Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Cat

New to the site and I need some advice. I have a 13 year old purebred Chartreux (Toby). I've had him for about 3 years and he was recently diagnosed with diabetes. He hadn't seen a vet until I got him. Last summer I took him to a local cat clinic for a checkup. He had some teeth issues so after running a number of tests the vet suggested an extraction and cleaning. Unfortunately Toby had a bad reaction to the anesthesia and was one sick kitty (the teeth work was never done). Went to a new vet who first wanted to simply get him healthy.

He seemed to have constant upper respiratory issues but after a few months he started doing much better. Once he stabilized the vet wanted to change his diet to address some kidney issues (told he was in early stage kidney disease). I hadn't noticed any signs/symptoms but I trusted the vet. We switched him to prescription k/d sometime in October. No problems once we made the switch. Noticed about December he was peeing excessively and drinking lots of water, lethargic, etc. Took him to the vet and he's very diabetic. Numbers were over 500.

Immediately put on insulin but the vet wouldn't change his food. I started researching and realized that the k/d was all wrong (k/d is high carb/low protein, the exactly opposite of a diabetic diet). Still wouldn't change the food but simply upped the insulin. After an incident at the vet that I won't go into now, I decided to switch vets.  New vet immediately tested to make sure it was safe to switch his food, which it was. Evidently the kidney "disease" is at stage 1 and we both felt it's much more important at this stage to get his sugar under control. Currently working through switching his food.

The insulin injections are easy. But he will absolutely not let me near him to test him. I live alone and he is a very strong 16-pound cat. I have managed to test him once but since then I simply can't hold him long enough to prick his little ear and then get the sample because I have to use one arm to hold him still. I tried playing with him, massaging his ears, and that all works fine. It's when I try to put him in the right position to test him that he freaks out. The vet wants to do a curve and the thought of trying this every 2 hours is impossible. I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow so they can do the curve, but at $100 I can't afford to continue doing this. 

Looking for any tips or tricks in testing a strong, deviant but lovable and beautiful boy.

So sorry for the long post. 

Thanks

Janet, mom of Toby - almost 13 year old purebred Chartreux. 

I highly recommend that you check out FelineDiabetes.com It's a great place to learn how to care for your diabetic. There's also a great message board there where you can get more detailed advice and tips from experienced members than members here on TCS can give. My now GA cat was diabetic and I found FelineDiabetes.com to be a great resource.

Hometesting is necessary but does take a bit of time for a cat to get used to. I always tested my cat while he ate so he would be distracted. The FDMB board has great tips and videos on how to hometest. A curve at the vet's office isn't necessary once you are hometesting. You can just do a curve at home and email or call the vet with the numbers.

From my time on teh FDMB board, I know there were diabetic cats who also had kidney disease. I think for the most part they ate low carb canned food. You should definitely ask on that board for diet suggestions.

Everyone always told me that testing the ear was easiest. I doggedly believed them until one night, unable to get a good stick on my dehydrated kitty, my fiancé finally convinced me to try using the poke-gun thing on his pawpad. Worked like a charm. I'm sure that varies from cat to cat, but I found it infinitely easier than wrestling him down and trying to grab a tiny vein in thin tissue without hurting him or his ear.

Once you get him regulated, work with the new vet to put him on a proper diet that will likely put his diabetes into remission. IT sounds like the bad food (what kind of vet orders a cat on a high carbon food and refuses to change??) actually caused the diabetes, which means a good diet will likely resolve it. Good luck!

Paw pad testing can be done I've never done but but it's a lot easier for some people to use a paw instad of an ear. I've always used the lancet device to poke the ear. You're not aiming for the actual ear vein, just the space between it and the edge of the ear. Other people freehand the lancet without the device. Warming the ear or paw pad for a couple seconds before testing really helps to get the blood flowing more easily and a good drop of blood to form once you poke. A small "rice bag/sock" works well: small sock filled with uncooked regular rice or dried beans, heated in mcirowave until just toasty warm (probably 10 seconds or so), and apply to ear or paw.

I had a diabetic cat and did not test her at home. Every 3 months I would take her into the vet for fructosamine testing to monitor her blood sugar and she did fine. The first month after finding out she was diabetic we too her for testing every week. Talk to your vet about putting your kitty on a grain free diet because after being on Science diet w/d for years at the same insulin level we were able to lower my Kittys insulin after 2 months on grain free.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I took him on Monday for the all-day glucose test. His numbers are coming down nicely, so much so that the vet already lowered his insulin (from 5 to 2 units, 2x a day). We're also switching his food from the high carb k/d to low carb/hi protein md (we're at 50/50 right now). He likes it so much better than the k/d low carb stuff. I can already see the change in his personality back to his old, playful self. 

I'll let the vet do the next all day glucose test in a couple of weeks, but will continue to try to test him periodically. A friend of mine said she would stop by periodically when I need to test him if I'm still unsuccessful doing it myself.

Definitely going to check out felinediabetes.com.

Thanks again

(INFO on testing your cat further down this paragraph but please, if you are new to diabetic kitties; read the whole thing).

My cat Max (passed 6 years ago now,) had diabetes as well.  He was at the point of neuropathy in his hind legs and dragged them for about 4 months.

Wish I had known then what i know now because back then everyone said dry diabetic prescription food was the way to go and NO -THAT IS NOT THE WAY TO GO.

Low-carb canned food (even cheap as Friskies) is way better than that crap dry food they try to sell you at the vet's office.

As long as the canned cat food does not have gravy in it -we strictly feed all our cats now Pate' only and ONLY chicken and fish flavors; mostly Friskies and sometimes 9-Lives of which I always serve at least 3 different flavors per feeding.  (NO "shredded" canned food either - it has gravy in it.  JUST the "Pate'" and we also serve canned "Flaked" -there are 2 Friskies flavors of flaked that they all love.

Also strictly feed them at specific times of day no more free-range feeding.

Most recently, our cat "MJ" who was 7 years old at the time and (she's been a huge cat since birth) but was at 26 pounds when she got sick.  Same as your boy -sugar over 500, lethargic to the point I had to take her to emergency vet and they immediately put her on insulin but all our cats are afraid of anyone but us, so the ER vet sent her home the next day as she would not eat.

We put her on Lantis insulin and immediately started regulating her but we took her to the vet every Monday for 4 weeks and he tested her sugar.  

The wet/canned cat food not only helped her to lose about 7 pounds but also -she is NO LONGER A DIABETIC CAT!  We knew this was possible but thought at her weight and age, and she was probably diabetic for months before we realized it -we figured she'd be a diabetic all her life.

That wet food saved her life and got her off the insulin.  NOW -AS FOR TESTING YOUR CAT AT HOME:

Do you have a helper? Spouse? Partner?  It is much easier with two people.  (No, we did not test MJ at home but we did test Max, religiously) and one of us put him in our lap while the other (me,) held his paw, pricked his pad, and took the blood sample.

Back then, the testers weren't as user-friendly either.  NOW they have great testers that use a tiny drop of blood ad are much easier to use.

If your boy is a handful, you definitely will need to have another person hold him but I swear; after a couple of weeks with our boy Max; he actually came to us to be tested.  He knew that the insulin was making him feel better!  We got another 6 years of good quality life with our Maxxy.  You just have to be patient and calm and get him into a routine.  Maybe you might need 2 people to hold him while you do the testing at first.  Either way -this is much cheaper than going to the vet weekly AND you have the option of testing every day which is much better because you can give your cat too much insulin and that is just as bad as not enough insulin.  **BUT never change your vet's prescribed dosage on your own.  If you test kitty and his sugar is fine, call the vet before deciding how much insulin to give him.

ALSO: Don't let anyone tell you to try and take blood from the cat's ear veins!  This to me is utterly stupid as then you have to use some sort of formula to "adjust" to get the REAL sugar level BECAUSE VEIN BLOOD IS DIFFERENT THAN THE BLOOD IN THEIR PAWS -and I promise you; once you've tested you cat a few times -you will get the hang of it & he will get easier & easier to deal with.

**One more thing - you used to be able to get free testers & test strips online for your cat.  NOW if you say it is for a cat -they won't give them to you so say it is for you!

And with our Max, his neuropathy that caused him to drag his back legs -ANYONE: IF YOUR CAT IS DOING THE SAME, AND YOU ARE TRYING TO REGULATE THE CAT ON INSULIN BUT THE NEUROPATHY ISN'T GETTING ANY BETTER DO NOT GIVE UP!

With Max -I 100% believe that he actually WAS getting better but just forgot to use his legs after he was regulated.  It wasn't until we brought a 7-1/2 month old Husky into our home (huskies try to GET your cats!) that Max, WITHIN 3 DAYS - STARTED RUNNNING & JUMPING AGAIN!  We thought it was a miracle but realized that he had just given up on walking -even though his insulin was "regulated" - and he didn't really have a reason to walk "normal" UNTIL THE HUSKY STARTED TRYING TO "GET" HIM!

(If anyone has a cat with diabetic neuropathy DO NOT GIVE UP -Try the scare tactic (from a safe distance of course -we had our Husky on a leash all the time -so we could grab her if she got too close to our cats.)  In fact, now our Husky is like 13 years old and she still charges the cats but to this day has never hurt one of them -she just fakes them out and when we're not home -they all sleep together in our bed!

My Aunt had 2 diabetic cats 6-8 years before our cat Max became diabetic.  BOTH her cats ended up really sick, blind, and she put them down -after spending thousands.  When our cat Max became diabetic she told me "Do yourself & Max a favor & put him down!" - She warned us of all the terrible things her cats went through BUT times had changed and as with any disease -as time goes by, things improve.  Doctors learn more, it is getting more & more manageable everyday.  Unless your kitty has kidney failure don't give up.  Getting then regulated is the key and sometimes it takes longer.  BUT "Lantis" has been the insulin we've had the best luck with AND do not feed dry cat food AT ALL!  (EVEN THE CRAP THE VET SELLS YOU FOR DIABETIC CATS -IT'S JUST THAT -CRAP!).

Good luck.  I hope you have many more years with your boy and I am no vet or professional; I just thought maybe you could benefit from reading the stuff we have gone through.  IN MY OPINION; THERE ARE/IS MORE GOOD INFORMATION ON websites devoted to diabetic cats than going to a vet.

Remember our cat "MJ" -who is NO LONGER EVEN DIABETIC; - our regular vet told us to put her down before he even saw her for an appointment!  And now she's NON_Diabetic! (We are so very glad we didn't listen to him!)  HE ALSO SOLD MY SPOUSE THAT CRAP DRY "DM" FOOD!  I told my spouse not to give it to them and she says "I only give them a small handful each as a treat and every time she gives it to them -I clean up puke all over the place!  Cats are CARNIVORES NOT cows or sheep!  they NEED MEAT.  *There IS a list online you can search for it -it gives you a huge list of the canned cat foods that are the best for diabetic kitties!  (Sorry, I don't have the link)  Good luck & I wish your kitty back to good health!!!!