Help with food for diabetic cat

[Manuela Walden]

Hello everybody,
I'm new to this forum. Charlie has been diagnosed with diabetes about 1 1/2 years ago. We are having a really hard time getting his diabetes under control. He was just switched to Lantus (3units twice/day) about 9 days ago and it seems like his glucose levels are higher now then they were before. He was on Prozinc every since he got diagnosed with getting 6 units twice a day until the vet decided we should try Lantus because his glucose levels stayed consistently in the high 300's on Prozinc. Now with Lantus 8 hours after his shot his glucose is at 482 -. We already had all kinds of blood test done and everything was fine besides his glucose.
He gets mostly dry food because he's not having it just eating wet. He gets some wet food twice a day (Fancy Feast Classic) but unfortunately he wants his dry food as well or won't eat at all. I had switched him from Blue Buffalo Wilderness to Nature's Variety Instinct Grain Free Chicken Meal Formula Dry Cat Food. I have read in a few areas that it's supposedly low in Carbs but i'm wondering if it really is. Should I switch him to EVO since he wants to eat the dry food? Any help is appreciated.

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

Can you get the Young Again Zero Carb food? It's a dry food that isn't really zero carbs, but is apparently somewhere around 5%. I don't know about either of the dry foods you have tried. I've heard that Evo - I think the kitten formula - is around 8%.

Have you tried all the tips on transitioning a dry food addict to wet food? It can definitely take a while, but many people are successful with it. There is a lot of info on the www.catinfo.org site about how to try. That site is run by a vet.

Sounds like you are hometesting - that's half of the battle. Can we get you to start a spreadsheet? Lantus is a depot insulin, which means that it builds up in the body and sort of slow-releases, so an individual test is less important than looking at about 3 days worth of tests. That's one reason why the spreadsheet is such a critical tool for us to use. There are directions on the "The Basics: New to the Group? Start Here" sticky on how to start a spreadsheet. If you need help starting the spreadsheet, just say so. Several people here are willing to start the spreadsheet and turn it over to you to maintain.

Sorry that your post got missed and fell to the bottom of the group. If that happens again, just add a reply to bump it up so it gets seen. This is a busy forum and sometimes, unfortunately, that happens. It's ok to advocate for yourself though!!

Just speaking generally about his dose, if he needed 6u of ProZinc and was still high - and there were enough appropriate tests to verify that - he may not be getting enough Lantus. Typically the dose is switched 1:1, so if we saw data that showed he needed 6u ProZinc, we'd have suggested you start at 6u Lantus. Cats need as much insulin as they need - there isn't a set amount that you shouldn't exceed, for example, as long as the dose was achieved following an appropriate dosing increase method.

 

[Tricia Cinco(GA) & Harvey]

Hi Manuela.

Welcome. Sorry you didn't get any responses earlier. Weekends can be kind of slow around here.

If you have a record of Charlie's blood glucose readings, it would really help us if you could put them in our spreadsheet (you'll find it helps you, too), as Julie said. I don't know what kind of meter you're using (pet or human), but if you could share that info, it will help us help you.

Speaking of that, here is a post that gives new members some tips on how to get the most from this Board: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/updated-tips-for-new-members.173572/. The bottom line, though, is that this is a community of people that love their cats and care about other people and their cats, too. We volunteer our time to help each other, because we were all where you are once, and someone helped us. Read as much as you can of the info on this page, and ask lots of questions. We love to help!