Bobby & Pele
Member Since 2024
Hello,
This post is about my cat Pele. He just turned 18 and we have been housemates for about 10 years now. He is 100% my responsibility. I never lived with a cat before because I am highly allergic but not to Pele.. I met Pele through my girlfriend and he ended up living with me for the last 10 years and I am very happy to have him.
Pele has borderline CKD and also diabetes. Pele is an orange and white half Main Coon and he was neutered when he was young. He was 18 years old in April, he maintains a weight of 17-18 lbs and he was always in good health until recently. I always fed him Peformatrin wet and dry and he was very happy with that. Also - I filled in his last 3 lab reports and the link is in my signature. I have not quite figured out how to populate the daily spreadsheet but I will. I decided to write this post first.
Some history:
In late June of 2022 I brought Pele to the emergency room because he hadn't used his litterbox for almost a day. I had been packing to move for about 2 months and in hindsight this stressed him out. I was concerned about urine crystals. The vets had to sedate him because he goes insane at the vet every time and then they examined him. The vet manually extracted some impacted poop and took blood tests. They felt the stress of my packing to move caused the issue. Pele was also diagnosed with possible Chronic Kidney Disease. I changed his diet to both dry and wet Hills Kidney Care K/D and started daily 2oz (60cc) Lactated Ringers injections. This new diet was low protein and higher carbohydrate. Subsequent tests show his levels in the acceptable range. I also started giving Pele 1 tsp of Mirilax to help avoid constipation and I have been giving him this combination ever since.
The move went well and we settled into the new house and everything was fine. I found a mobile vet to come to the house and with some gabbapentin Pele allowed himself to be examined.
I noticed that Pele had begun to drink much more water than usual and put measuring marks on his bowl. He was drinking (and splashing) almost exactly 8oz per day and when i did searches about feline water consumption that seemed to be normal. Of course I mentioned this to the mobile vet but the vet did not see cause for concern. I noticed that Pele was slowly slowing down.
In December 2023 a blood test showed that Peles blood glucose level was very high. I started him on Lantus right away and before too long he was up to 11 units 2 times a day. I bought an Alpha Trac 3 glucose meter to test him and before too long he was regulated at about 7 units which generally keeps his BG under 150. Once Pele started getting insulin he perked up quite a bit but he still doesn't seem to be able to run. Neuropathy? Also now he really pesters me around meal time (10am and 10pm) which he never really did before. I read that there is a name for the hungry feeling he has but I forgot for the moment. I have been trying different b12's to help with the neuropathy but I haven't found one that is both sugar (or vegetable glycerine or sucrose etc) free that he will tolerate. The vet feels that he is just getting old but I see a direct corrolation with his undiagnosed diabetes and his slowing down. I am researching injectable B12 to see if that might be what helps. I also tried Zesty Paws Salmon Oil but he won't touch food that has that stuff in it. I also give him Denosyl (S-Adenosylmethionine 90 mg) once a day with a little Tiki Cat although it's supposed to be best on an empty stomach. I give him this because the vet said his liver levels were a little off.
At any rate now I had a real dilema and I'm sure some of you saw this coming.
The correct diet for CKD is low protein but that means higher carbohydrates.
The correct diet for diabetes is low carbohydrates and higher protein.
I learned that Hills is being sued for numerous reasons and that their prescription food is not much different than regular food. Some feel that Hills contributes to diabetes and other health issues aside from being grossly overpriced. I can't stand hills but initially I tried Royal Canin and some others and he wouldn't hardly touch them. I don't even know
I learned that from a holistic vet tech that Tiki Cat Luau Shredded Meat, Ahi Tuna & Chicken Recipe in Chicken Consumme, Grain-Free Balanced Nutrition Wet Canned Cat Food is high quality and almost carb free. I researched it myself then bought some to try and Pele likes it. I don't want to give him too much protein regardless of the quality so for now I mix 1/3 Tiki with 2/3 Hills Kidney Care K/D. Pele has been getting this mix for about 2 weeks now and I have also been adding 1 1/2 scoops of Epakitin phosphate binder to mitigate the protein.
I thought that with less Hills that his BG would come down a bit but if anything it went up a unit from 6 to 7 per day.
In summation: I would go out and hunt wild birds if that was what was best for Pele. I would stand in the freezing rain till I was frozen myself if that would somehow be best for him. There is a lot of conflicting info and the CKD/Diabetes combo really complicates things. I live in North Jersey and there are state of the art vet facilities by me - Oradell Animal Hospital is one - but they are so expensive that I can't possibly afford to utilize the same equiptment and tests that a rich man might. They offer chemotherapy and organ transplants and that level of vet treatment but again I can't afford that and I also don't quite trust them. They are the ones that prescribed Hills and when i asked if I might do better cooking for Pele myself they didn't take the suggestion too seriously.
My main concerns are about diet and supplimentation. I will happily go to relative extremes to help my boy feel be healthier. I just sense that he can be doing better.
So I'm sure I left something out and some of what i wrote is probably a little out of order. Whatever suggestions any of you have I will consider and research and also post the results so someone else might be helped by the data.
Thank you so much,
Robert
This post is about my cat Pele. He just turned 18 and we have been housemates for about 10 years now. He is 100% my responsibility. I never lived with a cat before because I am highly allergic but not to Pele.. I met Pele through my girlfriend and he ended up living with me for the last 10 years and I am very happy to have him.
Pele has borderline CKD and also diabetes. Pele is an orange and white half Main Coon and he was neutered when he was young. He was 18 years old in April, he maintains a weight of 17-18 lbs and he was always in good health until recently. I always fed him Peformatrin wet and dry and he was very happy with that. Also - I filled in his last 3 lab reports and the link is in my signature. I have not quite figured out how to populate the daily spreadsheet but I will. I decided to write this post first.
Some history:
In late June of 2022 I brought Pele to the emergency room because he hadn't used his litterbox for almost a day. I had been packing to move for about 2 months and in hindsight this stressed him out. I was concerned about urine crystals. The vets had to sedate him because he goes insane at the vet every time and then they examined him. The vet manually extracted some impacted poop and took blood tests. They felt the stress of my packing to move caused the issue. Pele was also diagnosed with possible Chronic Kidney Disease. I changed his diet to both dry and wet Hills Kidney Care K/D and started daily 2oz (60cc) Lactated Ringers injections. This new diet was low protein and higher carbohydrate. Subsequent tests show his levels in the acceptable range. I also started giving Pele 1 tsp of Mirilax to help avoid constipation and I have been giving him this combination ever since.
The move went well and we settled into the new house and everything was fine. I found a mobile vet to come to the house and with some gabbapentin Pele allowed himself to be examined.
I noticed that Pele had begun to drink much more water than usual and put measuring marks on his bowl. He was drinking (and splashing) almost exactly 8oz per day and when i did searches about feline water consumption that seemed to be normal. Of course I mentioned this to the mobile vet but the vet did not see cause for concern. I noticed that Pele was slowly slowing down.
In December 2023 a blood test showed that Peles blood glucose level was very high. I started him on Lantus right away and before too long he was up to 11 units 2 times a day. I bought an Alpha Trac 3 glucose meter to test him and before too long he was regulated at about 7 units which generally keeps his BG under 150. Once Pele started getting insulin he perked up quite a bit but he still doesn't seem to be able to run. Neuropathy? Also now he really pesters me around meal time (10am and 10pm) which he never really did before. I read that there is a name for the hungry feeling he has but I forgot for the moment. I have been trying different b12's to help with the neuropathy but I haven't found one that is both sugar (or vegetable glycerine or sucrose etc) free that he will tolerate. The vet feels that he is just getting old but I see a direct corrolation with his undiagnosed diabetes and his slowing down. I am researching injectable B12 to see if that might be what helps. I also tried Zesty Paws Salmon Oil but he won't touch food that has that stuff in it. I also give him Denosyl (S-Adenosylmethionine 90 mg) once a day with a little Tiki Cat although it's supposed to be best on an empty stomach. I give him this because the vet said his liver levels were a little off.
At any rate now I had a real dilema and I'm sure some of you saw this coming.
The correct diet for CKD is low protein but that means higher carbohydrates.
The correct diet for diabetes is low carbohydrates and higher protein.
I learned that Hills is being sued for numerous reasons and that their prescription food is not much different than regular food. Some feel that Hills contributes to diabetes and other health issues aside from being grossly overpriced. I can't stand hills but initially I tried Royal Canin and some others and he wouldn't hardly touch them. I don't even know
I learned that from a holistic vet tech that Tiki Cat Luau Shredded Meat, Ahi Tuna & Chicken Recipe in Chicken Consumme, Grain-Free Balanced Nutrition Wet Canned Cat Food is high quality and almost carb free. I researched it myself then bought some to try and Pele likes it. I don't want to give him too much protein regardless of the quality so for now I mix 1/3 Tiki with 2/3 Hills Kidney Care K/D. Pele has been getting this mix for about 2 weeks now and I have also been adding 1 1/2 scoops of Epakitin phosphate binder to mitigate the protein.
I thought that with less Hills that his BG would come down a bit but if anything it went up a unit from 6 to 7 per day.
In summation: I would go out and hunt wild birds if that was what was best for Pele. I would stand in the freezing rain till I was frozen myself if that would somehow be best for him. There is a lot of conflicting info and the CKD/Diabetes combo really complicates things. I live in North Jersey and there are state of the art vet facilities by me - Oradell Animal Hospital is one - but they are so expensive that I can't possibly afford to utilize the same equiptment and tests that a rich man might. They offer chemotherapy and organ transplants and that level of vet treatment but again I can't afford that and I also don't quite trust them. They are the ones that prescribed Hills and when i asked if I might do better cooking for Pele myself they didn't take the suggestion too seriously.
My main concerns are about diet and supplimentation. I will happily go to relative extremes to help my boy feel be healthier. I just sense that he can be doing better.
So I'm sure I left something out and some of what i wrote is probably a little out of order. Whatever suggestions any of you have I will consider and research and also post the results so someone else might be helped by the data.
Thank you so much,
Robert
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