Diabetes

Our cat was diagnosed with type II diabetes last week then had to return to the vet because her levels remained high...she now seems stabilized. She is currently on Cansulin. The vet gave me a prescription diet that she refuses to eat. I've explained this to him but he insists that she must eat this kind of food only.
Well, she has gone almost two days without much food intake because she hates this food. This morning her BG level was adequate but she wouldn't eat THAT food, so I skipped the insulin. I took curves throughout the day and her levels remained around the same. Tonight, she HAD to eat something. I did some investigating on the net and their are varieties of Fancy Feast that were recommended. Rather than seeing her starve, I gave her some and she loved it. I checked her BG level 15 minutes after eating and her level mysteriously went down a little. After an hour is was still the same. Should I give her the insulin injection anyways even though the levels are normal even after eating? I thought that eating was supposed to raise the blood sugar level. I'll still wait a few hours and check her BG level again and if it seems to be rising then I'll give the insulin. I know that we must be consistent with the insulin every day so I don't want to do something stupid that might throw her levels off. Any insight would be so greatly appreciated.
Forgive me, but I'm all new to this and baffled. I've tried calling the vet today for answers but I've gotten no response yet and I've VERY angry about that right now.

What is her GLU now? How many units and how often were you instructed to give? I'd say stick with what you were prescribed.

What kind of food did he prescribe? There are many different brands of veterinary diet diabetic food. Just because your vet doesn't sell them certainly doesn't mean it isn't an option. Most vets only see whatever brand they sell as the only option, especially with prescription diets.

I know getting the news of a diabetic cat can be a little daunting. But just be patient. It often takes lots of time to find the right balance for your baby. This may mean upping their insulin, changing their type of insulin, or changing their diet.

I know there are many TCS members with diabetes experience, so know that we are here for your support!

I highly recommend this site...the ppl on the msg board there helped save my cats life more than once....amazing info and ppl there
http://www.felinediabetes.com/

CatNurse22...here in Canada, I'm using the One Touch Ultra 2 meter. Her levels are varying between 13 and 18 mmol/L. Because it's a human type meter, the vet had told me that these levels are adequate. I'm supposed to give her 0.08 twice daily. If she doesn't eat, I'm not supposed to give it.

She was prescribed Medi-Cal by Royal Canin "Weight Control" both dry and wet formulas. She doesn't like either one. We have a multi-cat household and she was used to eating a certain kind of food. She isn't a stupid cat because she knows that THAT food still exists in the house and she wants some. The vet also talked about Purina DM but I'm afraid she'll turn her nose up at that as well.

And Nance...the site you suggested is where I read about the Fancy Feast recommendation. And yes, it is a very informative site and I will join their message board.

Thanks for the replies, so far.

Hi
You do not need or want to feed the dm or md the vet gave you. Low carb canned foods is what is best for your cat (no gravy) If you can afford it, grain free canned would be the best of the lot.
If your cat doesn't eat, you should feed anything it wants so complications like ketones don't arise.

Originally Posted by optionken

Hi
You do not need or want to feed the dm or md the vet gave you. Low carb canned foods is what is best for your cat (no gravy) If you can afford it, grain free canned would be the best of the lot.
If your cat doesn't eat, you should feed anything it wants so complications like ketones don't arise.

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DM and MD are low carb in even dry form

http://www.hillspet.com/hillspet/pro...45524441761427
http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com....aspx?prod=233


http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ighlight=DIETS

Originally Posted by sharky

DM and MD are low carb in even dry form

http://www.hillspet.com/hillspet/pro...45524441761427
http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com....aspx?prod=233


http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ighlight=DIETS

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No they are not. Both are over 10% carbs. Even innova evo dry and wellness core dry are lower in carbs
Even if they were, dry food spikes the blood glucose over comprable carbed canned foods. I have seen it again and again

Originally Posted by optionken

No they are not. Both are over 10% carbs. Even innova evo dry and wellness core dry are lower in carbs
Even if they were, dry food spikes the blood glucose over comprable carbed canned foods. I have seen it again and again

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... I understand the blood spikes but maybe you have a chart or graph that can explain it for others?? I personally would not feed a diabetic cat grain or potatoes, but my knowledge on this disease is limited to reading a few friends cats .. I am amazed how they can have these RX diets as low as they after reading the ingredients

Originally Posted by sharky

... I understand the blood spikes but maybe you have a chart or graph that can explain it for others?? I personally would not feed a diabetic cat grain or potatoes, but my knowledge on this disease is limited to reading a few friends cats

.. I am amazed how they can have these RX diets as low as they after reading the ingredients

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Thank you for asking. First off I agree about the grains and potatoes but things can still work if the carbs are kept low. Some cats are more sensitive to grains and such and their blood glucose can spike much higher then other cats would on the same food.

As far as charts, i do not have any. I only have stories from people whom have diabetic cats. Some of these cats were in remission and they were blood tested after being fed something like evo which is low in carbs especially for a dry food. Non diabetic numbers like 50 became borderline numbers like 140 within a few hours of eating the dry.
Since I am not allowed to link another cat board here nor allowed to directly copy the stories there is nothing I can do as far as that goes
Sorry but thanks for the interest
The OP went to the fdmb and they can tell her (and show her) the same thing.
Best wishes

An update on my diabetic kitty.
For the past couple of weeks, she was responding really well to the Caninsulin. I am now nearing the bottom of the bottle and her BG levels have started going up. Not alarmingly high but higher than they were. She's also started drinking more whereas she had slacked off on the drinking.
I have a new bottle and am going to use it tonight. I follow the instructions really well on how to stir the insulin.
I haven't called the vet because he'd want me to bring her in and she doesn't take too well to being transported anywhere (makes a terrible mess in her carrier) plus it's 45 minutes away.
I still have a week to go before testing her urine using the Glucotest urinary strips that we put in the litter box, as instructed by the vet.
Has anyone experienced their cat responding well then starting to fluctuate?
Thanks to anyone who can help me out.

Hi

Bg's fluctuate all the time. caninsulin is known for not having enough duration to last 12 hours for many cats. I would like to see 2 weeks worth of numbers to know what is going on. What are you feeding now???

There is no reason to bring your cat to the vets. The tests there would be inaccurate due to stress and a fructosamine is a waste of money
You are hometesting. The strips in the litter will only tell you if there is ssgar in the urine or not
I also don't know what you call 'responding well' \\Normal numbvers (Canadian) for a non diabetic cat range from about 2.2- 7. You eventually want to get the numbers under the renal threshold which means all numbers under 11.1 or so. If the numbers have risen in general, you my just need a new bottle

Originally Posted by Catgal

An update on my diabetic kitty.
For the past couple of weeks, she was responding really well to the Caninsulin. I am now nearing the bottom of the bottle and her BG levels have started going up. Not alarmingly high but higher than they were. She's also started drinking more whereas she had slacked off on the drinking.
I have a new bottle and am going to use it tonight. I follow the instructions really well on how to stir the insulin.
I haven't called the vet because he'd want me to bring her in and she doesn't take too well to being transported anywhere (makes a terrible mess in her carrier) plus it's 45 minutes away.
I still have a week to go before testing her urine using the Glucotest urinary strips that we put in the litter box, as instructed by the vet.
Has anyone experienced their cat responding well then starting to fluctuate?
Thanks to anyone who can help me out.

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cats. The very best site in the world is www.yourdiabeticcat.com. Run by the vet, Elizabeth Hogkins. Got me through some rough times. Keep the carbs out. There is a formula on how to calculate the carbs in the food you feed. So much information on this site. Good luck to you.

I've always loved jmpeerson's lists of foods - prescription and non, dry or canned, with a breakdown of per centage of protein, carbs, fat and more for each...and the site is kept updated. Just google that name and it will come up.

My favorite site for support and info re diabetes in cats, that I don't see mentioned yet, is gorbzilla.com.

When my cat was first diagnosed with diabetes I did everything the vets told me....I was 3/4 weeks into dealing with his illness b4 I found http://www.felinediabetes.com/ after reading everything I could and talking with ppl on the board I eventually stopped taking my cat to the vet once a week...I learned to treat him at home...even dealt with high bg and low bg with the help of the message board....saved my cat from being so stressed out...and to be honest saved me alot of money I was just wasting before seeing the vet....I used caninsulin as well for my cat....

Have you done a curve for your cat yet ? Then u get a better idea of how is levels are thought the day....I would do curves every 2 weeks to see how the insulin was working....and after the curve I would up it if his levels didn't get low enough...I would go up very slowly...and after a week or two I would do another curve to see if it helped....once his levels were good with the insulin...then I wouldn't do another curve for 3/4 weeks ....I did also check his levels everything single time b4 I would give him insulin...and make a judgement call at that time on how much to give him....you need to check his bg b4 each shot...you don't want to give to much or to little....

Originally Posted by farleyv

cats. The very best site in the world is www.yourdiabeticcat.com. Run by the vet, Elizabeth Hogkins. Got me through some rough times. Keep the carbs out. There is a formula on how to calculate the carbs in the food you feed. So much information on this site. Good luck to you.

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I agree with farleyv, 110%. Simply the best site in the world for diabetic cats. My Callie was diagnosed with Feline Diabetes on February 23, 2009. On April 1, 2009 I announced that she was officially off insulin. She hadn't needed it for two weeks. Its because I followed the "tight regulation" protocol created by Dr. Hodgkins. Your kitty does not need to eat dry cat food. It needs to be thrown out. All of it including cat treats. They are high in carbs, basically like eating cereal all of the time. Your kitty needs to be on a wet food diet only. Also, it looks like you aren't blind dosing (i.e. giving her insulin without testing her BGLs first). That's great! Please also check www.diabeticcatcare.com. If you would like more information, feel free to PM me. If you do decide to start your kitty on the protocol, please read it carefully before starting. I'm at www.diabeticcatcare.com, not yourdiabeticcat.com now. There are a lot of people there willing to help you. I hope to see you there.

I was overwhelmed when I had another cat become diabetic. It is not a death sentence. Goofy gets his insulin twice a day, and it is like a ritual with him. No big deal. Your cat can live a normal life on insulin, but hopefully you can get him off it with the TR practiced on Dr. Hodgkins site. Knowledge is power, so learn all you can and it will make you feel better about having a diabetic cat. Good luck and keep us posted!!

Yourdiabetic cat is not the best site for diabetes, has a very aggressive unpublished protocol and can be downright dangerous. Starting with an unproven if not disproven premise that a cat 'cannot' hypo if low carb food is fed has caused the death of a few there

Dissenting opinions are not allowed there. Cats that have hypoed on their program have had their owners blamed for it and posts where cats have died or where there is any questions of the protocol are removed from the board. Dr hodgkins is a wondeful nutritionist and the protocol has merits for some cats but I would use that site only when many other things are tried first
The aggressive protocol over there whose goal is remission in cats does not have a better remission rate then what is the norm and then by doing things in a much safer way.

Originally Posted by LovesMyCats

It needs to be thrown out. All of it including cat treats. They are high in carbs, basically like eating cereal all of the time. Your kitty needs to be on a wet food diet only.

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I agree with this except to note that there are a number of cat treats that *are* suitable for diabetic kitties. They are the single protein treats by companies such as Whole Life Pet Products, Grandma Lucy's, Wildside Salmon, which are freeze-dried and contain nothing but the listed protein.

Hi Pat! I should've clarified that certain treats are okay for diabetic cats such as the ones you mentioned. I feed mine the Whole Life freeze dried chicken. Thanks for catching that.