Cat is newly diagnosed. Question about food!

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Worried Mom

Worried Mom

Member Since 2017
Our 9 year old cat, Maddie, was just diagnosed with diabetes last week. To say that we're overwhelmed with the news is an understatement.

Blood work was taken and thankfully there doesn't seem to be an issue with her kidneys or anything else. She weighs 12 lb/4 oz so she is a little overweight. We were told that she should weigh no more than 1o lbs.

We're trying to take this one step at a time. So far we're not having any problems giving her the insulin. We wait until she's eaten a little food and then give her the shot. Thankfully my husband and I are not squeamish about needles. Maddie doesn't flinch at all, so I guess she doesn't mind them either.

So far, we are not home monitoring her glucose levels. We have an appointment this week with the vet to see how she's doing. I know that we'll have to start monitoring her and that's the part that we're both freaking out over. Not just learning how to do it, but about not causing Maddie any pain and stress. She is a VERY skittish cat; she runs from people and HATES loud noises. Even a sneeze can send her running out of the room.

I'm sure I'll have lots of questions but for right now my biggest concern is her diet. The vet asked what kind of food we feed her and we told him she eats dry food during the week and on Saturday we give her wet food. He said that we should really stick to dry food. He then suggested we put her on Hill's Prescription Diet w/d Digestive/Weight Management. We ended up buying a small bag to start with. Luckily, Maddie is NOT a fussy eater.....wet or dry (and any brand) she gobbles it all up!

When we got home, I went online to better understand her condition and that's how I found this wonderful board. I've read through several posts and there seems to be a wealth of information here, which is good since I'm confused about what I should really be feeding Maddie.

For the record, the vet didn't insist we use the Hill's prescription food, only to consider it. Well, with all the other expenses involved it would be nice to try to save a little money and buy regular cat food.

I've read, not just on this board, but on several other forums and numerous articles that you should NEVER give any cat dry food, especially a diabetic one. From what I've read here, it seems that many people choose Fancy Feast or Friskies. Somewhere along the way, someone from this board posted a link to the carb content of several brands of food to compare the carbs and even phosphorus. So the aim is to keep to a low carb/low phosphorus food....is that right?

It's so confusing. I just want to help Maddie with her food choices and not do her any harm. The vet says to keep her on dry food and everything I've read online indicates that advice is really bad.

Any information you care to give would be much appreciated.
 
Hi welcome to you and Maddie! It is overwhelming at first, but it will get easier. As for food, wet is best and the Friskies Pate and Fancy Feast Classic are cheap, easy to find, low carb and most cats like them, so they are very popular here. The Hills is not so popular. Just look at the ingredients, rice, corn and powdered cellulose (sawdust) not a good diet for any cat much less a diabetic! Then there's the cost....
I'm glad you're willing to learn to home test. That's the best way to keep Maddie safe once insulin is started. It will also let you see how well the insulin is working. Now would be a good time to start the desensitizing process. Choose a spot that will be your testing site. Take Maddie there several times a day and rub her ears and give her a treat- that's all then let her go. After awhile she'll love going to that spot for the treat. Go ahead and buy a glucometer and learn how to use it so you'll be ready. When you and Maddie are comfortable with the ear rubs, you can start trying to actually test her. Keep reading and asking questions. That's the best way to help sweet Maddie!
 
You are correct... Dry food (unless young again zero carb or evo cat and kitten) are no-no's. The prescription dm food is somewhere around 14-16% carb and ideally you want to stay under 10% carb. Most people here feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. The phosphorus count is important if there are kidney disease issues, otherwise it's the carbs you are concerned with.

Home testing is not difficult and so so important to keep the cat safe and to make sure the dose is correct. I made a video with my cat yesterday to demo how to do homework testing. If your cat is skidding I would get him used to having his ears touched as much as possible and give treats so he has good associations with testing.

 
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Welcome! Glad you will be home testing. It's the best tool in the FD kitty tool belt. A lot of kitties are not bothered by the test. If you listen closely to Janet's CC, you will hear her purr during the test :). Another member made a video of testing her kitty as well. I'll post it at the end so you have another reference to see. The food chart you saw, will now be on your thread: http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

In addition to non-prescription foods, a lot of us use a human glucometer like ReliOn Confirm or Micro (Walmart brand) due to better test strip affordability. They will read lower than the pet meter, like AlphaTrak 2, and there is no conversion between the numbers but we can help manage either :cat:. Most important tests are AMPS and PMPS (morning and evening pre-shots tests, ideally not having anything to eat 2 hours prior. This time is roughly 30 minutes before actual shot time). This is the Spreadsheet template we use, all you need is a Google account:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Also will be helpful to setup some signature information for those of us with bad memories ;): http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

And this is good to be prepared for and have on hand before you may need it: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

Apologies for the link bombard :smuggrin:

Last thing! Peanut getting tested (CC and Peanut are super calm kitties, don't feel disheartened)
 
One trick you'll need to know if your kitty doesn't like noises - most glucometers make an audible "beep" when the test strip is applied to the blood droplet. On some of them this can be turned down or even off. I turned it down on mine because it will sometimes startle my cat.
 
Yong said:
Welcome! Glad you will be home testing. It's the best tool in the FD kitty tool belt. A lot of kitties are not bothered by the test. If you listen closely to Janet's CC, you will hear her purr during the test :). Another member made a video of testing her kitty as well. I'll post it at the end so you have another reference to see. The food chart you saw, will now be on your thread: http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

In addition to non-prescription foods, a lot of us use a human glucometer like ReliOn Confirm or Micro (Walmart brand) due to better test strip affordability. They will read lower than the pet meter, like AlphaTrak 2, and there is no conversion between the numbers but we can help manage either :cat:. Most important tests are AMPS and PMPS (morning and evening pre-shots tests, ideally not having anything to eat 2 hours prior. This time is roughly 30 minutes before actual shot time). This is the Spreadsheet template we use, all you need is a Google account:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Also will be helpful to setup some signature information for those of us with bad memories ;): http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

And this is good to be prepared for and have on hand before you may need it: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

Apologies for the link bombard :smuggrin:

Last thing! Peanut getting tested (CC and Peanut are super calm kitties, don't feel disheartened)
Click to expand...
The first two weeks she didn't lay so still. I kept her in place with a snack.
 
JanetNJ said:
You are correct... Dry food (unless young again zero carb or evo cat and kitten) are no-no's. The prescription dm food is somewhere around 14-16% carb and ideally you want to stay under 10% carb. Most people here feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. The phosphorus count is important if there are kidney disease issues, otherwise it's the carbs you are concerned with.

Home testing is not difficult and so so important to keep the cat safe and to make sure the dose is correct. I made a video with my cat yesterday to demo how to do homework testing. If your cat is skidding I would get him used to having his ears touched as much as possible and give treats so he has good associations with testing.

Click to expand...
Great video but the lower gauge on that lancet isn't needed forever, just when first starting out, especially if the ear is warm. I still use my rice sock but I don't warm it up anymore, I just rub his ear with my fingers to get it warm and I use a 31 gauge with no issues at all.
Also I just tested these meters with a stopwatch for accuracy just to make damn sure that I wasn't fibbing.
The AlphaTrak2 gives a full 2 minutes once the test strip is fully inserted so don't worry about that anymore or for anyone else that was worried about that.
The Relion Confirm AND Micro - Once the test strip is fully inserted give a warning beep at 4:30 (4 min 30 sec) mark and then shut down at 5 minutes.
 
Yong said:
Oh yeah and probably won't be using the clicker function like Siden does but the "free-hand" poke that Janet and most of us do. Thanks for jogging my memory, Squalliesmom :cat:
Click to expand...
Peanut did jump just a little the first few times that I used the clicker so I started clicking it all of the time. I would give him a treat and click it real close to him while he ate his treat, did this over and over and over again for a few days and I also just left the clicker out on his bed so that he could get used to seeing it. I think that was the trick, it only took a few days and a little bit of work and I much prefer it to manual pricking which I've tried.
 
Thank you all so much, not just for the warm welcome, but for the invaluable advice you've all given.

To those who posted videos and links to other information, a HUGE thank you for taking the time and effort to do that!!

To Kris & Teasel, no that isn't Maddie. It was just an avatar that I liked. When thinks settle down I'll change it to one of Maddie.

My next adventure is choosing a glucometer. I would like to find one relatively cheap; again it's overwhelming with all the information I've been reading. I doubt the vet will be of much help. I had no idea that you could use store bought meters/test strips, and of course, he never even mentioned it!

Any advice on simplifying a choice of meters/test strips would be much appreciated!!
 
Worried Mom said:
Thank you all so much, not just for the warm welcome, but for the invaluable advice you've all given.

To those who posted videos and links to other information, a HUGE thank you for taking the time and effort to do that!!

To Kris & Teasel, no that isn't Maddie. It was just an avatar that I liked. When thinks settle down I'll change it to one of Maddie.

My next adventure is choosing a glucometer. I would like to find one relatively cheap; again it's overwhelming with all the information I've been reading. I doubt the vet will be of much help. I had no idea that you could use store bought meters/test strips, and of course, he never even mentioned it!

Any advice on simplifying a choice of meters/test strips would be much appreciated!!
Click to expand...
An inexpensive meter popular on here is Walmart relion micro meter. The strips are cheapest.
 
Test Shop List

A lot of us use a human meter from Walmart, ReliOn Confirm or Micro (Only difference is meter size).
1. Meter ($15)
2. Test strips ($35.88 / 100)
3. 26 or 28 gauge lancets ($4)
4. Neosporin or triple antibiotic ointment ($3)
5. Ketone test strips
6. A treat for yourself :cat:

Here is the Spreadsheet link again, all you need is a Google account: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
Most important tests are AMPS and PMPS. Any extra tests you can get are helpful :). She can eat all day up to 2 hours prior to preshot test times so the number is not food influenced
 
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