Newly diagnosed, greetings from Sweden! :)

[sockerkatt]

Hi!
My name is Alex, and my precious furball was diagnosed this Monday, and I think I've read almost every post on the Internet about feline diabetes by now. His symptoms were excessive drinking/peeing (sweet smelling) and weight loss. He's down to 6.1 kg from 7.7 kg, but he's a Norwegian Forest cat so he's supposed to be on the larger side. He seems so tiny compared to how he used to be, and it's breaking my heart.

He's going to see a vet specialized in cats and diabetes on Friday (popular animal hospital, fully booked the whole week!), which sounds promising. However, I've already made up my mind that I want to put him on Lantus (we have Lantus and Caninsulin) and want to do home testing, no curves at the vet. His glucose at the vet last week was 318 and fructosamine I forgot to ask about, but she mentioned "elevated".

He was on Royal Canin dry before (I now know how bad that is!) and is now on mostly wet. I switched his food 5 days ago (he still gets some RC dry sprinkled on top of the wet) so I hope he's going to be fully converted til he gets his insulin. I live in Sweden so we don't have the same food options here, but after some research I've found a few brands with 1-2% carbs.

I blame myself for his disease, why didn't I look up his expensive and "fancy" food? I really did thinkt it was good for cats.

My questions right now are:

Should I take him to another vet right now so he doesn't have to wait any longer? I check his urine 1-2 times daily after ketones (so paranoid about DKA!).
How long before he starts putting on weight?
When does the crying stop?!

Hugs from Alex and the Fox.

 

[BJM]

Take a read of Cat Info for feline nutrition info and a recipe for home made food if so desired. We aim for 10 percent or fewer calories (not weight) from carbohydrate.

You may find that feeding mini-meals more frequently helps keep him from being too hungry. One method is to freeze part of the food to be eaten as it thaws. Another is to get a timed feeder. Adding a tablespoon or two of water to the food adds volume, and helps offset dehydration from urinating excess glucose out in the urine. A diabetic can't use all the food eaten due to the insulin lack, so is literally starving in the face of plenty. And the crying and weight loss will resolve when he is on insulin.

With 5 days of the food change already, any drop in glucose should have happened and stabilized somewhat. He is likely to need insulin to help him use his food.

We do have folks in Europe getting food online from Zoo Plus, so that might be an option. Bozita is one of the foods that may be available where you are.
Here is an online calculator which can give you an estimates of the carb calories.

 

[sockerkatt]

Take a read of Cat Info for feline nutrition info and a recipe for home made food if so desired. We aim for 10 percent or fewer calories (not weight) from carbohydrate.

You may find that feeding mini-meals more frequently helps keep him from being too hungry. One method is to freeze part of the food to be eaten as it thaws. Another is to get a timed feeder. Adding a tablespoon or two of water to the food adds volume, and helps offset dehydration from urinating excess glucose out in the urine. A diabetic can't use all the food eaten due to the insulin lack, so is literally starving in the face of plenty. And the crying and weight loss will resolve when he is on insulin.

With 5 days of the food change already, any drop in glucose should have happened and stabilized somewhat. He is likely to need insulin to help him use his food.

We do have folks in Europe getting food online from Zoo Plus, so that might be an option. Bozita is one of the foods that may be available where you are.
Here is an online calculator which can give you an estimates of the carb calories.

Thank you so much for your reply, I bought some Bozita for him today as they sell it at the local pet shop, I hope he likes it.

The visit at the vet didn't go too well. She absolutely did not want me to test him at home, at least not yet. She said I was going to hurt him, and that the ears have a lot of nerve endings so she said it'd be animal cruelty to do so at home.......not quite what I've read here and on other sites! She said that "maybe" I could do it later on in his treatment, when we knew more about how he responds to the insulin (they want him to do a curve at the clinic in 2 weeks). How could it possibly be more ok to "hurt him at home" in 2 weeks than right now?
So I asked her "you're telling me I should inject my cat without knowing his bs? We don't do this on humans", and she replied very defensively "yes, I can't help your cat if you're going to mistreat him at home".
I think I need to find a new vet?
At least I got Lantus instead of Caninsulin and she taught me how to inject it, and he's starting on 2U, 2 times a day.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hello Alex, and welcome to FDMB.

We do have folks in Europe getting food online from Zoo Plus, so that might be an option

As BJ says, quite a few Europeans buy from Zooplus. I think this is the link to the Swedish store: http://www.zooplus.se/shop/katt
If you look at the UK food list in my signature below you'll see quite a few Zooplus foods listed there.

The visit at the vet didn't go too well. She absolutely did not want me to test him at home, at least not yet. She said I was going to hurt him, and that the ears have a lot of nerve endings so she said it'd be animal cruelty to do so at home......

Oh gosh...
Our experience is that testing at home shouldn't really hurt the kitty at all, and that most cats can be tested. In fact, many cats come to look forward to testing because they are rewarded with treats. My cat comes running when I rattle the test strip vial. And I can also test him while he's dozing in his basket. I don't think I'd be able to do that if he found the test process uncomfortable.
Here's the link to the FDMB page of hometesting info, tips and tricks, and example videos (I hope you will be reassured by seeing them).
Hometesting Links and Tips

And please don't blame yourself for your kitty's diabetes. Many of us fed our cats dry food believing that was best for them. You're not alone in that. So please do be kind to yourself.

Eliz

 

[sockerkatt]

Hello Alex, and welcome to FDMB.


As BJ says, quite a few Europeans buy from Zooplus. I think this is the link to the Swedish store: http://www.zooplus.se/shop/katt
If you look at the UK food list in my signature below you'll see quite a few Zooplus foods listed there.


Oh gosh...
Our experience is that testing at home shouldn't really hurt the kitty at all, and that most cats can be tested. In fact, many cats come to look forward to testing because they are rewarded with treats. My cat comes running when I rattle the test strip vial. And I can also test him while he's dozing in his basket. I don't think I'd be able to do that if he found the test process uncomfortable.
Here's the link to the FDMB page of hometesting info, tips and tricks, and example videos (I hope you will be reassured by seeing them).
Hometesting Links and Tips

And please don't blame yourself for your kitty's diabetes. Many of us fed our cats dry food believing that was best for them. You're not alone in that. So please do be kind to yourself.

Eliz

Hi and thanks for your answer, made me tear up a bit..so glad I'm not alone. I wish I could have shown the vet your answer about the ears and home testing..


Decided to give kitty 1.5 units instead of 2 after some dosage research. The injection didn't go too well..he doesn't like being stung, or maybe I did it wrong? :/ I had to do it 3 times as he flinched every time I was about to push the liquid in and the needle went out of his skin. Vet shaved his neck (because of all the fur) and it looked pretty red and irritated after all the test injections we did earlier with the tech. I hope he forgives me!

 

[Shiloh & Rhonda (GA)]

Hi Alex! I'm pretty new to this as well, dx three weeks ago. I asked my vet about testing at home and all he told me was that could prick the ear or the foot. No specifics. But he has been very supportive of me testing at home, about my ability to adjust the dose based on what results I get, and said I did not have to bring her in for testing as I was doing it at home. IMO, I think I would look for a new vet.

 

[BJM]

See my signature link Vet Interview Topics if you decide to go vet shopping.
It is NOT abuse, it is appropriate care. Better a small prick on the ear the cat barely notices than a hypo from too much insulin!
And our experience is that many cats come running for a low carb treat if one is always given when testing.

 

[TigzMom]

Hi Alex
I'm certainly not an expert, but when my Tiggy was dx in April, I was extremely upset as any pet parent is when their fur baby is diagnosed. And, you certainly don't need to blame yourself for your sugar cat developing diabetes.
I have two indoor cats (Tiggy and Boo), from the same litter. They both used to free-feed on dry food in addition to canned cat food (with gravy), which has a lot of carb! Yikes! I had no idea. Yet, only Tiggy developed diabetes.
He also has asthma, and used alot of steroids to control his diabetes over the years, which the vet never said anything about. I've learned to rely on the great advice and suggestions from the experts such as BJM et al., which has greatly helped my sugar cat.
I transitioned both my cats to a low-carb cat food meat (using the cat food list) link from BJM. I found changing the diet made a huge difference.
And, regarding the home blood glucose testing, for me, it took a little getting used to, but once I figured it all out, again using all the great suggestions off this site from various experts, it worked great!
Others have mentioned using a special place to do the blood draw. What works for me, is using a special wicker stool. Tiggy is now used to just jumping onto the stool. As I get out the blood glucose supplies, I just keep telling him he's a good boy. (Some people sing to their kitties). Find What ever method work best for you. I only stick his ear. At first he was a bit wiggly, but now that he realizes that he gets a special low-carb "treat" afterwards, he is more than happy to comply! In fact, he will jump on top of the stool even when it's not time for his BG testing, just because he really wants his "treat"!!
Everyone is here for you. You can do it!
Valkommen ombord!
-TigzMom

 

[TigzMom]

Clarification.. Tiggy used steroids to control his asthma. I found out later after Tiggy was dx with diabetes that cats who are fixed and who use steroids are often diagnosed with diabetes. The vet never said anything regarding that!

 

[sockerkatt]

Thanks guys, you're all too sweet!

After some more research I thought 1.5u was still too much (given his sugar at the vet wasn't THAT horrible, and it could be lower given the stress etc) so today I gave him 1u in the morning and 1u in the evening (he's still eating too much kibbles, but from Orijen not RC).
No ketones, glucose in pee decreasing, yay.

I'm fairly certain the meters doesn't require a prescription over here, but the "poking device" (I don't know the proper word for it in English, I don't even know it in Swedish lol) does (needles as well I think), so I have to find a new vet asap that "allows" home testing. It's scary not knowing how he's doing, but he desperately needs insulin..maybe I could get these items online?

On the up side I found a new technique for injections and it worked wonderfully, he didn't even notice it. Yay.

 

[sockerkatt]

The more I think about this so called diabetes specialist vet, the angrier I get. She said things like "it's normal to see ketones in the beginning, it's nothing to worry about!", "it's not that important to give the shots exactly at the same time every day", "it's unlikely that your cat will go into remission given he's had it for so long". If this is a vet that's specialized in diabetes and works for the regional animal hospital in my city, what are the other vets like?!? Feeling sad..think I'll call every vet in the area and ask them if they are familiar with diabetes in cats and how they feel about home testing (in other words: losing $$$) and see where that takes me.

So glad I found this board.