Newbie. Cat with feline diabetes

[Sheetal]

hi everyone,

My boy Ace was diagnosed with diabetes with ketones I n January 2017. We found out that he has diabetes through ER visit where he ended up staying for three full days.

He is on Vetsulin and we give him six units twice a day. His last glucose check was 2 weeks back and his glucose is at 216. (These units are how glucose is measured here in US) He only eats dry food. He has never tried wet food, doesn't even smell it. We have tried many different things and couldn't get him to eat or smell wet food. Tried Parmesan cheese, mixing warm water to get the food to liquid consistency, almost most of the wet food flavors etc etc.

If you forcefully put little food in his mouth, he makes weird face and tries to spit out everything. He is currently on DM and royal canin diabetic dry cat food. He used to eat little bit of raw chicken and since his diabetes, he no longer eats raw chicken. I do give him freeze dried salmon and freeze dried chicken as his treats.

His last vet visit was two weeks back and his ketones are normal. He has gained some weight. We had ultrasound to make sure pancreas are ok and everything turned out to be normal except for small stone in kidney.

He is doing ok however from past couple days he is not eating enough food. His water intake, pee, poop are all ok. He eats tiny amounts of food few times a day but that doesn't qualify for the amount he must eat.
We have started him on food stimulant per vet but he is still not eating enough food. What might be the cause? He does look tired at times, but is active and does play little bit.

Happy to have found this forum.

Thank you!

 

[JanetNJ]

That is a huge dose. HUGE. YOU REALLY need to test at home. I suspect his units were raised too quickly.... Sometimes too much insulin looks like not enough. I suspect this is the case and why he isn't eating properly and having lethargy.


There are a few diabetic friendly dry foods, but dm is not one of them. Dm is somewhere around 16%.

Young Again Zero carb food available at Youngagainpetfood.com....1% carbs

Evo Cat and Kitten in the purple bag is around 8%

And new to the cat food world Dr Elsley's food somewhere around 8%


If you are willing to learn to home test we can help you with dosing and hopefully get your kitty feeling better.

 

[Sheetal]

Thanks JanetNJ!
We checked his glucose at vet yesterday afternoon and it's at 277. Vet ran blood and urine test.
Urine had blood traces and waiting for his urine culture.

We started his insulin at 2 units and then gradually over couple months increased it to 6. Vet suggested high insulin dose because his glucose level was around 581.

Thanks for info on food. Before his diabetes I used to feed him only Orijen. I already tried young again and he didn't even go near it to smell. I had to drop it off at the shelter. Will check out evo and other food brands. Thanks!

 

[JanetNJ]

Thanks JanetNJ!
We checked his glucose at vet yesterday afternoon and it's at 277. Vet ran blood and urine test.
Urine had blood traces and waiting for his urine culture.

We started his insulin at 2 units and then gradually over couple months increased it to 6. Vet suggested high insulin dose because his glucose level was around 581.

Thanks for info on food. Before his diabetes I used to feed him only Orijen. I already tried young again and he didn't even go near it to smell. I had to drop it off at the shelter. Will check out evo and other food brands. Thanks!

Most of us have had readings in the 500-700 range... That's a huge dose. If you look at my spreadsheet I had quite a few times with high numbers. Still never needed more than 3.... Plus insulin needs change, sometimes quickly. The high number is no doubt influenced by the dry food. Plus just being at the vet can raise their number 100 points or more. Just please be careful.

Several times recently we've had people come here who were perscribe high doses. One recently was on 4 units.... We convinced her to test and try lowering the dose, and since then hasn't needed more than 1. @shawna

 

[shawna]

@Sheetal Hi there, nice to meet you. I'm a newbie too, my cat was just currently diagnosed. It was my kitty Janet mentioned above. He was so stressed at the vet - when he did his first curve there - that his bs numbers were much more high and inaccurate from his major stress...She increased his dosage to 4 units after being on the intital 2 units for a week. That dosage made his blood sugar drop so low, so fast, so vet said try 3 instead....I got nervous and tried 2 and he almost lost consciousness that night. Long story short - If I hadn't found this group I know my little guy wouldn't have made it through that night.

You are in good company here...everyone is friendly, caring, and so knowledgeable. I can't give any advice as I'm still trying to figure this all out myself, but I just wanted to say hello, wish you and your kitty the best, and let you know I'm here for support! xoxoxox

 

[Yong & Maury GA]

Welcome Sheetal and Ace!
Janet has already informed you that home testing is our best tool in managing FD (feline diabetes) and she's our Vetsulin Pro . I just wanted to add that for cost, a lot of us use a human glucometer like Walmart's ReliOn Confirm / Micro. Test strips are about $0.26 - 0.35 per strip, depending where you buy, and Alpha Trak 2 (pet meter) are about $1 per strip. This is the spreadsheet that all of us who home test us to track and share our kitty's BG numbers: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

And setting up your signature (light grey text below each of our posts) is super helpful: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/ You'll want to add Ace's DKA event date as well, somewhere in there

Lastly, I like to give this to new members: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/
6.0U is a higher dose and Vetsulin can hit hard and fast. We'd be glad to help YOU and Ace

 

[Sheetal]

Thank you all!
Will update the details this weekend.
I do have glucose monitor at home. He just doesn't let me touch his ear. My husband and I tried few different times and it didn't work. Snacks doesn't work with him.

For insulin shot, after trying various different methods, what worked for us is - I usually hold him and try showing him some squirrels or birds outside and my husband gives him the shot. We then give him a snack which he either eats immediately or after sometime.

What are some good ways to test bg for tricky cat like mine? We did try towel, snacks, distraction - birds/squirrels, etc before. Any tips to get us to test him at home will be very helpful. Thank you! Also what is the best time to get a reading? Before insulin? Or how many hours after insulin?

 

[JanetNJ]

Thank you all!
Will update the details this weekend.
I do have glucose monitor at home. He just doesn't let me touch his ear. My husband and I tried few different times and it didn't work. Snacks doesn't work with him.

For insulin shot, after trying various different methods, what worked for us is - I usually hold him and try showing him some squirrels or birds outside and my husband gives him the shot. We then give him a snack which he either eats immediately or after sometime.

What are some good ways to test bg for tricky cat like mine? We did try towel, snacks, distraction - birds/squirrels, etc before. Any tips to get us to test him at home will be very helpful. Thank you! Also what is the best time to get a reading? Before insulin? Or how many hours after insulin?

You may have to hold him While hubby does the prick, then flick the drop into your nail and test it from there so you can let him go. Catnip is sometimes a good treat/motivation

 

[JanetNJ]

Thank you all!
Will update the details this weekend.
I do have glucose monitor at home. He just doesn't let me touch his ear. My husband and I tried few different times and it didn't work. Snacks doesn't work with him.

For insulin shot, after trying various different methods, what worked for us is - I usually hold him and try showing him some squirrels or birds outside and my husband gives him the shot. We then give him a snack which he either eats immediately or after sometime.

What are some good ways to test bg for tricky cat like mine? We did try towel, snacks, distraction - birds/squirrels, etc before. Any tips to get us to test him at home will be very helpful. Thank you! Also what is the best time to get a reading? Before insulin? Or how many hours after insulin?

Forgot to answer. Best to get a reading before feeding and shot.... Test, feed, shoot. Whenever possible get mid cycle numbers as well.