Newbie diagnosis - how long can i go in between shots?

Hi,

My cat is 13 yo and we just found out he has diabetes last Thursday. We first gave him his shot at 10 am the next day. Then we couldn't get him to eat around the time that night. Then the next morning, we gave him his shot at 7:30am. Then we couldn't get him to eat around 7:30 that night. We really wanted to get him around 8am/pm each day.

Anyways, this has been going on for a few days now and now I am waiting for him to give him his food and it's 8:12 (he had his shot at 7:49 this morning).

Can I give it to him as late as 9pm? Or should I just skip it again tonight.

This is so hard! The cat is used to eating several times a day. In fact, he's been eating 6x a day - trying to wean him onto wet food, but it's so hard.

Please let me know if I can give him his shot as late as 9pm or should I just skip it?

Thanks so much,
Jackie

 

Hello and welcome to the board!

What kind of insulin are you giving? that makes all the difference in shot time etc.

Wendy

 

Hi Jackie and welcome! What's your kitty's name and what state are you in? Feline diabetes is very manageable and your kitty may be one of those who can be controlled by diet. Maybe. It is great that you are transitioning to wet food! What type of wet food are your transitioning him to?

My name is Kat and Gobbles is my 11 year old neutered kitty, who is in diabetic remission. He was on Lantus for six months, then went into remission. He is a diet-controlled diabetic.

Without knowing what his blood glucose level is, I would NOT, ever, give him a shot. It is just far too dangerous to inject a cat with insulin, without knowing if they are at a safe level to shoot. Do you have a glucometer?

As Wendy stated: which insulin is your cat on? What dosage?

 

Thank you for the welcome!

He is getting Guargine 1cc 2x a day.

Oh boy - I have a glucometer but I cannot seem to get blood from him. His name is Petie (usually Petie-Pie) and he was just diagnosed on Thurs. He goes back to the vet tomorrow. I did a keto-diastix on Saturday and it was Ketone positive - but he's perfectly happy and healthy, using his scratch pad and eating well and begging for one drink (which is down from the constant drinking of last week!).

His blood glucose level was 450 and then went down to 403 without eating for a almost 10 hours that day.

 

Petie is on Lantus, then. Awesome! We can help you with testing Petie. Are you trying to get blood from his ear and/or his paw pad?

He was positive for ketones? If so, that is not good. Did you mean negative? Can you test him again, tonight? Ketones are nothing to mess around with. What color did the stick change to?

When and how did you get the blood glucose levels of 450 and 403?

 

Do you mean 1 unit? What size of syringes are you using?

 

Ketones are VERY serious! Any ketones over trace can be life threatening and you should call the emergency vet!!!

The lack of eating may have caused ketones as well as not enough insulin. When did he last eat??

Lantus (glargine) is supposed to be given every 12 hours (give or take 15-30minutes). But given his ketone history I would not skip it.

But really try to get a test first !! Here are some tips.. But the key is to get the ear really warm, out something hard behind the ear to press against and for now I would try freehanding the lancet instead of the device..

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13c_CPZVKz27fD_6aVbsguadJKvjSrSAkD7flgPPhEag/pub


Wendy

 

The doctor took his blood glucose at 11am (450) and again at 6pm (403) last Thursday.

1cc of lantin - not sure what size the syringe is?

I called the doc and told him that the keto stick was the last color on teh strip but that he was fine. The vet said he is going to have ketones for a while until we get his sugar under control.

I also have to mention the cat just recovered from a fractured paw (and frequent vet visits) and an abrupt change in food.

 

we used a regular needle to try and get blood out of his ear, but it was a no go and petie didn't like it.

 

We have an appt at 2:30pm tomorrow and hopefully she can show us how to get blood from him for the glucometer

 

What kind of ketone strips are they? Can you look at the pack and type what it says on it? Ie ketodiastix or ketone strips or what.

A blood test is important in this case, I am worried how high he is. Please try warming the ear and then poking at a 45degree angle . What did you use last time to put behind the ear? Was it something hard?

They get used to testing and its less painful than you pricking your own fingers as they have less nerves in them so don't worry. Make sure you give a treat after.

Wendy

 

Ketodiastix. And we will try that again tonigh to prick his ear and wwarmer it first. All of this is soooo hard. Thank you all for your kind posts.
and yes hewasn't eating very regularly when I took that reading. He is so much better now. can you tell me how you get his urine? I was using newspaper but the paper absorbed it andI had to smear the stick on the paper.

 

Ah so ketodiastix have two little pads.. One for sugar and one for ketones, which one went dark? Both? Just teh sugar one?

Here's how to collect urine.. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1quta5WLEjdO0Y_t2dAYSwN84h-LNZWxOdtVsJDKZ16A/pub

It gets easier, and we are here to help!

Wendy

 

Also we spoke with the vet who said we could vary by 2-3 hours no more. But we managed to give him his shot at 830. Phew!

 

Dd you see my message above about the strips?

 

For the blood glucose testing, you don't want to use a needle. Instead, use a lancet. Go to the pharmacy and purchase 27 or 28 gauge lancets. Optionally, get the lancet device to hold the lancet and poke it.

There are urine testing tips in my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools.

With Lantus, it is really important to give the shots as close to 12 hours apart as possible.

The terminology is really important, so I want to clarify something for you.

Lantus is an insulin with 100 units in 1 cc (aka 1 mL). That's why they call it a U-100 insulin and have a matching U-100 syringe.

I doubt you are giving 1 cc - that would be giving him 100 units of insulin.
I suspect you are giving him 1 unit - the first tiny little mark on the syringe if the syringe marks full units or the second tiny mark on the syringe if it marks half units.

 

Both were the darkest on the scale.

 

Tonite? Or Saturday?

You really want to discuss diabetic ketoacidosis with your vet tomorrow. It's a serious and expensive condition to treat.


Wendy

 

that was on Saturday. He is soooo much better now. He is actually eating a little bit of the wet food and he loves loves loves dehyrdated chicken and beef and lamb lungs. i sprinkle that on the wet food along with some of his old dry food and he eats that about 4 times a day. he never eats the whole thing, only a couple of teaspoons at a time, but i am also supplementing it with about 4 tablespoons of dry food on it's own. i am also giving him mother's milk and florazyme - all in small doses since i just got them on friday.

i am also thinking on using something called immuno-dmg liquid but it might be all too much at once and i don't want to shock his system too much!

he is finally back to regular pooping, scratching and coming out for visits

 

will the vet tell me tomorrow if he has diabetic ketoacidosis? could he still have it and be eating and scratching and coming out for visits? please now i am scared

is this a bad vet for telling me differently? should i call another vet?

 

I'm surprised at that.

It sounds like he is doing much better. If he were in DKA, he would be very ill, so it is unlikely.

 

Oh phew. Yeah the doc said if his behavior is fine then all is well. He said you can't just go by the stick reading, you have to go by his behavior as well and he is alert and scratching things and eating and following us around. But I am anxious to see what the reading is tomorrow and having the doc show me how to get blood and do a reading. Have a good night and thank you so much.

 

Ok cool - let us know how you get on!

Wendy

 

Hi fellow posters,

We just got back from the vet and the vet said he is doing wonderfully. No ketones in the urine! My reading must have been off - again, the urine was about 30 mins old and I rubbed the stick on the newspaper. I am going out to get some non-absorbent stuff and will test his urine every other day like the vet suggested.

His blood glucose went from 403-311 and he went down from 13 pounds to 12.4 pounds. The glucose is GREAT, but the weight concerns me because at first he started eating the wet food (I douse it in dehyrdrated chicken and put his dry food on it and keep offering him different flavors and brands). Well when I say eating the wet food, he was licking it and eating his dry food off of it. Now he doesn't go near it and I want to keep calories in him so I am concerned. He just started doing that today. I am not sure what to do. The doc gave me Hill m/d dry food to see if he will eat that. Next time I feed him I will mix the hill's dry d/m in with his dry food on top of the wet, but I hate it when he walks away from the wet food.

Any ideas? I tried putting tuna on it - it was a no go. I tried dousing it in 100% freeze dried chicken breast, no go. I tried lamb's lung which he liked at first, now he doesn't. I also got 100% freeze-dried beef and it's a no go.

I don't know how hard to push it. Should I keep offering it to him even though he is walking away? This morning he ate a tiny bit of the dry food on top of the wet food, but not enough to give him his shot so I gave him a couple teaspoons of his dry food which he ate quickly. He didn't quite finish it, but ate about 2 teaspoons full.

I wish I could magically have him eating 2x a day and eating wet food only. I really feel like his diabetes would turn around!!

I have to keep reminding myself that for 13 years, this little kitty has eaten nothing but dry food all day long. So this is a big switch. It's so hard!!

 

That's a better blood glucose level, but still about the renal threshold; but it is a good start What is his ideal weight?

If you cannot get him to eat wet food, I highly suggest feeding him Young Again Zero Carb dry food. It is expensive, but the lowest carb food on the market (actually, about 5% carbs) and the ingredients are top-notch. You can call the company, tell them you have a diabetic cat and would like a sample of the zero carb variety. Here's a link: http://youngagainpetfood.com/10browse.asp?category=cats&ProductCode=92100 This food is a much more appropriate dry food for diabetes than the prescription or any commercial dry foods. The zero carb can be used as you try to transition him to wet, and if he absolutely does not transition, IMHO, it is the best choice for dry food junkies. There are members on this board who feed zero carb to their cats, and it may make a change in your kitty's blood glucose levels, for the better.

He has to eat, bottom line. A lot of us members feed our cats several times a day--"free-ranging", if you will.

You're right, Jackie. Have you tried raw meat? cooked meat? How about sprinkling a little parmesan cheese on the wet food?

 

So are you saying that I should just give in and just go back to all dry food?

I have tried all kinds of raw meat and cooked - he doesn't like it!! He is soooo finicky. I haven't tried parmesan cheese, though. I will try that next.

I know this cat. I know he will starve himself for what he wants. Which is all dry food. But again, it's only been since last Thursday. He just never walked away from the wet food with the dry food on top and all the chicken and lamb and stuff on it.

 

Oh - I didn't see the top of your post. That food sounds awesome!! I will try that, too. I feel like I am going to have a heart attack with all of this.

How do I know what his ideal weight is? At one point, he was 18 pounds - but that was about 5 years ago and he was fat, then.

He is a big boy, though. Big boned. But he looks perfect right now, at 12.4 pounds.

 

Has anyone tried FortiFlora? Is it a good thing to give to my diabetic cat to try and get him to eat the wet food?

 

No, don't give up on the wet food. It can take several weeks before cats switch over, so keep persistent. If you haven't seen it already, you can also check out these tips for transitioning that might help you with some more ideas. That website also has a page on feline obesity and figuring out how much your cat should eat to maintain a proper weight as well as a the most comprehensive commercial cat food list available (you want to find foods with less than 10% carbs, the lower the better).

And parmesan cheese is the favorite trick in my household. Fortiflora is also a really good enticement. I tried that for the first time last week and my cats about ran me over trying to get to their food! :lol:

The great thing with Lantus is that the cat doesn't have to eat at shot time. With Lantus, it's more important for cats to eat around halfway between cycles (about 4-7 hours after a shot) than it is for them to eat before their shot. As long as he's eating at some point throughout the day and as long as his BGs are high enough (over 200), you can give him his shot.

 

You can check him against this body condition scoring chart to see how his weight measures up.

It took me 3 weeks of very hard work and persistence to switch my dry food addict Wink to wet food. Tried almost every trick and tip in that transitioning doc Kpassa gave you a link for.

 

Thank, guys. So tonight, Mark gave Petie some dry food at 5pm, so of course it's 8 and time for his shot and he's not hungry. But he did eat some wet food!! Woohoo!! But we feel not enough to give him his night shot. We'll wait and see if he comes out and eats some more, but if not, we'll skip the shot tonight. This is hard!!

Ok, I won't give up. It only took you 3 weeks? And that story about the fortiflora was awesome!! I can't wait to try that. I ordered it online and will let you know.

I have a feeling he won't be out to eat until around 10pm.

 

Keep trying with the wet and the tips the guys gave you. Also try a few different types of low carb wet foods and vary them.. Sometimes it's just a case of finding a wet food or flavourbthey love.

 

Have you tried some raw food?
I know this sounds weird, but Katie was a dry food addict for the first 2 years of her life. I tried to switch her to canned food and she just didn't like it, just wanted dry food, that was it. I knew I wanted to eventually switch both of my kitties to raw, but I mistakenly thought I had to get her her on the canned food first. Wrong! She took to the raw food immediately, hated the canned food, loves the raw. And still does to this day (6 years later).

You could give it a try...you never know. Just try a little cut up raw chicken for starters, see if he is interested. If you do want to try a raw food, I would suggest Rad Cat or Feline's Pride. They are all meat without any carbs or veggies, etc.

 

Petie came out again at 9 and he ate so we gave him his shot. I feel so bad - he just wants to come out and hang with us and we keep shoving food down his throat! I can't wait til we work this all out.

I have tried sooo many different kinds. But thanks for that! I got some venison today and he seems to like that. But at first he was licking the beef - I guess I gave him too much cuz now he sniffs it and leaves it.

I would LOVE it if Petie ate raw. Or even homemade! I have cooked burgers, tried to get him to eat raw hamburger. I also bought ham today - haven't tried that yet. I also tried roast beef. I haven't tried raw chicken though. Will try that! He is one of the most finnicky cats ever. Sigh....

 

Has anyone ever tried to give their cat eggs? Do they like them? My mom suggested I cook up some eggs. But Petie doesn't like food that is warm or cold. Just room temp.

 

Maybe a very very small amount but here is a list of stuff you can use to entice your cat to eat if he won't eat at all.. Scroll to the bottom.. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NSWUx2ak7wcs2_G5TXr7BhPMrU7CVmW_3ouKPTUQhhA/pub

 

I also wonder, why can't I just give him the dehyrdated chicken or beef as a meal? Isn't that good? Or is it because there is no moisture?

 

It's ok as a snack or a topping but it doesn't provide all the nutrients they need. Have you looked into making your own food...? Www.catinfo.org has recipes.

 

It doesn't have the proper nutrients a cat eats. When a cat kills something and eats it, they eat pretty much the whole thing, bones, feathers, and sometimes even feet. The "by-products" contain some essential nutrients for cats, so if you're making your own cat food, you need to include raw bone or a "raw food" supplement that you can buy (if you don't have a meat grinder that can handle bones).

 

Right! You guys make excellent points. I plan to make my own food eventually. But at this point, I don't think Petie knows that the mushy stuff is actually food. And he LOVES his dry stuff. I will get him off of it, though. I am committed. Even though it seems like one of the hardest things I have ever done!

 

Is ham ok for him? He absolutely LOVES ham. The holistic pet store told me that hamburger was good, so I am guessing ham is too? Going to cook some chicken next and see if he will eat that. And when you say raw chicken, do you mean chicken breast?

 

I don't think ham is good for cats. I had a vet tell me many years ago don't feed ham, it was hard for cats to digest. Hamburger is okay, it's beef.

As for the raw chicken, it can be chicken breast or thighs, I think the thighs (according to my cats) are more flavorful though. And they have more calories, as they are fattier. Make sure no bones though. Good luck!

 

I just found this concerning ham-

"Ham is very high in a number of sodium salts - sodium chloride (ordinary table salt), plus sodium nitrate &/or nitrite. Ham often has smoke flavouring, sugar & other chemicals added. All of these can upset a cat's digestion & if eaten often can even cause pancreatitis in cats."

I know he likes it, but I would say ham is a no-no.

 

Sigh. Of course - the one meat he loves to eat. Ok, chicken thighs. I wonder how you cook it? It's really funny with all of this, because I am a vegetarian and have never handled this much meat!

 

You can just cut it up in little pieces and try to give him the chicken thighs raw. As for cooking it, I am not sure, I suppose you could boil it. I don't know, I am a vegetarian also! And I make Katie's food, so I have to grind chicken, chicken liver, yuck.........oh..that's something else you could try, some chicken liver.

Chicken or liver alone is not balanced obviously, but you got to get him to eat.

 

Oh that is so funny that we are both vegetarians making all this meat for our little kitties. I even made some for my meat-eating fiance the other day because I think he might have been getting jealous of all the "meat" attention I've been paying the cat.

Ok - will try and boil it. I will offer it to him raw first and I will cook some, to offer it both ways. Yeah, these are just little feedings between the canned/dry cat food at this point. Just to get him used to all these different foods.

My eventual goal is to make my own in combination with giving him the beautiful foods they make at the holistic store - all people grade food with all the proper nutrients. But I have a feeling that is going to take a while for this finnicky kitty. I cannot wait until he will eat all good food.

 

I was just rereading your posts...Is he still eating his dry food okay? If you are just trying to wean him off the dry food, and he still wants it, don't withhold the dry completely, because he has to eat something or risk developing Feline hepatic lipidosis, and you don't want that. He HAS to eat. Weaning them off dry takes time usually.
I know it's frustrating and difficult, but you'll get through this!

 

thank you for re-reading! i hope i don't miss anything. he is absolutely still getting the dry food. i put his dry food on every dish of wet food and 2-3 times a day i give him a separate bowl AFTER the wet food dish. he usually eats about 2-3 teaspoons at a time of the dry food - which is what he has always done. I wish he would just gulp it all down so I didn't have to keep putting food out, but that's an issue we hope to deal with gradually. At least the dry food isn't down all day and all night.
i am giving him Taste of the Wild dry food mixed in with the hill m/d dry until the Young Again dry food comes in the mail.

 

I just wanted to be sure you saw this remark from KPassa. We are shooting you a lot of information so some can get lost in the clouds. The reason I mention it is because I thought I saw a post from you after this comment saying that you are not shooting because he is not eating at shoot time. Maybe I read that wrong but I wanted to be sure.

I am encouraged by his liking chicken thigh meat - mine prefer it. That's a great start and I like your tenacity.

I've been feeding the raw recipe since February and my last holdout just started eating the raw last week. I guess she finally figured out that all her old favorite foods just weren't coming back. It only took six months. She gets parmesan on top, while another civvie gets Fortiflora on top.

 

Thank you for re-reading! There is soo much info coming at me, so I appreciate you reaching out again. Well, I've had 2 different vets say that it's important that he eats around shot time, so I would be nervous to give him his shot if he hasn't eaten at this point in time. We had that problem over the weekend, of him not eating at shot time, but haven't had it since. 2 diff vets also said that if we stay within 2-3 hours of shot time, we're good. So far we haven't varied more than an hour and a half at each shot time and he's eaten at least 2-3 teaspoons and more at each shot time.

I hope hope hope to get more relaxed in all of this and go with the advice of not having to feed him at shot time - I think when I can see his glucose level that will make me feel better.

Haven't tried the chicken yet, but I plan to go out and get it today and cook it for this afternoon. I was just thinking on baking it? I'm not 100% sure. I also have the fortiflora on the way - can't wait for that!!

At this time, Petie is eating a combo of Taste of the Wild dry, HIll m/d dry, Wellness Core canned, Abady canned for cats and kittens, Purina d/m canned, Wild calling canned and I tried to get him to eat the really nice home made food from the holistic pet store but he ran away from that. I am also having to sprinkle either dehydrated chicken, dehydrated beef or lamb lung on his food to make him eat the wet food. There is no problem with the dry, of course, he eats that fine, but I really am trying to encourage the wet as much as possible. I give him a bowl of the dry 2-3 times a day, only after he either turns his nose up or eats some of his wet (with the dry on top). The parmesan was a no-go. I got a turned up nose and a walk away!

I wonder how fast can his glucose can drop? The doctor said if he is lethargic and not himself to not give him his shot and to call her. I am also going out to get the non-absorbent litter to start doing the ketone sticks every other day. But Petie is the best I have seen him in a long time. Bright and happy and moving around a lot - even though he is recovering from an injury - he had a cast on his foot for 3 weeks because he got under my fiance's feet and he stepped on the poor kitty. I attached a picture But I am not sure you can see it.

 

Aw poor Petie!! Bet you can hear him coming :lol:

Dr. Pierson from whom we get a lot of information from on catinfo.org, has a kitty that won't eat the chicken raw so she semi-bakes it at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes so that it is somewhat raw. She then runs it under cold water to stop the cooking process. The more you cook it the more unsure of the nutrient value. I guess though that if your kitty won't eat just cooked a little past raw then you could throw it back in the oven for more.

I have ordered the Wild Callings food to try so that my kitties have more variety. Canned food replaces dry food in my house - they have learned to leave it for grazing throughout the day. I also use Tiki Cat Succulent Chicken because it is just basic cooked chicken, low carb, high protein. I had a take it or leave it approach with my cats - here is what I am serving, you pass it up then you are going to be hungry until the next meal - then I made sure they ate something at the next meal. I put up with a lot of bad behavior but all that is over now that they have givin in. Even parmesan cheese did not entice them - but it does now. I noticed Fortiflora behind the counter at my Costco. I have never seen it in a store but it may be possible to purchase it.

The routine is to test (which you are not doing yet, right?), shoot, then feed. There will be a rise in bg with food so we like to test before that. Also, you mention eggs. Raw egg yolks are a part of the raw recipe but the egg whites should be cooked. They are a good source of protein. Cooking the yolks will diminish the nutrient value but if you can get your cat to eat the whole egg cooked, that's fine.

I am so happy that you are motivated to serve a proper diet. I read a great book by Michelle Bernard called "Raising Cats Naturally". That is where Dr. Pierson got her widely used raw recipe.

Hang in there. We are here to share all that we have learned doing exactly what you are doing here - asking, reading, planning, loving your kitty to want to do the very best for them.

 

I know! I sure can tell when he is comign!!

Ok, I just went out and got a whole fresh chicken thigh. I held it out to him and he sniffed it - kind of like he was going to go for it, but then he didn't. So I boiled it for 10 mins (the woman at the vet clinic said try that) and then I pulled off some pieces and he just ran away. I wonder if baking would be better? Maybe needs to be dryer for him? I don't know

So far, out of all the people grade foods, he has only eaten ham - which isn't even good for him! He didn't like fresh ground hamburger or cooked hamburger. He didn't like roast beef - freshly sliced. Now, he didn't like the chicken but he did SNIFF the raw chicken almost like he was going to eat it, so that is encouraging. I am not sure where to go from here. He also sniffed the turkey baby food, but no eating. He ran away from the chicken baby food. Maybe when I get the fortiflora I can sprinkle that on the chicken? I don't know. Maybe cook some eggs like you just suggested? What about turkey? Maybe I will only present him with one new thing a day, but Petie is just so darned smart and he LOVES variety or everything the same. It's so weird, I can't figure it out.

I am experimenting with all kinds of canned foods - abady beef (he liked that in the beginning, now he doesn't like it), he likes the wellness core beef venison lamb, he liked nature's varity venison so i also bought some beef and lamb of that, i got a case of the purina d/m which eh. He thought Merrick's BG beef was ok. Of course, when i say "likes it" i mean he doesn't run away from it. He is licking very small amounts of it. I put his dry food on top and crumble either dehydrated beef or chicken on top too and he is keeping his face in the food a little bit longer today so I hope it's working. Especially when I don't feed him the same flavor too many times in a row.

Oh the Tiki sounds great!! I will try that next, but I am getting the feeling he's not a chicken cat - but maybe because he's just not used to it.

Yes Lisa Pierson's site is very inspiring! I do hope I can get to the point where Petie is eating all good food. Hers was the first site I went on when Petie was diagnosed last Thursday and she inspired me to not give up on transitioning him to the wet food and ultimately the home made food.

Yeah - we haven't learned how to take his blood yet. My fiance says I need to take a bit of a break as I have been driving him crazy with all of this. The cat glucose meter is in the mail, so we will learn with that and some treats this weekend.

 

It took me six months of trial and error before I found a food that not only could Michelangelo eat (he's allergic to red meats) but also one he liked. The Tiki Cat Chicken and Egg is also a favorite in our house. They're not fans of it by itself, so I usually have to mix it in with their Friskies Special Diet Pate. When I don't include it, they look at their plain, boring food, look at me like I'm purposefully trying to starve them, and then walk away in disgust with how mean I am to them.

You can also try adding some warm water to the wet food to see if that will stimulate his interest. I make mine fairly mushy with about a half can of water to a full 5.5oz can of food. Some people can get a full 1:1 ratio of food and water, but my cats won't eat it when it gets too soupy (that's when the parmesan comes in handy for me).

The fortiflora is basically what they cover dry food in to make it taste so good for cats, so this will probably be your best bet all around.

This will make you feel so much better! Once you can see what his numbers are, you won't be worrying so much about whether he's too high or too low. I'm not going to lie: the first couple of weeks of testing is stressful! I even threw my lancing device (and the meter and the test strips and his BG booklet and my pen and anything else that was in my hands) across the room a couple of times in frustration. But once you get it down, it turns into such a stress-reliever! Now, whenever I'm worried, I simply test him.

Whereabouts are you located (general area)? We might have someone nearby that can assist you with testing if you would like.

 

Oh my goodness if there was someone close by to help me learn how to test Petie - that would be wonderful!! It would really, really put my mind at ease. That is too funny you threw everything. I have cried in Petie's un-eaten food many times now

I am in Brooklyn, NY 11201. If you know of anyone, I would be over the moon happy! Please let me know.

Ok, I just bought him Evo Chicken and Turkey and he ate it like he's been eating wet food this whole time. Almost an entire half can and he wolfed it down.That was so much fun to watch! Him eating and eating wet food

Now, of course, I am reading that maybe carageenan isn't very good for him and that is in the Evo cat food? And there are sooo many other things in it but I got it because it was 9% protein and no carbs. Oh boy, I don't know. I think I will try and cook some of the "From Scratch" for his feeding around his shot time. That's homemade food.

I have another question - the vet said Petie doesn't need to be seen for 3 weeks. Our next appt is on Sept 3rd. Is that safe? Esp. if he starts eating more wet food? I put in a call to the vet to see what they say and maybe I will call the other vet too and see what they say. But does anyone have any thoughts?

 

Deb & Wink - I looked at that body chart and Petie is between stout and moderate but prior to his leg being injured, he was between stout and obese. And that was just a month ago. What a difference a pound and a half makes in a cat!

 

That weight loss probably helped a lot with his diabetes.

Hope the ongoing saga of the wet food adventures have a good outcome. I got Wink to switch from dry to wet in 3 weeks, which was really fast, but he was so stubborn about eating any wet food. Fancy Feast Turkey and Giblets classic pate was the flavor that did the trick. He ate that for 2 months straight before he was willing to try other flavors.

 

Yeah - I think you are right! Oh - I am glad to know I am not the only one who has a dry food addicted kitty. I feel like such a bad mom for only feeding that to him for all these years.

 

Hi,

I see there are 57 posts, but I am afraid I can't see them all. I think I will start a new thread

Thanks everyone!!! You have helped me TREMENDOUSLY,

Jackie

 

You can try baked or boiled on the chicken. I'd buy boneless and skinless if you're not a big fan of touching or messing with getting it off the bones. That way all you have to do is cut it into bite-sized bits. NO seasonings when you cook it.

And for all of you who are vegetarians, first off, bless you for being willing to deal with meat for the sake of your kitties. I figure that's not too easy. I also hope you never get to the point where you need to resort to the "liver shake" some people have had to use for a very sick cat that won't eat ;-)

And without a doubt, dark meat chicken is far tastier than white meat chicken. :lol: More juicy too. You can eat overcooked dark meat, but breasts cooked too long might as well be "jerky". ;-)

 

After 50, it goes to a 2nd page. You can switch pages by hitting "1" or "2", at the top and bottom of the thread.

 

Thanks,Carl!! Yes - I tried to give him chicken thigh. It was a no go!! Thanks for the tip on reading more!!

I figure I will gradually add it to his canned food and then switch him to all home made - or at least partially canned and partially home made.

 

Poor Petie had some diarrhea this morning

I guess because he is eating more and more of the wet food?

 

Food changes, especially quick ones, may trigger GI upsets such as diarrhea, vomiting or food refusal.
Taking it slower may help.
Probiotics may help, too, such as FortiFlora (check our shopping partner Amazon. link at top of page).

 

Thank you so much, BJM. Yeah - I guess I was pushing it too fast. I will put more of his dry food down and a little less of the wet. I guess I didn't realize he was going to gobble so much EVO turkey and chicken at once, but now I know.

I just got the forti-flora this morning from Amazon! Ok, will put that on his next dish.

All of this must be horribly confusing for poor Petie.

 

Well, if he's gobbling up his wet food, try smearing it across a large plate to slow him down. At least you know, it will be easy to switch him entirely to the wet food. That should make a huge difference in his overall health, to only be eating the LC (low-carb) wet food.

 

Thanks, Deb - that's a good idea! Will do that next. With his last meal, I just put less of the wet stuff on. However, the only one he's truly gobbled so far was the EVO Turkey & Chicken.

I just got the forti-flora and put it on Nature's Variety Chicken and I crumbled some salmon treats and he liked that. But still not as much as the EVO turkey and chicken which if he could have he would have eaten the plate, too!!!