Diabetes...or not? And what to feed.

My 13 year old male DLH Captain has lost some weight recently, as well as exhibited some arthritis symptoms in his bag legs/hip area. Took him to the vet and did a complete blood panel, etc, and his blood glucose was 399. Now, I've been a type 1 diabetic for 22 years, so I know that's incredibly high, but I also know that stress can make a cats blood sugar shoot through the roof. My vet was not convinced enough to start him on insulin, so I was sent home with the Purina DM canned food with instructions to recheck in a few weeks. He loves the food, so that's not an issue. My issue is A) a cat will generally be stressed when going to the vet, and Captain definitely is, so how can I be sure his high blood sugar is because he's diabetic, and not something else? And B) please tell me there's another option as far as food goes. Because I have a hard time paying $1.80 per can of food that is so low quality. I do know that there is a place for prescription food, and if that's my best bet, then I will pay it. But I'd rather either pay less, or still pay a lot but for something better quality. Not sure if this belongs in nutrition or here, so please move it if it is better suited elsewhere. I also started him on Adequan injections in conjunction with the Cosequin I started him on a few weeks ago.

I would think that the blood test would be closer to the human ALC1- which examines the past 3 months of sugar or glucose active, and not stress effects. . Hopefully the food you got from vet is wet canned. You will probably need to watch his carbs as you well know. The thing with cats, is they can often be controlled by diet alone, and often may not need insulin, because I am thinking at that age it is more like type 2. Of course I would suggest raw diet if possible. Try some Rad Cat, as that is just about only meat. I looked on Chewy.com at the freeze dried raw, and a lot of brands seem to have a lot of weird additives, like starchy stuff. 

i don't have experience with diabetes -- feline or human. however, i did have a period of time that my cat, snick, almost developed diabetes (due to being on  prednisone long term). so i have some knowledge about feline diabetes based on my research -- in preparation for my snick possibly becoming diabetic.

since you're diabetic yourself, you'll have a meter and lancets on hand...? you should be able to do at-home glucose testing. there's also urine testing, to show glucose -- not sure how accurate that is as far as a 'reading' of the glucose level, as opposed to simply showing whether there is glucose in the urine or not. i have experience using the urine test strips to test just for if there is any glucose in the cats urine. my point is that if you test your boy's glucose at home, you should be able to eliminate the stress factor -- when your boy's glucose gets tested at the vet's.

i'm adding a link to a very good feline diabetes website -- http://www.felinediabetes.com/    there's a whole lot of good info about feline diabetes there. they have a message board there too. and there are links to youtube videos on how to test cats blood glucose levels at that website too.

i'd suggest discussing your concern about whether your boy's elevated blood glucose level is due to diabetes, or if this could be caused by something else, with your vet.

i'll let a member with knowledge about diet for cats with diabetes answer your question about food and the purina dm.

See my post here for diabetic cat info: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/297480/home-blood-testing#post_3745048

Definitely join the FelineDiabetes.com message baord. It was a HUGE help when my previous cat was diagnosed as diabetic.

Anne with Cats said:

 
I would think that the blood test would be closer to the human ALC1- which examines the past 3 months of sugar or glucose active, and not stress effects.

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That's called a fructosamine test in cats. It just gives the average blood gluocse levels over the past few weeks.

I do have a meter and ample supply of my own test strips. I watched several videos on checking a cats blood sugar and it's not working. He won't let me hold his ear still enough to poke it. Might have to tag team him with my husband.
He's eating the canned DM, but I can't get him to eat more than 1/2 can or so at a time and I want him to eat enough enough canned so he won't eat the other cats dry. He seems to like the friskies better. I do have a small bag of Natures Variety raw rabbit cat food in the freezer that I haven't tried out on him yet. Should I try that? Its not carb free though. It has blueberries and squash and apples in it.

epwv82 said:

I do have a meter and ample supply of my own test strips. I watched several videos on checking a cats blood sugar and it's not working. He won't let me hold his ear still enough to poke it. Might have to tag team him with my husband.
 

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It's frustrating to test a cat's blood glucose levels at first but it does get easier It took me about a week of trying various techniques and tips to find a method that worked for my cat. What I did was have my cat sit in front of me while I test his ear from behind using a "rice sock" to warm up the ear really well. Try this as your cat is eating. Cats who are distracted by food are less likely to notice you fiddling with their ears. Try holding your cat's ear for at least 10 seconds at a time during some cuddle time. Give a healthy low carb treat reward afterwards (freeze dried meat treats are great).

epwv82 said:

He's eating the canned DM, but I can't get him to eat more than 1/2 can or so at a time and I want him to eat enough enough canned so he won't eat the other cats dry. He seems to like the friskies better. I do have a small bag of Natures Variety raw rabbit cat food in the freezer that I haven't tried out on him yet. Should I try that? Its not carb free though. It has blueberries and squash and apples in it.

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The DM food is junk that many cats won't eat so if I were you I would return the food to the vet for a refund.

Is the Friskies canned? If so, there are some varieties that are low carb enough to feed to a diabetic cat. See this chart: http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf Look for those that have under 10% carbs. The chart is a little old and comapnies are always changing formulas so you should check on the FelineDiabetes.com message board for a more current list of what Friskies varieties members are feeding.

What dry food do you feed to the other cats? I suggest feeding them a grain-free failry low carb dry food if possible. That way if the diabetic gets into the dry, the bood glucose levels won't skyrocket too high. The FDMB board can help you figure out how to feed a multi-cat household that includes a diabetic   It can be done, even if dry food has to be involved.

The NV raw food is fine to feed to a diabetic cat if your cat will eat it  No, it's not carb-free but it's very low in carbs (about 1%). Fruit doesn't add much in the way of carbs, IMO. I would be more concerned with foods that contain sugars like honey, molasses, and glucose because those will raise blood glucose levels.  Is it the Raw Bites or the medallions? The Raw Bites are easiest to transition a cat onto since you can take out as many little nuggets as you want to mix into food or with toppers.

Yes the friskies is canned. I'll check out the list and take it with me next time I go to the store.

I feed the other cats Taste of the Wild or 4Health grain free dry. I have attempted to feed them wet, but if there is not dry food out, they get in fights. I tried leaving out less dry food, and they just eat it all and then fight. I add more dry food, and they again, eat it all, and then fight. I do have a way to keep Captain away from the dry food, by putting it on the counter. Because of is arthritis, he can't get up there, but the other cats can. I just don't want to take away the dry food when he's not eating enough canned food to sustain himself. I've been giving him some wet in the morning and at night, and sometimes I'll give him more if he's sitting by the fridge, but the pro0blem is that I'm not home enough to feed him several times a day so I make sure he eats the proper amount of canned food.