Foamy Urine

My Cat Chew Chew is 17.  The last year he has been losing weight, and is peeing all over our house.  I mean everywhere. He uses the litter box also. I took him to the Vet last year and was told he had diabetes.  Over the last year and 4 months, we have given him his insulin, had his blood work up done 3 times, and each time, his glucose level, or sugar's have not changed, yet he is wasting away before my eyes.  We are heartbroken each time being told his bloodwork came back normal, but he has diabetes.   We feel there is something else wrong. The insulin isn't working, and we've played with the doses according to the Vet. We can feel his bones.  We have went to two different Vets and have spent over $1000.00 on his visits.  He eats, and still drinks, but is always sleeping.  We are very worried that he is in pain.  Any other ideas?

I hihgly recommend that you join the FelineDiabetes.com message board The members there can better help you and your diabetic cat. Diabetes is not a death sentence. While remission is great, some cats will always need some insulin to keep blood glucose levels in check.

What insulin are you using and the current dose? When did you start the current bottle of insulin? What are you feeding your cat? Do you test your cat's blood glucose levels at home daily?

ProZink is what we give him.  Started off at 1 unit and he was getting tested twice a week.  Wasn't doing anything according to his test, so was increased to 2 units, then 3, then 4.  Now we are back to 2 units, because glucose levels haven't changed.  We just had his bloodwork done for the 3rd time last week with a new Vet.  So I gave him his shot this morning, and his next one will be at 9:00.  We will go back in on Monday and have it tested again.  We feed him Royal Canin Diabetic Cat food

You don't necessarily need the prescription food. Low carb canned food is best for daibetic cats and there are many suitable commercial brands. However, do not change the diet right away because that will have a serious impact on your cat's blood glucose levels and insulin need. A diet change needs to be done slowly and blood glucose levels need to be closely monitored at home, not at the vet's office. Typically when a diet is changed from high carb prescription food to low carb food, the blood glucose levels drops a lot and less insulin is usually needed. The FDMB board members can help you with all of that. The board has members all over the world so there's bound to be someone who lives near you and can recommend a good vet and  / or provide some local help if you need it.

ProZinc is a good insulin. But sometimes one insulin may not work well so you have to try something else. Lantus and Levemir are the preferred insulin to use because there is a high remission rate if the insulin is started early enough along with diet. You can talk to your vet about these insulins and if either would be a worth a try.

Here some additional info about treating diabetes in cats: http://catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes

Thank you so much for your information.  I tried to go to that site, but can't post anything.  To be honest, my husband read what your post said and got very upset.  Not at you, but 3 things you said is what we asked and was told "No".  No to testing at home.(We were told the home tests aren't accurate). We wanted to give him wet cat food, because he seemed to gain weight with it, but Vet told us no.  Was told we had to keep him on this diabetic dry cat food to protect his kidney's and so forth.  It costs us $30.00 a bag.  We also asked about changing the insulin, we are on the 4th bottle, but the Vet said, this is what's best for him.  I was feeling like we had lost hope, until we found this site.  Thank you so much.  I will try the above site you mentioned again, and will let you know how our Chewy baby is doing.  Oh, so do you think starting him out with like 1 tablespoon of wet food in morning and then 1 at night would be good?  Then slowly increase it every week?

Odd Here's the sign up / log in page: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/login/  You just need to enter your email address into the box and then click on Create an account now and then follow the next steps. You don't need to be approved by a moderator or anything. Have you tried a different web browser? Sometimes web sites don't work with certain browsers.

It sounds like you need a new vet. Many vets are against pet owners taking charge of their pet's medical needs. Many vets discourage owners from home blood glucose testing but there have been published articles in well respected veterinary journals that encourage home testing. ProZinc isn't the only insulin out there for pets. Many cats do very well on Lantus insulin. It's an insulin for Human diabetics but is used off label for cats. There's a specific protocol on how to use Lantus for cats. It's important to have a vet who you can work with.

Low carb canned food is what helps diabetic cats, the "catkins" diet. Dry foods are just too high in carbs. It's like feeding a Human diabetic greasy junk food and sugar laded snacks for every meal.

You can add small amounts of canned food to your cat's diet now but I wouldn't completely switch over until you get started on testing blood glucose levels. When I switched my diabetic cat from prescription dry to a lower carb commercial dry, his blood glucose levels dropped 100 points. It was a good thing I was already home testing because otherwise I wouldn't have caught the huge drop and the 4 units of insulin may have been a OD. I eventually got my cat onto only low carb canned food. Here's a list of suitable fancy Feast: http://www.felinediabetes.com/glutenfree.htm There are many other brands you can feed. The FDMB board can recommend brands. My diabetic cat passed away several years ago so what I fed him may no longer be suitable as pet food companies are always changing formulas.