Vtambo & Rex
Member Since 2017
Does anyone know anything about Nutro canned food? it never seems to make it to the lists. I have bought some a few times at Petco and Rex seems to really like it. after just reading the ingredients on the label it seems like it would be very low carb, but just concerned because it is never on the lists and so far after several weeks Rex does not seem to be improving as far as his water consumption and urinating.
let me backtrack a bit - Rex is a 14 year old neutered male medium hair orange tabby. he weighs in at about 12.5 pounds (after a 1 pound weight loss) Rex was diagnosed in mid January with diabetes. at the time of office visit his blood sugar was 370 and he had glucose in urine, but no ketones. his bloodwork also revealed that his pancreas was a bit inflamed. could that be from the diabetes or is that the CAUSE of the diabetes? at that visit we saw a vet that is not normally our vet (just found out my "normal" vet only works part time now). so the "substitute" vet prescribed lantus solostar pen (2 units 1x per day) and I think it was DM canned food. she completely advised against at home testing and suggested a fructosamine test in three weeks. at this time everything was kind of a blur so I just pretty much took whatever she gave me.
upon doing some research I realized that the prescription food was not the best and he didn't like it anyway. My regular vet also called when she found out about the diagnosis. this is a long and confusing story, but my regular vet encouraged at home testing, encouraged non-prescription low carb foods and talked to me about supplements from Standard Process (Diaplex, Pancreatrophin, Feline Hepatic Support and Feline Whole Body Support). she also took him from 2 units of Lantus once a day to 1 unit twice a day.
I did end up buying an Alpha Trak 2 meter from the vet. I tried it 3 times and it was extremely stressful for both of us. every time i tested the numbers were over 300, the last time being 385. i panicked and called the vet. of course my normal vet was not there, so i got to talk to the "substitute" vet again. she said stop testing at home and do a fructosamine test. i took Rex in and the result of the fructosamine test was 490 - which the substitute vet said was "excellent". from what i have read online that number is far from "excellent", and in fact is in the "acceptable" range, but close to the not acceptable range. in comparing the two vets, i am getting the feeling that the "substitute" vet's goal is more of a palliative nature, rather than a goal of remission. my normal vet is very wholistic - which is WHY i chose her to begin with and seems to really strive to want Rex to go into remission.
this has been so extremely frustrating because it really does not seem that he is any different now than he was when he was diagnosed as far as the amount of peeing and drinking that he is doing. i have tried to be so careful about the food and the treats and have not missed any shots. i did discover however that the "substitute" vet didn't really even tell me how to give the shots appropriately. she said to give in the scruff and didn't say anything about holding the needle in for at least 10 seconds. i have learned from the internet since then that the flank area is a better choice, that you should "tent" the skin and hold it in for at least 10 seconds. i did a test with the lantus pen to see how much comes out - because i kind of actually doubted he was getting anything judging by the symptoms he is still having - i found out that indeed you have to hold the pen in for a bit because it comes out in very tiny slow drips. so i have been doing that now for about a week and a half to two weeks.
any suggestions/help??
let me backtrack a bit - Rex is a 14 year old neutered male medium hair orange tabby. he weighs in at about 12.5 pounds (after a 1 pound weight loss) Rex was diagnosed in mid January with diabetes. at the time of office visit his blood sugar was 370 and he had glucose in urine, but no ketones. his bloodwork also revealed that his pancreas was a bit inflamed. could that be from the diabetes or is that the CAUSE of the diabetes? at that visit we saw a vet that is not normally our vet (just found out my "normal" vet only works part time now). so the "substitute" vet prescribed lantus solostar pen (2 units 1x per day) and I think it was DM canned food. she completely advised against at home testing and suggested a fructosamine test in three weeks. at this time everything was kind of a blur so I just pretty much took whatever she gave me.
upon doing some research I realized that the prescription food was not the best and he didn't like it anyway. My regular vet also called when she found out about the diagnosis. this is a long and confusing story, but my regular vet encouraged at home testing, encouraged non-prescription low carb foods and talked to me about supplements from Standard Process (Diaplex, Pancreatrophin, Feline Hepatic Support and Feline Whole Body Support). she also took him from 2 units of Lantus once a day to 1 unit twice a day.
I did end up buying an Alpha Trak 2 meter from the vet. I tried it 3 times and it was extremely stressful for both of us. every time i tested the numbers were over 300, the last time being 385. i panicked and called the vet. of course my normal vet was not there, so i got to talk to the "substitute" vet again. she said stop testing at home and do a fructosamine test. i took Rex in and the result of the fructosamine test was 490 - which the substitute vet said was "excellent". from what i have read online that number is far from "excellent", and in fact is in the "acceptable" range, but close to the not acceptable range. in comparing the two vets, i am getting the feeling that the "substitute" vet's goal is more of a palliative nature, rather than a goal of remission. my normal vet is very wholistic - which is WHY i chose her to begin with and seems to really strive to want Rex to go into remission.
this has been so extremely frustrating because it really does not seem that he is any different now than he was when he was diagnosed as far as the amount of peeing and drinking that he is doing. i have tried to be so careful about the food and the treats and have not missed any shots. i did discover however that the "substitute" vet didn't really even tell me how to give the shots appropriately. she said to give in the scruff and didn't say anything about holding the needle in for at least 10 seconds. i have learned from the internet since then that the flank area is a better choice, that you should "tent" the skin and hold it in for at least 10 seconds. i did a test with the lantus pen to see how much comes out - because i kind of actually doubted he was getting anything judging by the symptoms he is still having - i found out that indeed you have to hold the pen in for a bit because it comes out in very tiny slow drips. so i have been doing that now for about a week and a half to two weeks.
any suggestions/help??
. Try to stay calm because Rex can sense if you are upset / stressed 
. Seems you have done some reading on feline nutrition as your >50% Protein and <5% carbs is comparative to a juvenile mouse that a feral cat would have in their diet (More regular than most indoor cats). Ideally, wet food diets work best for diabetic cats but some (including myself) still give some dry. Here is a 
