Hi, new here.

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Cottagegardens

Member Since 2016
Hi All,

My sweet Chester suddenly lost quite a bit of weight, had no energy but was drinking lots of water. I took him to our new vet and he was diagnosed with diabetes. She thought at first we could manage it with his diet (Prescription Diet m/d Glucose) but it didn't help and he's now on insulin. I have heard that a raw diet is better and am thinking about switching him over.

I look forward to learning from you all! Thanks,
Patti
 
Hello, is he on insulin? Fancy Feast classic pate wet food is fine to use. No need for prescription unless there are other problems. Dry food is to high in carbs. Unless you are home testing do NOT stop the dry if giving insulin.

Lots of information here. Read the info and ask questions.
 
Hi Woodsywife,

Thanks for responding! The vet said nothing about testing. After reading the threads here, I'm really concerned. He is on insulin, 1 unit/day. So, I should keep him on the dry?
 
Hi Patti
Welcome to Fdmb :)

If you could get yourself a blood glucose test machine that will give you so much more control over your kitty and keep him safe.

When you know his levels on his current food then you can phase it out as you can then see how the insulin is reacting to the lower carb food.

If you just changed from high carb food to low then you would have no way of telling how fast his bg is dropping from the shot to the nadir (lowest point) and he could have a hypo where his bg level drops too low. This is dangerous for kitty and very unpleasant for you.
 
Cottagegardens said:
Thak you so much! I'll hold off making the change and get a meter. I have so much to learn.
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I've only been doing this a month (30 days since diagnosis) it's unbelievable how quickly you pick things up so I know how confusing it all is but I also know that a couple of weeks from now, you will be swimming and not doing the doggy paddle (or drowning as I was! Lol) ;)
 
Thanks so much for the encouragement. I also have two other cats, an older Maine Coon who has to have wet food for UTIs and Chester's sister. Trying to juggle food is making me nuts! Add to that, I've just started working full+ time. I'm feeling overwhelmed!
 
Cottagegardens said:
Thanks so much for the encouragement. I also have two other cats, an older Maine Coon who has to have wet food for UTIs and Chester's sister. Trying to juggle food is making me nuts! Add to that, I've just started working full+ time. I'm feeling overwhelmed!
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You are welcome :)

Have you considered those chip feeders? They will only open to the cat with the correct chip number. They are expensive but if you got one at a time you could eventually have one for each kitty and it would be less worry and hassle for you?

I am sure you are feeling overwhelmed. I felt that way too, everything seems to happen all at the one time like this. All you can do is your best and that's all you should ask of yourself - be gentle with you, and remember you are only human. Tackle one thing at a time if possible and eventually things will come together :bighug:
 
A Wal-Mart brand confirm or micro glucose monitor is very popular here. Takes the smallest drop of blood and easy to use. Pick up extra strips for which ever meter you buy. That is what you go through the most. There are videos here and on YouTube for testing cats. Do NOT change food until you have monitoring down and some readings.
 
I recently got one of the microchip feeders (cost $150) to feed my older cat who is on a renal diet, and Beta my diabetic kitty can't get the food. It took a week or so to teach my older cat to use the feeder and it seems to be working ok. There is a training period to get them used to the feeder, and during this time the food is accessible to all pets. But you probably could empty the dish after the cat has eaten at first.

I also feed both cats different canned foods and have to watch them eat to make sure they don't steal from each other. For me it works to feed them in the kitchen (in separate spots a ways apart) while I'm prepping or eating my own food. I'm new to this too and had to hand feed my diabetic cat for awhile to get her to eat the canned food but now she likes it.
 
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