Cat diagnosed with diabetes

Hi All,

Our cat Cody (9 years old) was diagnosed with diabetes this morning for his normal checkup.  His blood/glucose level was over 500.  They kept him until later today to do some sort of graph to bring down his level and said he would need shots once or twice daily the rest of his life.  I have some questions.

How costly are these shots likely to be and where is the best place to purchase them?

Do we need to monitor his blood/sugar levels at home, if so how do we do this?

He currently eats Science Diet C/D multi care to prevent urinary crystals since he had a blockage
in 2008, I understand this is junk and possibly the cause of the diabetes, he doesn't
eat wet food at all and I don't want him to become blocked again.  Is there
a dry food that will control his crystals but be much lower in carbs?

Thanks for any advice.

Greg

Hi Greg! Sorry to hear about the diabetes diagnosis. My cat was also 9 when he developed diabetes, and he celebrated his 19th birthday in May. So cats can live long happy lives despite it!

Gaprofitt said:

How costly are these shots likely to be and where is the best place to purchase them?

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Do you know what type of insulin the vets have started Cody on? Not sure where you live, but in Canada you can get human insulin from any pharmacy without a prescription (in the U.S., I think you need a prescription for most). That can make a difference in price by cutting out the middleman, unless you're using an animal insulin like Caninsulin or ProZinc (which you can only get from the vet).

Gaprofitt said:

Do we need to monitor his blood/sugar levels at home, if so how do we do this?

Click to expand...

That would really be the safest and most accurate way to treat diabetes. If you think about it, a person would never give their diabetic child a dose of insulin without first knowing what the blood glucose level was. Shouldn't be any different for our kitties (especially since they can't communicate with words how they're feeling, like a child could). Cats also frequently go into diabetic remission after a diet change and a short course of insulin. You aren't going to know if that's happening unless you're monitoring at home, and giving a cat exogenous insulin when they no longer need it could be deadly.

Here are some links on home-testing:

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Hometesting

http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-home-test.htm

Gaprofitt said:

He currently eats Science Diet C/D multi care to prevent urinary crystals since he had a blockage
in 2008, I understand this is junk and possibly the cause of the diabetes, he doesn't
eat wet food at all and I don't want him to become blocked again.  Is there
a dry food that will control his crystals but be much lower in carbs?

Click to expand...

What wet foods have you tried and how did you introduce them? Were you free-feeding dry at the time? There are many tips and tricks to convincing a kibble-addict to eat better quality wet food so perhaps you can revisit that issue. It really is hugely important for both the FLUTD and the diabetes that you switch Cody over to low-carb wet food. I'm absolutely positive that with enough persistence, ALL cats can eventually be converted. Doesn't have to happen in a day, or a week, or even a month. Took me many months with my guy, but he now eats even a raw diet with gusto. Some info for you on diabetes and diet: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes

And tips on how to transition off of kibble:

http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...nsition-your-cat-to-raw-food-diet-part-1.aspx

http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...nsition-your-cat-to-raw-food-diet-part-2.aspx

http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_

You might also want to bookmark the following sites for more in depth diabetes info:

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.felinediabetes.com/

http://yourdiabeticcat.com/index.html

Awesome, thanks so much..  I don't recall what we all tried.  Any recommendation on wet food for those with prior blockage and diabetes?

Thanks,

Greg

As far as food goes, I would work with your vet.  They say no diabetic cat should be eating dry food.  A good site for food suggestions is www.yourdiabeticcat.com.  But with your boy and his history of crystals, finding the right food may be a bit of a challenge.  Work with your vet would be my advice.  Don't do anything regarding food without your vets knowledge.

I am on my second diabetic cat.  I buy a box of 100 syringes for around 10.00.  I am in the US and need a prescription for the syringes.  I just bought insulin today.  We use Humulin N.  We do not need a prescription for insulin here.

I do not test at home.  I just watch his demeanor and weight.  He just recently had blood work done, and he is doing just fine.  He gets two units in the am and one in the evening.

Diabetes is possible to control and your kitty can live a very long life with regular checkups.

I wish you well on your new journey!

So sorry about your kitty's diagnosis. Vibes to both you and him.

I haven't had experience with feline diabetes firsthand, but as I do part time pet sitting, I have cared for many diabetic cats over short periods of time. I also have recently been researching this topic for a friend, and I came across a few websites which may be helpful to you.

First one is http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes. This website explains about carbohydrates and diabetes, and talks about prescription diets. Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins has an excellent website on handling feline diabetes: http://yourdiabeticcat.com/

I also found a diabetes site for beginners: http://www.felinediabetes.com/dummies.htm

I hope these websites help, and I hope your kitty feels better soon!

Jen.

farleyv said:

We do not need a prescription for insulin here.

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I'm pretty sure you do for Lantus and Levemir unless you order them online from Canada. The Humulin insulins don't need a rx. 

Hey Greg, how is Cody doing? Is he home from the vets?

Gaprofitt said:

Awesome, thanks so much..  I don't recall what we all tried.  Any recommendation on wet food for those with prior blockage and diabetes?

Click to expand...

The best food for cats with diabetes and FLUTD is the same food that ALL cats should be eating: low-carb, high quality meat-based protein with little to no grains, lots of moisture, and minimal fish content (preferably no fish when there is a history of urinary tract issues). There are some good guidelines at this link on choosing a commercial canned food: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods

Some brands to look for are Wellness (the grain-free ones), Nature's Variety Instinct, Ziwi Peak, Weruva, Merrick, Evanger's, Innova Evo 95%, Precise, etc. There is a chart here that lists the carb content (as a percent of calories) of some common canned foods which you might find helpful: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods

While it would for sure be a good idea to let your vet know if you change foods, you don't need their permission. In fact too many vets are woefully ignorant about feline nutrition and are not always the best source of advice on what to feed cats (for instance, you don't need to feed a so-called "prescription" food, despite what they may try to tell you). The reason you should keep them in the loop though, especially in the early stages of a diabetes diagnosis, is because if they determined the insulin dose based on one type of food (such as the high carb C/D you were feeding), that dose may drop if the carb level in the new food is lower. If you don't drop the dose, hypoglycemia is a real and deadly risk. Which also why it's also vitally important that you learn to home-test Cody's blood sugar! 

Good luck! Let us know how Cody and you are doing.

Have you thought of raw food?  Please read the following link.

http://catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes