Jack 03/14 - AMPS 343, +3 392, PMPS 380, +3 334

Yesterday

 

Today seems to be a bounce day. Is it okay for me to take a break from testing until later on in the cycle?

Was really excited because he was being super sociable and active (usually means he's either in good numbers or extra high) and of course it's the latter and he's close to 400...

 

@Gill & George so I offered a full can after his shot and took it away at +1 because I wasn't sure how long to leave it out for. What's a good amount of time to leave it out before taking it away? I'm assuming as he gets used to having food available for a limited time he will learn to finish it before it comes time to take it away? Should I be offering larger portions when he's bouncing or surfing high BGs since they don't absorb as much when they're high?

 

Hi Angela,
Sorry I have been out all morning, only just logged on.

I would give it to him and pick it up when he walks away.
I would imagine he will get used to it not being always available, but you will need to play it by ear, and you may have to slowly change his routine, as of course you want him to be eating enough.

I always gave the same amount didn't look at what the BG was doing, I worked out how many calories he needed to be getting and then fed that, with the exception that if he was heading quite low in the cycle he would get extra snacks or HC if he was below 50.
George lost weight at diagnosis, but soon started putting it back on when he was getting to spend more time in regular numbers and his weight leveled out.
You mentioned he's lost quite a bit of weight since being diagnosed, was he overweight to begin with? is he a good weight now?

This is a good post on how much to feed your cat and the reasoning
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/feed-kitty-as-much-as-they-want.205170/

 

He's still overweight so it's hard to know if he's eating properly since he has weight to lose, I just find he's losing it too fast - when he was diagnosed on January 22nd he weighed 17 pounds, now he weighs 15 pounds. The vet wants him at 12-13lbs based on his size. He weighed 22lbs in October and has quite a bit of muscle loss - one of his liver enzymes was high (ALT) when they did his blood work and the vet said it was indicative of hepatic lipidosis from the weight loss since none of his other liver enzymes were high or low to suggest any other liver problems (only other abnormal test was his RDW which the vet says comes with muscle loss).

 

I used the calorie counter in that link and it says my cat should be consuming about 318 calories a day based on his ideal weight (about 3.5 cans of FF - calculated with the numbers on Dr. Lisa's chart). How can I force him to eat more? I can only get him to eat 2 cans when his sugar is good, maybe 3 but it takes a whole day of me bringing him to his bowl over and over. If I start taking his food away, I feel like he'll just go back to eating 2 cans since I won't be force feeding him at all hours anymore

 

Sounds like a very similar story, to George, he was too fluffy, just short of 9kg(19llb) at diagnosis he had lost weight and body condition/muscle tone he was down below 7.5kg. (16llb) (still overweight), his weight crept up a bit once he got regulated and then I watched his calorie intake so that gradually (very slow) he is down at 6.5-7kg(14-15llb) his ALT was also raised at diagnosis, but was normal when we did the BW again.

that's to maintain weight, but if you want him at 12-13llb he still needs to loose, a bit so when I put the figures in it comes out at 240. FWIW when I've used that calculation, George put weight on, it seemed to overestimate it for him.

Have you had a look at DR lisas site Catinfo.org.
This is from her section on feline obesity.
Hepatic lipidosis can also develop when a cat consumes 50% or less of his daily caloric requirements over a period of many days. The definition of “many” varies from cat-to-cat. For this reason it is important to understand that you need to have some idea of the calories from canned food combined with the calories from dry food that your cat is consuming on a daily basis while you are implementing the transition to canned food.

I have never seen a cat develop hepatic lipidosis when consuming at least 15 calories per pound per day. This number is figured on lean body weight, not fat weight.

If your cat weighs 18 pounds but really should weigh 12 pounds, please make sure that he is consuming ~180 calories per day. (12 pounds lean body mass X 15 calories/pound/day = ~180 calories/day)
In practice I aimed for somewhere in between the calculator and the above calculation.

I have a yoga class to get to, so I have to dash out, I will get back to you later on, there's some other links I am just struggling to find at the minute.

 

Absolutely. These are "save a strip (or two) day". I would even go until the next preshot knowing it was safe to do so. Of course if you are data gathering, no harm in sneaking in a later test.

 

@Gill & George that makes me feel a lot better about the bloodwork! I got all paranoid at first looking for jaundice everyday lol.

Will find an in between happy medium with the calories like you mentioned. I think it'll be easier to get him to eat more and the amount that I want when he knows it's being taken away. The whole reason he got fat in the first place was because of my other cat Charlie (also fat) coming in and eating all the food, so Jack would eat as much as he could before Charlie got there (even my skinny cat Sammy went up from 8 to 12lbs the first year we had Charlie lol).

 

That's what I ended up doing. He's being a total potato and breathing heavy so I know he's high.