New to the group. Furbaby recently diagnosed with diabetes and feeling overwhelmed.

Hi everyone I’m new to this group and from Edmonton, Canada. My furbaby Mimo was recently diagnosed with diabetes. The vet prescribed her 2 IU of Lantus every 12 hours and wants her to be fed twice a day. She wants to see Mimo in 12-14 days to do an insulin curve.

Mimo is currently being fed canned Purina DM. In the past Mimo was free fed during the day and was on Fancy Feast Classic pate. She likes to nibble throughout the day. I’m struggling to get her to adjust to her new feeding schedule. If any of you have any suggestions of what I can do that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

Welcome. The fancy feast pate is absolutely fine to feed, most of us use it or Friskies pate. You can always take the DM back for refund and just say kitty won't eat it.

A lot of us feed through out the day. My girl is fed every 3 hrs around the clock, if not she throws up.

Home testing is very important. It allows you to know how insulin is working and if glucose is going to low, heading into critical hypo situation. It will also allow you to do curves at home saving you money and stress on kitty. Usually glucoses rise when kitty is at vet so results might not be very accurate.

Human meter is just fine. I don't know what is available in Canada. You want one that takes small drop of blood and strips are cheap (it's what costs the most during treatment).

This will be overwhelming at first, there is a lot to learn but everything to gain.

Others will be along to provide more info.

 

Thank you for replying, and thank you so much for the information

 

Welcome! Most of us do feed multiple meals each day. Come over to the Main Health Forum and tell us more about sweet Mimo (she’s beautiful!!!!) and we will try to give you some tips on how to best care for her. Hope to see you there!

 

Just wanted to say welcome and you are not alone. Many of us are dealing with the same issues. Our Pinot was diagnosed on 6 June 2019. The biggest impact on his sugar level was to get him off hard food and feed low carb canned food. Learn how to home test. I found the folks here a true blessing. Listen to the knowledgeable folks here and you will get through this. Take it one shot/blood test at a time. Hang in there!

 

Thanks for your kind words Robert

 

Hi and welcome Wendy and Mimo. Mimo is a beautiful kitteh and we want to help you learn how to provide effective diabetic treatment. We all started right where you are, having some information via vet, but looking for more and of course the support of fellow cat parents who have traveled a little further down this road than you have right now.
As Sharon14 suggested, start a thread on the Main Health forum HERE so that more members can review and respond.
We can help answer questions about diet and provide what we've found out about feeding schedules for our sugar cats; blood sugar testing at home, and there is an insulin specific support group forum that includes Lantus users.
Lots of good information, tremendous member support. As Robert said "take it one shot/blood test at a time".

 

Welcome to the place you never wanted to be!

But.... it’s one of the best, kindest, most supportive and helpful places I’ve ever come across. Everyone helps and just because they care. So you’ve come to the right place to get less overwhelmed!

I believed the feed only twice a day myth right at first, but my Alice always chose her own feeding schedule, so I ditched that misconception pretty fast. Unless there are concerns about weight, as long as you are feeding low carb there ought not be anything wrong with multiple small meals a day. A typical cat needs about 20-30 calories per pound of body weight per day, depending on age and activity level and other health concerns. A diabetic may need a little extra because they may not utilize their nutrients as well, so you can do something like go for the higher calorie range for your cats ideal weight and then break it into at least six meals a day, but even just four would be better than two! A lot of Lantus users feed the bulk of the meals during the first half of the insulin cycle, but this isn’t required either. You’ll get the best info to know what works for your cat when you get home testing data.

Hugs to you both, and hopefully Mimo will be feeling better soon!

 

Thanks for responding and for your kind words How many cans of Fancy Feast should she be eating daily?

 

Do you know how much she weighs? Is she under- or overweight?

If 10lbs for example, then you would feed a normal cat 200-300 calories. Low end is for indoor kitties who don’t get much activity. Diabetic cats may need a little extra but if you are trying to help kitty lose weight that makes things different. I’m sorry there isn’t a simpler answer without more info!

 

Hi Mimo is 20 pounds. She’s overweight. I’ve been giving her 1 1/2 cans of fancy feast pate when it’s time for her to eat. I’m not sure if that’s too much or not enough.

 

How often are you feeding? You may be giving about 130 calories per meal as a rough average. The precise number of calories will vary by flavor somewhat.
Do you have an idea of what her ideal weight would be?

 

“IMHO, we DO have to reach a happy medium. When Alex was initially diagnosed and put on insulin I calculated how many calories she "should" be consuming using the guidelines found on Dr. Lisa's website. I started out with X amount of calories and then added an extra 3oz can to the total food consumed daily since diabetic cats do not utilize their food properly. Within a few weeks of being treated with insulin, I gradually reduced the total amount fed to the amount of calories she *should* be consuming. Feeding mini-meals throughout the day seemed to help satisfy her. The end result was a kitty who maintained rather than gained.”
this is quoting our moderator from a sticky located here which I would recommend reading.

 

IF kitty’s ideal weight were, for example, 15lbs, and s/he was only indoors, older, low activity, following that recommendation, perhaps approx 400 calories a day would be good. It looks like Fancy Feast classic pâtés range from 82-96 calories per can. That is roughly 4-5 cans a day. This is only based on an ideal weight of 15lbs so Mimo might need something a little more or a little less. I hope that helps.

 

I let her eat as much as she wants when it’s time for her insulin, and there are times when I have to spoon feed her. I’ve been leaving some in her bowl to free feed. I give her the turkey and liver pate, turkey and giblets or the chicken feast pate. I’m not sure what her ideal weight should be. She sees the vet next week and I’ll be sure to ask that.

 

Okay, until you know the ideal weight, 400 calories meets the minimum requirement for a 20lb cat. If you are worried that you are underfeeding, then I would be sure to feed this much at least. As long as it is low carb, you are starting out nicely! Has she been extra hungry from the diabetes?
If you are worried about overfeeding, I would probably not give more than an extra can or two of the 3oz FF. You can slowly work the food amount down to what is needed for her desired weight, later.
I know sometimes figuring things out earlier on, simple is better. As you are able to learn more over time, I think you will be able to get a better handle of it for your specific cat. There are many variables that could be considered.
I remember feeling this panic, trying to figure out how much to feed my underweight super starving cat, before I found FDMB.
You’re doing well!