Hello! Kitty just dx yesterday. Needing advice.

[3Potatoes]

Hi everyone! I'm C and I was directed here by a friend. Our 9 year old kitty Hunter was just diagnosed with diabetes yesterday. We never noticed any symptoms aside from dry coat and bad breath. I'm somewhat familiar with diabetes as I had a diabetic dog growing up, but I could really use some thoughts here, mainly on feeding with 3 cats in different stages of life and different needs.

• We have Georgia (4), who has HCM (hypertropic cardiomyopathy) and had a cystectomy about 6mo ago due to a nondissolving bladder stone. She takes atenalol twice a day.
• Murphy (?kitten), no known health issues, just a kitten who likes/needs to eat a little more.
• Hunter (9), 21lb, diabetic. Not really a big eater. Likes to graze. Kibble-by-kibble type of cat.

We've been feeding "I&love&you" dry food for several months now but switched to wet TIKI CAT as per recommended by the vet. My husband grabbed a case of the sea food variety and so far Hunter doesn't seem interested but I'm hoping to find one he likes. He mostly just licked the gravy and gelatinous bits up. Also, the case my husband picked up, I can't seem to find the carb count on it. So I'll be calling TIKI CAT on Monday to ask.

Right now we feed at 8AM and 8PM, just a handful in each bowl, never really measured, and leave it out all day. We obviously can't do that anymore. So now we have to separate the cats who will ALL be getting TIKI CAT or another lower carb wet food at 8 & 8, but the vet also recommended due to Hunter's size, we add in a third feeding time specifically for him because she doesn't want him to develop fatty liver from decreasing food so quickly. Was also thinking Murphy, the kitten, might benefit from the 2PM feeding as well since he's a kitten?

My other concern is Hunter isn't a big eater. He likes to graze, like I stated earlier. So I fed him at 8am, he ate a little bit, but then was disinterested. Can I bring that food out an hour later and see if he'll eat anymore? It's not like he's eating MORE, it's the same food he should have eaten for breakfast. I think he just needs more time to eat. Always has.

What do you guys think?

Also, the vet did ask us to check his sugar today for a baseline. When I checked at 740, before breakfast, he read at 51. He had no hypo symptoms and was and is still acting fine. I fed him immediately and called the vet when they opened. She said it was likely a false reading, to continue to feed him at 2PM and 8PM and try to get a reading tomorrow morning. His ear doesn't bleed very well and he was getting frustrated with me, so I tried his paw pad which even took a few tries. He wasn't thrilled, so I'll try to avoid that in the future.

TIA

ETA: he didn't like the sardine cutlet one very much at all. liked the tuna and crab surimi a little more but still only ate half of it. I'm looking on the tiki website and I see lots of different types of food. I wonder if he would like the velvet mousse? No chewing, just licking.

 

[Chris and Checkers]

Hi and welcome to the board.

If you are looking for more food options check out this link, for a diabetic cat we want less than 10% carbs and ideally less than 5%.

http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

It is also better to feed a diabetic cat more often, so small snacks throughout the day. I multicat household getting a microchipped feeder helps to keep,them out of each other's foods.

It is really important to test their blood glucose, especially before you give insulin and other points during the day. It can be challenging starting out but it does get easier. There is some great advice in this link.

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

How much insulin are you giving Hunter and which type. Did you reduce the dose once you switch to a low carb diet, because that can really effect his BG levels. Here is a very important link about hypoglycemia. Not all cats show symptoms at 51, but it is a concern an an adjustment of insulin dose may be necessary.

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

 

[3Potatoes]

Hi thank you for the information, I'm off work tonight so I'll check it out and look around the board more as well.

As for insulin, he isn't on any right now. The vet said he had glucose in his urine but no ketones. She said to switch him to a low carb wet food immediately and check his sugar to get a baseline. Then we'll discuss insulin. She said since the 51 this morning was likely a false reading, to try to get a reading tomorrow morning and let them know Monday. She doesn't seem too concerned. She said unless it's like in the 300s or higher she isn't concerned right now.

I just saw tiki cat makes velvet mousse packets for senior cats and I'm sending my husband out to the store to pick up a few. Now that I think about it, Hunter never really liked chunky wet food. He would always lap up the liquid and that was it. So I think the mousse packets might be a win for him. Tiki says the packets can be a whole meal, a treat, or a food topper, and have 3% carbs. Vet says she wants him under 5%.

 

[3Potatoes]

Hi and welcome to the board.


It is also better to feed a diabetic cat more often, so small snacks throughout the day. I multicat household getting a microchipped feeder helps to keep,them out of each other's foods.

Sorry to make two posts, I just figured out the quote reply function. Do feeders work with wet food? Because we had Hunter chipped yesterday and plan to have the others chipped as well- chip feeders was the original plan, but I didn't know if it was an option with wet food?

Especially because George is food obsessed and Murphy is too. They push Hunter out of the way and since he's so passive he just takes it lol. But I want to make sure he's getting enough to eat.

 

[Chris and Checkers]

This feeder appears to work with wet.

https://www.surepetcare.com/en-ca/pet-feeder/microchip-pet-feeder

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Do feeders work with wet food? Because we had Hunter chipped yesterday and plan to have the others chipped as well- chip feeders was the original plan, but I didn't know if it was an option with wet food?

Yes they work fine with wet. You just need to wash the dishes out each time. I used a feeder for wet food for years.

My other concern is Hunter isn't a big eater. He likes to graze, like I stated earlier. So I fed him at 8am, he ate a little bit, but then was disinterested. Can I bring that food out an hour later and see if he'll eat anymore? It's not like he's eating MORE, it's the same food he should have eaten for breakfast. I think he just needs more time to eat. Always has.
What do you guys think?

Yes, you can feed him more often. We recommend feeding before the insulin shots and then again two or three times during each cycle (12 hours)
And yes I would be feeding your kitten 4 times a day. Kittens need as much as they want to eat in the first year of life.

Sorry to make two posts

Don’t apologise. You can post as often as you like. When you read a post from someone offering advice, either answer it or click the like button so we know you have seen it.

Vet says she wants him under 5

Anything under 10% carbs is OK for diabetic cats but most of us feed around 4-7%.

When I checked at 740, before breakfast, he read at 51. He had no hypo symptoms and was and is still acting fine.

If Hunter is not on insulin yet, he won’t/can’t get hypo symptoms even when the BG is low. A lot of normal non diabetic cats have a BG of 50 or lower.
If you ever get a BG number that is lower than expected, always check again to see if it is correct.
What type of meter are you using? A pet meter or a human meter?

I can see the vet said there were no ketones in the urine at diagnosis. That is good. However if the vet is not going to start the insulin for a while, it would be worth getting a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy and testing the urine for ketones. If any ketones are present, the insulin needs to be started straight away.

Getting a blood glucose test before he eats, and then a test three hours after the food will give good information. You don’t need to wait until tomorrow morning to test again.

What type of insulin is the vet thinking of prescribing? The best insulins for cats are Lantus or Prozinc. Some vets are still prescribing vetsulin/ Caninsulin or Novolin but these are not cat insulins. They are dog insulins so ask for one of the cat insulins. Vetsulin was prescribed before the other insulins were around but now the American Vet Association is now recommending only the Prozinc and Lantus or biosimilar insulins.
Bron