hello, newbie looking for advice please

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Hi, looking for a little advice re my 10 year old (at a guess she's a rescue) she was very ill 3 years ago and eventually diagnosed as having diabetes. she has 3 units twice a day and is on diabetic dry food. over the past 2 weeks her appetite for food and drink has been gradually diminishing. she has hardly eaten or drunk any water today - so I didnt give her evening injection and tried her with a little tuna - which she ate. she hasnt touched her prescription food. she is fairly normal in other ways, but I have noticed she is more lethargic and I think she is urinating less which would be obvious I suppose as she isnt drinking,. I intend to take her to vets to be checked over but wondered if anyone has experienced this? I am worried, she is such a sweet little cat
 
Insulin needs change... sometimes daily. It is possible that the dose you have her on is much too high. are you testing at home? It's dangerous to shoot blindly, esp. such a high dose. If you are willing to learn how to home test we can help you with that.

Which insulin are you using?

If you have ketone testing strips I would test her urine for ketones to rule that out. These strips are available at any pharmacy.

The dry prescription food is about 14-16% carbs... higher than is recommended for diabetic cats. Ideally you would want food UNDER 10% carbs. Most on here feed fancy feast classic or friskies pate wet foods. Warning though, switching to a lower carb food can sometimes drop the BG by quite a lot, thus reducing the amount of insulin needed, so don't change the diet unless you are testing first.
 
many thanks Janet for quick reply. No I havent been home testing. she has been on the same dosage for 2.5 years now, and same food. not been any problems and she has semi regular checks with the vet, nothing else has been suggested to me by the vet. I will take her for a check up and ask about the food you mention. I am concerned about checking myself and getting it right. will see what happens at the vets and come back to you. would you say its advisable to not inject her until she has been by the vet and whilst shes not really eating?
 
bar said:
many thanks Janet for quick reply. No I havent been home testing. she has been on the same dosage for 2.5 years now, and same food. not been any problems and she has semi regular checks with the vet, nothing else has been suggested to me by the vet. I will take her for a check up and ask about the food you mention. I am concerned about checking myself and getting it right. will see what happens at the vets and come back to you. would you say its advisable to not inject her until she has been by the vet and whilst shes not really eating?
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Ah i see you must be in the UK, right? (the whilst gave it away. lol) in that case fancy feast and friskies are not options, but we have folks on here that can recommend something where you are. @Elizabeth and Bertie

I definitely wouldn't give 3 units until you either start testing her at home or get a test at the vet. The reduction in symptoms suggest her bg is lower. It's much less expensive and more accurate to test her yourself. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat cc.
 
bar said:
Hi, looking for a little advice re my 10 year old (at a guess she's a rescue) she was very ill 3 years ago and eventually diagnosed as having diabetes.
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Hi Bar, 10 years is still pretty young for a cat these days. (My own diabetic boy is almost 19 now, and that kind of age is not at all unusual).
bar said:
..she has 3 units twice a day and is on diabetic dry food. over the past 2 weeks her appetite for food and drink has been gradually diminishing. she has hardly eaten or drunk any water today - so I didnt give her evening injection and tried her with a little tuna - which she ate.
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Given the lack of appetite I absolutely second Janet's advice to test your kitty's pee for ketones. In diabetics ketones can build up and develop into an extremely serious condition called Diabetic Ketoacidosis ('DKA'). This can be fatal and is expensive to treat. So, finding ketones at an early stage can make things much easier all round.... It would be super duper if you could get a test and find that your kitty is 'negative' for ketones.
It's good that you are planning a trip to a vet anyway. Please DO let us know how you get on.

Looking forward, I also second Janet's suggestion that you learn to test your kitty's blood glucose at home. It isn't anywhere near as hard as it sounds, honestly! And we can help you to learn.
If you can learn to do that then you'll have a much, much better understanding of how the insulin is working in your cat's system.

An important thing to know is that a cat's insulin requirements can change a lot over time. And many cats can go into 'remission' from their diabetes, and come to have their diabetes controlled by diet alone.

Once you're comfortable with home-testing, there are lots of low carb food options in the UK for your cat. But do learn to test first.

(((Hugs))) to you,

Elizabeth
 
Hi again, Bar @bar,
In your PM to me you said that the "trip to the vet has revealed a sore mouth. hopefully this will soon be healed."
Is there a plan to do a dental soon? Or is there a different sort of problem with your kitty's mouth?
Was the vet visit yesterday?
Did the vet also test for ketones?
Did the vet do any other tests?

Thanks, Bar,

Eliz
 
Hi Eliz - no vet didn't do any of those things, will take her back for a check once she is eating again and back on her insulin. how does your vet feel about you doing monitoring yourself? I am interested in doing this, I am hopeful that she will either become well again or be manageable with diet only - vet said this could happen. it is caninsulin yes. I am feeding her royal canin dry diabetic but have ordered about 5 days worth of wet, see if she manages better with that at least while her mouth is healing. I do feel very much a novice after finding you and Janet - even tho it has been 3 years !! I only wish I had found you sooner x
 
I think the wet food would be better. My cat went into remission after a month of insulin once I switched to only wet and he was off insulin for four years.

Personally I think the forum know more that the vet and I involve my vet very little. In fact I have not told my vet that my cat is back on insulin again. Thankfully in Canada we do not need prescription for insulin.

My vet told me there was no need for hometesting and I was to bring him in “every few weeks” for a curve. Wrong! You will get all the help you need here. Trust them.
 
I was told the same thing Juliet, and all the vet trips were distressing for her and expensive for me. they also only recommended the dry food. Eliz has sent me a list of suitable wet food I can buy I believe at the supermarket. this is all great news for me and I am feeling much more hopeful.
 
Keep asking questions and read posts in the forum especially the sticky’s. It will increase your understanding.
 
all seems well now and is enjoying the wet diabetic food - Hills- tho it is quite expensive. I am now planning to buy a tester kit so I can follow your example and do tests at home. any advice to where to buy good kit in the UK please? thanks
 
I’m from the UK but live in Canada now so don’t know. Any good pharmacy should have a meter and strips. Yes Hills is expensive. I use Fancy Feast. There will be other UK folks on here that could advise on less expensive food.
 
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