Controlling diabetes with diet only?

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palomita274

Member Since 2018
Catso was diagnosed with diabetes about a month ago. She is a VERY difficult cat (suffers from PTSD due to animal attack), and vet is recommending we treat her with food because we might need an Hazmat suit to give her insuline. So she prescribed Royal Canin Glycobalance wet ... at $1.28 a 3 oz can.

Needless to say, money is very tight. I am a teacher, my husband is unemployed (and dealing with family issues out of state) and daughter is in college.

Royal Canin says she needs about 3.75 cans per day, (she currently weighs about 10.2 pounds on my scale) but on this forum, I am seeing that some people are only feeding their cats 1 can per day ... so I am assuming they are supplementing with something else?

I am feeling very guilty. I have been giving her a can of Friskies pate in the morning since I am gone all day, 1 can of Royal Canin when I get home, and another one about 8 at night.

However, she is waking me at 2 and 3 in the morning because she is hungry. I am now walking into walls I am so tired, so I started leaving out another can of Friskies at night just to get some sleep.

I know I am overfeeding her, although she has lost weight since the doc visit, and she is not thrilled with the Friskies. (She LOVES the Royal Canin, though.) So now I am considering buying her Fancy Feast ... although it is twice as much $ as Friskies.

Can others who use Royal Canin speak to what else they are feeding their cats, and is anyone else treating only with food?

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give me.
 
The Royal Canin food your vet is perscribing is 14% carb... way too high for a diabetic cat whose food should be no more than 10% (under 7% is even better). The Friskies Pate is actually a much more appropriate choice for a diabetic cat as most of them are 4-6% carb. Uncontrolled diabetic cats are hungrier than usual because their bodies are not utilizing the nutrients in the food properly... therefore they are starving even though they are eating. I would say skip the perscription food all together and stick with the friskies. To prevent yourself from getting up in the middle of the night, consider getting a timed feeder. You said she isn't thrilled with the friskies, so I would definitly try fancy feast classic. you can get it on chewy.com for about $.50 a can.

I will say that there are only a VERY small percentage of cats that are actually controlled through diet alone and almost all require insulin to bring the numbers down. Not giving any insulin long term will cause organ failure, and possibly development of ketones. Keoacidosis can get serious quickly and can definitely be fatal. I suggest getting that hazmat suit. The intensity of her hunger tells me that her numbers are in a dangerous range. If she starts to associate the shots (which some don't even feel!!!!) with food it will be easier to give. Some with difficult cats give the shot WHILE they are eating, and most don't even notice. I wouldn't give up on trying the shots without even trying or your cat will most likely be in a very bad situation in the not too distant future. I can really empathize with you. 5 of my 6 are former strays/ferals... Some are hard to medicate for sure. Luckily my one that was never a stray is my diabetic and actually pretty chill about the whole thing.

In my signature below is a food chart so you can check the carb counts of various foods and hopefully find a low carb one your cat likes that won't break the bank.

BTW a LOT of us on here just happen to be teachers as well... myself included. :) Welcome.
 
Why the heck did she prescribe it if it's too high in carbs? Sheesh. Going to Target today to get ze Fancy Feast, which I know she loves. I'll call the vet tomorrow and see if we can try the insulin. She is a docile cat at home (well, usually with us ... visitors are another matter), but a Saber-toothed tiger at the vet office. Really. They are terrified of her there.

Sure wish there were oral dosages of something available. Sigh. Back to the drawing board.

Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply.
 
palomita274 said:
Why the heck did she prescribe it if it's too high in carbs? Sheesh. Going to Target today to get ze Fancy Feast, which I know she loves. I'll call the vet tomorrow and see if we can try the insulin. She is a docile cat at home (well, usually with us ... visitors are another matter), but a Saber-toothed tiger at the vet office. Really. They are terrified of her there.

Sure wish there were oral dosages of something available. Sigh. Back to the drawing board.

Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply.
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My childhood cat was like that. I was 7 carrying him all over... Could do anything to him. At the vet he was banned from one place and gave another vet stitches. Definitely try the shots at home.
 
And to avoid having to go to the vet for tests, you can test at home. Once I started home testing my cat didnt go back to the vet for a year. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.
 
Wow. Great video. I am a little overwhelmed by all of this, and you certainly make it look easy!

I am combining the FF with the remainder of the RC that I bought ... 1/2 and 1/2, which should bring the carb count down to under 10, based on my perusal of Dr. Lisa's charts. Once the RC is gone, it will just be FF. Catso went for nearly 6 hours without complaints from the early a.m. until lunch, although just begged for a snack now while I was washing dishes. She is 13 and thinks our purpose in life is to serve her. She may be right! LOL

I'll call the vet and see where to go from here. Thank you so much for all your help!
 
palomita274 said:
Wow. Great video. I am a little overwhelmed by all of this, and you certainly make it look easy!

I am combining the FF with the remainder of the RC that I bought ... 1/2 and 1/2, which should bring the carb count down to under 10, based on my perusal of Dr. Lisa's charts. Once the RC is gone, it will just be FF. Catso went for nearly 6 hours without complaints from the early a.m. until lunch, although just begged for a snack now while I was washing dishes. She is 13 and thinks our purpose in life is to serve her. She may be right! LOL

I'll call the vet and see where to go from here. Thank you so much for all your help!
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That's what we are here for. The vet should take the rc back if you tell them your cat refuses to eat i.
 
My cat has been controlled with diet after three weeks on insulin in the beginning and a food change. I fed him grain free pates with limited ingredients. He also lost weight which was good for him and his glucose levels. His glucose does spike in vet visits sometimes when he's traumatized or upset but not enough for insulin. I suppose he could revert to needing insulin again but so far so good. He is still on the high end of normal levels but so far his specialist doesn't feel the need for insulin. There are many suggestions here for a good low carb wet food.
 
My kitty, Beta, was diagnosed with diabetes in Sept 2016 and went into remission with only diet change to Fancy Feast Classics (changed from dry prescription SO urinary food). She's on steroids long term so I kept checking her bg levels monthly, suspecting that eventually she'd need insulin. She stayed in remission for two years on diet alone. Since this August she's on Lantus and is responding well. I think that the adequan shots that she started about 8 weeks prior for her severe arthritis made her go out of remission. The adequan is the only thing that's helped her arthritis though so she's still getting it.
 
Beta kitty said:
My kitty, Beta, was diagnosed with diabetes in Sept 2016 and went into remission with only diet change to Fancy Feast Classics (changed from dry prescription SO urinary food). She's on steroids long term so I kept checking her bg levels monthly, suspecting that eventually she'd need insulin. She stayed in remission for two years on diet alone. Since this August she's on Lantus and is responding well. I think that the adequan shots that she started about 8 weeks prior for her severe arthritis made her go out of remission. The adequan is the only thing that's helped her arthritis though so she's still getting it.
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It's hard to know if it's the adequan shots or the pain from the arthritis. Same boat here.
 
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