New Member - Question about timing feeding

Hello! My cat Candy (maybe I shouldn't have given her that name 11 years ago...) was diagnosed the day before yesterday. I had a cat (who passed away 10 years ago) who was also diabetic. I could never get that kitty (Maggie) off of insulin, it was never well-controlled, and I am determined to give Candy everything I can to help her feel better. My vet did not give me any advice about slowly switching foods, nor did she set up a slow increase in insulin. So, the day before yesterday I started Candy right in at 3 units every 12 hours and immediately switched her dry food to a low-carb/high-protein wet diet. I've been watching her closely and have noticed she has more energy and is drinking much less. I won't be able to get a hold of my vet until tomorrow, so I'm crossing my fingers that Candy is fine with this sudden insulin/food change. So speaking of food and on to my question: I've been feeding her at about the same time every morning and night, with her shot given soon after. She has seemed hungry to eat an hour or so later, as well as hours before her next scheduled feeding time. I understand that feeding and insulin delivery need to be well-coordinated.... Should I go ahead and give her food at other times of the day--basically let her eat whenever she's hungry? Or should I stick to a strict feeding schedule?
I apologize if this question has been asked and answered before: Like many of us, I'm very busy and unable to take significant time online researching. I am very grateful for this message board!!! Thank you in advance!

CandysMom

 

Are you hometesting? Starting insulin and removing all dry can lower the numbers and if your dose was based on what the vet said, then you removed the dry, your dose may be too much. Also, some newly dx'd diabetics are hungry till insulin and food all come together in the body and the cat isn't so hungry all the time. What insulin is Candy on?

 

Thank you for your reply!
She's on Prozinc.

 

I know Hope asked, but I did not see your reply -- are you home testing, Candy? It is SUPER important & critical to you knowing where Candy's blood glucose it at.

 

What dose did you start at on ProZinc? 3 units is usually the top end for most cats, with many being regulated somewhere between .5 and 3 units twice a day. As others have said, taking away all dry and going to a low carb wet food (not just any wet food will do) can drastically change the numbers you are dealing with. Walmart sells a really cheap and reliable meter that doesn't require a lot of blood and the strips are the cheapest out there (relion micro and confirm).

My recommendations are to bump it down to 1 unit and go slow. Test before each shot and maybe once around 6 or 7 hours after to get an idea of what each dose is doing. Don't up the dose until you see no or little curving after 3-4 days. ProZinc takes about 45 days to settle in, and you may not see much of any results until then. We had a minimal curve until we reached around the 45 day point and 3.5 units and then all of a sudden everything kicked in and started working a little more predictable.

The Tech part of this forum will give you instructions on how to set up a spreadsheet to help keep track of your kitty's numbers. If you can, post the link to your spreadsheet in your signature section so we can have access to it and give you better advice when ever you have questions.

Welcome to a great support group! There is a ProZinc specific group in the specific insulin section under PZI if you would like to post ProZinc focused questions there cat_pet_icon

 

Free feeding [or the closest approximate if your kitty is overweight] is best with PZI/ProZinc. I add extra water to H's food that way it does not get dry and crusty. Some freeze the wet food into ice cubes then leave out. Others [mostly overweight cats or those who eat too much] use timed feeders to try to approximate the best they can free feeding. Free feeding reduces the impact of feeding on the curve and is more natural to how cats should eat. Cats normally eat 10-20 small meals per day.

Please feel free to join us in the PZI Insulin Support Group here:
viewforum.php?f=24

Do get your spread sheet and profile going instructions at the top in the stickies here:
viewforum.php?f=6
This will help others here help you the best.

And keep reading, reading, reading all the stickies in the Health and PZI forums and other resources linked to in this great site. Again, home testing is critical especially since you have switched the food to low carb - the results can be dramatic [dramatic as in good but the insulin needs typically reduce and you need to be monitoring it]. It is usually recommended to crop back to 1u and re-regulate once the change has been made. Hopefully keytones have not been an issue for you?