First day knowing I have a sugarcat

[Liz4Paws]

Hi everyone!

I'm brand new to posting but have been lurking a bit this entire week as we waited for confirmation that I too, am a sugarcat mama. We confirmed today that our 10 year old calico girl, Nadia, is for certain sugar cat. We took her to the vet Saturday due to her sudden weight loss, and were shocked to learn she had gone from 15 pounds to 10 pounds in just a few months! The vet originally thought hyperthyroid, but ran some blood work, and it turns out her blood glucose was 441 that day and her fructosamine came back as 656 today.

Here I've been all week long trying to educate myself like crazy and when I got confirmation, I still only felt a fraction of a percentage prepared to hear it. We do have our formal vet consultation appointment on Tuesday to shots, at home blood glucose monitoring training, etc but in the meantime the vet has told us we can switch her food to fancy feast. That's it. I might note that as of Tuesday, the vet wants us to put her on Purina DM (which is sold at the vet only) but I've been reading mixed reviews on it. If anyone has any recommendations on whether or not I should go with the Purina DM or push back and pick another wet food, I'm all ears. I am willing to pay more for better quality, but if Purina DM isn't it, I will push back.

I also have a giant concern that I'm hoping will be addressed at Tuesdays consultation, but if anyone can help put my mind at ease in the meantime, that would be great.

How do you start a kitty on an insulin regimen yet not be home all day to monitor? My husband and I both work all day long and there's no way I'll be able to take many days off of work to monitor her, even in the beginning. Are kitties okay being home left alone? What is the advice here? I'm sure I'm not the first person to worry about this.

So other than introducing myself, I wanted to see if anyone had any quick thoughts around these questions or wanted to share any other information for us as we patiently wait for our vet consult on Tuesday. We love our Nadia so much and we are so glad to know there is treatment for her frail body, I just am terrified of screwing something up and her paying the ultimate price for it. Thanks for reading!

 

[Deb & Wink]

Hi Liz and her calico cat Nadia! Welcome to the best place you'll ever be to help your newly diagnosed sugarbabe, Nadia.

I'm just going to talk about the food for now, as that was one of your main questions.

We do have our formal vet consultation appointment on Tuesday to shots, at home blood glucose monitoring training, etc but in the meantime the vet has told us we can switch her food to fancy feast. That's it. I might note that as of Tuesday, the vet wants us to put her on Purina DM (which is sold at the vet only) but I've been reading mixed reviews on it. If anyone has any recommendations on whether or not I should go with the Purina DM or push back and pick another wet food, I'm all ears. I am willing to pay more for better quality, but if Purina DM isn't it, I will push back.

1. Well, the DM has pork liver as the first ingredient. Not a good long term high quality ingredient.
2. It's also higher in carbs then we like to see, around 13-14% for the canned I believe.
3. It only comes in one flavor. Some cats get sick of eating it very quickly, especially once the novelty wears off.
4. It's expensive $2+ per can, at 2 cans a day, that's a lot to spend on so-so quality.

1. Varied ingredients. No grains. Yes, byproducts but that is better than meals which cook out most of the nutrients.
2. Fancy Feast classic pates <10% carbs.
3. Lots of flavors to choose from for our discerning felines with gourmet appetites.
4. Less expensive. About $0.54 a can at Walmart. $1.08 for 6 ounces.

You choice. You might want to read some articles by vet Dr. Lisa Pierson at her catinfo.org website. Like this one on cat nutrition. http://www.catinfo.org/

My vet calls Fancy Feast 'kitty crack'. Well, it's what got Wink OTJ (off the juice, no insulin, diet controlled, in remission) instead of that Hill's M/d or Hill's w/d or the other high carb foods she advised the shelter to give him. First cat she ever so go into remission. I'm sticking with the Fancy Feast.

We look for <10%. Be sure to look for the Fancy Feast Classic pates. Find a couple of flavors she likes and then try others. Other lower cost alternatives are the Friskies pate style and the Wellness grain-free and Wellness Core. This food chart gives a list of most of the canned foods available in the US. food chart Look for <10% in the 3rd column of numbers.

 

[KPassa]

Hi Liz and Nadia (and Liz's DH)! Deb has already given you some great advice!

How do you start a kitty on an insulin regimen yet not be home all day to monitor? My husband and I both work all day long and there's no way I'll be able to take many days off of work to monitor her, even in the beginning. Are kitties okay being home left alone? What is the advice here? I'm sure I'm not the first person to worry about this.

Most of us work full time and travel and take vacations. You're life doesn't have to stop so you can sit at home all day watching your cat. One of the major reasons we're such advocates for home testing is because it lets us know how they're doing on the current dose and let's us track how they react throughout their cycle. This gives me the peace of mind to be able to leave Mikey at home and know he's not going to drop too low. There has been a time or two when I've had to call in sick or work from home because he's giving me lower numbers than I've expected, but I compare that to what you would do if you had a sick child and had to stay home with them.

But, the easiest thing to do all around is to try to get your kitty into remission by switching to low carb, wet food, getting a good insulin, and home testing to make sure you're giving the right dose and decreasing/increasing doses as need be. We can help you with all of that, so just let us know how.

1. Well, the DM has pork liver as the first ingredient. Not a good long term high quality ingredient.

Pork! No wonder why Mikey threw up the first and only can he ever ate of that stuff! I had just thought it was because he wasn't used to wet food yet or the Clavamox he was on at the time for his UTI. (This is before I had learned of his red meat allergy.)

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

Hello and welcome to the board!

Nadia is such a pretty girl and so are you are doing all the right things. As Deb and Kay said, a change of food and home testing are key - as are a good insulin- with those three in place you have a good chance of remission - as much as 40% in the first six months.

The best insulins for cats are lantus, levemir and prozinc. Other insulins are too harsh and fast acting on cats bodies. So ask your vet for one of those three.

Your vet may want to keep her a few days to do a "curve" and charge you $$. They base the insulin dose on this curve which isnt good because the cat tends to be so stressed the blood glucose is high. The dose of insulin prescribed is then too high and the cat comes home, stress drops and so does his blood sugar. And then you shoot the too high dose of insulin and the cat has a hypo. Its much better cheaper and more accurate to home test and do the curve at home.

The vet may want to sell you an alphatrak meter especially for pets. Great if you can afford it but the strips are costly. We can recommend human ones that are much cheaper and just as reliable ( let us know what country you are in)

As for monitoring - we recommend four tests a day and maybe a few more at weekends but say you work 9-5pm. In that case I would
- get a test at 7am and give her the insulin.
- get a test at 7pm when you give her nightime dose (12 hours from previous shot).
- another test before bed (2-3 hours or more after nighttime dose).
- A few more at weekends to see how low she is dropping.

If she is unusually low at preshot in the morning then skip, give a reduced dose and/or leave high carb food out or call in a sickie like Kay said We have all been through pretty much every scenario you can imagine so just ask and we can advise!!

Wendy


Wendy

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

In addition to what you have been told, you also want to start at a low insulin dose if your vet determines insulin is needed. Lantus, Levemir, Prozinc & PZI are good long lasting insulins that work well with cats. If your vet tries prescribing Humulin, Vetsulin or Caninsulin, ask your vet to prescribe one of the insulins above. You also want to start at a low dose, such as 1 unit twice a day. In cats, insulin dose should not be prescribed by weight. Even though it looks like such a small amount, it is amazing how much improvement just 1 unit can do to a blood glucose (BG) level. Most cats only need doses between 1/2 to 2 units unless there are other health issues that are occurring.

Hometesting is important. Not only for knowing if it safe to give insulin but also to determine if a dose change is needed. You do not want to change doses too quickly or you will miss your optimal dose. You will need to wait at least one week before dose changes before you can determine if you need to increase it. If an increase is needed, you will only want to increase by 1/4 to 1/2 unit, no more than that. With insulin, you want to go "low & slow".

I know this is a lot of information, but we are here to help you with this journey. There is almost always someone on this board at all times, so whenever you have any questions, please ask them. We have all been where you are now and will help you.

 

[Liz4Paws]

Thank you, all! I appreciate the quick and through responses. I definitely don't feel as alone on this journey with her, and that's a huge relief. I'm so glad I've found you all and hope to be as well versed as all of you myself.