When and how much to feed?

Hi!

I have a question or two about feeding. My girl is now only eating fancy feast wet food (previously on M/D dry). I generally give her 2 cans in the morning (one pre-shot and one before I leave for work). In the evening, I give her 1 can pre-shot and then sometimes another later in the evening. Sometimes I make it 3 cans per day vs 4 (so the snacks would be a half a can each). She's a bit tubby at 14 pounds (though she was 19 before she was diagnosed, so she's doing better!), so of course, I'm worried that I'm feeding her too much. She ALWAYS wants more food! If I walk toward the kitchen, she immediately pops her head up and watches to see if that's what I'm doing.

My questions are:
1) Is 4 cans a day too much? I definitely don't want her putting on any more weight! She's had 3 hypo episodes in the past 8 months, so I think my tendency is to give more, rather than less food. :-(
2) Is it better to give her the 2 cans all at one time, or space them out a bit? For example, if I'm home all day, I could do one in the morning and then a mid-day snack, and then the same for the evening.
3) How does feeding her in the middle of her cycle affect her BG? Is it helpful or harmful to the numbers?

One thing that I have noticed is that on the 2 evenings that I only gave her 1 can of food after her PM shots, her AMPS BGs were in the red. The only 2 times that has happened...which is making me ask these food questions.

I'm new to all this testing/monitoring business, so I'm on a mission to make sure that I'm getting it right. Thanks so much for listening and I look forward to your thoughts!! Cheers!

s

 

Hi there,
I have one question: when you say feed pre-shot, how much before the shot?

Ideally, you want to give no food for the 2 hours before each shot or the food will influence your BG numbers. If your shots are 6am/6pm, then try to remove food at 4am and feed when you give the 6am shot. The same goes for the evening. Remove all food at 4pm, then feed as soon as you have given the 6pm shot.

1. I don't think you can say how much food to feed until the cat is regulated. When I first got Oliver, he was sometimes eating up to 30oz of food a day; their bodies are unable to process the food to make the energy, and extract the nutrients, so they are always 'hungry'. Oliver is eating less than half the amount of foods now. When Shadoe was first dx, she was not eating all that large amount, but once she started on insulin, she started to get better but her appetite went through the roof. Some days she would go through 24oz of foods.
Hypo episodes I would not blame on the amount of food, but rather the amount of insulin, I think.

2. It is best to spread the foods evenly throughout the day for best results. Even human diabetics spread out their food intake as it makes for more balanced and steady blood sugars. By feeding large infrequent amounts you will just cause sugar spikes and drops.

3. Feeding mid cycle is not a problem. you can always use an auto feeder to divide up the foods.
Petsafe 5-meal Auto Feeder

Feeding something every 3 hours would be good.

 

Hi-

Oops! I can see that just saying 'pre-shot' was a little unclear w/o letting you in on our routine! Each morning (and evening) our routine is test-feed-shoot....so pre-shot means moments before giving her insulin.

My food/hypo comment was not so much that the food caused it, but more so that making sure she's had enough food will lessen the likelihood? After the first episode (when she was on Vetsulin), my vet made a point to note the importance of her eating. It was for sure the insulin though...the old vet had her on 4 units twice a day!!! Grrrr!

I'll look into that feeder you suggested.....she just always seems so hungry!

Thanks so much for your help!!

s

 

Mix some water into the food, (about 1/4 of a can to 1/3 of a can). The additional water will make her feel more full.

~M

 

Hi Mary-

Thanks for the tip! I've done that a couple of times now....gonna start to make it a part of our daily routine. Cheers!

s

 

You may find that spreading out the total food for the day will help to kill that 'always hungry' attitude. If you think about yourself, you would get pretty hungry if you ate just a couple times a day.

If you are keeping the food intake more frequently, you will also have better balanced blood sugars that that's our goal pretty much. Balance the numbers and slowly bring them down.

The feeder is fantastic because you can be away and not have to worry about all the food being eaten 10min after you have gone out and then poor kitty is starving for the rest of the day!

Adding the water is something I started doing after Shadoe's pancreatitis attack. While it helps to kill the hunger feelings, it also keeps them better hydrated. if you ever give any additive like Miralax to relieve constipation, again you must add the extra water as the miralax pulls water from the body to work its magic.

Since I started adding the water to their foods, Shadoe gives me glares if there is not enough water in the foods! She prefers soupy slop, so that is what she gets.

 

Hi-

Yes, I am going to look into getting the feeder. And I am adding water to her food at all meals now. I made it pretty soupy the other day and was afraid she wasn't going to like it, but she gobbled it up as usual! She's definitely one of those kitties that finishes her food moments after I put it down, so being able to space it out will be nice.

OH! We had a vet visit today and she's actually lost a pound since coming off the dry food. Soooo....looks like my concerns about feeding her too much are not warranted. Pfewf!

Thanks again for your suggestions!!

s