Cat just got diagnosed, kinda scared

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FrenchBreadPrime

Member Since 2020
Hello, I'm new here and I have to say that I'm pretty lost.
We went to the vet yesterday, because my 14 year old cat was constipated, and the vet saw that he was in bad shape (took care of the constipation in a pretty painful way by forcing the poop out of him by hand too), there was some blood tests and it came out with a high concentration of glucose in blood (7 times the norm apparently...)
So diabetes it was.

I have to say that I'm a little angered by the fact that my cat has had symptoms of diabetes for quite some time, as in drinking lots of water and urinating outside of his litter, he developped cataracts, he lost 1 kilo compared to last year and has very weak hindlegs, even though we went to the vet about three time since then, they never really gave a deep enough look to say "hey, maybe your cat has diabetes".
So, yesterday was the day when this came out, and we came back home with my cat, new diet and insulin (Caninsulin)

I'm a little scared of some things, we'll have to go run another test next week but I'm afraid that he'll worsen or something on the course of this week. Since yesterday he's been appearing weaker, I know it's probably due to the fact that his anus got fiddled by a hand to force his poop out (he seems to be struggling to poop now too, but has managed to do it once in the last 24 hours), but it's kinda worrying to see him lose his balance when walking and laying down in unusual positions on the floor.

He seems to dislike his new kibbles, so I went to the vet today to try some other ones, and buy some pate too; and even though he seems to like them more, he seems to be struggling to eat, as in all of a sudden it's becoming hard for him to crunch the kibble, and even maintaining the pate in his mouth looks like hard work for him sometimes, and I can tell that this wasn't the case two days ago.

The vets are saying that he needs some time to adapt to everything new, and that it's normal for him to appear weaker and having those kind of troubles now that he has just started insulin, I know I should believe it but seeing that is still worrying.
Also, he's taking Caninsulin, 2 units, twice per day, and the vet wrote down that he should eat around 30 grams of food around the injection, that doesn't sound like much and I'm afraid of the idea of having him enter into hypoglycemia while everyone is asleep, or even not noticing the starting signs of hypoglycemia, since he's been weak, slow and a little shaky for quite a few months already.
He surely manages to eat those 30 grams, even though he struggles to crunch his food and doesn't eat as much as before quite suddenly, but I'm still worried.

The vets told me everything is going to be alright for him and I really hope it will, but it's really overwhelming.

We have another cat, too, who is younger and more energic, and I wonder if he'll feel if something is wrong with the first one.

Thanks for reading, I'm kinda lost tbh and really hope it's going to be okay
 
FrenchBreadPrime said:
So, yesterday was the day when this came out, and we came back home with my cat, new diet and insulin (Caninsulin)

I'm a little scared of some things, we'll have to go run another test next week but I'm afraid that he'll worsen or something on the course of this week. Since yesterday he's been appearing weaker, I know it's probably due to the fact that his anus got fiddled by a hand to force his poop out (he seems to be struggling to poop now too, but has managed to do it once in the last 24 hours), but it's kinda worrying to see him lose his balance when walking and laying down in unusual positions on the floor.
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Hearing that your cat has diabetes is pretty terrifying. I remember worrying if I could do it... if I could do the shots, if she would feel crappy forever... if she would grow to hate me... if I was torturing her. I cried for 12 hours straight. THen I found this site and the wonderful people here. That was 4 years ago. So the good news is, you came to the right place, and diabetes is not a death sentence. There is a learning curve, and things to make health more possible, but it's all doable. :)

So a few things... if you are feeding the perscription food, it's really not necessary. THe dry is way too high in carbs at like 15%, and there's nothing in the wet food that's any better then a grocery store food that is pate and low in carb. So that will save you some $$$ . You are worred that he'll worsen over the course of the week... Most find once they start the insulin the cat starts to feel better pretty quickly. The recommended starting dose is 1 unit twice a day, but with the neuropathy setting in the vet probably wanted to start a little higher. Did he mention if there were any ketones at all?. The hind leg weekness may take longer to resolve... weeks to months. Fortunately while it looks so sad and uncomfortable, it's not particularly painful for cats. The way it will get resolved is by getting the blood glucose numbers into a better range, and most find adding b 12 methylcobalamin to the food helps. The best way to find out if a particular dose is too much, too little or just right... and to keep the cat safe from hypoglycemia (going WAY too low is super dangerous and can be deadly) is by testing at home just like people with diabetes do. As a matter of fact most people here use a human meter to test. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my little cutie pie at home. As you will see in the video it doesn't bother her at all. She seriously purrs through the whole thing. (which reminds me, it's time to test her. hahaha)

FrenchBreadPrime said:
He seems to dislike his new kibbles, so I went to the vet today to try some other ones, and buy some pate too; and even though he seems to like them more, he seems to be struggling to eat, as in all of a sudden it's becoming hard for him to crunch the kibble, and even maintaining the pate in his mouth looks like hard work for him sometimes, and I can tell that this wasn't the case two days ago.
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what country are you in? we may be able to recommend foods to you. Avoid kibble, they are too high in carb.
FrenchBreadPrime said:
Also, he's taking Caninsulin, 2 units, twice per day, and the vet wrote down that he should eat around 30 grams of food around the injection, that doesn't sound like much and I'm afraid of the idea of having him enter into hypoglycemia while everyone is asleep, or even not noticing the starting signs of hypoglycemia, since he's been weak, slow and a little shaky for quite a few months already.
He surely manages to eat those 30 grams, even though he struggles to crunch his food and doesn't eat as much as before quite suddenly, but I'm still worried.
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The vet just wants to make sure he has some food on board. What was he eating previously? If you are worried I would lower the dose to 1 unit twice a day until you get a meter and start testing at home.

This is what you would need to test.

1. a meter. choose one that only needs a .3- .5 size sample.
2. extra test strips
3. 28 gauge lancets (the ones that come with human meters are usually too thin)
4. Cotton cosmetic rounds
5. a treat for you because you are awesome and deserve it.

you're vet is right... it's going to be ok. We will help you every step of the way,.... you are NOT ALONE. :)
 
WELCOME TO FDMB! We are so glad you found us! Janet is one of our experts and has given excellent advice! THANK YOU JANET!

I'm just here to welcome you and let you know you have sound a SAFE place to land. We are a group of dedicated cat lovers that are tied together with a common thread, diabetes. We will do our best to help figure out and give you tools to take charge!

Again welcome to the best darn site on this planet to learn how to navigate this disease.

and as Janet said... It really is going to be OK.;):):bighug:
jeanne
 
Thank y'all for answering, that sounds reassuring
I'll try to get a glucometer as soon as I can, I don't think my cat would be bothered by doing those tests, as he's not bothered at all by insulin injections either.

The vet didn't mention ketones as she said that his kidneys were still okay (but would soon be damaged if he kept his usual diet), so I suppose that's safe.

I'm in France, so I don't know if the brands are the same as yours, but at first my cat got a pack of Virbac kibbles, and as it turns out he doesn't seem to like them, and since they're really large and hard, even eating one is a struggle for him.
He's had more success with Royal Canin kibble, which are smaller and seems to taste better, but still too hard for him apparently, he struggles to crunch them but at least manages to do it. Since he struggles too much to eat his kibbles, I give him some Pate (Royal canin too), and he eats it (focusing more on the jelly, and struggling a little to eat the meat of it, but manages to)

Before all of this, he used to eat Perfect Fit kibble for senior cats, had to eat those to help for his arthritis; but also ate canned pate. I used to give him some more food because he likes to lurk around when I'm cooking, so I'd often give him a bit of tuna, chicken or ham, which he really likes; but my parents were often letting him lick molten ice cream or yogurt, or letting him eat crepe.

I'd like to change things from the food, but the vet has been very firm about using that new diet for a full month in order to not thwart the upcoming blood tests, we'll probably be able to discuss that more with her in time, though.

Also, he seems to still be kinda constipated, even though he managed to poop last day, he seems to be trying to poop again, and pushes while nothing gets out, he's done it a few times right now, even though he has been giver paraffine oil and a special brand of water that helps against constipation; this must be uncomfortable for him and may be one of the reasons why he's walking strangely, if you guys have any tips to help him poop, that would be very welcome.

Thanks a lot !
 
I would try adding a spoon of Pumpkin to his wet food.
A lot of people give Miralax... I'm not sure of the dosage.
Hold on for more replies on this. Poor kitty!

BTW ALL dry foods are packed with carbs. Carbs feed diabetes. Are you home testing? If not do not remove the dry all at once. A little less everyday. BUT I wouldnt remove it until you get a meter and learn to home test.


I'm worried about the eating. If you are injecting insulin, your cat HAS to eat. Did the Vet check his teeth? A cat having a hard time chewing pate might be having tooth pain.
We WILL get this sorted.
 
JOJI and Kit said:
we were also out of our minds with worry and fears particularly in the early days.
the letter in this link is so helpful and it made us laugh bc we were doing *all* helicopter the things
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/letter-from-your-kitty-to-you-during-this-time.131186/

^jw
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Thanks, I think that thing helps putting things into perspective, yeah. I just said "****" to myself reading this.

jt and trouble (GA) said:
I would try adding a spoon of Pumpkin to his wet food.
A lot of people give Miralax... I'm not sure of the dosage.
Hold on for more replies on this. Poor kitty!

BTW ALL dry foods are packed with carbs. Carbs feed diabetes. Are you home testing? If not do not remove the dry all at once. A little less everyday. BUT I wouldnt remove it until you get a meter and learn to home test.


I'm worried about the eating. If you are injecting insulin, your cat HAS to eat. Did the Vet check his teeth? A cat having a hard time chewing pate might be having tooth pain.
We WILL get this sorted.
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I think I'll have to go look for some laxative, then; pumpkin would work but I think something that acts quick would help more in his actual case, I'll try it too but I may focus more on the laxative part.
And yeah, his dry food has 20% carbs in it which is huge, I talked about it to the vet today, and they told me that the carbs in those kibbles are "quick ones" that are quickly removed during digestion, I have to admit that I'm a bit skeptical but I'm not a vet... Not hometesting yet but I'll try to get a glucometer asap.

And yeah, for eating it's kind of hard, this morning he managed to eat kinda normally apparently (was doing sports at that time but yeah I found his plate); but this evening, he only ate a little, probably like barely the 30g of food that he's supposed to eat (according to the vet), and I'm pretty sure he'll try to eat a little more tonight, but yeah, he's not eating much and is having really quick meals.
The vet checked his teeth, and he has white gums because of the diabetes, so I assume his teeth have been weakened, I can't tell about tooth pain since I don't know how to detect that specifically.
 
be careful with laxative!!! none of that chocolate stuff its toxic to cats! We recommend laxatone or pumpkin (not the kind you made pie with) you want pumpkin puree. Mirilax is safe
FrenchBreadPrime said:
they told me that the carbs in those kibbles are "quick ones" that are quickly removed during digestion, I have to admit that I'm a bit skeptical
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You have a right to be! Thats a bunch of BALONEY.
 
FrenchBreadPrime said:
I'm in France, so I don't know if the brands are the same as yours,
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Here's a link to some food charts... you can see if any look familiar. You might have some of the ones from the UK list. You are looking for foods under 10% carb. https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/links-to-food-charts.174182/
FrenchBreadPrime said:
I'd like to change things from the food, but the vet has been very firm about using that new diet for a full month in order to not thwart the upcoming blood tests, we'll probably be able to discuss that more with her in time, though.
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You could tell your vet the cat refuses to eat it and when he did eat a few pieces the kibble were to large. It's not a lie. This food is not a good fit on multiple levels.

FrenchBreadPrime said:
Also, he seems to still be kinda constipated, even though he managed to poop last day, he seems to be trying to poop again, and pushes while nothing gets out, he's done it a few times right now, even though he has been giver paraffine oil and a special brand of water that helps against constipation; this must be uncomfortable for him and may be one of the reasons why he's walking strangely, if you guys have any tips to help him poop, that would be very welcome.
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you could try giving him a teaspoon of plain pumpkin (no spices) mixed in with his wet food. If that doesn't work I recently had to give one of my cats a few doses of 1/8 teaspoon of Miralax which is a laxative. Also add extra water to his wet food. Diabetics are easily dehydrated.
 
FrenchBreadPrime said:
e has white gums because of the diabetes
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diabetes doesn't cause white gums... MAYBE HE'S ANEMIC? this would cause him to be unsteady on his feet, and to have a poor appetite! This would need to be addressed immediately. Do you have a copy of his lab work that you could post? If not, call the vet's office and ask the receptionist to email you a copy of all his bloodwork
 
Oh my bad, I was kinda confused, and yeah, the vet didn't say the gums were white because of Diabetes but because of Anemia, sorry, I was so fixated on tha diabetes fact that I forgot the part of Anemia. I don't know all of what Anemia can cause, but yeah, that's fair, that would explain why his back legs are also extra-weak.
Lots of people who had to deal with that vet say that she's good, including some who had diabetic cats, so I believe that I can trust that, even though the carbohydrate talk doesn't sound fair (I mean, if there were carbohydrates that dissappeared quickly, what would be the point of specific carbohydrate-free diets)

And thanks, I'll take a look to the food charts tomorrow morning, it's pretty late right now so I'm not sure if my mind will assimilate a chart correctly right now.
 
Welcome and I’m happy you found us!

I agree with everything Janet has said and she’s giving you amazing advice already!

I have to chime in to say that a vet that took a year to diagnose your cat with diabetes despite the multiple visits is not a vet I would trust at all. Second, there’s the high carb food which makes me think your vet doesn’t know much about pet diabetes. Third, the vet prescribed Caninsulin named after canines because it was designed for dogs. It doesn’t always work well for cats who have higher metabolisms and that makes me think again the vet doesn’t know much about specifically feline diabetes. The main thing is you can continue going to the vet if you think it’s a good vet overall, but I wound listen to the advice regarding the diabetes. And that’s the main thing really, realizing we don’t have to listen and follow every single thing our vet recommends when we don’t agree with it. At the end of the day, it’s your cat and you should do what you think it’s best for your sugar baby :cat:

welcome again!
 
FrenchBreadPrime said:
I'd like to change things from the food, but the vet has been very firm about using that new diet for a full month in order to not thwart the upcoming blood tests, we'll probably be able to discuss that more with her in time, though.
Click to expand...

The sad truth is that vets get very little "formal" education on diabetes when they're in school (less than 1 day!) and that covers all types of animals. They get even less on nutrition (and what they do get is paid for by the prescription food industry). Once they're in practice, they just don't have the time to stay up to date on the latest treatments for every disease in every type of animal they see. If they tried they'd never have time to see any actual patients! That's why places like this message board are so valuable. The people here deal with feline diabetes and the complications that tend to come with it....and nothing else. We have people from all walks of life, including researchers who did through all the latest treatments. We have members here who've had diabetic cats for many years and have treated them 24/7/365. We may not have DVM after our names, but when it comes to real life experience, we're full of it!

FrenchBreadPrime said:
I think I'll have to go look for some laxative,
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In France, the brand name of Miralax is Forlax (polyethylene glycol)

FrenchBreadPrime said:
that would explain why his back legs are also extra-weak.
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Is he walking like this? This is a bad case of diabetic neuropathy.

Hang in there! We'll all be here to help you! Do you mind sharing your name with us? We prefer not to say "Hey you!"....LOL
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
Welcome and I’m happy you found us!

I agree with everything Janet has said and she’s giving you amazing advice already!

I have to chime in to say that a vet that took a year to diagnose your cat with diabetes despite the multiple visits is not a vet I would trust at all. Second, there’s the high carb food which makes me think your vet doesn’t know much about pet diabetes. Third, the vet prescribed Caninsulin named after canines because it was designed for dogs. It doesn’t always work well for cats who have higher metabolisms and that makes me think again the vet doesn’t know much about specifically feline diabetes. The main thing is you can continue going to the vet if you think it’s a good vet overall, but I wound listen to the advice regarding the diabetes. And that’s the main thing really, realizing we don’t have to listen and follow every single thing our vet recommends when we don’t agree with it. At the end of the day, it’s your cat and you should do what you think it’s best for your sugar baby :cat:

welcome again!
Click to expand...
in some places caninsulin is the only thing really available. Not sure what's available in france.
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
Welcome and I’m happy you found us!

I agree with everything Janet has said and she’s giving you amazing advice already!

I have to chime in to say that a vet that took a year to diagnose your cat with diabetes despite the multiple visits is not a vet I would trust at all. Second, there’s the high carb food which makes me think your vet doesn’t know much about pet diabetes. Third, the vet prescribed Caninsulin named after canines because it was designed for dogs. It doesn’t always work well for cats who have higher metabolisms and that makes me think again the vet doesn’t know much about specifically feline diabetes. The main thing is you can continue going to the vet if you think it’s a good vet overall, but I wound listen to the advice regarding the diabetes. And that’s the main thing really, realizing we don’t have to listen and follow every single thing our vet recommends when we don’t agree with it. At the end of the day, it’s your cat and you should do what you think it’s best for your sugar baby :cat:

welcome again!
Click to expand...

Thanks alot !
I'll have to take some time to fully adapt and find a right pace but yeah I'll try to find what really works. My mother brought him back to the vet this morning because he was still constipated, and this time he was so stressed that he ended up pooping on the way, and he doesn't seem to be constipated anymore; he's eating a little more and having a better posture now that it's over.
Talked about diet with the vet, too and she said that he could also eat cooked chicken mixed with zucchini and a little canola oil, and that seems to be something that he's eating more happily than plain and hard kibble.

Chris & China (GA) said:
The sad truth is that vets get very little "formal" education on diabetes when they're in school (less than 1 day!) and that covers all types of animals. They get even less on nutrition (and what they do get is paid for by the prescription food industry). Once they're in practice, they just don't have the time to stay up to date on the latest treatments for every disease in every type of animal they see. If they tried they'd never have time to see any actual patients! That's why places like this message board are so valuable. The people here deal with feline diabetes and the complications that tend to come with it....and nothing else. We have people from all walks of life, including researchers who did through all the latest treatments. We have members here who've had diabetic cats for many years and have treated them 24/7/365. We may not have DVM after our names, but when it comes to real life experience, we're full of it!
Click to expand...

That's a really good thing ngl, I'm finding myself swallowing alot of information just reading things in here and that's really helpful !

I'll take a look at Forlax, too, thanks ! He rarely gets constipated but it's not the first time either so that'd be good in the case of it happening once more in the future.

As for his walk, he's not really walking like this, he's still kinda walking strangely and a little wobbly, but I don't remember the vet talking about neuropathy as for his legs, this seems to be due to his arthritis, he can still climb and jump but is really hesitant about it, and that "strange walk" has been there for longer than the first signs of diabetes he's had.
And thanks alot ! My name is Tidiane, I guess it'll be easier yeah

JanetNJ said:
in some places caninsulin is the only thing really available. Not sure what's available in france.
Click to expand...

Not really sure either to be honest, most things I see in France are about caninsulin so I don't know...
 
JanetNJ said:
Some cats do ok on it. My cat went into remission after 4 months on it.
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I know that too. I’ve heard you say it before. I just don’t think it’s the case with the majority and you want them to have the best chance possible right off the get go. That’s my feeling on it. I researched Vetsulin when my friend’s dog got diagnosed with diabetes around the same time as Minnie and I found so may articles against the idea of using it on cats that I stuck with Lantus, even though I was spending about $100 a pen before I discovered Mark’s Pharmacy here :nailbiting:
 
Thanks, I'll try to take a deeper look into it and the different type of insulin that I can find in my country.
I've seen that apparently caninsulin takes effect faster but also wears off faster, would switching suddenly with a potentially slower one cause problems ?
Oh, and since I don't know if I'll be able to switch insulin soon, do my cat still risks hypoglycemia once the caninsulin spike starts going down or is he totally safe once that point has been reached ?

Thanks again !
 
FrenchBreadPrime said:
I'll try to take a deeper look into it and the different type of insulin that I can find in my country.
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Lantus, (which is a brand name for Glargine) and Basaglar (another brand name for Glargine) are both human insulin's that should be available at any local chemist.

They work very well in cats even though they are human insulin's.

FrenchBreadPrime said:
would switching suddenly with a potentially slower one cause problems ?
Click to expand...

No, we have people switch from Caninsulin to the better insulin types all the time. You just decide when you want to switch and do it. You can give Caninsulin in the morning and then switch to Lantus for the next shot that day.

FrenchBreadPrime said:
do my cat still risks hypoglycemia once the caninsulin spike starts going down or is he totally safe once that point has been reached ?
Click to expand...

Any time you're giving ANY type of insulin, you risk hypoglycemia but that's why we are such strong advocates for testing. You learn how YOUR cat responds to the insulin ....when is the "onset"....what's the "duration", when does my cat usually "nadir"......each cat is different and the insulin may work one way in "A's" cat and a different way in "B's".
 
Hey, I'm back !
I have an appointment with the vet for thursday, and have noticed some things with my cat, he's less lethargic than the first three days, and we've tried different foods for him, the chicken(or Tuna apparently) + zucchini + canola oil mix isn't something that he enjoys really much and he didn't eat those alot (still more than the kibble though)
I still have to give a deeper look at the food chart, but this evening, I gave him some Royal Canin diabetic cat Paté and I was wondering if some of you guys know if it's a good food in general
I also managed to get a full box of Purina DM proplan paté (multiple bags of 85g each), and I've heard good things about their kibble, is their pate still better ?

And last but not least, I got my hands on his blood test results from his diagnosis, I'll try to put the picture in here.

1595183194-miou.jpg


I guess a translation isn't needed, but here is one just in case for the things that are measured :

Urea
Creatinine
Total Protein
Glucose
Total Bilirubin
Alanine Aminotransferase
ALP

On the left are his numbers, on the right are the average numbers; as for Glucose, they had to measure it twice to get the number which is the one writtent ( 7,13 g/L)

Again, thanks alot !
 
In general, we feel that all these vet prescription foods like Royal Canin, Hills, Purina don’t have the best ingredients. They typically use food byproducts as opposed to human grade food which is of course a lot better. Having said that, we likely have more options here in the US like Tiki and Weruva :(

I’m not good at interpreting lab results so let’s see what others have to say about that

glad to hear he’s feeling better!
 
Thanks !
I'd like to give him normal food, but I'm not sure of what he can and can't eat (I guess I'll see tha tin the food chart); there are things that he loves to eat like cooked chicken (breast) and tuna, but I'm not sure if tuna is a good idea; though I don't see how just plain old cooked chicken could be bad (but if it's good, is it still enough ?)

And thanks again
 
Lantus is available in France.
This is the one you want. You use the cartridges the same as you use a vial. This box will last 6 months to a year depending on the dose.
https://www.journaldunet.com/econom...ents-les-plus-vendus-en-france/1020139-lantus

You can add a bit of cooked pumpkin (not the pie filling which has sugar and spices in it) to his food to help with the constipation. Pumpkin is likely hard to get in France. Pureed butternut squash can be used as well. Cook, puree, and freeze in small cubes.
 
You can get cat food online, many of the options are in the UK Food list. Or you can make your own. Cooked chicken by itself is not nutritionally complete. You can buy premixes (TC Feline is one example another French member used) or you can look at the Catinfo web site and page on preparing your own food. There is a french translation on that page too. I know of a couple other premixes that work with cooked food, but not sure they'll ship to France.

Levemir (detemir) is another insulin option in France that works well with cats. It is quite similar to Lantus, and also has the cartridges. And you need U-100 syringes for both.
 
Hello, I'm back.
Three days ago, we were able to run new tests on my cat, and in only one week, the vet and us saw an amazing result, my cat's glucose levels went from 7,13 mg/L to 1.97 mg/L, he was getting better.
Sadly, yes, I'm saying was. Today, his heart stopped out of nowhere, he got his last breath peacefully and very quickly too...
 
Oh nooooooooooooooo Oh my gosh I am SO sorry for this devastating loss. My heart goes out to you. My Waldo passed from the same. I am so very sorry.
Little one fly free free to come back and snuggle in a broken heart that loved you so.
My deepest condolences.:bighug::rb_icon::bighug:
jeanne
 
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