New diabetic kitty here!

[Breanna H]

Hello! Sorry in advance for the long post, just starting out and feel so lost on what to do as I got poor advice from my vet and I'm struggling to find a well informed one in my area. My 9 year old Male, Tigger was diagnosed with diabetes a week ago. He is a big boy in general, 19 pounds. He is part Maine Coon we believe, so he is only about 3 pounds over what he should be (according to the vet). I first noticed issues when litter was clumping to his feet and he was tracking it everywhere. I am empting large clumps out multiple times a day and he has increased water intake. At the vet, his blood glucose was 367. She said to switch to hard diabetic food (Purina) and to inject 2u every 12 hours of Prozinc, no testing needed. So of course, I started immediately thinking this was best. Then I began researching and called her back with questions about testing and switching to wet food. She dismissed that, saying wet food leads to poor dentition and weight gain. Which leads me to finding a new vet. BUT then I found you all! Thank God because I am starting to feel slightly less lost.
I have stopped insulin for now (he only got about 3 days worth of doses), switched to Fancy Feast Classic Pates and ordered a human BG machine.
I am going to get a spreadsheet ready tonight. I will have my meter on the 26th.
I'm wondering since he was only 367 at the vet, could switching from his high carb dry food to wet food be all he needs? Is it okay that I am not checking his sugar immediately?
If he is tracking high after a few days of the wet food, how do I know what dose of his Prozinc to give? Because from what I've been reading starting at 2u is not a good idea.
Also, how long until I can notice a decrease in urine production? The clumps of litter in his paws is just awful!
Thank you, thank you, thank you all! This is literally a life saver and I never imagined finding such a wealth of information. I feel so relieved having a resource other than my vet.

PS! Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Sorry, I've been so wrapped up with this diabetes diagnosis it's all I can think about and forgot

 

[Ann & Scatcats]

Hello! Sorry in advance for the long post, just starting out and feel so lost on what to do as I got poor advice from my vet and I'm struggling to find a well informed one in my area. My 9 year old Male, Tigger was diagnosed with diabetes a week ago. He is a big boy in general, 19 pounds. He is part Maine Coon we believe, so he is only about 3 pounds over what he should be (according to the vet). I first noticed issues when litter was clumping to his feet and he was tracking it everywhere. I am empting large clumps out multiple times a day and he has increased water intake. At the vet, his blood glucose was 367. She said to switch to hard diabetic food (Purina) and to inject 2u every 12 hours of Prozinc, no testing needed. So of course, I started immediately thinking this was best. Then I began researching and called her back with questions about testing and switching to wet food. She dismissed that, saying wet food leads to poor dentition and weight gain. Which leads me to finding a new vet. BUT then I found you all! Thank God because I am starting to feel slightly less lost.
I have stopped insulin for now (he only got about 3 days worth of doses), switched to Fancy Feast Classic Pates and ordered a human BG machine.
I am going to get a spreadsheet ready tonight. I will have my meter on the 26th.
I'm wondering since he was only 367 at the vet, could switching from his high carb dry food to wet food be all he needs? Is it okay that I am not checking his sugar immediately?
If he is tracking high after a few days of the wet food, how do I know what dose of his Prozinc to give? Because from what I've been reading starting at 2u is not a good idea.
Also, how long until I can notice a decrease in urine production? The clumps of litter in his paws is just awful!
Thank you, thank you, thank you all! This is literally a life saver and I never imagined finding such a wealth of information. I feel so relieved having a resource other than my vet.

PS! Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Sorry, I've been so wrapped up with this diabetes diagnosis it's all I can think about and forgot

You've done all the right things. There has been many successful cases were the kitties are wet food diet controlled only. But even so you still have to measure their bgs once a while.

 

[Panic]

I'm wondering since he was only 367 at the vet, could switching from his high carb dry food to wet food be all he needs? Is it okay that I am not checking his sugar immediately?
If he is tracking high after a few days of the wet food, how do I know what dose of his Prozinc to give? Because from what I've been reading starting at 2u is not a good idea.
Also, how long until I can notice a decrease in urine production? The clumps of litter in his paws is just awful!

Gorgeous boy you have! <3 Welcome to FDMB!

Usually by the time diabetes is diagnosed their pancreas is too far damaged to be able to just depend on a diet change and need insulin assistance. This isn't always the case for some lucky kitties! But usually so.

Since you're just starting I'm not sure what to recommend, definitely not 2u though. 0.5 or 1 unit is better to start, depending on if he's on wet or dry food.

That excess urine is going to be there a while I'm afraid! Months probably, or depending on how quickly you can get him regulated. If he'll try it you could switch to wood pellets to avoid clumping, it's cheaper too.

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

Tagging @MrWorfMen's Mom who along with @Panic knows about Prozinc. It is the holidays so she may not respond quickly.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome to you and beautiful Tigger. I am so glad you found us.
If you are stopping the insulin for several days I would test the urine for ketones. You do this by buying a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy.
Ketones can form in diabetic cats when they are not getting enough insulin, enough food and an infection or inflammation. So while you are stopping the insulin it would be wise to test the urine daily for ketones. It’s a simple test.
Did the vet mention ketones to you at diagnosis.?

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Hello and welcome to FDMB. Sounds like your vet doesn't have much experience with diabetic cats and the idea that wet food will cause weight gain and poor dentition vs dry food boggles the mind. Dry food is far more likely to cause weight issues and it does nothing to improve dental health despite the ongoing myths.

Once you have some BG tests on the SS we can have a peak and help you get Tigger on the path to better health. In the meantime, as mentioned, 2u is double the usual starting dose so I would suggest that if/when you do restart the insulin, you drop the dose down to 1u.

 

[Breanna H]

Gorgeous boy you have! <3 Welcome to FDMB!

Usually by the time diabetes is diagnosed their pancreas is too far damaged to be able to just depend on a diet change and need insulin assistance. This isn't always the case for some lucky kitties! But usually so.

Since you're just starting I'm not sure what to recommend, definitely not 2u though. 0.5 or 1 unit is better to start, depending on if he's on wet or dry food.

That excess urine is going to be there a while I'm afraid! Months probably, or depending on how quickly you can get him regulated. If he'll try it you could switch to wood pellets to avoid clumping, it's cheaper too.

I'll definitely try the wood pellets! I was going to try to find something non clumping to switch too and these sound like a good idea! Thanks!

 

[Breanna H]

Hi and welcome to you and beautiful Tigger. I am so glad you found us.
If you are stopping the insulin for several days I would test the urine for ketones. You do this by buying a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy.
Ketones can form in diabetic cats when they are not getting enough insulin, enough food and an infection or inflammation. So while you are stopping the insulin it would be wise to test the urine daily for ketones. It’s a simple test.
Did the vet mention ketones to you at diagnosis.?

No, no mention of ketones. Just to start the insulin and follow up in a month for a fructose blood test ‍
How do I manage to catch his pee before it hits the box to test it? Haha

 

[Breanna H]

Hello and welcome to FDMB. Sounds like your vet doesn't have much experience with diabetic cats and the idea that wet food will cause weight gain and poor dentition vs dry food boggles the mind. Dry food is far more likely to cause weight issues and it does nothing to improve dental health despite the ongoing myths.

Once you have some BG tests on the SS we can have a peak and help you get Tigger on the path to better health. In the meantime, as mentioned, 2u is double the usual starting dose so I would suggest that if/when you do restart the insulin, you drop the dose down to 1u.

I am getting a meter tomorrow (since everything is closed today, that kinda screws things up, I should have made the drive yesterday) so I will definitely work on a SS tomorrow.
I did notice after stopping the insulin and starting strictly wet food, 2x a day he seems much more active and alert. So I really am wondering where he is at.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

No, no mention of ketones. Just to start the insulin and follow up in a month for a fructose blood test ‍
How do I manage to catch his pee before it hits the box to test it? Haha

To catch a urine you can pop a small contained under his butt as he pees if he will allow it , or a large ladle. Or if he is shy in the LB you could scrunch up some soft plastic in his favourite spot in the LB to catch some urine or failing that, get some marine stones to put in LB. good luck.

 

[Amina&M'row]

Just a word to say I'm awestruck at all the good decisions you've made, especially firing your vet right away: awesome! I think I remember that all that yellow tide had resolved and M'row was putting out a normal amount of urine in about two weeks. There's a whole great article by Dr. Lisa about what to feed, various foods, etc. I just got fancy feast classic pate as everybody here said it was just fine, and less expensive than some. Keep us posted!

 

[Breanna H]

Aw thank you! I tend to research everything like crazy so when you're finding this information on every website, article and group, it was clear that she wasn't correct. I'm going to take on the challenge of finding a new vet today and attempting to take his blood sugar. I feel like he is already perking up, just from the food change!