Adopted Io two days ago and found out at his vet this morning he is malnourished and had diabetes

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Jazmin

Jazmin

Member Since 2015
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This is Io and my boyfriend and I just adopted him two days ago. He went to the vet today and he is malnourished and has diabetes. We have him on a high protein diet and are going back in a month to see if its getting better.
 
Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as the Fancy Feast classic pates or the classic Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir.
- And home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). Even when he isn't on insulin, home testing will let you see how low he gets or how high he remains. If he gets between 40-120 mg/dL without insulin any time during the day, he definitely won't need insulin. If he is always over 300 mg/dL after about a week, push the vet for one of the long-acting insulins listed above. Otherwise, see my signature link Glucometer Notes for more info.

Also see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools and get the urine ketone/glucose test strips. Ketones form as a by-product of fat breakdown for calories and this happens when there isn't enough insulin. Too many ketones may indicate diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a potentially fatal, expensive to treat complication of diabetes. If you see more than a trace on the urine testing, get to a vet asap. Watch for signs that he is turning yellow (eye whites turning yellow, for example) as the fats go to the liver to be processed and if too many come in, the liver swells and stops functioning properly. This too can be expensive to treat.
 
My vet said to go with science diet or purina pro plan but the dry food. Should I return that and get wet food instead? He's eating Purina Pro Plan Savor right now which is 40% protein. Theres just so many options for food I don't know what to do.v
BJM said:
Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as the Fancy Feast classic pates or the classic Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir.
- And home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). Even when he isn't on insulin, home testing will let you see how low he gets or how high he remains. If he gets between 40-120 mg/dL without insulin any time during the day, he definitely won't need insulin. If he is always over 300 mg/dL after about a week, push the vet for one of the long-acting insulins listed above. Otherwise, see my signature link Glucometer Notes for more info.

Also see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools and get the urine ketone/glucose test strips. Ketones form as a by-product of fat breakdown for calories and this happens when there isn't enough insulin. Too many ketones may indicate diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a potentially fatal, expensive to treat complication of diabetes. If you see more than a trace on the urine testing, get to a vet asap. Watch for signs that he is turning yellow (eye whites turning yellow, for example) as the fats go to the liver to be processed and if too many come in, the liver swells and stops functioning properly. This too can be expensive to treat.
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Go with a low carb, canned or raw food per the list at Cat info. If you're on a budget, the Friskies Turkey and Giblet pate, Poultry Platter Pate, and Beef pate all qualify and are inexpensive. Fancy Feast Classic Pates have a gold line around the can bottom. They are roughly twice the cost per ounce of the Friskies.
 
I adopted a cat 3 months ago and found out at the first vet visit that he was malnourished and diabetic as well. I know how overwhelming it feels, but you can do it! Definitely stay away from dry food and go for canned food.
 
StephyL6 said:
I adopted a cat 3 months ago and found out at the first vet visit that he was malnourished and diabetic as well. I know how overwhelming it feels, but you can do it! Definitely stay away from dry food and go for canned food.
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What canned food did you go with/how much did you give him/her? I'm struggling because I want him to get his protein but I dont want to overdo it and have him get sick since he's been so starved. Your cat in your picture almost looks like my kitty!
 
Jazmin said:
8I8TRfX.jpg

This is Io and my boyfriend and I just adopted him two days ago. He went to the vet today and he is malnourished and has diabetes. We have him on a high protein diet and are going back in a month to see if its getting better.[/QUOTE

Oh, I love his sweet face! He's very lucky to have found you!

There are some very low carb dry foods, but the ones you listed are not. But you do need to be home testing before changing the food too much.
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I know they could he brothers! My guy was under 9 lbs when I found him and is now about 11 lbs. I gave him half a can of friskes poultry platter in the am, a can of fancy feast (various poultry and beef flavors from the classics line with less than 10% carbs) and the other half a can of friskes from the fridge at night. My baby is on insulin though so I have to time his meals in line with his shots.
 
Frequent, modest feedings will allow him to put on weight without scarf 'n' barf. You can divide feedings into 1.5 ounces (half a 3 oz can) to 2.5 oz (half a 5.5 oz can), every 2 or 3 hours using a timed feeder (ex PetSafe 5). This keeps the food coming in gradually so as not to overtax the pancreas or fill him too full at one time.

Feeding roughly 1 ounce per pound of desired weight, divided across the day may be a reasonable starting point for his weight regain. Then adjust the amount up or down as needed to manage his weight.

Another option is to freeze part of the meal to be eaten as it thaws.
Adding some water and spreading the food thinly on a plate may slow him down enough that he doesn't vomit, too.
 
StephyL6 said:
I know they could he brothers! My guy was under 9 lbs when I found him and is now about 11 lbs. I gave him half a can of friskes poultry platter in the am, a can of fancy feast (various poultry and beef flavors from the classics line with less than 10% carbs) and the other half a can of friskes from the fridge at night. My baby is on insulin though so I have to time his meals in line with his shots.
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Io isn't on insulin yet. I guess they just wanted to see if diet alone would change it. I'm heading to the pet store tonight to exchange his food I originally got for some canned. I really hope this helps him. We've only had him for 4 days and he's already loved to pieces! Maybe they're long lost brothers :)
 
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