? Want to change to low carb food

[Patty & Teal'c]

Teal'c is on Nutro indoor adult which is 36g of carbs. I have this weekend off and want to completely change him to Fancy Feast pate. I have been adding this to his hard food to get him use to the flavor but feel if I don't make the change soon I won't see an improvement in his numbers. The vet doesn't want me to change his food don't know why.

Here's my question. He is currently on 2.5 units of Prozinc just upped from 2 units by vet yesterday and am worried about changing his food with that high of dose. Should I lower the dose while I do this change or should I stick with the same dose while doing this change. I'm worried about having a hypo event while I do this.

I have started doing home testing and can be home to test him since I am off. Yesterday was my first successful test and it has been so easy since then, he is such a good kitty (treats did the trick).

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

If the Nutro Indoor is 36% carbs then yes you are going to have to be careful switching over to FF classics which are generally under 6% carbs. Since you are mixing the 2 right now, I would slowly increase the mix until the dry food is totally out of the picture. Not only do you want to keep watch on BG but you also don't want to create any GI issues from a sudden dietary change.

I think given where Teal'c's BG is right now you can continue with the 2.5u for the moment. It will take a while for the dry food effect to dissipate. Continue getting the pre-shot tests and start grabbing some tests earlier in the cycle. ProZinc usually hits peak action between +4 and +7 post shot although some kitties hit nadir (lowest point) earlier or later so testing between about +3 and +9 will give you a good overview of what Teal'c is doing. If you get a test around +3 and BG is falling, then you can steer BG and check again to make sure he is not continuing to drop too much. As the dry food gets out of his system and numbers start to come down, then you can re-evaluate the dose. Glad to see you are getting a couple of tests at night too because a lot of cats go lower at night than during the day.

As long as you can monitor, you can control the situation and avoid any potential hypo episode.

 

[Patty & Teal'c]

If the Nutro Indoor is 36% carbs then yes you are going to have to be careful switching over to FF classics which are generally under 6% carbs. Since you are mixing the 2 right now, I would slowly increase the mix until the dry food is totally out of the picture. Not only do you want to keep watch on BG but you also don't want to create any GI issues from a sudden dietary change.

I think given where Teal'c's BG is right now you can continue with the 2.5u for the moment. It will take a while for the dry food effect to dissipate. Continue getting the pre-shot tests and start grabbing some tests earlier in the cycle. ProZinc usually hits peak action between +4 and +7 post shot although some kitties hit nadir (lowest point) earlier or later so testing between about +3 and +9 will give you a good overview of what Teal'c is doing. If you get a test around +3 and BG is falling, then you can steer BG and check again to make sure he is not continuing to drop too much. As the dry food gets out of his system and numbers start to come down, then you can re-evaluate the dose. Glad to see you are getting a couple of tests at night too because a lot of cats go lower at night than during the day.

As long as you can monitor, you can control the situation and avoid any potential hypo episode.

Highest test I've had yet. Had to work last night so husband was in charge of feedings, shot and pulling food this morning unsure if he pulled it 2 hours before I came home. He leaves the house at around 4:30 a.m. I get home around 5:10 a.m.

I started by vets recommendation at 1/2 cup of Nutro he wanted me to give Teal'c and Shefoo my non sugar kitty 20 mins and then pull all food till time for the next shot, but they have both been grazers in that they like to eat off and on through out the day. I do not pull food till 2 hours before shot I also do not give them more then what I put down at feeding.

I have cut down on the Nutro to 1/3 cup and 1/2 small can of Fancy Feast for each Kitty, he seems to be partial to chicken. I'm guessing this needs to be a slow process and I'm not going to get there in one weekend.

I have to work the next 3 nights then off on Saturday and Sunday so not home to test at night till then. Since I work nights when I'm off I don't change my sleeping hours, I am up all night and will get my night time test then. I'll drop down to 1/4 cup of Nutro and 3/4 can of Fancy Feast this weekend if that sounds alright. I just hope I'm doing right by Teal'c and Shefoo.

Will set a alarm for the +4 that should allow me 4 hours sleep at that point, and again 2 hours later that is 6 hours sleep for me I really seldom sleep more then that.

Thank you for your help and advice.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

One thing to be aware of is that the dry food is very calorie dense meaning when you decrease the dry, you need to be sure to replace those calories with the wet which is considerably less calorie dense. The change between 1/3 and 1/4 cup of the dry is about 40 calories while the change between 1/2 and 3/4 can of FF is about 22 calories so you may need to give them a bit more wet food to make up for the lost calories unless of course they both need to lose weight. While 22 calories doesn't sound like much it for our kitties and diabetics cannot process their food efficiently so it's important to ensure they are getting enough calories every day and that quite often will exceed what they normally would have eaten before diagnosis. If Teal'c needs to gain weight back, you can increase his caloric intake and just watch his weight so he doesn't gain too much.

Just get testing done when you can. Every one has to come up with their own routine/schedule and find what works for them. The important thing is to try to get tests in those expected nadir hours when it is possible. Sounds like you have a good plan.

 

[Patty & Teal'c]

One thing to be aware of is that the dry food is very calorie dense meaning when you decrease the dry, you need to be sure to replace those calories with the wet which is considerably less calorie dense. The change between 1/3 and 1/4 cup of the dry is about 40 calories while the change between 1/2 and 3/4 can of FF is about 22 calories so you may need to give them a bit more wet food to make up for the lost calories unless of course they both need to lose weight. While 22 calories doesn't sound like much it for our kitties and diabetics cannot process their food efficiently so it's important to ensure they are getting enough calories every day and that quite often will exceed what they normally would have eaten before diagnosis. If Teal'c needs to gain weight back, you can increase his caloric intake and just watch his weight so he doesn't gain too much.

Just get testing done when you can. Every one has to come up with their own routine/schedule and find what works for them. The important thing is to try to get tests in those expected nadir hours when it is possible. Sounds like you have a good plan.

Woke up for the +3 and we are down to 295, first yellow I've seen since starting testing.

Understand on the calories will adjust accordingly. No Shefoo is a bit over 11 lbs and Teal'c is at 13.9 he use to be overweight before the diabetes at 20.4 lbs. Before we realized that something was wrong he had lost almost 7 lbs he started at a weight of 13.2 at first diagnoses.