Cat just diagnosed with diabetes

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Kristoph89

Kristoph89

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Hello all!

My cat was just diagnosed with diabetes today and I landed on this forum to see what add'l information I can get...

I suspected a couple of months ago that my cat could possibly be pre-diabetic. I noticed he started drinking more water, peeing alot and losing weight. I brought him into the vet this past weekend for his annual check-up and had the Dr. run a blood test to see what was wrong. Sure enough, when the vet called today, she said he has diabetes. I have made a follow-up visit later this week to get him started on insulin but wanted to do as much research as I could before I go back in to see the vet.

My cat Casey currently weighs 15.8 lbs. After suspecting he might be a diabetic, I immediately put him on an all wet food diet that is high in protein and low in carbs. Even though he was still eating dry food at this time, I've noticed a slight improvement. I now plan on cutting him off completely from the high carb dry food. I am hoping that by taking an aggressive approach to change his eating habits, after starting insulin, he can possibly go into remission.

Any thoughts or suggestions on how to proceed before I go to the vet? I'd really like to monitor his sugar at home and would love to know how high is too high when I take the reading and what the normal numbers should be. How can I tell if his body won't need insulin anymore?

He's only 7.5 years old and we caught the diabetes pretty early so I'm hoping he can go into remission and not be insulin dependent the rest of his life. Any suggestions if I can buy insulin online and have to pay the jacked up prices the vet is going to sell it to me for?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Kristy
 
Welcome Kristy,

You have already done great things for Casey by changing the diet. To see how the diet is working, and later to determine if it is safe to give insulin and to see how the insulin is working, you can test at home. We would love to help you with this. Here is how we do it: Video for hometesting We use human glucometers. Here is a shopping list:

A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest around. Try the meter out on yourself or someone else before you try it on your cat. You want to be familiar with it before you poke the cat.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 25-26 gauge is good. Any brand will work.

Ketone strips. (Ketostix) Just like human diabetics use. You will sometimes need to test urine if the numbers are high.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Then heat the ears before poking.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

And some lo carb treats to give your kitty, successful test or not Lo carb treats

We all have tricks that helped us so just ask!

Non diabetic cats run from 40 - 120 with most readings in the double digit range. Diabetic cats that are considered regulated run around 200 at preshot and around 100 at nadir. High numbers are in the 400 - 500 range.

We like Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc. All are mild, long lasting insulins. You can buy Levemir and Lantus at the drug store as they are human insulins. You may have to buy ProZinc from your vet although it would be worthwhile to ask around. I remember someone saying they had gotten PZI at Costco. Check out the Insulin support groups and read the information in the stickies: viewforum.php?f=5 Read through some of the threads so you can get an idea of how the insulin is working for others.

Welcome, welcome. Ask questions, read. We would love to help you help your Casey.
 
Thank you so much for all this information! I will definitely get the items recc and test him at home. The vet didn't tell me how high is levels were but when I go back I will ask her. I am hoping I can buy the insulin somewhere else to save on the costs...

Kristy and Casey
 
Hi Kristy!

First of all, kudos for noticing the signs and getting kitty checked out and for changing his diet so well! You've come to the right place for questions and support. While I'm far from experienced, I'm happy to welcome you to fdmb!

Take a look at the stickys, especially the FAQ

It's a tonne of information, so while I'm by no means an expert, I'll try to comment on your questions:

Home monitoring.. yay! You'll need a glucometer. Your vet might try to sell you on the AlphaTrak because it is 'calibrated' for cat use. Human meters read 30 mg/dl lower than actual value so that when people are getting low, they're spurred to do something about their low number. Kind've like setting the clock beside your bed five minutes ealier to trick yourself into getting a move-on. You'll do just fine on a human meter like ReliOn or Freestyle instead - the cost of AlphaTrak strips are criminal.

In terms of buying insulin online, I know a lot of people buy online from Canadian pharmacies like this one at a reduced price.

Best of luck, and congratulations for finding this wonderful place :smile:
 
Just wanted to say hello. My cat Max was diagnosed in January and I was right where you are now. I'm sure you're already figuring out that you've come to the best place for help with your diabetic cat. I knew next to nothing at first and was overwhelmed and stressed. This forum and following the great advice/protocol really helped me turn Max's health around. I've learned being proactive is one of the best things you can do for your kitty. You already have a head start since you found FDMB and are asking questions. My Max (he's a youngin' too...7 years) is pretty sensitive to carbs, so the biggest difference for him has been the diet change. First, we went off the high carb dry food (had no idea it was so high in carbs). For a couple weeks, I fed Max a mix of dry M/D recommended by my vet and the low carb wet recommended here. Max really turned a corner though when we went to only low carb wet (right now he eats Fancy Feast Classic, less than 5% carbs). Home testing is a life saver. I didn't think I could do it at first, but I learned. It really helps to know where the BG is at because, among the many reasons, you can be more proactive with dosing if you're testing. I use the Walmart ReliOn Micro meter and strips, mainly because they are inexpensive and easy to get. Read all you can and keep asking questions. By the way, with the diet change and testing, Max recently went into remission. Doesn't happen for every kitty but is definitely something to try for.
 
Thanks so much for all this helpful advice! I am so grateful to have found this forum. It definitely is scary. I never knew that the dry food was so high in carbs too! I'm definitely shooting to get this thing into remission. By changing his food to high protein/low carb I think I've taken the right first steps. I will def be testing his BG at home. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it after a few tests. Giving him insulin shots is going to be scary. I hate needles but I'm sure I'll get the hang of that too. How do you know when your cat goes into remission? Is this something the vet will decide that he no longer needs insulin? Just curious.

Thanks,
Kristy
 
You'll be testing daily and when your kitty's numbers start going down, you monitor closely. You'll know what to watch for in terms of numbers. Don't worry - we'll help!
 
I'm kind of squeamish and was worried if I could give the shots and do the testing, but I learned. I was definitely shaky at first but am much better now. I watched the "how to" videos multiple times and was still a little like "you don't know my cat...he's never going to let me do this," but, with practice, we are both doing it. :smile: Once you start trying, feel free to post with any questions if you're having a hard time with something. Everyone has different tricks of what works for them and their cat. For remission, like Sue said, I was home testing and based Max's dose on the his BG #'s. As the #'s went down, so did the dose until Max was staying in non-diabetic #'s on his own.
 
Welcome! Willie and I are three months into our sugar dance, and it is amazing how routine it has become! You've been given great beginner advice, which I won't repeat. If your vet should prescribe Lantus, there are methods to keeping it cost effective, so post back here if that is the route your vet chooses and we can give you more specific advice (if the vet does with lantus, though, trust me... ask for a script for the pens and not the vial. much cheaper long run, no matter what your vet says!).

I am terribly squeamish about needles... if I'm getting my blood drawn or a shot at the doctor, I have to look the other way, or I turn green and almost pass out. But for some reason, giving Willie his daily shots doesn't affect me one bit. I even had blood drawn about a month ago, and was completely nauseous!!!

You are already on a great path, and even if your Casey never goes into remission, your care and diligence will mean better overall health for years to come. Remission would just be the icing on the cake. :)

Good luck... we look forward to learning more about you and Casey in the near future!!
 
i'm squeamish about shots too, but for my kitter, i'm doing it. he's worth it.

If your vet suggests lantus, you've got the suggestion above to use the lantus pen (smaller volume, less cost) instead of the vial. You also have the coupon. The pens come in a 5-pack, each pack is supposed to last around a month - but they often last longer and SOME pharmacies, including Costco, will sell you one. One vial is about $40 and now you've got a $25 coupon to help you get started.

Anyway, I'm only saying all that because all the initial paraphanalia can be expensive.

I just gave someone else in your shoes this link to the study on Lantus - since I've got it I'm passing it on. It's tedious to read but lots of great information. Might be helpful to pass to your vet, too.

http://www.uq.edu.au/ccah/docs/diabetesinfo/link4.pdf

There's lots to read on here and lots to encourage you.
 
Thanks again for all this valuable information...everyone has been a great help! I'm so thankful to have found this forum. I'm taking Casey to the vet today to get started on insulin so I'm hoping the vet prescribes either Lantus or ProZinc. Seems like those two brands come highly recc'd on the forum. I just got the free diabetes testing kit in the mail so I'll start testing him soon daily. There's just so much information to take in here...

I've noticed a great deal of improvement since I switched Casey's diet to a high protein/low carb one. He seems to really like eating the wet food (although he's been a little finicky eating it the past few days). But I also have him on dry food as well to hold him over during the day while I'm at work. I've been giving him EVO wet and dry which my four other cats seem to love as well!

I'll be curious to see when I take him to the vet in a bit how high his BG was when the initial test was given 2 weeks ago. I'm a little apprehensive to start him on insulin right away if I've seen a decent improvement since the diet change (he doesn't drink as much water or nearly go to the bathroom as much as he did before the change). Also, his weight has seemed to stabilize. Not sure if I should suggest the vet taking another blood sample to get another reading post-diet change.

I'll keep everyone posted on how the vet visit goes...thanks again for all your help!

-Kristy and Casey
 
Glad things are going better.

We assume that in most cats, there is a limited time period for the pancreas to heal enough to allow remission. That is why we generally tell people to only try diet for a week or so before starting insulin. If I were you, and if my kitty has numbers in the 200-300 range at home, I would start insulin.

We also assume that most cats test higher at the vet. Stress raises bg levels and most cats are stressed with the strange noises, smells, people and animals at the vet. Sometimes bg levels can be more than 100 points lower when the cat gets home and is tested. That's one of the reasons we are so in favor of testing at home. Sometimes doses decided at the vet are too much insulin once the kitty gets home.

If you need help testing, just add. We will bombard you with things that helped us. We worked a whole weekend poking poor Oliver before we got a drop of blood. What eventually worked for us was the rice sack. Warming the ear really helps the blood flowing. Also, a change to a larger gauge lancet usually helps in the beginning. (25-27 gauge)

You can free feed wet food for everyone and get rid of the dry. I freeze the wet into kitty pucks. A can of FF fits perfectly into my silicone cupcake pan. Then it can thaw and be ready to eat when kitty is ready. You can also add water to the wet and leave it out for 12 hours - the water will keep it from drying out.
 
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