Feline Diabetes Newbie! Please Help!

[alana_danielle94]

My 10 year old, 18 lb, Siamese cat was diagnosed with Diabetes yesterday and I was very shocked to learn the news. My family recently sold our 10 acre farm in July, the place he has lived and free-roamed his whole life. He is now living with me in my small two bedroom apartment. He went from being a completely outdoor free ranging cat to a completely indoors cat with little space to roam. Back on the farm, he would come inside every now and then to get milk and attention but loved being outside exploring. A month or two ago, I noticed he would sit in front of his water bowl and drink for an usually long time, sometimes up to 5 minutes. He did this several times a day. He was peeing constantly and would sleep most of the day. Because he was an outdoor cat till a few months ago, I did not know how much water he normally drank a day or how often he would pee. That's why I didn't think anything of it till last week when my parents came over and saw him drinking excessively and said "that's a sign of diabetes you know". I took him to the vet shortly after just to make sure it wasn't diabetes and then received the bad news. I was in denial up until then. It's still hard for me to believe. He has weighed around 18 lbs his whole life but is just now getting diabetes. His blood was checked back in January 2016 and his glucose level was 230. Last week it was around 530. I can't help but think the drastic change in environment he was put through could have caused the on-set of diabetes since I know stress can raise glucose levels. He is a very skittish cat and is afraid of everyone except my family. When I first brought him to my apartment he meowed constantly for almost a week and was very stressed. My vet said it could have raised it some but not to that degree. I also recently started feeding him Royal Canin Dental diet prescription food which after reading a few things on this website I have learned is pretty much useless. I also found out that it has a crazy high carb %. I'm also wondering it that could have contributed to the diabetes diagnoses. My vet wants me to come in and hospitalize him all day to calculate his insulin dosage for $240. She said if I don't, I risk him bottoming out at home or having a negative reaction. I've read that some people think it's a money trap and not necessary. She also said I wouldn't need to do in-home glucose testing. At first that was a sigh of relief but after reading up it sounds like it's more expensive and dangerous for the cat to not do in-home glucose testing. She wants to put him on Vetsulin. I don't know anything about the different types of insulin and which ones are best for the price. I would really appreciate some advice about all of this. Should I spend $240 to have her calculate his dosage? Should I do in-home glucose test or not? What's the best type of insulin for the price? Do you think environment change/food change could have caused diabetes? If I put him on a low carb diet do you think he could go back off insulin or is his pancreas really the problem? What % of cats can go back to non-diabetics if everything else is fixed? Sorry for rambling, just overwhelmed and don't know who to trust advice from.

 

[JanetNJ]

Ok.... Take a second and breath.

Perhaps the close quarters with your cat is a blessing in disguise our you wouldn't have noticed the signs before he was in much worse shape. Over time uncontrolled diabetes can cause a host of other symptoms like weight lose, dental problems, and neuropathy.

The diet will definitely have to change. An all wet, low carb diet is what he needs such as fancy feast classic or Friskies pate. No gravy foods. If your cat is a kibble addict the only dry kibble that a diabetic cat can eat is one that can be purchased online called Young Again Zero carb food made by Youngagainpetfood.com. (They will send a free sample if you ask.


Some people on this board will say Vetsulin is not the ideal insulin because for SOME cats it is not long lasting. However for my cat it worked great when coupled with a diet of fancy feast classic and Young Again Zero carb Kibble. The advantage of vetsulin is that with it being an issue and out insulin there is more flexibility with dosing times. If shot time needs to be adjusted an hour here or there is no big deal. Sounds like this was caught early, and that increases the likelihood of remission. (My cat went into remission after 4 months on insulin and after two months of art home testing). A popular insulin on this board is lantus. It's expensive to buy in the US but there are pharmacies you can order from in Canada that make it quite affordable.

It is doubtful that diet alone would put your cat into remission. It will be the combination of diet and insulin. Insulin is not a medication but a hormone which your cat is not producing enough of.


I 100% disagree with the vet that home testing isn't necessary. I didn't home test the first two months and I feel now that not only was I putting her life at risk, but she could have been feeling better faster. While there is a cost associated with home testing, it's kind of a wash when you consider it eliminates the need (and stress) of the cat going to the vet for all day glucose curves and fructosamine tests... Plus it's more accurate at home without increased levels from vet stress. Once I was home testing I would just email my vet my cats latest spreadsheet numbers so she was in the loop and could offer her opinion.

I hope you will consider testing at home. I use an Alphatrak meter which is the same as My vets meter, but the strips are expensive. If cost is a concern then most folks on this board use a human one found at Walmart called a Relion which is inexpensive to use (although it will read the bg lower than they actually are as it's calibrated for human blood).

Home testing is really the only way to know in a daily basis of your cat is safe and if the current dose needs to be adjusted. If it was a person diagnosed a dr wouldn't dream of telling that person to shoot insulin without testing first.

Bg testing is not painful for the cat at all. I tested my cat 4-8 times a day every day and she never flinched. When you are ready for that step we can walk you through it and offer suggestions.

 

[Barbara & Uncle (GA)]

Hi There! I'm pretty new to all this and I wanted to say how much I agree with JanetNJ.
Thankfully, my vet was not only supportive, but insistent that I home test. She wanted me to start testing 2 weeks after his initial diagnosis so that we could see if the starting was dosage was really appropriate. I had a lot going on at home and didn't get to it until 4 weeks after Uncle's initial diagnosis and found that the starting dose was too much. I'm using the AlphaTrak 2 and with the support, advice, tips and tricks everyone on this message board has shared with me, testing has become easy for the both of us.
I'm really wishing you and your beautiful kitty the best! DO ASK for help here. The people have been my lifeline!!!!!!

 

[alana_danielle94]

Thanks for all the helpful advice! I've decided to home test him. I got the Relion Confirm from Wal-Mart. When we tested it at the vet to compare the difference between theirs and mine it read 40 point lower. My vet wants me to feed him the Purina Pro Plan Diabetes Management food but I want to give him something that has less carbs. The Tiki canned food is supposedly very low carb and less processed. How should I switch him over if he is already on insulin? Also where is the cheapest place to buy Vetsulin insulin from and 0.3mL, 29G, 1/2" syringes?

 

[BJM]

Change about 20-25% new food each day or two and monitor the glucose around the nadir.
Changing from high carb food to low carb canned food may reduce glucose 100-200 mg/dL and drop the insulin dose by 1-2 units according to anecdotal reports on FDMB.
Come over to the Feline Health section to ask more questions.