First post-new to feline diabetes

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Jen and Putty

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Putty is a 10 year-old neutered male indoor domestic shorthair tabby(no, he's not just a cat :lol: ). For the last 5 years he has been pretty heavy (18-20lb on a frame that should be around 14). A few weeks ago I noticed a drastic increase in his water intake and urine output. He was also choosing to lay down next to his litterbox instead of following me around like normal. He also quit getting on our bed (pretty high) where he has slept almost every night. After about 3 days of this I took him to the vet, KNOWING it was diabetes. His bg was 482. He was down to 14lb. Thankfully we got him diagnosed and on insulin quickly. The game plan was lantus 1 unit bid for a week, then increase by 0.5 units per day if glucose readings indicate it was necessary. They wanted him on hills prescription diet W/D and when I was hesitant, telling them I really wanted to try low carb, they talked me into trying the hills prescription diet M/D. I bought one bag, did some more research and switched him to blue buffalo wilderness (grain-free dry food) and wet food. He was on lantus for about 10 days and his bg came down. Once it was staying below 150 we skipped a shot and kept testing. That was 8 days ago and he hasn't had any insulin since. Now my concern is that his bg is too low. He's running around 53-73 but not acting like anything is wrong. The vet wants me to add carbs back into his diet but I don't want to yo-yo him back into diabetes. They want his bg closer to 80-100. Any advice is appreciated!
 
Jen,

If Putty isn't on insulin right now then he can't hypo. My own guy Maxwell is diet controlled and you are welcome to look at his spread sheet in my signature at the bottom, he normally runs anywhere between 50-70 when tested at home, using a human meter. If Putty is staying in anywhere between 40-120 without insulin and is acting like his normal self he is fine, and we would consider him a diet controlled diabetic. But once a diabetic always a diabetic, adding carbs back into his diet will only send him back to being a diabetic again with diabetic numbers and thus back on insulin.

I have 11 cats only one is diabetic and I test all of them on a regular basis, all my non-diabetics are in the same range as my diabetic Maxwell between 50-70

Hope that helps,

Mel, Maxwell and The Fur Gang
 
no no no no, don't add carbs :-)

without exogenous insulin being given, he won't hypo, unless he has some very very rare condition that can cause hypo without insulin but i've yet to see one of those cases in my years here.

textbooks, literature, etc.....all reference normal bg (blood glucose) ranges anywhere from i'd say 70-150 depending on which one you read but what most of us have come to discover when living with this disease day in and day out is that normal is actually lower than that and in some cases much lower.

do you have any other cats? the best way to see what's "normal" is to test those other cats. i recently tested in one day about half dozen of my non-diabetic cats and every single one of them registered between 61 and 64. and for that matter, one of my cats just tested 47 at the vet's office a few weeks ago. my vet didn't blink twice. i got lucky though and found a vet that is very well versed in feline diabetes which in all honesty, not all vets are soooooooooo, what i will leave you with for now is this:

CONGRATULATIONS! it sounds like you've done all the right things and your cat is most likely now a diabetic cat in remission! :-)

but remember, once a diabetic, always a diabetic so yes, give kitty junkfood and they can very easily go back into needing insulin.
 
thanks guys!! I just read a post about meters testing differently so I tested myself with my 2 meters and guess what? the meter I use on Putty (smaller sample) was 15 points lower than the other. Combined with what you told me about him not likely being in danger of hypo while off insulin makes me trust my gut even more! I will do a curve on him tomorrow with the "big vampire" (meter that needs a bigger sample!) How often should I test him if he is in remission? 2-3 times a week and watching his pee output sounds reasonable but please feel free to point out anything I'm missing!

*phew!* otj_icon for now
 
I test Maxwell about every two week unles he is just acting a little off, and watch his peeing and activity level as well as appetite. I adopted Maxwell as a diabetic, just this last october so I tend to be a little bit overly cautious with him, since we are just now really getting to know what is truly normal behavior for him. You and Putty have a long history together so you will know when things aren't right, quicker than I would with Maxwell.

Mel,Maxwell and The Fur Gang.
 
I tested all of my kitty's when Maisey was diagnosed. Her litter mate Vinney had a BG of 40 and Pumpkin (who tries really hard to live up to her name) was 86.
Since Maisey has gone into remission I test once every week or two now, initially did more frequently, just because I couldn't believe it.
 
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