What to do while waiting for official diagnosis?

[Jennifer Bittman]

*** edit to included****...we tested her with a human meter and I have been trying to figure out how to convert the number to be applicable for a feline. The human meter has her at 14.1. we are in Canada and does that have to do with the number format being different than what I am finding? Most are referring to numbers in the hundreds. My diabetic son as a human strives to be between 5 and 7 lol. What should I be trying to achieve on a human meter? I am so confused.


My Grandcat Shadow is almost 7 years old and has been displaying symptoms of feline diabetes. We bought a urine testing kit and definitely it all points to type 2 I think, but am so unsure. She has elevated glucose, keytone levels and protein levels. She has an appointment with the vet next week unfortunately. She is my son's baby girl and he is her main man lol, I still have her Mama Pepper, but I get to love and spoil her for two weeks at a time while he is in camp working. She has gone through alot of changes as well as they lived on their own for two years and have just came back home. Her and her Mama have been not reintroducing very well, but we are taking it slowly and using Jackson Galaxy as an excellent resource. It's not been going easy and I am sure it will be better when she is feeling better even. We will do what we can and as much as we can for her. Just looking for resources, info, ways to get on it before seeing the vet even lol just looking to better my knowledge and what is to come. Thank you for for being here.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

First, could you create a signature so that the pertinent information is available with each post. Here is a link to creating the signature, adding profile information if you like and selecting preferences.

Editing your Signature, Profile, and Preferences

You may want to check out this Sticky: HOW-TO USE THE FDMB: The Basics to better see how to navigate and work in the FDMB format.

Diet is an important component of effective diabetic treatment, along with insulin therapy and home testing blood sugar to monitor how the diet changes and insulin are working. If home testing isn't in the process yet, we can explain how important it is, what supplies are needed and how to learn to test. Testing before injections ensures that it's safe to "shoot" and spot tests between shots lets a care giver know how low the blood sugar is dropping during the cycle. It's a good indicator if an insulin dose is too high, too low or being effective.

Here are some Home Testing Video's but there are lots of them on YouTube.

Here are some Urine testing tips too. I'd get another test ASAP if there were possible ketones.
If you really get anything over "trace", it's an emergency. DKA is very expensive to treat and not always successful.

What food is Shadow eating? As I said on the FB group, she needs to be on a low carb canned or raw diet that's less than 10% carbs. While we all recommend Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pates, if your cat doesn't like pates, there are other options. Sometimes texture is an important part to finding something she'll eat. Here's a Food chart from Dr. Lisa's website on Feline Nutrition (like you need more to read!!...but it's a great site)

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

Other things you can put in your profile. Time zone, past medical history, other animals in the home.
Some people put more personal but relevant stuff in there. Always changing work hours, any help from a partner, mine explains my health issues and why I sometimes missed PM shots. Money can be an issue but we can help you to a degree.
Between now and next week do not tear your hair out thinking this is the end of the world, it's not. I've had two sugar cats and if one our five furballs was diagnosed tomorrow I'd just shrug my shoulders, here we go again.
You are in the best possible place for help, you might even get some new friends out of the deal.

 

[Jennifer Bittman]

Other things you can put in your profile. Time zone, past medical history, other animals in the home.
Some people put more personal but relevant stuff in there. Always changing work hours, any help from a partner, mine explains my health issues and why I sometimes missed PM shots. Money can be an issue but we can help you to a degree.
Between now and next week do not tear your hair out thinking this is the end of the world, it's not. I've had two sugar cats and if one our five furballs was diagnosed tomorrow I'd just shrug my shoulders, here we go again.
You are in the best possible place for help, you might even get some new friends out of the deal.

I really appreciate the kind words and support. I have updated my profile to include more info but if there is still anything else I am missing please let me know.

 

[Jennifer Bittman]

First, could you create a signature so that the pertinent information is available with each post. Here is a link to creating the signature, adding profile information if you like and selecting preferences.

Editing your Signature, Profile, and Preferences

You may want to check out this Sticky: HOW-TO USE THE FDMB: The Basics to better see how to navigate and work in the FDMB format.

Diet is an important component of effective diabetic treatment, along with insulin therapy and home testing blood sugar to monitor how the diet changes and insulin are working. If home testing isn't in the process yet, we can explain how important it is, what supplies are needed and how to learn to test. Testing before injections ensures that it's safe to "shoot" and spot tests between shots lets a care giver know how low the blood sugar is dropping during the cycle. It's a good indicator if an insulin dose is too high, too low or being effective.

Here are some Home Testing Video's but there are lots of them on YouTube.

Here are some Urine testing tips too. I'd get another test ASAP if there were possible ketones.
If you really get anything over "trace", it's an emergency. DKA is very expensive to treat and not always successful.

What food is Shadow eating? As I said on the FB group, she needs to be on a low carb canned or raw diet that's less than 10% carbs. While we all recommend Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pates, if your cat doesn't like pates, there are other options. Sometimes texture is an important part to finding something she'll eat. Here's a Food chart from Dr. Lisa's website on Feline Nutrition (like you need more to read!!...but it's a great site)

Thank you. As I stated she will be on the wet food first thing tomorrow. Her dry food has already been removed. She was eating the Crave brand of dry food as well as a can of Special Kitty or Friskies three times a week as a treat.
As for the keytone levels, I am following her around to do another clean test collection and retest. I may have let the strip sit longer than the 15 seconds it requires for an accurate test. Also tonight when my son gets home we will test her with his glucose meter and hope for numbers between 50-200 as I was told on the original FB post. I also have found out her brother was diagnosed with type 1 recently. I do worry she may have had this for a while as she started inappropriate urination and loss of weight recently. But mistook that as stress since they moved back in and we are reintroducing her back with her mom and a new cat we got since she moved out two years ago.
I am in the initial stages, very initial stages, please all remember this. We are taking some appropriate steps to get her diagnosed bit in meantime just asking for some advice. Thanks. Also I am close to 50 and not the most tech savvy so please be patient with me.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

There could be 5 things or a thousand things you really need to know. Don't get burnt out in the first week.
I need to hold things in my hand, some OCD thing, so I printed everything to get away from the computer, then plopped down on the sofa with a coffee and a hi-liter.

Jeepers Jennifer, 50 is just a baby around here. That's the last thing you need to worry about.
And please tell me you weren't born at the General Hospital on Jasper Ave.

 

[Chloe007]

Thank you. As I stated she will be on the wet food first thing tomorrow. Her dry food has already been removed. She was eating the Crave brand of dry food as well as a can of Special Kitty or Friskies three times a week as a treat.
As for the keytone levels, I am following her around to do another clean test collection and retest. I may have let the strip sit longer than the 15 seconds it requires for an accurate test. Also tonight when my son gets home we will test her with his glucose meter and hope for numbers between 50-200 as I was told on the original FB post. I also have found out her brother was diagnosed with type 1 recently. I do worry she may have had this for a while as she started inappropriate urination and loss of weight recently. But mistook that as stress since they moved back in and we are reintroducing her back with her mom and a new cat we got since she moved out two years ago.
I am in the initial stages, very initial stages, please all remember this. We are taking some appropriate steps to get her diagnosed bit in meantime just asking for some advice. Thanks. Also I am close to 50 and not the most tech savvy so please be patient with me.

Between the time when my cat was diagnosed until the time we actually had the tools to treat him (insulin, syringes, meter, strips etc) it was about a week. In between that time where I knew he was diabetic but wasn't being treated I made sure to always have clean water available, started adding water to his canned food, removed dry food (which I see you already did, my cat was also on Crave dry before diagnosis...I believe its about 22% in carbs so that was a good call) and basically just closely monitored him. I fed him as often if not more than I was before, since when they're newly diabetic they pretty much always feel like they're starving, so I wouldn't cut his food intake down at all, just remove the dry. You want to make sure he's eating and drinking plenty as both help keep ketones away (we don't want those).

As others suggested, you should try to get another sample from him. As having a positive (above trace) ketone test makes this much more urgent. But if it was a fluke, you should use this time to change his diet as that's usually best to have figured out by the time they start insulin.

All that being said, there are other conditions besides feline diabetes that can cause some of the symptoms you're describing, albeit the elevated glucose/ketones/protein do seem to point in that direction. Fwiw, almost all cats have type 2 diabetes, I believe type 1 in cats is very rare. And when you do see your vet, you should mention that Shadow has gone through some big changes recently (with the move, reintroduction etc).

Please update us on what happens with Shadow, if she does end up being diabetic there are so many great, knowledgeable people here that can and will help you every step of the way. My kitty was just recently diagnosed and it is a bit of a shock and a big change at first, but everyone here on this board has helped me learn so much already.

 

[Jennifer Bittman]

There could be 5 things or a thousand things you really need to know. Don't get burnt out in the first week.
I need to hold things in my hand, some OCD thing, so I printed everything to get away from the computer, then plopped down on the sofa with a coffee and a hi-liter.

Jeepers Jennifer, 50 is just a baby around here. That's the last thing you need to worry about.
And please tell me you weren't born at the General Hospital on Jasper Ave.

Hahaha I was not born in Edmonton. Moved here from High Prairie/Slave Lake area in 99.

 

[Jennifer Bittman]

Between the time when my cat was diagnosed until the time we actually had the tools to treat him (insulin, syringes, meter, strips etc) it was about a week. In between that time where I knew he was diabetic but wasn't being treated I made sure to always have clean water available, started adding water to his canned food, removed dry food (which I see you already did, my cat was also on Crave dry before diagnosis...I believe its about 22% in carbs so that was a good call) and basically just closely monitored him. I fed him as often if not more than I was before, since when they're diabetic they pretty much always feel like they're starving, so I wouldn't cut his food intake down at all, just remove the dry. You want to make sure he's eating and drinking plenty as both help keep ketones away (we don't want those).

As others suggested, you should try to get another sample from him. As having a positive (above trace) ketone test makes this much more urgent. But if it was a fluke, you should use this time to change his diet as that's usually best to have figured out by the time they start insulin.

All that being said, there are other conditions besides feline diabetes that can cause some of the symptoms you're describing, albeit the elevated glucose/ketones/protein do seem to point in that direction. Fwiw, almost all cats have type 2 diabetes, I believe type 1 in cats is very rare. And when you do see your vet, you should mention that Shadow has gone through some big changes recently (with the move, reintroduction etc).

Please update us on what happens with Shadow, if she does end up being diabetic there are so many great, knowledgeable people here that can and will help you every step of the way. My kitty was just recently diagnosed and it is a bit of a shock and a big change at first, but everyone here on this board has helped me learn so much already.

We will most definitely collect another urine sample and retest her as soon as I can catch it in the sterile bag again. It took me two days to get the first one lol. We most definitely will fill the vet in. She's been under the same care since she was fixed at 1.5 years old after she has her first and only litter. I believe her brothers owner said type 1 but it may have been a typo. I am also going to test her mom as I am hearing it is somewhat at times considered to be hereditary. Her mom is a fat c at but otherwise healthy and active. She gained alot of weight after she got fixed. But the only one I am concert about right now is Shadow as she is displaying the other signs that go along with an illness/disease.

Thank you for the kind words to remind us to relax a bit.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

I may have let the strip sit longer than the 15 seconds it requires for an accurate test.

Yes, that can make a huge difference. The longer it sits, the darker the strip gets. Also important it to read it in a good light (sunlight if possible but of course, it's nighttime now!)

Also I am close to 50 and not the most tech savvy so please be patient with me.

You are definitely not alone! I think most of us here (at least the ones that have been here as long or longer than I have) are over 50.

If you need help with the spreadsheet (or anything else "techy") feel free to send me a private message by clicking on my name and choosing "start conversation". I'm not a real computer nerd, but I play one on TV....LOL

Since Shadow is still eating and acting pretty normal, I doubt if you're looking at DKA. Cats usually stop eating and really act sick, so hopefully it was just a bad ketone test.

Relax....you got this! And you've got lots of new friends to help you along the way!

 

[Jennifer Bittman]

There could be 5 things or a thousand things you really need to know. Don't get burnt out in the first week.
I need to hold things in my hand, some OCD thing, so I printed everything to get away from the computer, then plopped down on the sofa with a coffee and a hi-liter.

Jeepers Jennifer, 50 is just a baby around here. That's the last thing you need to worry about.
And please tell me you weren't born at the General Hospital on Jasper Ave.

Lol I feel like a baby regarding all this though hahahaha. And thanks though for the words to help a person relax a bit

 

[Jennifer Bittman]

First, could you create a signature so that the pertinent information is available with each post. Here is a link to creating the signature, adding profile information if you like and selecting preferences.

Editing your Signature, Profile, and Preferences

You may want to check out this Sticky: HOW-TO USE THE FDMB: The Basics to better see how to navigate and work in the FDMB format.

Diet is an important component of effective diabetic treatment, along with insulin therapy and home testing blood sugar to monitor how the diet changes and insulin are working. If home testing isn't in the process yet, we can explain how important it is, what supplies are needed and how to learn to test. Testing before injections ensures that it's safe to "shoot" and spot tests between shots lets a care giver know how low the blood sugar is dropping during the cycle. It's a good indicator if an insulin dose is too high, too low or being effective.

Here are some Home Testing Video's but there are lots of them on YouTube.

Here are some Urine testing tips too. I'd get another test ASAP if there were possible ketones.
If you really get anything over "trace", it's an emergency. DKA is very expensive to treat and not always successful.

What food is Shadow eating? As I said on the FB group, she needs to be on a low carb canned or raw diet that's less than 10% carbs. While we all recommend Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pates, if your cat doesn't like pates, there are other options. Sometimes texture is an important part to finding something she'll eat. Here's a Food chart from Dr. Lisa's website on Feline Nutrition (like you need more to read!!...but it's a great site)

Help me please if you can. We tested her on a human glucose meter. The readings were 14.1 and that I am not sure how to convert that to a cat glucose reading. My son was extremely ill when his readings were 16. I have been only finding numbers in the hundreds when refering to meter readings on the various positions and faq. Lol I am sorry but I just cannot make heads or tails of the numbers and conversions

 

[Jennifer Bittman]

Help me please if you can. We tested her on a human glucose meter. The readings were 14.1 and that I am not sure how to convert that to a cat glucose reading. My son was extremely ill when his readings were 16. I have been only finding numbers in the hundreds when refering to meter readings on the various positions and faq. Lol I am sorry but I just cannot make heads or tails of the numbers and conversions

I did see that it may be not that bad though on one chart saying regular range is under 16. If that's the case I'm confused as all heck as what is wrong with her.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Hi Jennifer and Shadow and welcome to FDMB from another Canuck. You've come to the right place to get all the help and support you need or want.

Those confusing readings you are seeing are US readings, a scale of measure we used here in Canada years ago. We changed when we adopted the metric system. The majority of members here are in the US so those numbers in the 100s are far more prevalent and we convert our readings to US values so everyone can provide assistance as needed. The spreadsheet we use here does the conversion automatically so you don't have to. To convert the US numbers to our mmol you divide their numbers by 18. To convert our mmol to US measure you multiply by 18. If you look at my girl's spreadsheet for 2018, you will see there are 2 sheets, one called world (the mmol BG readings) and a US sheet with the readings converted to US measure.

On a human meter, normal BG for a cat is 2.8 mmol (50 US) to 6.7 (120 US). Your vet may use a pet meter and/or lab equipment and the normal for those tests would be roughly between 3.8 (68 US) and 8.3 (150 US). Human meters work just fine for our kitties but they do generally read a little lower.

Hope that helps. Keep the questions coming.