Hey there .. I'm looking to clear up confusion. Ive seen several different recommendations regarding the order of food, test and shots. I know to pull Kitty's food 2 hours prior to the shot. So I test her BG and then..... Feed her and then shoot insulin or shoot insulin and then feed her? Today her food was pulled accordingly but I think she just wasn't hungry and had no interest (she ate a little when I shoved her nose in it lol). If it's feed then shoot, what happens if she doesn't eat before insulin?
Test just before you feed again at the 12 hour mark and then give the shot. You want to feed and then shoot because you can always delay the shot if she's not eating, but you can't unshoot if she decides after the shot she's not hungry. If kitty isn't eating at all, you can try to entice her to eat. Maybe warm up the food or try a different flavour if she's being picky. You want to make sure she has at least something in her before you give the shot since without food their blood sugar can get too low. Insulin is normally produced after eating, so you're trying to mimic the body's natural reaction with the shot. If you find consistently that she's not hungry at the 12 hour mark if you pull up the food 2 hours early, you can try putting it away even earlier so she's more likely to be hungry around shot time. She doesn't need to eat her entire meal while you give the shot, but she should eat something.
Some of it depends on your kitty too. The thing you need to know at shot time is that your cat is willing to eat. The insulin doesn't kick in for another hour or usually closer to two, after the shot. So if she was eating fine all day, and it's shot time and she just isn't hungry right at that moment, just see if she'll have a bite or two, or even if she is eager to eat a couple of treats. As long as she's willing to eat, you should be fine to give the shot and leave out her food for her to eat when she's ready. If her appetite has been off all day, then there may be a bigger issue at play anyhow.
It was definitely her just not beIbe hungry . It was my first day back to work after her being diagnosed and I had hubby pull the food two hours prior to shot time. She did eat right after the shot. Today I'll pull food 3 hours before shot
I used to go by the : test, eat, shoot method. I used to use a timed feeder to ensure Gracie would be hungry and most of the time it worked. There were days though that she didn't care and food protested. After all . . . we are their masters. Haha.
