Foster Kitty Cookie

Status
Not open for further replies.
Laure

Laure

Member Since 2019
I do fostering for the shelter I volunteer with and just recently took in Cookie, who was newly diagnosed in June as diabetic. Her bs are all over the place. We have not in the short time we have had her, been able to get her bs down below 200. As I am a diabetic as well, this freaks me out because I feel like I am failing somehow. I do note that she has a kitty cold, so that will make her bs higher.

She loves her food. So she's fed twice a day before insulin with 1/4 cup DM and some chicken. I really do hate the DM, reading the contents of it makes me want to scream as I know corn is a high carb for any person let alone a cat. Anyway, I am looking to find a way to get some good information to the vet so we can get her off the "junk" food and more healthy.
 
You're in the right place! Are you going to keep her - or is this a temporary home until a furever home can be found? Just curious - however if you can, please get her some Fancy Feast pate's. The first step toward getting those BG's down is to remove all the dry food.

Sounds like you're already testing so that's great - let's see if the food swap will help her get some better numbers?

Here's a link to the cat food chart - to help you find low carb foods :)
http://catinfo.org/chart/index.php
 
 
Laure said:
Right now she is a foster, however I think the husband is smitten with her. :D I do have Purely Fancy Feast that we do feed her which seemed like a better food after reading a post here on it - Purely Fancy Feast Carbs?

The issue is, the shelter is a stickler on sticking to what the vet wants to feed kitty so I have to find solid proof to submit to them the goodness of something other than dry. Tonight though, I think we will not do dry and give her the FF and check her bs every few hours to see how it goes.
Click to expand...

Laure, I don't know how much of this your vet would want to read - but this is an excellent article: https://catinfo.org/

It's quite long - so perhaps you could pass the entire thing along and highlight some of the high points about feeding cats the junk that's in dry food...

You may not notice that her BG will come down after only one meal of FF pate - It may take several meals with no dry food to notice the difference - but for many cats that's all it took - owners got them off the dry food and their numbers plummeted. Unfortunately, it's also the cause of many hypo events - the vet has prescribed insulin and the owner gives insulin and removes the dry food - a double whammy - kitty ends up in the ER with low low BG - and sometimes unfortunately they die from too low blood sugars...the vets are stubborn and do not have the knowledge that this collective group has - many owners have found that out the hard way - or the expensive way - after a near miss and spending $$$ at the ER saving their cats - due to what their vet told them.

I hope this helps Cookie - or at the very best case - your DH says, oh let's keep her - then you can feed her whatever you want :joyful::joyful:
 
I’m not sure how often you’re home testing, but perhaps you could set up a spreadsheet that most use here to keep track of her readings, and if switching to wet food helps bring her BG down you would have something to show for it to the shelter. They still might not listen, but could be worth a try!
 
Is the DM canned or dry? If dry, that would help bolster the argument for canned (even if DM canned) based on this article:

https://www.aaha.org/aaha-guidelines/diabetes-management/dietary-management/

But even if you are using DM canned, some of the FF classic pate has comparable protein&fat with lower carbs. Cookie shouldn't be old enough to have issues with phosphorus, which is good because FF tends to have higher Phosphorus then DM and many others.

Check out that link and others under:
https://www.aaha.org/aaha-guidelines/diabetes-management/diabetes-management-home/

...and maybe you will find something else "official" to send to the vet there.

Welcome to the group!
 
Laure, just for your info and hopefully to help us help you better, we ask that you create a signature so kitty's info is available whenever you post, and here is the spreadsheet info also:

Setting up your signature (light grey text under a post). Here's how:
click on your name in the upper right corner of this page
click on "signature" in the menu that drops down
type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using and dosage amount /glucose meter you're using/what (s)he eats/any other meds or health issues (s)he has. You can add your name, and a geographic location (sometimes the country/time zone matters) Be sure to SAVE when you are finished.

2. Another thing that will help us help you is to set up a spreadsheet like the one we use here. You will see how the trends and patterns emerge, and members can review progress before offering suggestions or advice:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/

Another good low carb wet diet is Friskies pates, a bit less expensive than Fancy Feast, and readily available at grocery stores. Just no varieties with gravies or sauces.
 
Cookie has a cold we think so today I shuffle her off to the vet. I'm sure it is what is making her blood sugars crazy. I think getting that in control first, then I can battle her blood sugars. I will have to find the Lantus information. Going by a human that insulin never lasts 12 hours sadly. I've taken her diet to DM dry to a total of 1/4 cup a day - and the Purely FF wet. In between all that I have chopped up some plain boiled chicken for her.

When she got to the shelter she was in bad shape. Too skinny, matted and had ear mites. She's a little fighter and so mellow. She is the best cat to have to do shots and blood testing for, unbelievable how she just sits there. I guess my other cats are just hyper. :D
 
cookie.jpg
 
What a little cutie, but you can see she doesn't feel good poor little thing. Good luck at the vets, hope they can help to make her feel a little better.
 
I feel like I failed somehow. She has an corneal ulcer and a virus. She came to me like that and I was doing what the shelter said but they were wrong on the meds. The score on it is the vet said dump the dry and just give her wet food. So that was a win. Now I was also told to find a meter thats only for animal blood because a human meter is not calibrated for pets. But I've seen others use them - so Im of to go find more info. The virus they are trying to figure if it is herpes, felv or fiv. She was negetive for felv before so I am hoping that perhaps it is just herpes which is the lesser of the three evils. i
 
Poor Cookie! It sounds like you’re doing everything you can to help her and I don’t doubt she is in excellent hands.

As for the meter, most vets (if they even mention home testing at all) will insist you have to use a pet meter but it is not necessary. The only difference between the two is knowing what range the blood glucose should be in and at what number you need to take action. You certainly can use a pet meter, but they are much more expensive. A lot of people here use human meters because of the cost and I believe most of the protocols are written using human meters
 
Poor little darling Cookie! Laure, please continue to post, but in the Main Health forum so that more members can read about Cookie and offer additional support. This Intro forum is more of a welcome mat, and since this little darling is facing some additional challenges it might be helpful to get more eyes on the issues and get some input on whatever the tests reveal. I do know that there have been a couple of members who have/had kitties with FIV.

When you start a new post there, you can copy the link to this thread
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/foster-kitty-cookie.217277/#post-2416295
and paste it in your message. Then members who don't know Cookie's story can read and get caught up.

Wishing Cookie the very best, and that continued treatment with the excellent care you are providing her, she can regain health and vitality.

Lantus information on the board HERE
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top