New member needs help please

[Ziggyloveforever]

Hello my babies name is Ziggy hes 2 years old and we’ve been hit hard this year. He was diagnosed with diabetes and chronic pancreatitis yesterday on top of IBD and FIV earlier this year. My vet did not give me any instructions except to give 1 unit every 12 hours. They diagnosed him with diabetes because he BG was 265 which from what I’ve read isn’t that high ? I’m so new to this and finding so much different information it’s overwhelming. Please help I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about this forum me and my baby need you. We’ve been monitoring his Bg at home and a question I have is does the litter affect the reading ? We use yesterday’s news. I’m learning to do the ear prick and I’ve only been successful once and that was this evening he tested 146 at 1pm and the vet told me to give him the insulin that’s when I knew their advice would wind up killing my baby

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/Hi and welcome to you and Ziggy to the forum! I’m glad you made it over here.
I met Genn on the IBD forum when Ziggy had just been diagnosed with diabetes and suggested she post here for information.

Genn, if Ziggy didn’t get a fructosamine test when he was diagnosed with the diabetes, I would ask for one, because if they just diagnosed him when he had a BG of
265, that BG could have just been higher from stress.
You mentioned to me that you were only giving 0.5 units of Lantus, not the 1 unit the vet said to give. I think that’s a good idea.
Don’t give any insulin unless the BG is over 200 when you test just before giving the insulin. We suggest this until you get more data to see how he reacts to the insulin.

Can you tell us what type of glucose meter you are using please? Is it a human or a pet meter?
Also what food are you feeding at the moment?

I am sending you a link HERE called help us help you. Within the link you will see instruction on how to set up a spreadsheet and your signature. Also how to get a hypo kit set up. If you have any trouble with the spreadsheet I will ask @Bandit's Mom to help you…she is great with them.
you will also see information in that link about when to give the dose and when to ask for help. If you are ever unsure, post and ask for help…..just change the subject line to reflect the problem.

I am going to tag a few people who may be able to help you with the IBD and a diabetic kitty.
@Wendy&Neko
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@Sarah&Soph
@JL and Chip

Also for the FIV
@THH & Snowcrash (GA)
@Poopers and Catia

Ask lots of questions.
Bron

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Also, do you know how the vet diagnosed the pancreatitis? If a blood test, it can only be a snap fPL or a Spec FPL? Neither are in the routine tests and have to be done separately.
Did he give you any medications for Ziggy for the pancreatitis? Pancreatitis is painful and the treatment is:

• Pain medications
• Antinausea medications such as cerenia and ondansetron
• Sub fluids if dehydrated

Is Ziggy eating well at the moment?

 

[Ziggyloveforever]

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/Hi and welcome to you and Ziggy to the forum! I’m glad you made it over here.
I met Genn on the IBD forum when Ziggy had just been diagnosed with diabetes and suggested she post here for information.

Genn, if Ziggy didn’t get a fructosamine test when he was diagnosed with the diabetes, I would ask for one, because if they just diagnosed him when he had a BG of
265, that BG could have just been higher from stress.
You mentioned to me that you were only giving 0.5 units of Lantus, not the 1 unit the vet said to give. I think that’s a good idea.
Don’t give any insulin unless the BG is over 200 when you test just before giving the insulin. We suggest this until you get more data to see how he reacts to the insulin.

Can you tell us what type of glucose meter you are using please? Is it a human or a pet meter?
Also what food are you feeding at the moment?

I am sending you a link HERE called help us help you. Within the link you will see instruction on how to set up a spreadsheet and your signature. Also how to get a hypo kit set up. If you have any trouble with the spreadsheet I will ask @Bandit's Mom to help you…she is great with them.
you will also see information in that link about when to give the dose and when to ask for help. If you are ever unsure, post and ask for help…..just change the subject line to reflect the problem.

I am going to tag a few people who may be able to help you with the IBD and a diabetic kitty.
@Wendy&Neko
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@Sarah&Soph
@JL and Chip

Also for the FIV
@THH & Snowcrash (GA)
@Poopers and Catia

Ask lots of questions.
Bron

I’m using a human glucose meter I’ve had readings at home and with the human glucose meter he tested 202 after 6 hours of not eating! He is eating now thank the lord ! He’s currently eating I/d hills we’re waiting for rayne LID to start a new diet and see if it helps

 

[Ziggyloveforever]

Also, do you know how the vet diagnosed the pancreatitis? If a blood test, it can only be a snap fPL or a Spec FPL? Neither are in the routine tests and have to be done separately.
Did he give you any medications for Ziggy for the pancreatitis? Pancreatitis is painful and the treatment is:

• Pain medications
• Antinausea medications such as cerenia and ondansetron
• Sub fluids if dehydrated

Is Ziggy eating well at the moment?

Ziggy is eating well today knock on wood they diagnosed his pancreatitis via ultrasound they gave me subQs and cerenia today but refused pain medication he is eating now and we are seeing a brand new IM on Saturday who can hopefully help us more this vet told me to give him insulin today when I tested his Bg at 146 after everything I read last night I absolutely did not but they clearly don’t know what they’re saying

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

I’m using a human glucose meter I’ve had readings at home and with the human glucose meter he tested 202 after 6 hours of not eating! He is eating now thank the lord ! He’s currently eating I/d hills we’re waiting for rayne LID to start a new diet and see if it helps

Hills I/d is high carb…even the canned food. Not at all suitable for a diabetic cat.
I have just looked up the Rayne cat food. It would be interesting to see what the carb content is. I doubt it is low carb.
With diabetes, you need to be looking for foods that are 10% carbs or less. Almost all dry food is much higher than that.
I know it is a challenge having an IBD kitty with diabetes but many have been able to find a low carb food suitable for diabetes and ok for the IBD.
You may find that by swapping over to a low carb diet, the BGs go back to normal.
But you need to keep testing every 12 hours to see what the BG is.
Have you thought about a raw diet?

 

[Ziggyloveforever]

Hills I/d is high carb…even the canned food. Not at all suitable for a diabetic cat.
I have just looked up the Rayne cat food. It would be interesting to see what the carb content is. I doubt it is low carb.
With diabetes, you need to be looking for foods that are 10% carbs or less. Almost all dry food is much higher than that.
I know it is a challenge having an IBD kitty with diabetes but many have been able to find a low carb food suitable for diabetes and ok for the IBD.
You may find that by swapping over to a low carb diet, the BGs go back to normal.
But you need to keep testing every 12 hours to see what the BG is.
Have you thought about a raw diet?

Oh yea gosh how I wish we could do raw because it’s also good for IBD however the raw upset his FIV and then it set off his IBD he was hospitalized for a week when we tried raw. He can’t handle this and that at the same time. I’m quite convinced between the steroid and I/d is what’s giving him those higher numbers let me check raynes carb content right now I’m desperate to find a food that can balance all his issues I feel like it will make all the difference

 

[Ziggyloveforever]

Hills I/d is high carb…even the canned food. Not at all suitable for a diabetic cat.
I have just looked up the Rayne cat food. It would be interesting to see what the carb content is. I doubt it is low carb.
With diabetes, you need to be looking for foods that are 10% carbs or less. Almost all dry food is much higher than that.
I know it is a challenge having an IBD kitty with diabetes but many have been able to find a low carb food suitable for diabetes and ok for the IBD.
You may find that by swapping over to a low carb diet, the BGs go back to normal.
But you need to keep testing every 12 hours to see what the BG is.
Have you thought about a raw diet?

 

[Ziggyloveforever]

Can I upload a pic on here to show you raynes info?

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Here is the website. They have a good range of food but even the diabetic specific food has carbs added, such as potato and potato starch.
Can you email them and ask for the carb content of some of the foods?
It would be worth while finding low carb suitable food for Ziggy as he is still only 2 years old and if he can be a diet controlled diabetic, that would be much better….not saying that will happen but worth pursuing.
https://raynenutrition.com/.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Can I upload a pic on here to show you raynes info?

At the moment our ‘upload a File’ which is situated just below every post is not working. The only way you can upload something is to copy and paste it at the moment.

 

[Ziggyloveforever]

At the moment our ‘upload a File’ which is situated just below every post is not working. The only way you can upload something is to copy and paste it at the moment.

Got it I’m still learning to navigate forums

 

[Ziggyloveforever]

Here is the website. They have a good range of food but even the diabetic specific food has carbs added, such as potato and potato starch.
Can you email them and ask for the carb content of some of the foods?
It would be worth while finding low carb suitable food for Ziggy as he is still only 2 years old and if he can be a diet controlled diabetic, that would be much better….not saying that will happen but worth pursuing.
https://raynenutrition.com/.

That’s what we’re going for some of their food says it’s for cats with diabetes pancreatitis and IBD but the carbohydrate content is 19% so it’s just all so confusing

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

That’s what we’re going for some of their food says it’s for cats with diabetes pancreatitis and IBD but the carbohydrate content is 19% so it’s just all so confusing

You could keep that food for the hypo kit where you will need some high carb cans for when Ziggy drops low.
Hopefully some of the people I have tagged will come along and help with food choices

 

[Ziggyloveforever]

You could keep that food for the hypo kit where you will need some high carb cans for when Ziggy drops low.
Hopefully some of the people I have tagged will come along and help with food choices

Is that common with Diabetic cats they drop low naturally? Because Ziggy tested 90bg 45 after his dexamethasone shot I didn’t give him his insulin

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Is that common with Diabetic cats they drop low naturally? Because Ziggy tested 90bg 45 after his dexamethasone shot I didn’t give him his insulin

Some cats respond to a low carb diet and don’t need insulin.,
It’s possible Ziggy is not a diabetic but just had a higher than normal BG because of the pancreatitis and the stress of the vet.
Just take each 12 hours as you go.
90 is a normal number for a cat.
I think you definitely need to find a low carb food that Ziggy can tolerate. He is just a young cat and you don’t want to be feeding him a high carb diet, whether he is a diabetic or not.

 

[Ziggyloveforever]

Some cats respond to a low carb diet and don’t need insulin.,
It’s possible Ziggy is not a diabetic but just had a higher than normal BG because of the pancreatitis and the stress of the vet.
Just take each 12 hours as you go.
90 is a normal number for a cat.
I think you definitely need to find a low carb food that Ziggy can tolerate. He is just a young cat and you don’t want to be feeding him a high carb diet, whether he is a diabetic or not.

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I know he’s only a baby and has so many problems I’ve tried so many food and this seems to be the only one he will eat and tolerate most he won’t touch and the ones he eats willingly gave him horrible diarrhea even when introduced very very slowly switching his diet is going to be extremely difficult but I have to continue to try I’m gonna take it 12 hours at a time like suggested I’m praying I find a food that works for him and all his conditions I wish his IBD wasn’t so severe and I wish he didn’t have FIV so I could feed raw he loved the raw food he ate it happily but it landed him in the hospital for almost a week

I’ve ordered rayne nutrition I think they should be a good place to start I’ve also got an appointment with a nutritionist for either a home cooked diet or some help because this isn’t doing it clearly he’s having some problems if his BG was just elevated from pancreatitis insulin would fix that ?

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

If his BG is just raised because of the pancreatitis, it should return to normal when the pancreatitis settles.. But if you continue to feed a high carb diet, you run the risk of the BGs going high again.
I think a home cooked diet may be the answer….if you can find a food that he can tolerate.
Have you tried to introduce novel proteins to see what he can tolerate?

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Hi and welcome to FDMB!

Let me know if you need help setting up the spreadsheet and signature. Will only take me a few minutes.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

He’s currently eating I/d hills we’re waiting for rayne LID to start a new diet and see if it helps

Both of those are really high carbs and much higher than what we'd recommend for a diabetic cat. The I/D if wet food is 23-24% carbs and we suggest under 10% for a diabetic. Do you know which protein he can tolerate? This food list has a number of the products sold in North America, though more has come out since it was last updated. There are canned novel proteins by Nature's Variety Instinct (limited edition), Rawz, Hounds & Gatos, Ziwipeak, Identity, maybe others depending on protein. If he did like raw, you could make your own but cook it first. I used premixes, which make it easy to make food. Mix meat, water, premix, done. Two premixes that work with cooked food are Alnutrin and EZComplete.