Hi, My cat Wizard a Maine Coon is free feed, that is when he asked to eat we give him some wet food. What do I do about this? I am going to start to test his sugar levels and I am wondering how this will work with feeding him when he wants it. I know you feed and give his shot and need to check his blood sugar 6 to 8 hours later how is feeding him like I do going to affect his readings. The other issue is that I work and leave at 7am and don;t get back until 5 that is longer than 8 hours. What do I do about that? Wizard use to be 18 lbs and has dropped to 15 in the last year, he is holding his weight as of now. I am worried that if I feed him only twice a day he will loss weight. Can anyone help me? thank YOU Kathi and Wizard
Most of us feed more than twice a day. If Wizard is your only kitty an automatic feeder can be very useful to allow him to have meals at several times while you're at work. When you start to test his blood glucose regularly we strongly recommend testing before every shot. It's important to take away all food for two hours before those tests so BG isn't propped up from food.
Hi Kathi and Wizard! yes to what Kris said - most of us feed our cats more than twice/day. I work all day too, so I usually just give them a whole bunch of food in the morning, and leave it out for them to graze throughout the day since both of my cats eat diabetic-friendly wet foods. It also works because i know that neither of them will just hog all of the food. It's fine to leave out wet food during the day, and when the weather warms up we have some tricks we can share. As Kris mentioned, the timed feeder is a great tool if Wizard will inhale all of his food at once. The different sections of the timed feeder let you spread out the mini-meals throughout the day. One point of clarification: you're right that testing during the cycle is important, but it can be anywhere from +4 to +7 on prozinc, and some cats are even outside of that. And as Kris said, you really want to test before each shot so that you know Wizard is high enough to safely get an injection. For most of us who work, we just try really hard to get tests at night, and then commit to being around during the weekends as much as we can to collect data then.
I am reading this and feeling bad. Since little has been diagnosed and I removed dry food that was free fed, I only feed twice a day at shot times- that’s 12 hrs! Both my cats would hog whatever is left out and I have to “Police” them at feeding time to make sure no one steals the others food. 12 hrs is a long time and I have not been happy about making this change but I don’t know what else to do. Also, how do regulate numbers if I did go back to leaving some dry freely available? I am gone all day as well so not always able to get a mid day number to see how it would effect her. Feeling sad cause they’re probably hungry during the day. Advice?
Some people buy one of those expensive chipped feeders that will only open for the kitty who's wearing the special collar. Others switch all kitties to diabetic friendly wet food and leave it out all day. Many learn to curb their eating once they see that food is there all day. You can freeze some in chunks to leave for later day snacks too. You could buy two timed feeders with several compartments and put wet food from the can in the first compartments then frozen chunks in later compartments. There are many ways to get around this but the main one is switching all kitties to the same low carb wet food - unless one has special dietary requirements of course.
It doesn't work for all kitties to graze. Some are just determined to scarf and barf. But as Kris said, most kitties will learn to graze once they are confident that the food will always be there. Sam was a grazer, but when I got my second cat, he would inhale everything. I trained him to graze by leaving a bunch of different plates of food in different rooms and different places. It slowed him down enough to notice he was full. And after about a week he calmed down and would just eat one plate and lay down, without going hunting for the others. Other people have had success by just putting out a ton of food and then after a snack-sized amount, moving the kitty away from the food and engaging in play to distract him/her. Both of those methods work best if you'll have a few days at home to help keep the cats from eating too much and to monitor their progress. And again, there are some cats that just won't learn. But if you have a few days and really want to be able to leave food out, it could be worth a try. If you're going to let them graze, it's also important to keep track of calories and keep an eye on their weight since some grazers can end up getting chubby if you aren't careful. Cats are good at gaining weight, but not so good at losing it. Hmmm....kind of like me...
They both are on the low carb food. The issue is little is still eating and eating and will finish first and go after the others food. Believe me she gets a ridiculously healthy portion as I am doing this by daily calories. My other concern is how do you regulate BG if she has food available all day. They both have seemed to adjust to the 12 hour interval feeding - it’s more me that feels bad. Also wondering if keeping a diabetic cat with no food for 12 hrs is a bad thing...
Catfoodsicles are great for working parents, especially with a newer sugar kitty. My work schedule keeps me away from home for 11 hours . Just to add onto the amazing tips from Djamila and Kris; try not to focus too much on getting Wizard regulated but look at the big picture and just trying to get some control of his BG. For almost the first entire year, Maury was not considered a regulated kitty but we got much more control over his BG . Controlling his BG was what helped him fully recover from his diabetic neuropathy . Once you get a snack schedule worked out, you can grab extra tests on your days off. I would grab a mid cycle test before he ate one of his "snacks" and did my best to make sure he didn't eat anything the last 2 hours of the cycle so the next PS test was not food influenced. BTW, Wizard is a handsome boy!
So I just looked at your spreadsheet and I know you say Maury was unregulated but I would kill for those numbers! I am now concerned and I got a 193 per shot but gave the same 2.5 units. I did this thinking if she dropped 100 points which seems to be her average I am still ok. Now I’m nervous. This happened to me about 10 days ago where I got 125 and skipped shots but I know I need to get her body used to a consistent dose for it to hopefully heal itself. I hope I did not screw up here. As I will not be home at +5 and 6
Kris I wish I could use an automatic feeder but we have dogs who want kitty food so this wont work if I could put it up then it would. Kathi and Wizard
If you can manage it, a few smaller meals are generally helpful for diabetics (both human and feline) than two big meals. But sometimes with work schedules and other pets, it's difficult.
Don’t think I can do it on a regular. So far everyone is adjusting just feel bad. I just noticed your photo... lol. I think we all have one of those. So adorable - thank you for your advice and help you have truly been a huge help
I am nervous abut starting to check Wizards blood sugars I hope I can do it right when I take the blood from the ear, YIKES I guess I better begin doing so instead of putting it off. Another feeding question. Do you leave wet food out over night for your kitties or not feed them overnight at all? Kathi and Wizard
Hi Kathi, Getting BG tests can be stressful especially in the beginning. I have been at it for 6 weeks and although I still get a bit nervous sometimes ( at this point mostly afraid of the results!)... I can say it gets easier as you go on. I am at the point that I don’t stress too much any more. You will be fine and it’s not as hard as you may think once you get used to it and establish a routine with Wizard. You got this girl!!
I leave food out for my kitties at night. My cats free feed so I just leave their food out and they usually finish it a few hours after I've fed. You just want to be sure you pick it up 2 hours before AMPS. A lot of people use a timed feeder for that where it just switches to an empty compartment 2 hours before. As for home testing, yes it can be stressful! But once you and Wizard get used to it, you'll both find it becomes routine. Just don't forget the special testing treat!
Yes to home testing becoming routine when you follow the FDMB "way". Way back at the beginning when I did only curves for my vet I dreaded those days because of the ear poking. Now I don't even think about it.
