Minimum amount of food before injection?

Status
Not open for further replies.

ETheCat

Member
I do 1unit of Lantus at 12pm and 12am daily

At the 12am injection last night, he only ate about half of his food

Around 7am, my cat vomitted some food, and then clear substance

He didn't eat his 12pm meal, so I had to skip that injection. His reading around that time was around 14mmol

He ended up eating a meal around 6pm, but I didn't want to change his schedule to 6 and 6

But now I tried feeding both wet and dry, and he only ate about half a tablespoon of the wet (DM Dietic Management chunks) and a few bites of the dry version (his normal meal before injections is 2 Tablespoons of the DM Kibble and he gobbles it up)

**Update on above, I changed dishes, location and grabbed a new can, and he ended up eating more, like probably 1.5 Tablespoon wet alltogether**

I don't want to skip another injection, as now he's ready in the HI again - but obviously won't do injection without food
 
Last edited:
First to answer your question - do you think he'll eat again in the next couple hours? Lantus takes a couple hours before it starts to take effect, so you have that time to get food in him. If cats don't eat, you can typically do a half dose. That's what cats can get if they are getting anaesthesia and not allowed to eat.

We'll be better able to help you with some information in your signature and the test data where we can see several days worth. Most of us use spreadsheets, as you can see in the signature with that information. How to do all this is in this post:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
 
I think he may end up eating in the middle of the night.

He usually does 4-6 Meals.

2 Main Meals is 2 Tablespoon Purina Dm Dietetic Management Dry 2x a Day (these are he Insulin meals)

and then 1-2 Mid Day/night snacks of 1tablespoon wet each Dm Dietetic Management Wet Pate or Chunk (sometimes he eats it all at once, sometimes he leaves some and comes back 3-4 hours later wanted the rest)

I had updated the main post, and got him to eat more wet food. So I ended up giving him .75 units instead of a full 1
 
Is there any reason you are feeding him the Purina Dietetic Management dry food? It's not a good food for diabetics, it's too high in carbs.

Good to see he ate some food. Looks like he prefers the wet food. The pate DM is at least suitable for a diabetic.
 
Is there any reason you are feeding him the Purina Dietetic Management dry food? It's not a good food for diabetics, it's too high in carbs.

Good to see he ate some food. Looks like he prefers the wet food. The pate DM is at least suitable for a diabetic.

Thanks, it's been about 2 hrs since his injection and he ate a little more.

The DM is what was prescribed from the vet, and they provided calculations on the amount,

He actually prefers the kibble usually for his main meal, and gobbles it up. With the wet, he wouldn't eat enough to meat his caloric needs. He is 12, and has always preffered both wet & dry food, with preference on kibble.

He has been eating this DM food for about 2 years now. He first was diagnosed 2 years ago and went into remission after a couple of months. Then last year he briefly was diagnosed and after a few weeks was back to normal. During his remission they said he should just stay on that food, so he has been.

Always open to hearing other options for food that is available in Canada.
 
I'm on the west coast of BC. Neko never got the vet food. The ingredients aren't very good and they are expensive. Lots of commercial options are available. For dry, I think we used to be able to get the Dr. Elsey clean protein at Petsmart, but not lately. I think you have to get it from Amazon. Squarepet Powercat is sold in some stores in the Vancouver area. There are lots of wet food suitable options. Check this food list for foods with carbs under 10%.
 
You don't have to go along with whatever the vet recommends or suggests :) Vets push prescription food for one reason or another: commission, lack of nutrition knowledge, etc. Be proactive in your cat's care and ask questions. Ask away here on FDMB to get opinions and thoughts on what the vet has recommended and if there might be something better out there. A lot of vets just assume a client will agree to everything and are surprised when a client questions a treatment.

As Wendy said, the DM food (both dry and canned) aren't good. The Fancy Feast Gourmet pates sold in Canada are a good low carb option. For crunchies, try air dried raw food or freeze dried raw food.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top