When to stop giving treats after BG pokes

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Mocha's_mom

Mocha's_mom

Member Since 2021
I've been giving Mocha turkey or ham pieces after each glucose reading so that I can hopefully give him something to look forward to after I poke him. He still sees me coming with the package of ham and all my gear (headlamp with magnifying glass, glucometer, cotton ball & lancet) so he knows it's coming. He doesn't run away but he folds his ear down knowing what's coming.

My question is - do you eventually stop giving treats each time? It's only been one week for me so I don't know if I've created a positive reinforcement yet. My biggest fear is that I'm going to scare him and he'll run from me. It's stressful enough even when he cooperates!
 
My Ruby was never treat oriented so I fed her small meals after her tests and that was enough to get her trained to jump up onto the couch after she heard me warm up the rice sock in the microwave. It took me 6 weeks to get testing down and then many more after that to get Ruby into the routine through pawsitive reinforcement. :) Don't give up yet. The meat treats are fine for him to eat.
 
I started Howie on freeze-dried treats at test time (more than a year ago) and I think he would revolt if I stopped! I figure it is the least I can do for his cooperation and putting up with all the testing.
 
Mocha's_mom said:
My question is - do you eventually stop giving treats each time?
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You don’t stop. You keep doing it. I personally wouldn’t give ham long term.
I would try with small pieces of cooked chicken (you can cut it up into tiny pieces and freeze). I often used chicken stock which I cook myself to make sure there was nothing but chicken and water in it. I froze it in ice cube trays and got it out each day as needed. You can also give freeze dried treats. But don’t stop. They have learned that if they cooperate they get a treat.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
You don’t stop. You keep doing it. I personally wouldn’t give ham long term.
I would try with small pieces of cooked chicken (you can cut it up into tiny pieces and freeze). I often used chicken stock which I cook myself to make sure there was nothing but chicken and water in it. I froze it in ice cube trays and got it out each day as needed. You can also give freeze dried treats. But don’t stop. They have learned that if they cooperate they get a treat.
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He won't eat cooked chicken unfortunately. Whenever I bring home a rotisserie chicken from the grocery he meows a lot at me, but refuses to eat it. Very odd. It's like his carnivore pea brain knows that he should like it so he meows a lot with excitement. But then refuses it.
He seemed to like the PureBites freeze dried chicken. But he only just "likes" them. Not sure if he'd get excited for them. But I agree, I can't keep giving ham or turkey as a treat long term.

I know he likes his Vetri-lysine treats that we used to give him at bedtime, but I'm not sure of the carb content of those so I don't know if that's an appropriate treat.
 
Howiesmom said:
I started Howie on freeze-dried treats at test time (more than a year ago) and I think he would revolt if I stopped! I figure it is the least I can do for his cooperation and putting up with all the testing.
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Mocha likes those freeze dried treats so I may try to switch him over to those eventually. I'm too scared to switch him over too soon. I need to get him into a routine so he doesn't hate me.
 
Mocha's_mom said:
He won't eat cooked chicken unfortunately. Whenever I bring home a rotisserie chicken from the grocery he meows a lot at me, but refuses to eat it. Very odd. It's like his carnivore pea brain knows that he should like it so he meows a lot with excitement. But then refuses it.
He seemed to like the PureBites freeze dried chicken. But he only just "likes" them. Not sure if he'd get excited for them. But I agree, I can't keep giving ham or turkey as a treat long term.

I know he likes his Vetri-lysine treats that we used to give him at bedtime, but I'm not sure of the carb content of those so I don't know if that's an appropriate treat.
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There are 3 dry foods that are considered low carb: Young Again, Dr. Elsey’s, and Wysong Epigen 90. I got some Epigen 90 and I have been using those as testing treats only for my diabetic cat. She seems to respond well to that, since it’s crunchy like her old treats. The freeze dried never really did anything for her.
 
Librarianista said:
There are 3 dry foods that are considered low carb: Young Again, Dr. Elsey’s, and Wysong Epigen 90. I got some Epigen 90 and I have been using those as testing treats only for my diabetic cat. She seems to respond well to that, since it’s crunchy like her old treats. The freeze dried never really did anything for her.
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I bought all 3. (Still waiting on Dr Elseys to arrive). Mocha likes the Epigen 90 with Fortiflora sprinkled on top so that's good! Charlotte likes the Young again with some VitalCat rabbit nibs on top. So I've got them both eating SOMETHING other than high carb dry kibble.

I'm wondering if I can just keep them both on what they're eating? I know low carb wet is ideal, but what if they never make the switch?
 
Mocha's_mom said:
I bought all 3. (Still waiting on Dr Elseys to arrive). Mocha likes the Epigen 90 with Fortiflora sprinkled on top so that's good! Charlotte likes the Young again with some VitalCat rabbit nibs on top. So I've got them both eating SOMETHING other than high carb dry kibble.

I'm wondering if I can just keep them both on what they're eating? I know low carb wet is ideal, but what if they never make the switch?
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Hi Christina. Mocha sure is a cutie. He looks like a seal point version of my Templeton.

I know it's frustrating when they won't eat the wet, but don't give up.
One thing I read here that stuck out to me: Put the new food next to their current food. Maybe they won't ea,t or even consider it at first, but don't give up. Eventually they will familiarize with that smell and *hopefully* consider it edible somewhere down the line.

It sounds like you're making good steps, and the dry you have now is a heck of a lot better than regular kibble.
 
Jack LOVES his freeze dried shrimp. He knows he gets one or two after every single poke, and he looks forward to it soooo much! Keep on giving treats for as long for as long as Mocha needs BG testing.
 
Mocha's_mom said:
I bought all 3. (Still waiting on Dr Elseys to arrive). Mocha likes the Epigen 90 with Fortiflora sprinkled on top so that's good! Charlotte likes the Young again with some VitalCat rabbit nibs on top. So I've got them both eating SOMETHING other than high carb dry kibble.

I'm wondering if I can just keep them both on what they're eating? I know low carb wet is ideal, but what if they never make the switch?
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I'm not sure you'll ever reach remission on dry food, even if low carb. Now I've only seen anecdotes, not actual research, but people have noticed BGs 100-150 points higher on days when they feed only LC dry compared to LC wet.

The suggestion to keep wet food near the dry food is a good one, hopefully associating the smell with something positive. As I was putting my Weruva chart together, I was surprised at how many of their gravy varieties actually meet LC standards. Mine love gravies, so I'll be looking into some of those next time I go food shopping.
 
smorgasbord said:
Hi Christina. Mocha sure is a cutie. He looks like a seal point version of my Templeton.

I know it's frustrating when they won't eat the wet, but don't give up.
One thing I read here that stuck out to me: Put the new food next to their current food. Maybe they won't ea,t or even consider it at first, but don't give up. Eventually they will familiarize with that smell and *hopefully* consider it edible somewhere down the line.

It sounds like you're making good steps, and the dry you have now is a heck of a lot better than regular kibble.
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Thank you, they look like they could be brothers!

I'm trying to keep the wet nearby for that reason. Some is more stinky than others. I've found that the pate versions get dry/crusty fairly quickly and they tend to avoid that like the plague. Right now I have some Tiki Cat in broth nearby and they both walked away (stubborn cats!). Funny thing is, Charlotte gets near it, sniffs it and licks her lips like she may actually be interested. She has yet to actually taste any yet.

Keeping my hopes up!!
 
Daddy Jack's Mommy said:
Jack LOVES his freeze dried shrimp. He knows he gets one or two after every single poke, and he looks forward to it soooo much! Keep on giving treats for as long for as long as Mocha needs BG testing.
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He's liking the freeze dried chicken from PureBites more and more. Charlotte LOVES those so maybe he's just copying her behavior, but hey, if he likes it then it's a start!
 
Librarianista said:
I'm not sure you'll ever reach remission on dry food, even if low carb. Now I've only seen anecdotes, not actual research, but people have noticed BGs 100-150 points higher on days when they feed only LC dry compared to LC wet.

The suggestion to keep wet food near the dry food is a good one, hopefully associating the smell with something positive. As I was putting my Weruva chart together, I was surprised at how many of their gravy varieties actually meet LC standards. Mine love gravies, so I'll be looking into some of those next time I go food shopping.
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I feel like I've read that also.

I bought a couple different FF gravys not worrying about carb content just to see if they'd be interested but no luck. I was hoping maybe a higher carb gravy version might taste better?? Then once they get used to that then I can start decreasing the carbs. I have the Weruva's with broth and Mocha took a couple licks but that was about it.
 
Mocha's_mom said:
He won't eat cooked chicken unfortunately. Whenever I bring home a rotisserie chicken from the grocery he meows a lot at me, but refuses to eat it. Very odd. It's like his carnivore pea brain knows that he should like it so he meows a lot with excitement. But then refuses it.
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I am just getting into scrutinizing treats. The small $11 bag of Life Essentials by Cat-Man-Doo are not Sister's favorite. She says they taste like styrofoam. So I put them inside a baggy with salmon treats so they all smell the same (trickery). I smiled at your kitty thinking they wanted your chicken but didn't. My Monkey cries for what I have served myself sometimes because it smells great. I always lower the plate to allow him to sniff it thoroughly. It satisfies his curiosity and he then leaves me alone to eat. He also wants to smell my chai tea lattes. I indulge him. Always.
 
I also give Howie Whole Life freeze dried turkey treats from Amazon. He really likes those and the Pure Bites chicken.
 
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