Weight loss, need yummy food ideas please

[Amy & Revson]

Hi all. Revson is about 2 months into FD. He's on all canned food - mostly Fancy Feast classics. He likes it, but eats only small amounts at a time and then (typical cat behavior!) decides he's had enough. I've tried offering different choices which sometimes works, other times he's not interested.

He likes boiled ham (lunch meat) but again, sometimes he'll eat a bit other times no.
He LOVES dried chicken - that's his treat for poking.

Any suggestions?

He's a Lantus kitty, 1.5U 1x day (usually).
BG has been higher in the evening, lower in the morning so no insulin then.

I can & WILL send up a more complete SS in 2 weeks, until then I am crazy busy and traveling.
However, checking BG everyday before shooting.

Amy

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

Have you tried cooked chicken breasts, livers, boiled shrimp? I use the shrimp as a treat though. I know that "just meat" probably isn't perfect either, but maybe dicing up some chicken and mixing it into the FF would make it more attractive.
I know some here feed raw diets, and there's ways to add essential nutrients, but I've no experience with that.
Have you tried the "frozen cat food" option, where you freeze it in ice cube trays and put it out to thaw so they can "graze" when you're not home? Was he a grazer before dx? Bob eats all his food in minutes, and I don't leave any out between meals. I try to feed him 2 meals and 2 semi-meals a day. He used to munch dry food all day, but not ever again! But he's adjusted to the meals on a schedule very well.

Carl

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

Hi Amy,

Lantus works best when shot twice a day, not once. Cats have fast metabolisms, so one Lantus shot will not last more than 12 hours. Lantus also works best when you're giving consistent, steady doses. If your numbers are regularly too low to shoot twice a day, then you need to reduce the dose of insulin. Most cats do not need more than 1u of insulin after they've been changed to a low carb, wet diet. You will likely have much better results if you shoot .75u twice a day, rather than 1.5u once a day. It will also be much safer, since if you're getting a lot of very low preshots and not testing at all during the middle of the cycle, it's very possible he's going too low. Dosing with Lantus is determined by the nadir, or the lowest number of the cycle. This occurs somewhere around +6. With Lantus, you need to get at least three tests a day, before each shot, and one in the middle of the cycle.

I understand this can be hard to do if you're working all day, but what I did (I have two jobs + grad school, with an hour commute each way so it was impossible for me to run home during lunch to test) was to set an alarm, grab a test in the middle of his pm cycle and go right back to bed. Once I got used to it, it became so routine I was testing in my sleep.