? pancreatitis + diabetes , always hungry :(

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CursedChico

CursedChico

Member Since 2019
Hello. We found this cat at park. He was left at park. He was blind so we took him .

After weeks, we realized he had pancreatitis and diabetes together.

Our vet started human insuline - Humulin, now using cat insuline, catsulin.

Blood sugar was around 500s but for last days, it is around 230-300s.

Once, blood sugar went down to 90s and he was almost dead, then we gave water with sugar so it saved him. So , vet does not want blood sugar to be too low.



We use w d hills wet food, dry food.

once a day this: https://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-supplem...ic-enzyme-for-cats-and-dogs-250g-pancrex-p-37

twice a day this: http://petremedy.com/cat/db/FAQ.htm

both medicine is given with dry food.

Also we use medicines for eye (still there is hope for one eye).

One w d hills is 156 gr so for one day, we give maximum 1 or 1.5. And some dry w d.

He was 4-5 kgs but now maximum 3.5 kgs.

He is blind so he hears and smells very strong, so whenever he heards we are eating, he comes and tries to eat. Even garlic, onion, whatever. So it is very hard to block him, we need to lock him while we are eating.

He feels always hunger. I know it is normal for diabetes but what will we do? I want to give him a lot of cans.

And at nights, he comes near me. He comes on my shoulder but usually he makes noises to get food so i give him a few dry food. Because wet is only twice a day , for medicines. Sometimes i also give wet at nights but i dont know if it is enough or i should give more or less.

How will i understand this?

and i read some comments here. Saying wd hills is not for pancreatits.

If you can send any links, i can show to my vet because until now, i did not have time so much to search. I hope i can do better now



21 september

13:30 - 473
15.00 - 393
17:35 - 260
19:00 - 256

23 september (on 22 september, i gave food every 2 hour. little dry food.)

12:10 - 405
14:12 - 370
17:10 - 100

24 september (high because vet said give dry food at home, because no dry foot left at vet. so that is why probably)

11:35 - 402
14:15 - 325
17:30 - 366
19:30 - 330

25 september

11:25 - 448
14:30 - 298
17:30 - 356
19:35 - 301

26 september

11:00 - 423
14:30 - 323
17:00 - 389
19:00 - 359
 
Last edited:
Hello! Welcome and thank you for rescuing your kitty. :bighug:

There is quite a bit here and I'll try my best to help. I have a couple of questions:
  • What's your cat's name?
  • Do you test your cat's blood sugar at home? If so, what meter are you using? A pet meter or a human meter?
  • If you have these readings, can you set up a spreadsheet? It helps all of us here get a bigger, clearer picture of what's going on with kitty's numbers. Here are the instructions: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
  • How many times a day and how much food do you feed?
  • What is catsulin? Are you able to take a photo of the insulin you're using? It's not one that sounds familiar on this board.
We typically recommend feeding wet food as opposed to dry food because dry food usually has a higher carb content. However, there are certain dry foods with low carb content. Unfortunately, I don't know the names of those brands. I do have a list of wet foods with their carb contents here: https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

A brand that most people feed their cats here is Fancy Feast or Friskies, particularly the classic pates which are low in carbs. However, if you do change your cat's diet to a wet food, PLEASE BE CAREFUL. A change in diet can cause numbers to go lower since there is less carbs in wet food. When you do the change, I would monitor blood sugar levels very closely and under the advisement of people here on this board or your vet.

I personally don't believe food has much impact on pancreatitis in cats. It may for dogs (high fats can cause pancreatitis in dogs) but not in cats. The best way to treat pancreatitis is to make sure your cat is eating and is well hydrated and feeling good (so pain and nausea should be treated). It sounds like your cat has a great appetite right now!

We also feed our cats multiple small meals a day. I feed my cat about 6-8 times a day.

Is your kitty overweight? 5 kg sounds good in my opinion. I think right now, it's more important that you feed your kitty enough to help prevent pancreatitis and other complications like DKA.

Keep posting and asking questions! We're happy to help!
 
Hi. How wonderful of you to take him in! You have come to the right place to get a lot of advice and support.

You said when his blood sugar was in the 90s, he almost died? That is very odd. 90s are very healthy numbers for blood sugar. A cat would normally have to go much lower than that to have any risk of danger. Did the vet say why this happened? You also mentioned that he was on human insulin but is now on catsulin - I assume you mean caninsulin. Why was that change made? Normally, a longer-lasting human insulin like glargine (Lantus) or detemir (Levemir) is a better option for a cat.

Do you live outside the US? Let us know what country you live in since that will impact suggestions for things like foods. As Crista already mentioned, dry food is not the best choice. The site catinfo.org has a lot of information about feline nutrition that you may find helpful. Why do you only feed wet food twice a day? You could feed it more often instead of the dry food. Many of us feed multiple meals each day of wet food. As far as how much to feed, one formula is 20 calories per pound of the cat's healthy body weight. Count up the calories your cat should get then see how many calories the wet food has and determine how much to give. As long as blood sugar is staying high, a cat will be hungry since their body cannot properly utilize the food, so extra food may be necessary. If a cat is underweight/losing weight, extra food is necessary. You want a low-carb wet food. The Hill's w/d you are feeding is 25% carbs which is way too high (the dry food would be even higher). It is not necessary to feed a 'prescription' diet. There are food lists available here to help you find something more appropriate. I have a link to the US one in my signature below. If you are in another country, there are different lists available.

As Crista also mentioned, home glucose testing is very important. It is extremely important to be doing it before you make a switch from high carb to low carb food since that can cause a significant drop in blood sugar. Are you home testing?
 
I hate to say this because I will be in the minority, but I have found that fat content in food does matter to my cat. My cat has chronic pancreatitis, in 2017 he had part of his pancreas removed, this summer he was hospitalized twice because of pancreatitis. This summer he happened to get ahold of 1 of the other cat's food and we were in trouble. Most of the time he does not have access to where any of the other cats eat, but 1 time is enough. I have never feed w/d but happened to pick up a flyer on Friday while at the vets, it says Helps Stabilize and Minimize Fluctuation of blood glucose levels in diabetic cats.
In the beginning of 2019 Buddy was eating FF and Dr. Elsey's dry food, the vet told me the FF had too much fat and Buddy needed something with less fat (he was sick with pancreatitis and would not eat) she had me feeding him 1/d and I mean force feeding him. He got to the point he would eat again and I gave him his FF, that was the last time I gave him FF, because he got sick. I was back to force feeding, it had more carbs, but I also cold give more insulin.
I know a lot of owners of diabetic cats feed their cats FF and I would love to do the same because it is much cheaper, but for my cat fat does matter.
 
I have to mention that there are a lot of food choices other than FF that have various levels of protein and fat without having to have high carbs that push the glucose up and cause you to have to give more insulin. I am not a FF fan either. I did feed FF chicken pate to my girls during the transition to wet food because it was one of the only wet foods they would eat, but I was not thrilled with some of the ingredients or with the nutritional specs (not enough protein, too much fat and phosphorous). It ended up causing poop issues for them - to the point that Willow had an anal sac rupture due to not being properly expressed because of the way her poop was. After that, I never fed them another bite of it. Thank goodness, they were receptive to Weruva Chicken Frick A Zee by that point, so we switched over.
 
Crista & Ming said:
Hello! Welcome and thank you for rescuing your kitty. :bighug:

There is quite a bit here and I'll try my best to help. I have a couple of questions:
  • What's your cat's name?
  • Do you test your cat's blood sugar at home? If so, what meter are you using? A pet meter or a human meter?
  • If you have these readings, can you set up a spreadsheet? It helps all of us here get a bigger, clearer picture of what's going on with kitty's numbers. Here are the instructions: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
  • How many times a day and how much food do you feed?
  • What is catsulin? Are you able to take a photo of the insulin you're using? It's not one that sounds familiar on this board.
We typically recommend feeding wet food as opposed to dry food because dry food usually has a higher carb content. However, there are certain dry foods with low carb content. Unfortunately, I don't know the names of those brands. I do have a list of wet foods with their carb contents here: https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

A brand that most people feed their cats here is Fancy Feast or Friskies, particularly the classic pates which are low in carbs. However, if you do change your cat's diet to a wet food, PLEASE BE CAREFUL. A change in diet can cause numbers to go lower since there is less carbs in wet food. When you do the change, I would monitor blood sugar levels very closely and under the advisement of people here on this board or your vet.

I personally don't believe food has much impact on pancreatitis in cats. It may for dogs (high fats can cause pancreatitis in dogs) but not in cats. The best way to treat pancreatitis is to make sure your cat is eating and is well hydrated and feeling good (so pain and nausea should be treated). It sounds like your cat has a great appetite right now!

We also feed our cats multiple small meals a day. I feed my cat about 6-8 times a day.

Is your kitty overweight? 5 kg sounds good in my opinion. I think right now, it's more important that you feed your kitty enough to help prevent pancreatitis and other complications like DKA.

Keep posting and asking questions! We're happy to help!
Click to expand...

Hello, thanks for answering.

  • Cat's name is Sugar Boy, i translated it to english. the vet gave this name :)
  • SOmetimes we test blood at home, with human meter i think. I dont know if i can find pet meter.
  • I will try to fill in those spreadsheets. I did not understand some column names in the excel sheet. I will ask later.
  • NOrmally, except sunday, we take him to vet from 8.30 AM to 8.00 PM. So they feed mostly. In the morning, i give one small spoon wet food with pet remedy medicine which i posted. In the night, again one spoon for pet remedy again and one spoon for another medicine i posted. I wait at least 30 minutes between those. I think also at veterinary, they feed one time. One can is 156 gr, so i give around half of it. Probably vet is also giving half. He always wants food so i give sometimes dry food also. It is not regular. Especially in the night. But yesterday, on sunday i gave every 2 hours a small spoon of wet food. So, we could finish one can wet food. So, for one day, one can at least. Probably i will buy automatic feeder with timer to do this but they are not good for wet food. Today, i will pick him up at 20.00 PM also again and give one small spoon for per medicine . Then until morning, every 2 hours, i will give small spoon and sometimes dry food.
  • It is cansulin. SOrry for mistyping. They are same i think with vetsulin. In europe, it is cansulin: http://www.caninsulin.com In my country turkey, we dont have it so i brought it from europe.

We dont have Fancy Feast here :( we have royal canin, purina, hills.

According to here , https://www.hillspet.com/cat-food/pd-md-feline-dry this dry food has not so little carbs. But i dont know what we can do if we dont give dry food. Because i give sometimes 5-6 piaces of dry food to stop him chasing us or our food. So, i dont know if we completely remove dry and instead of it, for example 2 cans.

WHen we first found, he was 5 kgs but not so overweight. Now , he is very skinny :/ 2.8 kg only. Because we did not know what the problem was so until that, we could not use insuline.

He tries to eat anything. yesterday he swallowed one olive from my bowl. and sunflowers. He bit my toothpaste and pierced it. It is hard to take off from his mouth when he bites.

I will try to answer other questions as soon as I have time.

Yesterday i used different feeding style, 2 hours. so i am excited now to see in the evening, if blood sugar level is different.
 
When glucose is unregulated, kitties are ravenous because they can not metabolize food properly.

so as long as no food 2 hrs prior to the shot test let him eat. I use feeder for wet food. Just add a bit of water to keep it from drying out. Depending on feeder, some have cold/ice packs that fit under tray. You can freeze portions of food and put it out and or put an ice cube in the middle of the food.
 
FurBabiesMama said:
Hi. How wonderful of you to take him in! You have come to the right place to get a lot of advice and support.

You said when his blood sugar was in the 90s, he almost died? That is very odd. 90s are very healthy numbers for blood sugar. A cat would normally have to go much lower than that to have any risk of danger. Did the vet say why this happened? You also mentioned that he was on human insulin but is now on catsulin - I assume you mean caninsulin. Why was that change made? Normally, a longer-lasting human insulin like glargine (Lantus) or detemir (Levemir) is a better option for a cat.

Do you live outside the US? Let us know what country you live in since that will impact suggestions for things like foods. As Crista already mentioned, dry food is not the best choice. The site catinfo.org has a lot of information about feline nutrition that you may find helpful. Why do you only feed wet food twice a day? You could feed it more often instead of the dry food. Many of us feed multiple meals each day of wet food. As far as how much to feed, one formula is 20 calories per pound of the cat's healthy body weight. Count up the calories your cat should get then see how many calories the wet food has and determine how much to give. As long as blood sugar is staying high, a cat will be hungry since their body cannot properly utilize the food, so extra food may be necessary. If a cat is underweight/losing weight, extra food is necessary. You want a low-carb wet food. The Hill's w/d you are feeding is 25% carbs which is way too high (the dry food would be even higher). It is not necessary to feed a 'prescription' diet. There are food lists available here to help you find something more appropriate. I have a link to the US one in my signature below. If you are in another country, there are different lists available.

As Crista also mentioned, home glucose testing is very important. It is extremely important to be doing it before you make a switch from high carb to low carb food since that can cause a significant drop in blood sugar. Are you home testing?
Click to expand...


Yes. My friend used meter to see it and she said it is 90.

We were using Humulin not lantus since beginning.But we were always wanting cat insuline. Because vet says "human insulines are not optimized for cats, i have to reduce it".

So, when i went abroad, i bought it. in luxembourg. I live in turkey.

At vet, they feed. I dont feed twice for wet food. In the morning i give one spoon for medicine. and in the evening one spoon for medicine and another for another medicine. so three times. At vet also they give. I finish one can . proabably at vet maybe one can too.

I will check food db in your signature. thank you.

Sometimes i test at home. But not always. WHen my friend comes next week, we will do it. She is better than me.



Teresa & Buddy said:
I hate to say this because I will be in the minority, but I have found that fat content in food does matter to my cat. My cat has chronic pancreatitis, in 2017 he had part of his pancreas removed, this summer he was hospitalized twice because of pancreatitis. This summer he happened to get ahold of 1 of the other cat's food and we were in trouble. Most of the time he does not have access to where any of the other cats eat, but 1 time is enough. I have never feed w/d but happened to pick up a flyer on Friday while at the vets, it says Helps Stabilize and Minimize Fluctuation of blood glucose levels in diabetic cats.
In the beginning of 2019 Buddy was eating FF and Dr. Elsey's dry food, the vet told me the FF had too much fat and Buddy needed something with less fat (he was sick with pancreatitis and would not eat) she had me feeding him 1/d and I mean force feeding him. He got to the point he would eat again and I gave him his FF, that was the last time I gave him FF, because he got sick. I was back to force feeding, it had more carbs, but I also cold give more insulin.
I know a lot of owners of diabetic cats feed their cats FF and I would love to do the same because it is much cheaper, but for my cat fat does matter.
Click to expand...

I am sorry for that. NOw, what brand do you use, i could not understand. And how often do you give?


Red & Rover (GA) said:
I don't know why your vet would change from a human insulin to a pet insulin. Caninsulin is a very harsh insulin and drops cats fast.

*** IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS ***
Symptoms of & how to treat HYPOGLYCEMIA - what to do if your kitty experiences hypoglycemia
Jojo's Hypo Tool box - be prepared, what to have on hand in case of an emergency
Click to expand...

What do you mean dropping cats? AFter caninsulin, results are better now



FurBabiesMama said:
I have to mention that there are a lot of food choices other than FF that have various levels of protein and fat without having to have high carbs that push the glucose up and cause you to have to give more insulin. I am not a FF fan either. I did feed FF chicken pate to my girls during the transition to wet food because it was one of the only wet foods they would eat, but I was not thrilled with some of the ingredients or with the nutritional specs (not enough protein, too much fat and phosphorous). It ended up causing poop issues for them - to the point that Willow had an anal sac rupture due to not being properly expressed because of the way her poop was. After that, I never fed them another bite of it. Thank goodness, they were receptive to Weruva Chicken Frick A Zee by that point, so we switched over.
Click to expand...

I wish we had those brands her :( i am happy they love new brand



Olive & Paula said:
When glucose is unregulated, kitties are ravenous because they can not metabolize food properly.

so as long as no food 2 hrs prior to the shot test let him eat. I use feeder for wet food. Just add a bit of water to keep it from drying out. Depending on feeder, some have cold/ice packs that fit under tray. You can freeze portions of food and put it out and or put an ice cube in the middle of the food.
Click to expand...

https://www.amazon.com/Trixie-Autom...Black/dp/B00106AP12?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20

i can buy this. What do you think about it?

And do you give dry food also?






And i want to thank you all for help until now. I am trying to read and see what you provided. I am happy to get so much help.



These are results at vet which i took yesterday:


21 september

13:30 - 473
15.00 - 393
17:35 - 260
19:00 - 256

23 september monday (on 22 september, i gave food every 2 hour. little dry food.)

12:10 - 405
14:12 - 370
17:10 - 100

24 september (high because vet said give dry food at home, because no dry foot left at vet. so that is why probably)

11:35 - 402
14:15 - 325
17:30 - 366
19:30 - 330
 
Last edited:
Hi @CursedChico ,

I think you have Zooplus in Turkey, it's a great online pet store and they sell quite few wet foods that are suitable for diabetic cats. You can find a list of suitable foods available in most Europe, as well as some other useful information here http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-vit-b12-and-other-need-to-know-stuff.137376/

Why is SugaryBoy spending the day at the vets? You mentioned you take him there 8 am to 8 pm on most days. I think it's worth checking with the vet exactly how much and when is he fed while he is there, it will help you determine how much you should feed at home. To me, it sounds like he might be getting a bit less food than he needs. Most diabetic kitties do well with small but often meals, maybe that is something you could look into for him. He might still feel very hungry, that's the diabetes, but it might just improve slightly.

It would be useful to know if the meter you're using it's human or pet specific but both are fine. If it's a human meter you're using, I wouldn't change it. The only pet specific meter is the Alphatrak and while the meter itself it's not too expensive, the supplies for it are very expensive and not widely sold.

If Caninsulin is not available in Turkey, would you be able to source a new vial of insulin every few months? If not, I would stick to an insulin that it's easily accessible from your vet, even if it's a human insulin. Human insulins have actually been proven to be very effective in cats and there are studies and information available that you can read. I'm actually trying to convince our vet to switch from a pet insulin to a human one :)
 
Olive & Paula said:
When glucose is unregulated, kitties are ravenous because they can not metabolize food properly.

so as long as no food 2 hrs prior to the shot test let him eat. I use feeder for wet food. Just add a bit of water to keep it from drying out. Depending on feeder, some have cold/ice packs that fit under tray. You can freeze portions of food and put it out and or put an ice cube in the middle of the food.
Click to expand...

https://www.amazon.com/Trixie-Autom...Black/dp/B00106AP12?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20

i can buy this. What do you think about it?

AN
Georgiana & Perlutz said:
Hi @CursedChico ,

I think you have Zooplus in Turkey, it's a great online pet store and they sell quite few wet foods that are suitable for diabetic cats. You can find a list of suitable foods available in most Europe, as well as some other useful information here http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-vit-b12-and-other-need-to-know-stuff.137376/

Why is SugaryBoy spending the day at the vets? You mentioned you take him there 8 am to 8 pm on most days. I think it's worth checking with the vet exactly how much and when is he fed while he is there, it will help you determine how much you should feed at home. To me, it sounds like he might be getting a bit less food than he needs. Most diabetic kitties do well with small but often meals, maybe that is something you could look into for him. He might still feel very hungry, that's the diabetes, but it might just improve slightly.

It would be useful to know if the meter you're using it's human or pet specific but both are fine. If it's a human meter you're using, I wouldn't change it. The only pet specific meter is the Alphatrak and while the meter itself it's not too expensive, the supplies for it are very expensive and not widely sold.

If Caninsulin is not available in Turkey, would you be able to source a new vial of insulin every few months? If not, I would stick to an insulin that it's easily accessible from your vet, even if it's a human insulin. Human insulins have actually been proven to be very effective in cats and there are studies and information available that you can read. I'm actually trying to convince our vet to switch from a pet insulin to a human one :)
Click to expand...


We have zooplus yes but here, we cant buy special cat food. Like diabetic food. Only vets can buy and can order and zooplus does not have diabetic food :(

Because i am working and there are2 more cats at home (SugarBoy tries to eat their food and tries to eat anything) and because still we wait glucose to be stabilised; we will take him to vet for a short time more.

It wont be easy to bring again Caninsulin but we will try. NOw we have lots of. It can go for 1-2 months.

I am trying to give small portions and i will ask today how much they give.

We can also move again to human insuline, i am not sure. Vet is deciding. I will suggest also it but until 2 weeks ago, we were using it Hamalin and the glucose was so high
 
I have a similar feeder. I changed out the plastic bowls for stainless steel ones because kitties can get chin acne from plastic. With that feeder you can't set intervals so once it's open they have access until you reset it. Not a problem if there are no other pets to get the food. What you can do is feed kitty (Chico ??) and then put frozen food in it for later when it opens.

If you can get rechargeable batteries use them and make sure you change them regularly. I did not and the batteries died so kitty didn't have food most of day. Now I replace once a month and recharge.

I just saw you have other cats. So you might need to keep kitty separate from them if they are stealing the food. Might also look into microchip feeder if you can afford one. Those will only let the kitty with the micro tag open the feeder. You do not need special diabetic cat food. It is normally to high in carbs.
 
Olive & Paula said:
I have a similar feeder. I changed out the plastic bowls for stainless steel ones because kitties can get chin acne from plastic. With that feeder you can't set intervals so once it's open they have access until you reset it. Not a problem if there are no other pets to get the food. What you can do is feed kitty (Chico ??) and then put frozen food in it for later when it opens.

If you can get rechargeable batteries use them and make sure you change them regularly. I did not and the batteries died so kitty didn't have food most of day. Now I replace once a month and recharge.

I just saw you have other cats. So you might need to keep kitty separate from them if they are stealing the food. Might also look into microchip feeder if you can afford one. Those will only let the kitty with the micro tag open the feeder. You do not need special diabetic cat food. It is normally to high in carbs.
Click to expand...

I did not understand, it will stay open with all food you put before? There are no other pets but SugarBoy can finish it.

Other cats dont steal, SugarBoy eats theirs because he is always hungry. so no need microchip. Only need something that can work even for 10 hours while i am at work , for example every 2 hour, 5 times.

https://www.amazon.com/PAWISE-Autom...nser/dp/B06Y1TXZYP/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20

what about this?
 
@CursedChico the foods labelled as special diets for diabetics are actually quite bad, despite what your vet might have told you (most of us here have had the same conversation with our vets). Diabetic cats need a low carb diet, under 10%, and those special diet foods contain a lot more, around 30%. As well as their high carb content, the ingredients are of very low quality. There are better quality foods out there, that would suit a diabetic cat much better and they are also cheaper than the special prescription diets. To name a few that you will find on Zooplus: Thrive, Bozita, Miamor, Animoda but bear in mind that different flavours have different carb percentages. You can calculate the carb percentage here http://scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html (you can find the protein, fat, ash, fibre and moisture under the analytical constituents of a certain food on Zooplus' website). SugarBoy might show an improvement in his blood glucose just from switching to a wet, low carb diet, so please make sure you test him before giving insulin.

As for him staying at the vet, most kitties get very stressed while at the vet and stress can get their blood glucose really high.

If I understood correctly, you would like an automatic feeder that can feed him 1 meal every 2 hours for up to 10 hours? In that case, the one from your link above won't work, that can only provide 2 meals. You can have a look at something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/KCT-Pisces-Meal-Auto-Feeder/dp/B00MQX2I0E/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20, it can be programmed to feed up to 6 meals.
 
CursedChico said:
I did not understand, it will stay open with all food you put before? There are no other pets but SugarBoy can finish it.

Other cats dont steal, SugarBoy eats theirs because he is always hungry. so no need microchip. Only need something that can work even for 10 hours while i am at work , for example every 2 hour, 5 times.

https://www.amazon.com/PAWISE-Autom...nser/dp/B06Y1TXZYP/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20

what about this?
Click to expand...

Then that feeder is not the one for Sugarboy. You need something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-5-Meal-Automatic-Pet-Feeder/dp/B000GEWHNS?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20
 
Georgiana & Perlutz said:
@CursedChico the foods labelled as special diets for diabetics are actually quite bad, despite what your vet might have told you (most of us here have had the same conversation with our vets). Diabetic cats need a low carb diet, under 10%, and those special diet foods contain a lot more, around 30%. As well as their high carb content, the ingredients are of very low quality. There are better quality foods out there, that would suit a diabetic cat much better and they are also cheaper than the special prescription diets. To name a few that you will find on Zooplus: Thrive, Bozita, Miamor, Animoda but bear in mind that different flavours have different carb percentages. You can calculate the carb percentage here http://scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html (you can find the protein, fat, ash, fibre and moisture under the analytical constituents of a certain food on Zooplus' website). SugarBoy might show an improvement in his blood glucose just from switching to a wet, low carb diet, so please make sure you test him before giving insulin.

As for him staying at the vet, most kitties get very stressed while at the vet and stress can get their blood glucose really high.

If I understood correctly, you would like an automatic feeder that can feed him 1 meal every 2 hours for up to 10 hours? In that case, the one from your link above won't work, that can only provide 2 meals. You can have a look at something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/KCT-Pisces-Meal-Auto-Feeder/dp/B00MQX2I0E/ref=sr_1_41?crid=242ICBHTLHODB&keywords=automatic feeder cat&qid=1569423302&sprefix=automatic feeder ,aps,159&sr=8-41, it can be programmed to feed up to 6 meals.
Click to expand...
Love the picture of your kitty sleeping.
 
Georgiana & Perlutz said:
@CursedChico the foods labelled as special diets for diabetics are actually quite bad, despite what your vet might have told you (most of us here have had the same conversation with our vets). Diabetic cats need a low carb diet, under 10%, and those special diet foods contain a lot more, around 30%. As well as their high carb content, the ingredients are of very low quality. There are better quality foods out there, that would suit a diabetic cat much better and they are also cheaper than the special prescription diets. To name a few that you will find on Zooplus: Thrive, Bozita, Miamor, Animoda but bear in mind that different flavours have different carb percentages. You can calculate the carb percentage here http://scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html (you can find the protein, fat, ash, fibre and moisture under the analytical constituents of a certain food on Zooplus' website). SugarBoy might show an improvement in his blood glucose just from switching to a wet, low carb diet, so please make sure you test him before giving insulin.
As for him staying at the vet, most kitties get very stressed while at the vet and stress can get their blood glucose really high.
If I understood correctly, you would like an automatic feeder that can feed him 1 meal every 2 hours for up to 10 hours? In that case, the one from your link above won't work, that can only provide 2 meals. You can have a look at something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/KCT-Pisces-Meal-Auto-Feeder/dp/B00MQX2I0E/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20 feeder cat&qid=1569423302&sprefix=automatic feeder ,aps,159&sr=8-41, it can be programmed to feed up to 6 meals.
Click to expand...


Hello. I looked for zooplus again for the brands you told. We have only bozita. All dry food. Those three:
1- https://www.bozita.com/cat-food/feline-function/indoor-sterilised-dryfood
Protein 32%, fat content 14%, fibre 3.7%, crude ash (minerals) 7% (of which calcium 1.1%, phosphorus 0.9%, magnesium 0.09%), moisture 10%.
2- https://www.bozita.com/cat-food/feline-function/kitten-dryfood
Protein 35%, fat content 18%, fibre 1.6%, crude ash (minerals) 7,2% (of which calcium 1.2%, phosphorus 1.0%, magnesium 0.09%), moisture 10%.
3- https://www.bozita.com/cat-food/feline-function/sensitive-hair-skin-wetfood
Protein 7.5%, fat content 6%, fiber 0.5%, minerals (crude ash) 2% (calcium 0.35%, phosphorous 0.3%, magnesium 0.02%), moisture 83%.
wd has %39 protein, %9.5 fat https://www.hillspet.co.uk/cat-food/pd-feline-prescription-diet-wd-dry
Zoplus also has this
https://www.royalcanin.com/nz/cats/products/retail-products/light-weight-care-dry
Protein: 40% - Fat content: 10% - Crude ash: 7.2% - Crude fibres: 7.6% - Total dietary fibres: 15.9%.
carb calcuates as 375.
First one seems good. But that site http://scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html showed 410 for carbs while w d is 368. And also SugarBoy has pancreatits, so i dont know about that disase so much. If i can be sure, i can switch food.
Next week, we will try to keep him at home but we need first auto timer feeder. Yes every 2 hours, up to 12-14 hours. cant be sure which is good and is not so expensive. We dont have KCT Pisces brand but i will find similar.



Georgiana & Perlutz said:
@CursedChico the foods labelled as special diets for diabetics are actually quite bad, despite what your vet might have told you (most of us here have had the same conversation with our vets). Diabetic cats need a low carb diet, under 10%, and those special diet foods contain a lot more, around 30%. As well as their high carb content, the ingredients are of very low quality. There are better quality foods out there, that would suit a diabetic cat much better and they are also cheaper than the special prescription diets. To name a few that you will find on Zooplus: Thrive, Bozita, Miamor, Animoda but bear in mind that different flavours have different carb percentages. You can calculate the carb percentage here http://scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html (you can find the protein, fat, ash, fibre and moisture under the analytical constituents of a certain food on Zooplus' website). SugarBoy might show an improvement in his blood glucose just from switching to a wet, low carb diet, so please make sure you test him before giving insulin.
As for him staying at the vet, most kitties get very stressed while at the vet and stress can get their blood glucose really high.
If I understood correctly, you would like an automatic feeder that can feed him 1 meal every 2 hours for up to 10 hours? In that case, the one from your link above won't work, that can only provide 2 meals. You can have a look at something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/KCT-Pisces-Meal-Auto-Feeder/dp/B00MQX2I0E/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20 feeder cat&qid=1569423302&sprefix=automatic feeder ,aps,159&sr=8-41, it can be programmed to feed up to 6 meals.
Click to expand...


Olive & Paula said:
Then that feeder is not the one for Sugarboy. You need something like this.
https://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-5-Meal-Automatic-Pet-Feeder/dp/B000GEWHNS?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20
Click to expand...



yes i will try to find something like this.



Teresa & Buddy said:
Love the picture of your kitty sleeping.
Click to expand...



thank you :) the cat in your profile picture is so cute.




For example, what about this? https://www.petcircle.com.au/discover/gigwi-pet-droid-auto-feeder-instructions
For same product, https://www.amazon.com.au/Gigwi-DAG2445-Dog-Toy/dp/B07G844SL2 it says sutiable for wet food. I can put ice packs to keep cold them.
6 comparments, so for 2 hours, it can hold 12 hours. But i cant see any video if it is ok because SugarBoy can crash if he finds out there are more in other compartments.
Also we have this
https://www.amazon.com/PAWISE-Autom...gital/dp/B07L89D5R4?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20
there are lots of negative comments .
Also qpets but comments say dont use for wet food
https://www.amazon.com/Qpets-6-Meal-Automatic-Pet-Feeder/dp/B005POODL8?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20




or i can buy 4 of this. So 4 compartments?

https://www.amazon.com/PAWISE-Autom...nser/dp/B06Y1TXZYP/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20
 
Last edited:
The qpets can be used with wet food.

All of them will work for you.

if you would buy the gigwi one, I would say spend the money on microchip feeder instead.

I wouldn't buy 4 of the 2 compartment obes. Buy one that would do the 5-6 feedings.
 
@CursedChico

Hi and welcome,
how good of you to take the special need kitty in!:)
Very best of luck to you!
CursedChico said:
NOrmally, except sunday, we take him to vet from 8.30 AM to 8.00 PM. So they feed mostly.
Click to expand...
CursedChico said:
on sunday i gave every 2 hours a small spoon of wet food.
Click to expand...
To be honest it looks that Sunday's schedule at home is the healthiest and most efficient way to handle diabetes at home especially because you already testing the BG. Feeding small portions of wet food throughout a day is much better for their pancreas and in the same way the human diabetics advised to eat frequently by small amount. You already doing better thing for the cat than the vet does with dry only. Perhaps if you reduce the stress of going to vet's every day you'll see better BG level.

A while ago we used to have someone from Turkey, he might be good source of local info for you - such as foods or insulin. Sorry, I forgot his name but I hope that @Wendy&Neko might remember him and will tag him for help.
CursedChico said:
He tries to eat anything. yesterday he swallowed one olive from my bowl. and sunflowers. He bit my toothpaste and pierced it. It is hard to take off from his mouth when he bites.
Click to expand...
Please feed him as much as he wants...especially if he is loosing weight.
 
CursedChico said:
Hello. I looked for zooplus again for the brands you told. We have only bozita. All dry food. Those three:
1- https://www.bozita.com/cat-food/feline-function/indoor-sterilised-dryfood
Protein 32%, fat content 14%, fibre 3.7%, crude ash (minerals) 7% (of which calcium 1.1%, phosphorus 0.9%, magnesium 0.09%), moisture 10%.
2- https://www.bozita.com/cat-food/feline-function/kitten-dryfood
Protein 35%, fat content 18%, fibre 1.6%, crude ash (minerals) 7,2% (of which calcium 1.2%, phosphorus 1.0%, magnesium 0.09%), moisture 10%. Thank you, that is my Blonde Baby Buddy.
3- https://www.bozita.com/cat-food/feline-function/sensitive-hair-skin-wetfood
Protein 7.5%, fat content 6%, fiber 0.5%, minerals (crude ash) 2% (calcium 0.35%, phosphorous 0.3%, magnesium 0.02%), moisture 83%.
wd has %39 protein, %9.5 fat https://www.hillspet.co.uk/cat-food/pd-feline-prescription-diet-wd-dry
Zoplus also has this
https://www.royalcanin.com/nz/cats/products/retail-products/light-weight-care-dry
Protein: 40% - Fat content: 10% - Crude ash: 7.2% - Crude fibres: 7.6% - Total dietary fibres: 15.9%.
carb calcuates as 375.
First one seems good. But that site http://scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html showed 410 for carbs while w d is 368. And also SugarBoy has pancreatits, so i dont know about that disase so much. If i can be sure, i can switch food.
Next week, we will try to keep him at home but we need first auto timer feeder. Yes every 2 hours, up to 12-14 hours. cant be sure which is good and is not so expensive. We dont have KCT Pisces brand but i will find similar.










yes i will try to find something like this.







thank you :) the cat in your profile picture is so cute.




For example, what about this? https://www.petcircle.com.au/discover/gigwi-pet-droid-auto-feeder-instructions
For same product, https://www.amazon.com.au/Gigwi-DAG2445-Dog-Toy/dp/B07G844SL2 it says sutiable for wet food. I can put ice packs to keep cold them.
6 comparments, so for 2 hours, it can hold 12 hours. But i cant see any video if it is ok because SugarBoy can crash if he finds out there are more in other compartments.
Also we have this
https://www.amazon.com/PAWISE-Autom...gital/dp/B07L89D5R4?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20
there are lots of negative comments .
Also qpets but comments say dont use for wet food
https://www.amazon.com/Qpets-6-Meal-Automatic-Pet-Feeder/dp/B005POODL8?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20




or i can buy 4 of this. So 4 compartments?

https://www.amazon.com/PAWISE-Autom...nser/dp/B06Y1TXZYP/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20
Click to expand...
 
@CursedChico some foods from the links above were dry foods. I would stay away from ALL dry food and switch him to a wet food diet. Can you have a look if you could find some of these foods where you live
https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/thrive_complete/274679
https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/thrive_complete/391141
https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/thrive_complete/613699
https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/miamor/miamor_trays/42061
https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/animonda/adult/431526

Can you tell us how often is SugarBoy's blood glucose tested, who tests it and what meter it's used, please? If you switch a diabetic cat from dry food to wet food, it's very important to test his blood glucose every time before giving insulin. Some cats go into diabetes remission just from switching diets as the wet food is considerably lower in carbs.

Because Sugar Boy spends his days at the vet, his blood glucose might be slightly more elevated because of the stress and you might find that he won't be in such high numbers if you keep him at home during the day.

As for the automatic feeder, I use this one and I am very happy with it https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0002YHUPC/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20. If you can buy 2, you could set it to feed SugarBoy every 2.5 hours while you're away during the day. I would actually suggest 2 automatic feeders, this one or similar, instead of a 5-6 slots feeder. I have one of those too and my cat won't ever eat from it, for some reason he is very scared of him.

How is SugarBoy feeling these days? :)
 
Wendy&Neko said:
@Gurkan&Raffy lived in Istanbul. His kitty was initially on Lantus, then on Levemir. Both are human insulins that are good for cats. I haven't heard from Gurkan for quite a while, not sure if the tag will get his attention, but maybe you could message him.
Click to expand...
Dear Wendy we are still alive :)
I was not able to write something beacuse of my medical problems.
We are trying to do our best for Raffy to give him a comfortable life.
Since August his BG level is undercontrol with 4u Levemir. It is amazing for him , you know we ve reached 55U per shot.
BG is good but remaining is so so :(
He is not behaving like a normal cat, he can not eat and drink by himself.
Walking in slow motion, and always on the same lane, walking around corners of the walls then freeze :(
 
I am also having some medical problems. I have ringworm :( probably from SugarCat :( SugarBoy is at my friend's now.

My friend is taking him to vet. Tomorrow automatic pet feeder is arriving.

I bought 30 x w d wet food so for one month at least, we are ok.

But could not find other wet foods.

https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/animonda/adult/431526

for example i think we have that brand but its protein is %11. Also SugarCat has pancreatits. Is it ok?

What do you think of wet and dry of this? https://www.royalcanin.com/us/cats/...astrointestinal-moderate-calorie-dry-cat-food
 
I'm sorry to hear you have health issues too :(

The Animoda food from your link is suitable for a diabetic cat, it has only 6% carbs (it's the carbs % we're after, not the protein%).

I would advise against any dry food, from any brand, as they are all very high in carbohydrates. The dry food from your link above for example has 33% carbs, which is way higher than the under 10% carbs content recommended for diabetic cats. The w/d wet food has around 25% carbs, if I remember correctly.

How is SugarBoy's blood glucose these days? Any improvement?
 
Hello again.

Now, Sugar Boy is better, thanks to you all. Blood level is between 50-100. WE stopped taking to vet.

We use Animoda wet food.

But he stil feels hunger. He tries to eat everything.

He eats 2 cans daily.

He is now around 3.3 kg's. GEtting better except feeling hunger :(
 
CursedChico said:
Hello again.

Now, Sugar Boy is better, thanks to you all. Blood level is between 50-100. WE stopped taking to vet.

We use Animoda wet food.

But he stil feels hunger. He tries to eat everything.

He eats 2 cans daily.

He is now around 3.3 kg's. GEtting better except feeling hunger :(
Click to expand...
I’m so happy to hear SugarBoy is feeling better and in such good numbers!
I think you can give him 3 cans a day, I don’t think 2 cans are enough.
 
Georgiana & Perlutz said:
I’m so happy to hear SugarBoy is feeling better and in such good numbers!
I think you can give him 3 cans a day, I don’t think 2 cans are enough.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the answer. We also tried to give 12 hours a day or 6 hours but they are all same.

For 3 cans, what frequency do you suggest to give?
 
CursedChico said:
Thanks for the answer. We also tried to give 12 hours a day or 6 hours but they are all same.

For 3 cans, what frequency do you suggest to give?
Click to expand...
You could try 1 can in the morning before insulin, half can around +6 hour from the insulin, 1 can in the evening before insulin and half at +6 again. You will probably not be at home during the day, but you can use the autofeeder - I believe you bought one?
 
Georgiana & Perlutz said:
You could try 1 can in the morning before insulin, half can around +6 hour from the insulin, 1 can in the evening before insulin and half at +6 again. You will probably not be at home during the day, but you can use the autofeeder - I believe you bought one?
Click to expand...

Yes, i bought one. But we stopped using insuline :)
 
CursedChico said:
Same for us, still can not believe no more insuline :)

So, 1 can in the morning, half in afternoon, 1 can in evening, half in night is good?
Click to expand...
Sorry, I missed the notification for your post!

That sounds good, adjust as fit for SugarBoy. He is in such lovely numbers, he shouldn’t feel hungry all the time and loosing too much weight can be dangerous. So I’d go ahead and feed him 3 cans and see how it goes :)
 
Georgiana & Perlutz said:
Sorry, I missed the notification for your post!

That sounds good, adjust as fit for SugarBoy. He is in such lovely numbers, he shouldn’t feel hungry all the time and loosing too much weight can be dangerous. So I’d go ahead and feed him 3 cans and see how it goes :)
Click to expand...
I love the way your kitty looks laying there asleep.
 
Georgiana & Perlutz said:
Sorry, I missed the notification for your post!

That sounds good, adjust as fit for SugarBoy. He is in such lovely numbers, he shouldn’t feel hungry all the time and loosing too much weight can be dangerous. So I’d go ahead and feed him 3 cans and see how it goes :)
Click to expand...

Thanks to you and to all people helped here :)

He is gaining weight, sometimes 2 cans sometimes 3 cans daily. SOmetimes dry food.

I hope , soon he also stops feeling hungry and stops trying to eat anything he smells.
 
Hello. A lot of time has passed. Now Sugar Boy is 3.85 kgs :)

But for 2 days, he vomits. 2 days ago night, 3 times, yesterday night 1 times. And he did not eat.

he was normally so hungry, so eager to eat but now cant eat.

Veterinary said a lot of hair is inside so they make it. So vet gave that malt

vetiq defurr um

https://markandchappell.com/vetiq/hygiene-grooming/vetiq-defurr-um-hairball-remedy/

yesterday but despite that, yesterday night he vomitted. Now today i suggest vet to get x-ray test of kidneys because he has pancreatits before.

Normally he was attacking any food or smell now he is only waiting like he has pain :( vet says he has nausea so that is why he is not eating.
 
Olive & Paula said:
Surgery for what?
Click to expand...
Surgery to remove the thing from inside because for 3 days, he could not poop and remove it.

i am uploading xray of its. a vet highlighted the thing. Tomorrow they will operate :(
 

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@CursedChico could you maybe create a new thread with a title reflecting the new troubles Sugar Boy has? It might help get attention from members of the forum who have had similar issues.

There is a natural supplement that is safe to be used in cats, it's called Slippery Elm Bark (SEB). Many people use it for cats with pancreatitis or hair ball issues (I use it on my cat for about 8 months or so and it definitely helped him). SEB coats the stomach and intestines and so it helps reduce irritation, nausea and stomach acid. If SugarBoy is taking any other medicine, SEB should be given 2 hours before or after the other medicine. There are various ways of administering it, some people boil it with water making a sort of jelly, but I just open the capsule and sprinkle a little bit of the powder on his food, then mix it well.

I hope Sugar Boy is doing well, please give us an update if you can :)
 
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