Diabetes battle-Nothing works:(

[LenaW]

Hi everyone. My first time here. I really need advice. I have been reading all the threads and applying all advices previously mentioned. Nothing works.
My neutered male cat 14 yrs William was diagnosed with diabetes in Oct '19. It happened after he was given a steroid treatment for his skin issue.
He was on dry Royal canin urinary SO for 14 years. blood work was always great.
He is currently on ProZinc twice a day every 12 hrs. I know low carb and high protein is the goal but its tough.
I switched him from dry to wet urinary SO first. He also eats a bit of light chunk tuna in water and home baked chicken. All in small amounts. Wet SO he hates so he runs from it. I switched to Royal Canin Glycobalance and he hated that one too. I got Tiki Cat chicken with zero carbs and high protein which he ate for 2 days and then hates it now too. I got Purina DM and he almost puked from just the smell of it and ran from it. Tried Hills DM same thing. I have no idea what to feed him, now he only eats a bit of tuna and chicken not nearly enough of what he needs.
His weight was 13 lbs before diabetes, now it's 9.5 and dropping.
I check his BG at home. We tried 2 units 1.5 units we are now at 1 unit twice a day. Which works on some days and keeps him highest 300 and 100s in between insulin injections. However some days BG stays 400-500 no change. Very uncontrolled and unstable.
How do I put some weight back on him? I am now concerned it's cancer...we are going for an ultrasound soon. I beg for any advice and guidance, I am in tears and pain and I want to help my baby. We have been healthy and happy together for 14 years, the way he looks at me...I see that he is asking for help.
Thank you so much guys. ❤

 

[Ann & Scatcats]

Aye, these hard core dry food junkies are difficult to change.

Many here feeds from Vet Lisa Pierson's Wet Food Chart. Fancy Feast seems to be a favourite among many diabetic cats. Wet Food Chart link https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

 

[LenaW]

Yes. That Vet and the chart I analyzed top to bottom and back it's so rich in info. I picked best high protein low carb...he either doesn't eat it or the fat% and phosphorous % is high. One time he became extremely dehydrated and his poop came out dry. I quickly moved on to another brand. I syringe water him on top of what he drinks...‍

 

[katiesmom]

Have you tried a raw diet? My Katie was a dry food junkie when I got her. She absolutely refused canned food. I tried raw and she took to it and has been eating ever since.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

he either doesn't eat it or the fat% and phosphorous % is high

Cats are very good at processing fat...there's really no need to restrict it. The old school thinking was fat would trigger pancreatitis, but it's not something we worry about much anymore.

Does he also have CKD? If so, what stage?

It's great that you're home testing! We have a spreadsheet that really helps us to give you the best advice. Here are instructions on getting the FDMB spreadsheet. Your meter should have a memory that stored the numbers for the past several weeks. If you could add them, it'd be really helpful.

Here's Understanding the FDMB spreadsheet information too.

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

Here is a list of suggestions for making food more appealing.

• Transitioning your cat from dry to wet food

 

[lynn1]

Hi everyone. My first time here. I really need advice. I have been reading all the threads and applying all advices previously mentioned. Nothing works.
My neutered male cat 14 yrs William was diagnosed with diabetes in Oct '19. It happened after he was given a steroid treatment for his skin issue.
He was on dry Royal canin urinary SO for 14 years. blood work was always great.
He is currently on ProZinc twice a day every 12 hrs. I know low carb and high protein is the goal but its tough.
I switched him from dry to wet urinary SO first. He also eats a bit of light chunk tuna in water and home baked chicken. All in small amounts. Wet SO he hates so he runs from it. I switched to Royal Canin Glycobalance and he hated that one too. I got Tiki Cat chicken with zero carbs and high protein which he ate for 2 days and then hates it now too. I got Purina DM and he almost puked from just the smell of it and ran from it. Tried Hills DM same thing. I have no idea what to feed him, now he only eats a bit of tuna and chicken not nearly enough of what he needs.
His weight was 13 lbs before diabetes, now it's 9.5 and dropping.
I check his BG at home. We tried 2 units 1.5 units we are now at 1 unit twice a day. Which works on some days and keeps him highest 300 and 100s in between insulin injections. However some days BG stays 400-500 no change. Very uncontrolled and unstable.
How do I put some weight back on him? I am now concerned it's cancer...we are going for an ultrasound soon. I beg for any advice and guidance, I am in tears and pain and I want to help my baby. We have been healthy and happy together for 14 years, the way he looks at me...I see that he is asking for help.
Thank you so much guys. ❤

 

[lynn1]

First time here as well. My boy is newly diagnosed, somewhere around 11 years old. He's a steroid dependent asthmatic and also was on urinary SO for oxalate stones. The trauma of attempting shots is a physical struggle, puts him into an asthma attack, and terrifies him to the point he won't let me near him for days at a time, he runs when I put the food down and won't come out until I leave the room.

Sometimes I can inject him without him knowing it, and if I fail he goes into hiding again. We are averaging about one dose every 48-72 hours.

I used the little jars of chicken and turkey baby food. It isn't a long term solution only a fill in. Then I add shaved deli chicken and turkey broken into tiny pieces for a pure protein diet. When tolerating that, I am using (at advice of vet) fancy feast classic pate only, chicken, beef and beef and chicken. I add some additional water to it. The carb count is around 5 grams only, the remainder all protein. I have a list of foods with the carb and protein counts I found on this website somewhere, I saved it as a pdf, and will try to upload it here for you. Avoid an all dry food diet, the carb count of the DM is around 15-20grams and doesn't supply enough water intake. I do put it down 24/7 for him to nibble at because it is better than nothing at all.

As a side note, I switched to Tresiba from Lantus and am seeing an improvement in how he feels with a decrease in the polyuria and polydipsia, over the Lantus. I made this decision on my own in hopes that I would get longer coverage. Perhaps we are but
I have no way to know. I only found one study that said it wasn't any longer acting than Lantus or levimeir despite it being a 40 hour duration in humans.

The other thing to keep in mind is rebound hyperglycemia which I am sure is the same in cats as in humans.
There's a member on the site also using Tresiba and I read all her posts.

I've lost 8 rescue babies over the past 10 years, all but one had chronic illness or cancer, some as young as 5.
It never gets easier, seems the opposite is true. The best we can do is give them love and the best quality of life possible,
and in my case, accept my baby's choice to refuse.

My heart goes out to you.