Garfield

Hi, I am Lana, Garfield’s mom,

Garfield is a 14 yo orange tabby. He was diagnosed a little over a month ago. He is tolerating the Vetsilun (3 u twice a day) well but does not like the shots. Our biggest problem is what and how much to feed. We put him on Royal Canin glycobalance. He doesn’t like it but he will eat it. He is used to being fed a little wet food twice a day and was allowed to graze on his dry food. Now the feeding schedule is 8 A and 8 P. He seems to be starving during the day and cry’s for food. At least he has gained some weight back. Can anyone offer info on what you feed and what your feeding schedule is.

 

Welcome. Ditch the dry. That food is way way too high in carbs. You want to feed a low carb wet food. Most of us feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. You do need to feed prior to the shot, but it's fine to let them eat in between meals. Many diabetic cats are hungry because they aren't utilizing the nutrients properly, so they are literally starving. Feed as much as she wants, just no food 2 hours prior to the preshot test.


3 units is a high dose, especially for a newly diagnosed cat.... The starting dose is 1 unit twice a day and should be raised in 0.25-0.5 increments. Are you home testing? If not I would. We can help you with that if you are willing to learn.

 

Welcome! Like Janet said, the dry is high carb. Do start testing though before you change foods, the change could lower his BG and the 3u would be too much. Janet has a great video in her signature showing how to test. Please come to the Main Health Forum and ask any questions you have.

 

Welcome, Lana and Garfield! I agree with the others, get away from the dry and try to get him on all wet food. You may want to feed him four times a day instead of 2. That is what is recommended by the AAHA, and I find that it works well. You may need to use an auto-feeder to handle the mid-day and mid-night feedings.

 

I just watched your video on Home testing. We did start with one unit but have ended at three because his BG was 4 to 5 hundred when the vet tested. They want me bringing him in for a daily check about once a month. That in itself stressing him because he gets so carsick.

He does not like the glycobalance so I am considering g switching him to the Fancy feast. Right now it is like shoot8 g a moving target when I give him his insulin. I am trying to play with his ears more to get him used to that feel so that I can start home testing.

Thanks so much for the info. I think I’m learning more from reading here. The vet told me nothing but that he was diabetic. The vet tech told me to feed twice a day and dry food was fine. I still have much to learn.

 

Thanks. I just ordered a bag of the glycobalance dry. I think I will just donate that. The info on this sight is great.

 

Thank you. I would much rather feed him more times a day. I feel terrible whe. He begs for food. As a diabetic myself, I couldn’t understand why they want his food restricted.

Im going to set a new schedule for him. Again, thanks for the info.

 

That is crazy! That should not be necessary at all. You can home test and get much more accurate results. The numbers at the vet will be inflated due to your baby's stress from going there. Testing seemed nearly impossible to me in the very beginning, but it quickly became routine...really. Just pick a place to always do it, and offer a special treat every time. If you warm up the ear a little first, the blood comes better so maybe you will not have to fumble around so much or re-stick. If you can keep yourself calm, it will help him stay calm. We are all here cheering you on!

 

Oh, and you will figure out pretty quickly that your vet may not know as much as you would expect. It is sad how little most seem to really know about feline diabetes.

 

Once you give up the dry, lower your dose as the numbers are likely to drop! I'm glad you found the video helpful. Good idea getting him used to having the ears touched.

 

Does any9ne know what the BG should be for a cat? I just weighed Garfield and he has gained back 2 pounds. I’m glad for that because he had dropped over 2 in a month. I gave him FAncy Feast and he loved it. I’ll transition him to that.

Looks like I’ll be learning to Home test him.

As you can see I haven’t learned the Ins and outs of this answering. Thanks everyone.

 

Normal for a non diabetic cat on a human meter is 50-120 and on a pet meter it's 68-150.