? Diabetes and Allergies. d/z hills prescription diet ok?

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rachelsharon

Member Since 2022
My sweet Memow, Mimi for short, has been receiving treatment for diabetes for about a year now and the vet thinks she is very close to remission, she gets one unit of Lantus once in the morning and appears to be going back and forth between needing that amount to not needing anything.

The only problem is her lip keeps getting puffy intermittently and she’s itchy and keeps licking the fur off her belly. We tried antihistamines and they’re just not cutting it. The vet thinks it’s allergies and suggested switching her food but she’s doing so well on the dm wet food.

has anyone made the switch to manage allergies and were they still able to keep their kitties BG levels under control?
 
That does sound like a food allergy. I am going to tag @tiffmaxee who has a LOT of experience with managing food allergies.
Btw, there is nothing in prescription food that miraculously treats diabetes. Any low carb (with carbohydrates less than 10%) canned food will do.

On the dosing front, if 1U is too much you could try a lower dose. We use syringes to give insulin so that we can give less than 1U of insulin.
Insulin Care & Syringe Info: Proper Handling, Drawing, Fine Dosing

Do you test Mimi's blood sugar at home with a glucose meter? If yes, you want to set up a spreadsheet with her BG data so that we can take a look and advise on dosing. I can also help you with setting up the spreadsheet, so let me know.
How to Create a Spreadsheet
 
Lantus should be given twice per day so you may need to lower the dose in order to give it twice per day

If you can set up your signature that would be helpful
Here is how to set up your signature
If you can fill out what we call our signature ,information about your kitty
To set up your signature which you will see is at the end of everyone's post in gray, click on your name up top and then tap on the word signature and add this information

Also please give the date when the DKA happened in your signature
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Take a look at mine

If you would like to set up our spreadsheet where we track our cats BG to see how the insulin is working and how low it's dropping in case you want advice here is the link , if you need help with it just ask
We need you to set up our Spreadsheet , I'll give you the link , if you need help setting it up just ask

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
It will also explain how to use the spreadsheet works
You then need to link your spreadsheet to your signature
 
I empathize with what definitely sounds like allergies. Look up eosinophilic granuloma complex and see if the pictures fit. For Mocha I switched to a novel protein that she had never eaten before. That works pretty well fir about two years and then I need to switch again. Trying to avoid intestinal issues I was rotating several proteins so it’s going to get difficult at some point. Feed only that protein and see if it helps. If it dues feed only that protein for at least a couple months before trying to figure out which one is the cause. Mocha also has dermatitis and gets bumps in her ears so likely also hers is environmental as well but at least her lips are better by diet. Good luck.
 
Bandit's Mom said:
That does sound like a food allergy. I am going to tag @tiffmaxee who has a LOT of experience with managing food allergies.
Btw, there is nothing in prescription food that miraculously treats diabetes. Any low carb (with carbohydrates less than 10%) canned food will do.

On the dosing front, if 1U is too much you could try a lower dose. We use syringes to give insulin so that we can give less than 1U of insulin.
Insulin Care & Syringe Info: Proper Handling, Drawing, Fine Dosing

Do you test Mimi's blood sugar at home with a glucose meter? If yes, you want to set up a spreadsheet with her BG data so that we can take a look and advise on dosing. I can also help you with setting up the spreadsheet, so let me know.
How to Create a Spreadsheet
Click to expand...
Hi!

I do not do the BG curves at home, however I would like to try. I know how to make the graph but, I’m not good at getting the vein in the ear and it’s hard for me to handle her. She is a good cat but she fights when I try to restrain her and will hide after the first prick test. Any advice on handling and properly doing the ear prick test would be very much appreciated!!
 
tiffmaxee said:
I empathize with what definitely sounds like allergies. Look up eosinophilic granuloma complex and see if the pictures fit. For Mocha I switched to a novel protein that she had never eaten before. That works pretty well fir about two years and then I need to switch again. Trying to avoid intestinal issues I was rotating several proteins so it’s going to get difficult at some point. Feed only that protein and see if it helps. If it dues feed only that protein for at least a couple months before trying to figure out which one is the cause. Mocha also has dermatitis and gets bumps in her ears so likely also hers is environmental as well but at least her lips are better by diet. Good luck.
Click to expand...


I don’t think it looks like that but maybe it would if she were to pick at it more, here are pictures of her lip!
I was thinking of trying to switch her to tiki cat instead of the d/z allergy food. I like my vet but I know they always recommended the Science diet and from my experience working at pet stores it’s not always the best option. I’ve heard that the tiki cat brand is very low carb and they use many different protein types.

thank you :)
 
rachelsharon said:
I don’t think it looks like that but maybe it would if she were to pick at it more, here are pictures of her lip!
I was thinking of trying to switch her to tiki cat instead of the d/z allergy food. I like my vet but I know they always recommended the Science diet and from my experience working at pet stores it’s not always the best option. I’ve heard that the tiki cat brand is very low carb and they use many different protein types.

thank you :)
Click to expand...
 
The upload button doesn’t work. You have to copy and paste. At least that’s how I do it with Apple products.
 
It keeps saying it is an invalid message when I copy and paste it from my iPhone and it wont let me copy and past the images from my windows laptop either.

the pictures of Mochas lip look like Mimi’s lip. Mocha is a beautiful cat :)
 
Thank you. What proteins have you fed Mimi? Try one she’s never had before. Feed only that. You could try the vet one if you want. I feed raw so there are some single protein ones. If you go commercial read the label carefully as the front of the can doesn’t tell the whole picture. Many have fish and more have chicken. Let me know how it goes.
 
tiffmaxee said:
Thank you. What proteins have you fed Mimi? Try one she’s never had before. Feed only that. You could try the vet one if you want. I feed raw so there are some single protein ones. If you go commercial read the label carefully as the front of the can doesn’t tell the whole picture. Many have fish and more have chicken. Let me know how it goes.
Click to expand...

Mostly chicken actually. I will absolutely let you know how it goes :)
 
rachelsharon said:
Hi!

I do not do the BG curves at home, however I would like to try. I know how to make the graph but, I’m not good at getting the vein in the ear and it’s hard for me to handle her. She is a good cat but she fights when I try to restrain her and will hide after the first prick test. Any advice on handling and properly doing the ear prick test would be very much appreciated!!
Click to expand...
Here's a post by another members on testing tips. Maybe something there will help?
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/9-9-bailey-amps-117-5-62.252712/#post-2851043

Here's a sticky with some testing tips:
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/testing-and-shooting-tips.85113/
 
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