeze dried chicken breast (some of the powder + smaller bits) to basically make chicken soup. I need enough to keep her occupied while I get the test.

Her head bobs a lot but I just have to grab the ear and hold on. It works for me. Good luck to you! Just try different things and eventually one will click.
 
Thanks for all the advice!

I'll try a mixture of it all, small treat before the main meal, playing with him before the test. I could give a mini meal as soon as I get home from work which would be about 2.5 hours before the test, and then remove any remainder at -2 hours before PM shot.

Also, buying a cheap placemat sounds like a good solution to the food on the floor problem. I don't know why I didn't think of that!

Liz
 
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