Choo
Member Since 2015
Hi:
My name is Choo and my cat, Bangkok, was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes five weeks ago.
I had returned from a one week vacation to find him drinking and urinating a lot. I thought perhaps it was due to the salt in the canned tuna I had been feeding him. I had made tuna ice cubes from them and they're tuna for people, not pets. The week I was on vacation, he had eaten two cans of tuna. So I stopped feeding him tuna immediately.
Two days later (July 8), I took him to our usual vet. He said Bangkok's BG was really high at 23 and he was diabetic. He said we could wait a few weeks to begin treatment.
During the three weeks I was waiting to begin treatment, I did a lot of research and immediately threw out all the kibble and any treats containing grain. Bangkok never did eat much kibble to begin with. I always fed him one can of Friskies every day and 3-4 tbsp of Royal Canin Indoor Light kibble. But he had been eating Temptations, Greenies, you name it. So I threw them all out and tried to transition him from Friskies (contains rice) to Nature's Variety Instinct. The only treats he could have were those that were 100% freeze dried meat.
I also decided to consult a holistic veterinarian. On July 29, I met with a holistic veterinarian (Dr S). She diagnosed hypertension, extremely low potassium, as well as diabetes. His BG was 20. She said I had two choices: put him down or put him on insulin. I was taken aback. When I told her about my fear of needles, she said, "Deal with it!" She said we could wait up to 3 months to begin treatment due to his good condition. I said I would prefer to wait a month and during that month, change his diet and see if that would work to bring his BG down to normal. She was okay with that.
The next day, I spoke to another holistic vet. She advised that Bangkok begin insulin treatment immediately because the sooner we began, the better our chances for remission. So I contacted Dr S and said I had changed my mind and was ready to begin insulin ASAP. Three days later, I went back (Bangkok's BG was 17 that day, before insulin) and was taught how to give the insulin shots and draw blood from Bangkok's ear. I didn't do the blood drawing. I only watched the vet do it.
We began with 5 ml of Levemir.
Giving Bangkok shots twice a day was extremely stressful for me. Once, he cried. That broke my heart. By the end of the first week, I was a complete mess. Depressed, crying all the time, unable to sleep. The first BG test was done by the vet a few days later. It had gone up to 18. So she increased the dose of insulin to 6 ml.
The petsitter came to do the BG testing at the end of the first week. It was a very good 7.2 so I felt hopeful. The second week, I hired her to give Bangkok the night shots so that I could have respite. A few times, I stayed home to watch how she gave the shots and I learned from her as well.
The next week when she came to do the BG test, she poked both his ears 4 times and was unable to get enough blood for a reading. Bangkok cried and struggled. We could not continue. So I took him in to the vet for his BG test a few days later. I brought my own glucometer and they used mine and theirs. The results were 12.3 and 14.4! Their meter was the same brand as mine! I was surprised that there was such a discrepancy between meters. The vet increased the dose to 7 ml!
During the two weeks that Bangkok was on Levemir, I also ran urine tests using Keto Diastix test strips. Unfortunately, his vet did not want the urine test results. She said they were rubbish and a waste of time. But I had tested his urine on 6 occasions during the 2 weeks he was on Levemir. Every time, his BG was high (dark brown on the test strip) and his ketones were negative. So the Levemir was not working all that well, IMHO.
I began to worry about the high dose of Levemir that Bangkok was on. My petsitter said that one of her clients managed to get her cat into complete remission by switching to an all raw meat diet. Her cat had been on insulin for one month. After that, she just couldn't handle the twice daily shots and the BG testing so she forced him to eat raw food and it worked. Her cat has been diabetic free for years.
So on Sunday, August 16, I switched Bangkok to a raw meat diet. It was not that difficult because he already liked eating raw beef except this time, I bought him whole animal meat (Carnivora) from a pet store. I stopped giving him insulin.
Today is Day 3 that he is on a raw meat diet and not being given insulin. He drinks a lot. He was drinking quite a lot when he was on Levemir, too, but he is drinking more now. I have an appointment with Dr S on Aug 25. She wants to check his blood pressure. I haven't told her that I have stopped the insulin.
I don't know what to do. Bangkok is my dearest, best friend. It's just him and me. My husband died 8 months ago and if not for Bangkok, I'd have gone stir crazy. So he means the world to me. But I don't like Dr S. She is rude and has no compassion for me or Bangkok. I don't know whether I should resume the insulin shots. I don't believe that Levemir works. Why cause Bangkok pain by injecting him twice a day with something that doesn't work all that well? The ear pricks are painful too. Since he began receiving shots, his back twitches. When I run my hand gently over his back, I can feel the tremors.
My name is Choo and my cat, Bangkok, was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes five weeks ago.
I had returned from a one week vacation to find him drinking and urinating a lot. I thought perhaps it was due to the salt in the canned tuna I had been feeding him. I had made tuna ice cubes from them and they're tuna for people, not pets. The week I was on vacation, he had eaten two cans of tuna. So I stopped feeding him tuna immediately.
Two days later (July 8), I took him to our usual vet. He said Bangkok's BG was really high at 23 and he was diabetic. He said we could wait a few weeks to begin treatment.
During the three weeks I was waiting to begin treatment, I did a lot of research and immediately threw out all the kibble and any treats containing grain. Bangkok never did eat much kibble to begin with. I always fed him one can of Friskies every day and 3-4 tbsp of Royal Canin Indoor Light kibble. But he had been eating Temptations, Greenies, you name it. So I threw them all out and tried to transition him from Friskies (contains rice) to Nature's Variety Instinct. The only treats he could have were those that were 100% freeze dried meat.
I also decided to consult a holistic veterinarian. On July 29, I met with a holistic veterinarian (Dr S). She diagnosed hypertension, extremely low potassium, as well as diabetes. His BG was 20. She said I had two choices: put him down or put him on insulin. I was taken aback. When I told her about my fear of needles, she said, "Deal with it!" She said we could wait up to 3 months to begin treatment due to his good condition. I said I would prefer to wait a month and during that month, change his diet and see if that would work to bring his BG down to normal. She was okay with that.
The next day, I spoke to another holistic vet. She advised that Bangkok begin insulin treatment immediately because the sooner we began, the better our chances for remission. So I contacted Dr S and said I had changed my mind and was ready to begin insulin ASAP. Three days later, I went back (Bangkok's BG was 17 that day, before insulin) and was taught how to give the insulin shots and draw blood from Bangkok's ear. I didn't do the blood drawing. I only watched the vet do it.
We began with 5 ml of Levemir.
Giving Bangkok shots twice a day was extremely stressful for me. Once, he cried. That broke my heart. By the end of the first week, I was a complete mess. Depressed, crying all the time, unable to sleep. The first BG test was done by the vet a few days later. It had gone up to 18. So she increased the dose of insulin to 6 ml.
The petsitter came to do the BG testing at the end of the first week. It was a very good 7.2 so I felt hopeful. The second week, I hired her to give Bangkok the night shots so that I could have respite. A few times, I stayed home to watch how she gave the shots and I learned from her as well.
The next week when she came to do the BG test, she poked both his ears 4 times and was unable to get enough blood for a reading. Bangkok cried and struggled. We could not continue. So I took him in to the vet for his BG test a few days later. I brought my own glucometer and they used mine and theirs. The results were 12.3 and 14.4! Their meter was the same brand as mine! I was surprised that there was such a discrepancy between meters. The vet increased the dose to 7 ml!
During the two weeks that Bangkok was on Levemir, I also ran urine tests using Keto Diastix test strips. Unfortunately, his vet did not want the urine test results. She said they were rubbish and a waste of time. But I had tested his urine on 6 occasions during the 2 weeks he was on Levemir. Every time, his BG was high (dark brown on the test strip) and his ketones were negative. So the Levemir was not working all that well, IMHO.
I began to worry about the high dose of Levemir that Bangkok was on. My petsitter said that one of her clients managed to get her cat into complete remission by switching to an all raw meat diet. Her cat had been on insulin for one month. After that, she just couldn't handle the twice daily shots and the BG testing so she forced him to eat raw food and it worked. Her cat has been diabetic free for years.
So on Sunday, August 16, I switched Bangkok to a raw meat diet. It was not that difficult because he already liked eating raw beef except this time, I bought him whole animal meat (Carnivora) from a pet store. I stopped giving him insulin.
Today is Day 3 that he is on a raw meat diet and not being given insulin. He drinks a lot. He was drinking quite a lot when he was on Levemir, too, but he is drinking more now. I have an appointment with Dr S on Aug 25. She wants to check his blood pressure. I haven't told her that I have stopped the insulin.
I don't know what to do. Bangkok is my dearest, best friend. It's just him and me. My husband died 8 months ago and if not for Bangkok, I'd have gone stir crazy. So he means the world to me. But I don't like Dr S. She is rude and has no compassion for me or Bangkok. I don't know whether I should resume the insulin shots. I don't believe that Levemir works. Why cause Bangkok pain by injecting him twice a day with something that doesn't work all that well? The ear pricks are painful too. Since he began receiving shots, his back twitches. When I run my hand gently over his back, I can feel the tremors.
