Hi - second diabetic cat experience

Hi all! I'm glad to have found this forum as I didn't have anything like this available 12 years ago when we had our first FD cat experience. Our 8 year old female Sophie was diagnosed last week and we will be starting insulin today. Using Prozinc. We have a lot of diabetes experience from the human side (22 year old son was diagnosed at 9) and enough on the cat side to not be freaked out by this, but I do have a question that I'm hoping someone might be able to help with (will also cross-post this in another area if I can find one appropriate). We have 4 cats in the house on a 3-meal-a-day feeding schedule (6 am, 2:30 pm, 11 pm). Obviously need to go to a 12-hour schedule to accommodate Sophie's injections, but I'm struggling with whether to keep the other 3 on a 3-meal-a-day schedule and feed Sophie separately (which will be a big challenge) or switch everyone to a 2-meal-a-day schedule (which will be a chore since they complain about starving to death at least an hour before their meals). We don't free-feed - they get their food in the bowl and eat it and when it's gone, it's gone, so there's no dry food lying around at any time that Sophie can get into. Does anyone have any suggestions on adjusting the feeding schedule of my other 3 cats vs. feeding Sophie separately? Thanks!

 

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/ The main health forum is the best place for your post. Quick answer: no need to change your feeding schedule. Most of us feed our diabetic kitties multiple times a day regardless of what the vet has said.

 

Most of us feed 4 meals a day. I free feed except no food 2 hours prior to the preshot test. Fancy feast classic mostly.

 

Welcome! I also feed 4 meals per day. I leave the leftovers out for grazing. As long as it is high-protein, low-carb wet food, you are good to go!

 

Welcome I'm glad to hear that you aren't totally overwhelmed with little Sophie's diabetes diagnosis, plus that you have experience with both human and feline diabetes. You didn't mention if you were home testing Sophie, or add any meter information in your signature. Home testing is the best way to see how the insulin is affecting Sophie, and hopefully prevent any hypos. Many of us use a human meter to test our kitties, in fact, my DH (pre-diabetic and testing once daily) shares a Relion meter with Idjit. If you have questions or concerns about home testing please post in the main forum.

 

Hi Idjit's mom - Thanks for the info. I updated my signature to include basic info but we are starting insulin tomorrow because we got the diagnosis late last week and were already scheduled to be out of town until today so vet said to wait till we were home to start. I am using my son's meter (not sure of the type but it's a human one) to test Sophie at home. Son is going to move soon, though, so I will probably grab a Reli-on meter from WalMart tomorrow.

I see in your sig that you feed Friskies low carb wet food - we are doing the ground and the prime filets, but I see that prime filets have more carbs so I will probably switch Sophie over to the pate or to Fancy Feast with lower carbs.

Thanks again!

 

You are very welcome to any help I can give. I haven't been here on the board for long, and I don't have the knowledge and experience many long time members have. I believe that you are going to find the information and support you need here. Also, it will be helpful if you would create a spreadsheet so that you and other members can track the pre-shot BG, the shot time and dose, then the other BG levels you get throughout the day/night. Here is a link to the area where there are instructions for setting that up and also understanding how to read and utilize the spreadsheet:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/suggestions-tech-support-testing-area.6/
I have begun mixing a can of the Friskies and a can of the Fancy Feast together, as Idjit was getting a little cantankerous and holding out for the "good stuff" (the Fancy Feast that he likes best). I do give him a half can of FF all by itself once in awhile to soothe his ruffled feathers though. Spoiled rotten!