Diet change before insulin?

[Lisa & Nacho]

Hello -

I just did a welcome post, but I also wanted to post here. My cat Nacho is a 5 1/2 year old orange tabby cat.

He recently went to the vet to get blood work because he lost some weight from 16/17 lbs to 13.3 lbs and his fur had a lot of dandruff in it.

They did blood work and gave him fluids. Sugar came back high at a level of about 500. My vet is going to call me back on Monday to discuss more options.

Has anyone had success with a diet change for a possible diabetic cat BEFORE jumping right into insulin? Should I try that first?

The vet mentioned one next step may be to board him for a few days to monitor him

Any advice is helpful I am nervous

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Nacho a sweetheart! We all understand your nerves. Some people have had success in getting blood glucose down on diet alone but it has to be the right diet: absolutely no kibble, only canned low carb high protein food. There are grocery store brands that fit the bill like Friskies and Fancy Feast pates (no gravy or sauce types).

Another essential is that you learn to test blood glucose at home so you can see the results of the diet change. There's no need to have this checked by the vet because the numbers are often higher than at home because kitty is stressed there. Testing BG is a lot easier than you think. Many people buy human type meters from Walmart, their ReliOn brand. The cost of testing is in the test strips and these are economical.

Ask any questions you want here on this forum. It gets a lot of views. Once you have an idea of the insulin your vet would want to use, post that info here so we can give you advice.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Welcome Liza and Nacho
With a blood sugar of 500 it certainly looks like Nacho has diabetes.
It is scary at first to be told your cat has diabetes but it is a very manageable disease. The first couple of weeks are the hardest as you learn how to feed, give injections and test the blood sugar but it will soon become much easier!
I think it would be a good idea to swap him over to a low carb wet food this weekend BEFORE you start the insulin, because if you do it after starting the insulin, you could drop the blood sugars significantly and if you are not testing it could be dangerous. I would not leave it longer than a few days to start the insulin though.
Kris has suggested some low carbs foods. Here is a link to food information
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/links-to-various-food-charts.169055/

I agree with Kris that testing at home is essential and that it is not necessary to leave Nacho at the vet to be regulated. It will probably take a lot longer than a couple of days to regulate him so he is far better off at home with you....and a lot less expensive. Here is a link to learning how to test the blood sugar. It will take a week or two for the ears to learn to bleed but it becomes a lot easier with time.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Also another essential is having a hypo kit set up in case Nacho drops too low. If this happens you need it all ready to use, not go looking for it
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/jojo-and-bunnys-hypo-tool-box.2354/

Another link to hypos and how to recognise one
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

It probably all sounds overwhelming at the moment....we all felt like that at first.... but hang in there....it will all soon be a lot easier. We are here to help you. Ask lots of questions.