Sydney & Tigg (GA)
Member
Hi All,
I'm new here, and for a little background, I have a 7 year old male cat named Tigg (he was a crazy kitten with wild black hair, so he's named after the SofA character). Tigg has been a free feeding grazer his whole life, and always had a big appetite. He was never obese, but he was a pretty large cat in general. Then he had started losing weight and drinking more water in a day than I do, so I brought him to the vet.
He was diagnosed with diabetes almost 3 weeks ago, and started on Lantus and DM dry food. He was underweight at the vet, so I was told to give him 1/3 of a cup twice a day before his 1 unit shot. When we got home that night and I gave him his measily little scoop, he scarfed it back and gave me the usual side-eye glare because his bowl was empty, so I tried giving him some of his old food to transition him slowly to his new food. He was insulted by this offering and demanded more of the new food so I let him have a little more.
I asked the vet the next day about giving him more food, and was told I could give him up to 1 and 1/4 cups a day because they didn't want him gorging himself because it would make his diabetes harder to regulate. I started him on several small meals throughout the day and also started mixing in some FF transition him to wet food. I lost my job a week before his diagnosis so I can't afford $100 for 10lbs of dry food.
My concern is how incinsistently he will eat. With both the dry diet, and now the wet/dry diet, I can't seem to find a routine for him. Some days he will have a few bites when I give him fresh food, then still have half of it in his bowl when it's time for his next meal. Then other days he gulps it down immediately and is crying for food an hour later. If he's underweight, I don't want to deny him food if he is hungry and make him wait for his next meal, BUT when he has a hungry day, his stomach will be so full of food that he looks like he's pregnant. His belly will be rock hard and all he does is lay on the floor, but he still uses the litter box so I don't think he is constipated. I hate not giving him food when he is crying at his bowl for more, but he feels like he is gonna explode so I don't think I should.
I brought him to the vet for his first glucose curve and mentioned his eating to the vet. His dose was increased to 2.0 units after his appointment 3 days ago, but I didn't get much advice on this though because Tigg had a slight fever and the vet was more concerned with that. IHis fever is gone at least.
I got the vet to walk me through using the AlphaTral 3 with me, so we are just starting to get the hang of at home testing. I've gotten 5 readings since that appointment, and the lowest was 443mg/dL about 5 hours after his shot today. Before his meal and nighttime shot, it was 540mg/dL, but I don't want to increase his dose since it's only been three days since the last increase, and he isn't eating the same amount of food from one day to the next.
I'm not sure what I should do, so if there's any tips or advice I'd love to hear it.
Thanks,
Sydney and Tigg
I'm new here, and for a little background, I have a 7 year old male cat named Tigg (he was a crazy kitten with wild black hair, so he's named after the SofA character). Tigg has been a free feeding grazer his whole life, and always had a big appetite. He was never obese, but he was a pretty large cat in general. Then he had started losing weight and drinking more water in a day than I do, so I brought him to the vet.
He was diagnosed with diabetes almost 3 weeks ago, and started on Lantus and DM dry food. He was underweight at the vet, so I was told to give him 1/3 of a cup twice a day before his 1 unit shot. When we got home that night and I gave him his measily little scoop, he scarfed it back and gave me the usual side-eye glare because his bowl was empty, so I tried giving him some of his old food to transition him slowly to his new food. He was insulted by this offering and demanded more of the new food so I let him have a little more.
I asked the vet the next day about giving him more food, and was told I could give him up to 1 and 1/4 cups a day because they didn't want him gorging himself because it would make his diabetes harder to regulate. I started him on several small meals throughout the day and also started mixing in some FF transition him to wet food. I lost my job a week before his diagnosis so I can't afford $100 for 10lbs of dry food.
My concern is how incinsistently he will eat. With both the dry diet, and now the wet/dry diet, I can't seem to find a routine for him. Some days he will have a few bites when I give him fresh food, then still have half of it in his bowl when it's time for his next meal. Then other days he gulps it down immediately and is crying for food an hour later. If he's underweight, I don't want to deny him food if he is hungry and make him wait for his next meal, BUT when he has a hungry day, his stomach will be so full of food that he looks like he's pregnant. His belly will be rock hard and all he does is lay on the floor, but he still uses the litter box so I don't think he is constipated. I hate not giving him food when he is crying at his bowl for more, but he feels like he is gonna explode so I don't think I should.
I brought him to the vet for his first glucose curve and mentioned his eating to the vet. His dose was increased to 2.0 units after his appointment 3 days ago, but I didn't get much advice on this though because Tigg had a slight fever and the vet was more concerned with that. IHis fever is gone at least.
I got the vet to walk me through using the AlphaTral 3 with me, so we are just starting to get the hang of at home testing. I've gotten 5 readings since that appointment, and the lowest was 443mg/dL about 5 hours after his shot today. Before his meal and nighttime shot, it was 540mg/dL, but I don't want to increase his dose since it's only been three days since the last increase, and he isn't eating the same amount of food from one day to the next.
I'm not sure what I should do, so if there's any tips or advice I'd love to hear it.
Thanks,
Sydney and Tigg