How often to feed diabetic cat?

Hi,

I am new to this board. My cat, The Dread Pirate Roberts (Bobbers for short!) was diagnosed several years ago. On poor advice for a vet, I stupidly continued to feed dry food up until a couple weeks ago. He was getting 7 units of Glargine 2x a day!

I finally did my own research, and found this site through catinfo.org. I now have switched enitrely over to Fancy Feast Chicken Classic, and learned to home monitor. His numbers have gone way down. I am still trying to get to the correct dose of insulin. He's already down to 2unites 2x a day, and I think we'll try and go down to 1.5.

My problem is that I used to free feed the dry food. Now, with the wet food, I am attempting scheduled feedings 2x a day- at 8am and 8pm. I give him 1 can of 3oz Fancy Feast each time. The vet said to take it away after 10 minutes. But, despite begging and acting starving, he will only eat about 1oz before walking away! Now I'm afraid I'm starving him. I mean, as it is he is 18 pounds and teh FF is only 98cal. a can. So if he hate the full 6oz a day he'd be getting only 200 cal. But since I am supposed to take the food away he's barely getting 100!

My question to those of of you experienced with schedled can feedings is this.... I would like to know how OFTEN you feed your cat wet food, and how MUCH. Since mine only east a little at a time, I am thinking that I need to feed him small amounts more often. But, I also know that it is very important to keep him at a steady blood glucose level. so if I fee him more often will he get all messed up?

Finally, if I do get an automatic timer and feed him say 3-4 times a day, How long do you leave that food out? Does it just stay out (if the don't finish it) until the feeder rotates and the next timer goes off? And is that OKAY to put 24 hours worth of Wet food in at timed feeder?

I was thinking if I got a 5 slot feeder I could do 3 feedings (every 8 hours) and put the last one in frozen, with ice cubes in the remaining two slots? Or should I do more like every 6 hours? This is so confusing! I just feel in my gut that 2x a day isn't quite enough.

What do you guys do?

Thank you!

 

I feed a half can (large can) of wet food twice a day (prescription D/M) but sometimes I give him little snacks throughout the day if he seems hungry. It's my understanding that this is okay so long as you are feeding a low carb food.

I also found that giving 'snacks' helped my little guy out when his BG was sky high. This was because the insulin (Vetsulin) would drop his BG very quickly and it seemed that his body would "panic" and that caused his BG to skyrocket again to compensate for the quick drop. It was too harsh of a drop for him and the snacks helped his body realize that it did not have to bring the BG way up if he was coming down too quickly. He WAS on 6u 2x a day and now he's down to 2u!

I'm sure others with more experience will have much more information for you, but that is my experience with food

 

Thanks! Does he eat the whole 1/2 can? How long do you leave it out? I try to feed twice a day but my problem is that the cat barely eats any then walks away. I don't know if I should leave it out longer than a 1/2 hour or if I shuold just take it away. What do you do?

 

Since Lantus (glargine) is a long acting insulin, there is no problem feeding a number of small meals throughout the day. Some other insulins require a larger meal before giving the shot but Lantus does not start working for about 2+ hours after the shot. You can give the meal and leave it out as long as it takes for Bobbers to eat. Just make sure that he does not eat at least 2 hours before you do the preshot testing, since the food could raise the glucose levels temporarily.

I have 2 FD kitties...one is a plate cleaner and the other is a nibbler. I leave the nibbler's food out on a table the other one can't reach and she eats when she feels like it. Feeding smaller meals more often it easier on the pancreas.


ETA If you look at the "stickies" at the top of this page:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-glargine-levemir-detemir.9/

you will find lots of information on Lantus (glargine)

 

My cat eats it all unless he isn't feeling well for some reason. It sounds like it might get tricky for you because you want to make sure Bobbers is eating enough so that he can get his insulin. I might suggest putting his food down and giving him plenty of time to graze before shooting. You could run into problems if he didn't eat much and you gave the insulin anyways.

Personally, I wouldn't take the food away so long as it's low carb; I don't see how it would hurt him to have the food out for whenever he decides to eat some more. If you're feeding a high crab food then the snacks would definitely affect the BG readings and screw his numbers up that's why it's important to make sure the food is low carb (well, that's MY understanding at least).

I am new to feline diabetes, so others may have other opinions but I can't recall seeing a message board on this site that ever recommended taking the food away. In fact, I've seen many posts regarding timed feeders. That might be a good option for you! It will let you control his snacks between insulin doses.

 

My girl Shaak eats every three hours from a timed feeder, I put her food out twice a day, it is FF Classics. so that is 8 mini meals a day. I have no problems with food going bad though it would be fine to freeze a few portions for some feedings. Shaak is OTJ, her Glucose readings run between 50 and 75. It is the fact that she has so many mini meals a day that helps keep her from needing insulin. At least that is what I have seen through my research into Feline Diabetes.

 

Lantus works very differently from vetsulin. Lantus is much gentler than vetsulin so it is not critical to have a good meal on board before shooting. We would not recommend grazing before the shot with lantus, grazing afterwards is fine.

See my answer to your post in the introduction forum.

 

I feed my cats 5 times a day and it varies between 1/4 can and 1/2 can. Always feed after getting their numbers at amps and pmps. Most folks feed within 2 hours after breakfast.
A timed bowl works great for everyone I know that uses them. Start with a 1/4 can in slot and notice when your kitty is eating by what slots are empty. Every cat is different but I think 2x a day is not enough. Many cats will scarf and barf if the food isnt plentiful

 

Thanks! Are you talking about a 30z can?

 

Thanks! How much do you give her at each meal? I use FF Classic Chicken and those are tine 3oz cans. Can you tell me how many cans per day she gets? Bobbers is 17 lbs, but should be more like 15. He's a big, long boy. Thanks!

 

Can you tell me what your feeding schedule is and how much you offer? Thanks! btw I use FF chicken classic 3 oz cans.

 

A can of friskier pate.

 

Shaak eats two and a half cans of FF chicken classic a day.

 

Shaak gets 2 and a half cans a day.

 

My cat, 8 years old, Fonz, was diagnosed today with diabetes . The vet said normal levels are 70 to 100, his was 400. I'm new to this. The vet wants to keep him for 3 days to monitor and figure out how much insulin he gets, is this regular protocol ?

 

You might want to start your own thread to ask this question. It'll get more attention that way. Right now it's buried in this person's thread.

 

Hi, just came across your post and i have EXACTLY the same dilemma!?
How are you getting on now with the feeding? Many thanks!