14 years old CRF and Diabetic cat from Brazil needs help!

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Priscilla

Member Since 2012
Hi, I'm Priscilla from brazil and have a 14 years old diabetes and CRF cat.
First sorry about my poor english but I have many doubts and I need help.
She been 5 days hospitalized taking IV fluids.
Bun was 142 and creatinine 7.2
She is at home since 06/22.
Yesterday she made new lab tests and BUN was 60 and creatinine 1.2 I'm very happy.
The bad news is that she's anemic 20% PCV and I'm not able to control her glucose.
She takes 3UI Lantus two times a day and she's 8.2 pounds.
Here we don't have any quality canned food or low carboidrat canned food.
She's free feeding Royal Canin Veterinary dry foof Diabetic mixed with RC veterinary Renal. Now I'm taking off Renal and gives only RC diabetic dry food.
Her BG is about 380 all day long, I measure about 4 times a day and it still didn't drop.

I need to correct this and also her anemia, she's taking a bayer vit. B supplement but it doesn't contains B12!

I need help about supplement, and where I can buy online. I uasualy to buy at e-bay, I herb and vitacost but this last one didn't ship to Brazil anymore.

Today I will have her lab results from phosporus, calcium, sodium and potassium. I still didn't know the numbers, It's the first time she do this tests and just because I asked my vet to.

i will be very glad for any help!
Regards Priscilla and her lovely cat "Zeze".
 
Re: 14 years old CRF and Diabetic cat from Brazil needs help

Hi Priscilla and welcome. Your English is just fine.

What brands of canned food do you have available? You don't have to feed high quality canned food, but if you can read the ingredients to make sure it doesn't contain grains or ingredients like rice, wheat, peas, carrots. Also, you don't want to feed her food that has gravy in it, as gravy tends to be high carb.

You do want to have some of that available, in case you have a hypo situation.

Now with CRF, you do need to be careful of the amount of phosphorus in the food, as that can cause problems for CRF.

Are you able to purchase Royal Canin canned food? That would be a better alternative than using the dry food. Just make sure it doesn't have gravy in it. and that it's more of a pate (mushy) style).

Another option is to make your own homemade cat food. This way you will know what goes into it. Dr. Lisa - a vet that supports this board has a recipe on her website. www.catinfo.org.


Are you home testing her blood glucose (BG)? If not, this is the best place to start as well. As it is the only way to know if the amount of insulin you are using is correct.

Just go to any human pharmacy and purchase:

meter - I don't know what brand you have available, but Bayer Contour and One Touch are two very good meters
matching strips - that go with the meters
lancets - which look like push pins and are used to poke the ear to get blood
petroleum jelly or neosporin (which is an ointment with pain reliever - you can use this to help trap the blood as well as reduce bruising to the ear
ketostix - which is used in the pee to test the ketone levels


Your vet may not recommend home testing, but it is very important to do so, especially as you are giving 3 units of Lantus. Which we consider a high starting dose. We typically recommend starting at 1/2 unit or 1 unit and with home testing, adjusting the dose accordingly.

Lantus is an excellent insulin, so you're doing good with that. Now, do you know how to handle and store lantus properly? You want to keep it in your refrigerator at all times. Do NOT roll or shake it as it can cause damage. Here is a link to more information on this: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151

Also, please visit the lantus forum as there is a lot more information there and the people on that forum can help with dosing and such. viewforum.php?f=9


Now some things to keep in mind - since you are feeding dry food and may not yet be home testing. As soon as you stop feeding dry, her BG levels may drop considerably. The dry food tends to keep their BG's higher and it's important to be home testing as 3 units may be too much insulin once you remove the dry food. But DO NOT remove the dry food until you start home testing.

And yes, we can help you with home testing. Here is a link to help get you started: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287

A couple of questions:

1) how often are you giving her insulin?
2) how often are you feeding her?

Others will be along soon who will be able to answer more of your questions and give more advice.
--------------------------------------------
Corrected - as I meant to write phosphorus not potassium. Sorry for any confusion.
 
Re: 14 years old CRF and Diabetic cat from Brazil needs help

Thanks so much for answer.
Here we really don't have many canned food. Many brands like Hill's, Proplan, Premier, Iams, Royal have a good variety of dry food but not canned food, especially for cats.
On fact any of these brands have canned food, just veterinary prescription like Hill's A/D or RC convalescence. And it's not the case.
The only brand that have a canned food is Whiskas and other local brand, but I don't think the quality of whiskas here is the same of Whiskas USA . I don't like it at all.

Dry food we have RC Diabetic:
http://www.royalcanin.co.uk/products/pr ... etic-ds-46

Hill's W/D:
http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-fel ... l-dry.html

And a local brand named Guabi Natural. I think this is the best choice, the website is on Portuguese so I will translate here the ingredients and Guaranteed analysis:
INGREDIENTS:
chicken meat, Whole rice, poultry liver, poultry by product meal, corn gluten meal, fish oil, chicken oil, pea hulls, beet pulp, fiber cane, psyllium, isolated soy protein, bewer's yeast, rice, dehydrated Whole egg, animal digest, rosemary extract, tocopherol, citric acid, prebiotics, yucca extract, glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, beta carotene, l-carnitine, lysine, methionine, tryptophan, taurine, sodium clhoride, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, manganese proteinate, selenium proteinate, zinc, cromium protheinate, vitaminic mineral premix.

GARANTEED ANALYSIS:
- Crude Protein (min.) 42%
- Crude Fat (min.) 8.5%
- Moisture (max.) 10%
- Crude Fiber (max.) 11%
- Ash (max.) 8%
- Calcium (min/max.) 0.8/1.5%
- Phosphorus (min.) 0,7%
Metabolizable Energy 4400kcal/kg

What do you think?
About your questions:
I'm testing her glicemia levels many times a day using accu check performa.
Her ears veins are a little red :(

Example: Today I decided split her food in two meals.
At 07:30 am glucose was 378, I gave her food and 3UI Lantus.

I left her dry food bowl until 1:30pm

At 4:00pm her glucose was 239 ( a good level!!)
At 7:30 pm was 217
I feed her and give a 2UI Lantus (I was afraid about a hypo at night because I've decided to left the bowl food until 11:00pm)

So I give insulin 2 times a day.
Until today I was feeding her free but I think I will split in two meals even I continue with dry food.
 
Re: 14 years old CRF and Diabetic cat from Brazil needs help

Hi, I'm new here and answer at wrong place, can you read my message above?
thanks!
Hillary & Maui said:
Hi Priscilla and welcome. Your English is just fine.

What brands of canned food do you have available? You don't have to feed high quality canned food, but if you can read the ingredients to make sure it doesn't contain grains or ingredients like rice, wheat, peas, carrots. Also, you don't want to feed her food that has gravy in it, as gravy tends to be high carb.

You do want to have some of that available, in case you have a hypo situation.

Now with CRF, you do need to be careful of the amount of phosphorus in the food, as that can cause problems for CRF.

Are you able to purchase Royal Canin canned food? That would be a better alternative than using the dry food. Just make sure it doesn't have gravy in it. and that it's more of a pate (mushy) style).

Another option is to make your own homemade cat food. This way you will know what goes into it. Dr. Lisa - a vet that supports this board has a recipe on her website. www.catinfo.org.


Are you home testing her blood glucose (BG)? If not, this is the best place to start as well. As it is the only way to know if the amount of insulin you are using is correct.

Just go to any human pharmacy and purchase:

meter - I don't know what brand you have available, but Bayer Contour and One Touch are two very good meters
matching strips - that go with the meters
lancets - which look like push pins and are used to poke the ear to get blood
petroleum jelly or neosporin (which is an ointment with pain reliever - you can use this to help trap the blood as well as reduce bruising to the ear
ketostix - which is used in the pee to test the ketone levels


Your vet may not recommend home testing, but it is very important to do so, especially as you are giving 3 units of Lantus. Which we consider a high starting dose. We typically recommend starting at 1/2 unit or 1 unit and with home testing, adjusting the dose accordingly.

Lantus is an excellent insulin, so you're doing good with that. Now, do you know how to handle and store lantus properly? You want to keep it in your refrigerator at all times. Do NOT roll or shake it as it can cause damage. Here is a link to more information on this: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151

Also, please visit the lantus forum as there is a lot more information there and the people on that forum can help with dosing and such. viewforum.php?f=9


Now some things to keep in mind - since you are feeding dry food and may not yet be home testing. As soon as you stop feeding dry, her BG levels may drop considerably. The dry food tends to keep their BG's higher and it's important to be home testing as 3 units may be too much insulin once you remove the dry food. But DO NOT remove the dry food until you start home testing.

And yes, we can help you with home testing. Here is a link to help get you started: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287

A couple of questions:

1) how often are you giving her insulin?
2) how often are you feeding her?

Others will be along soon who will be able to answer more of your questions and give more advice.
--------------------------------------------
Corrected - as I meant to write phosphorus not potassium. Sorry for any confusion.
Click to expand...
 
Re: 14 years old CRF and Diabetic cat from Brazil needs help

Hi Priscilla,

It is always more complicated to treat feline diabetes in a foreign country because of the differences in food available. I wonder if there is any chance that you could order food from the US over the Internet? For example, many of us order our food from the PetSmart website. The food you listed has rice as one of the primary ingredients - probably more carbs than we'd like.

You have a good insulin - that is a big plus! We have a protocol for Lantus in cats that has proved very successful. Be sure to read the starred topics on the top of this page to find our how to dose,how to care for the insulin, how to handle low numbers etc.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=9
 
Re: 14 years old CRF and Diabetic cat from Brazil needs help

Yes, your answers came through very clearly.

It's great that you are home testing. You may find it helpful to put the information into the google spreadsheet that was created and you can attach it to your signature, so everyone can see.

Here is the link: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopi ... =6&t=18207

Unfortunately, the prescription diabetic foods are higher in carbs and expensive. Plus you are feeding dry food, which is not the best choice for cats.

In reading the ingredients for Guabi Natural. My concerns are:

Whole rice - it's the second ingredient
corn gluten meal
pea hulls
rice

These ingredients are grains and carb type vegetables. The only way to know for sure what the actual carb % is, you would need to contact the manufacturer and ask them for the "as fed" values. Then we can calculate it for you. But just from reading the label, my guess is that it may be too high in carb for your needs.

Of course, it is better than the dry food as dry food just isn't good for cats.

While I understand your concern about Whiskas not being quality, you may find that it may be the best option you have for wet food.

What type of Whiskas do you have so we can help you find some that would more diabetic friendly.

Here is a link to more information about food, including Janet & Binky's food chart that you may find helpful:

http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=115

By any chance do you have canned Fancy Feast or Friskies? These two brands have lots of low carb options, but only if they sell it in Brazil.

As long as you are feeding dry food, there is no reason not to leave it out and let her graze. And you can do the same with the wet food, once you find one to use. In order to keep it moist, just add water to the food. I usually add 1/2 - 1 can of water to each can of food. It will keep it moist longer and also ensure that the cat is getting plenty of water.

With regards to the red ears, if you have an antibiotic type ointment (here we have neosporin) you could use that on her ears to help with the redness and bruising.
 
Re: 14 years old CRF and Diabetic cat from Brazil needs help

In my signature, there is a link to a page of rough translations for many of the terms and phrases we use.

I created it using Google Translate, so it is very literal in what it generates, which means it isn't always very accurate. You're welcome to take a look and let me know any corrections for the Portugese column, or any other language you know well. And perhaps some of the translations will be helpful to you.
 
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