? cat in early remission stages and diet change advice?

[Nosh]

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum and community and am grateful for all I've learned from this so far in caring for my cat and his diabetes - thank you!

I'm Ninotchka and my cat's name is Helo
DX:He was diagnosed in late November 2021
He was on Caninsulin
He is being monitored at home using Acu-Check
Diet: wet food, PC Extra, no gravy, some liver, close to the readings of that of the fancy feast at the store
(((- he is no longer on insulin as his glucose readings have been within the range of 4.2 and 8.2 for the whole month of June)))


Initially he was up to around 22 ((396)) blood glucose readings when first diagnosed
He was on 6 units of insulin for a couple months after slowing increasing to get there
I haven't had much support from the vet
Vet gave him dry diabetic 'prescribed' food
I started to get worried after a random glucose test read 2.1 ((37.8)) and the vet set to continue giving him 6 units
I started monitoring a lot more and got his dose down
found this site and got his dose down a lot more in relation to his glucose being with the 4.2 and 8.2 ((75.6 and 147.6)) range

He was switched onto wet food around June 12 and has been on it since


my question!:::

he started throwing up hairballs with the wet food change and has been doing so almost daily....
it was a quick switch as he devoured it and had no trouble not eating the dry anymore
it's small amounts of throw up
his stools didn't change much
he has stopped drinking as much water - I'm guessing bc the food has more moisture and he's not eating the dry stuff....?
he had a period around spring time (I'm in Canada) where he was throwing up hair balls almost daily/ every second day or so, and that was before the food change - and that stopped within a couple weeks

he has been throwing up daily though since the wet food change - small amounts,
and I'm wondering if any of you might have advice or knowledge about this?

Thanks so much!

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

I would change you r subject line to something like advice on cat throwing up daily since wet food change
you will get more responses.
what type of dry food are you feeding?
I don’t have any advice on throwing up but …
With a cat in remission we really want the BGs to be no higher than about 6 to get a good strong remissio. If they are higher, your kitty may still need a drop of insulin.
It’s a pity you don’t have a spreadsheet we can look at.
Were you using Caninsulin up u til you stopped insulin. ?

 

[Nosh]

Thanks for that tip! I'll change it

To answer your questions:
yup, I was using Caninsulin before stopping insulin

Thanks for the info of not higher than 6 for a strong remission
- I wouldn't have known to be that precise otherwise
we're adjusting and adding insulin accordingly (small doses, .5 of a unit at a time when his glucose readings go higher than 6)

I would be interested in learning more about cats in early remission and the specifics of care there - is there a place on the board that I should look more specifically for that?

He has also stopped throwing up since this post - so feeling better about that also thankfully!

 

[Wendy&Neko]

There isn't a board for those in early remission. We suggest that people keep testing for two weeks after last giving insulin, typically twice a day, at what would have been shot time in the AM and PM. As long as kitty is staying below 100 (5.6) for the majority of that two weeks, we consider them in remission. During this time, feeding small meals spread apart are easiest on the healing pancreas. Absolutely no high carb food, low carb wet or raw are best. In future, avoid steroids if you can. And take him to the vet if anything seems off and he's testing higher BG than normal. After the two weeks of testing with no insulin, you might want to keep testing periodically for the first while, to make sure his numbers are staying good.

 

[Nosh]

There isn't a board for those in early remission. We suggest that people keep testing for two weeks after last giving insulin, typically twice a day, at what would have been shot time in the AM and PM. As long as kitty is staying below 100 (5.6) for the majority of that two weeks, we consider them in remission. During this time, feeding small meals spread apart are easiest on the healing pancreas. Absolutely no high carb food, low carb wet or raw are best. In future, avoid steroids if you can. And take him to the vet if anything seems off and he's testing higher BG than normal. After the two weeks of testing with no insulin, you might want to keep testing periodically for the first while, to make sure his numbers are staying good.

Amazing - thank you for this information
It seems to be aligned with what we have been doing and seeing and that is a relief!