Hi! Fur baby DKA recovery and feeding tips appreciated!

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Sibby16

Sibby16

Member Since 2020
Thank you all for being here in spirit over the last 2 weeks while my Sibby was really going through it. She’s a 4.5 y/o female Siberian w/no previous medical history. She became lethargic, didn’t want to eat, and had vomiting. She did this a few months ago and was sent home w/gastritis. Now they believe it was an undiagnosed pancreatitis that may have kicked this whole thing off. She had DKA, pancreatitis, hepatic lipidosis. 4 nights and 6 days between both emergency and local vet day clinic it took to help save my baby. She had lost nearly 4 pounds through all of this, when she was 12/13 pounds which was appropriate for her frame and breed. She is home on 1unit twice a day prozinc. She was barely eating anything and I was syringe assisting when given that dose. Now she is getting her both appetite and strength back, looking better every day and I couldn’t be happier seeing her recovery. Her diet was free feed dry Rocky Mountain kibble and canned instinct twice a day. Now her vet wants her on canned hills prescription w/d. She really enjoys it more than the instinct. Per the hills site she should be at 2 1/3 cans per day to maintain at 12#. She wasn’t eating that much of the instinct brand before, only 1/2 can per day (plus free feed) because she always had some left over and perhaps she didn’t care for it even when I switched flavor variety. I bought the dry kibble w/d as well but haven’t used it yet. As of now she is acting hungry and really looks so scrawny with the weight loss but I need to keep her glucose safe. Her glucose has been higher now that she’s eating more over the last few days (323 prior to shoot, today 410 :( ugh )! I would love to hear what you recommend for her in terms of eating patterns. Vet nurse recommended canned only twice a day but it sounded like her dm cats have a history of being overweight. I realize things will need to stabilize on both her eating pattern and her insulin for her to have the best outcomes. I have a kitchen scale, loaded up on supplies, and I’m testing at home with a human meter. We are in this and ready for all suggestions. Thank you!
 
Welcome. You and Sibby have been through the wringer.

DKA is tricky. Yes, the insulin is needed but so is eating enough food because of the recent history of hepatic lipidosis. The recipe for DKA is not enough insulin + not enough food + something else going on (an infection or inflammation).
We can help you find a balance.

Feeding twice daily is old school. It is better to give a meal when giving a shot and then give snacks throughout the cycle (especially the first half of the cycle), picking up any food 2 hours before the next shot so that the test number is not food influenced.
Insulin dosing is based on how low a cat goes during cycles. If you could start getting some mid-cycle tests in, it would give you a better picture of what is happening.

The canned w/d is 25% carbs. The dry w/d is likely higher.
But do not change food, and only do it gradually, until you are testing mid-cycle. Switching to lower carb food can shift numbers by up to 100.

Others will chime in with their knowledge and experience. I'm tagging
@Deb & Wink and
@Panic
who know Prozinc well.

In the meantime, here are a few links for you to look at.

You are looking for foods under 10% with a higher caloric content. Some people use kitten food.

You can test for ketones at home by dipping ketone stix (found at any human pharmacy) into Sibby's urine or with a blood ketone meter (works the same way as a glucometer).

Using a spreadsheet to keep track of numbers and food is important. It will help you spot trends. It is the first place we would look. This forum is data driven. If you need help setting it up, just ask. There are people here who can do it for you in minutes.

And just in case. Read and print out the following links.
Apologies if I have blasted you with information. Feline diabetes is a steep learning curve but becomes second nature quickly. Ask questions. We like questions. There have been a number of DKA cats on the forum. We can help.
 
WELCOME TO FDMB The best site on this planet to learn everything you need to know about feline diabetes I'm afraid I dont have any kind of experience with these issues. There are people hear that do but for now I'm going to direct you here:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
This will help you get acquainted to how things work around here. PLEASE pay particular to the Profile/ Signature section

One thing I DO know is dry food, prescription or not is PACKED with carbs. I dont know why Vets push the stuff. Theres nothing special about them, except the price. There are a few lower carb dry food, if you cant get kitty to eat wet (canned) They are Dr. Elseys and Young Again. These STILL have carbs just not as many.
its tantamount to throwing gasoline onto a fire. There anr MANY choices of lower carb can food that work perfectly fe Many of us feed Fancy Feast Pates. They are all lower than 10% carbs.

Be sure to come back and read what others have to say about Sibbys issues
and
WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY:bighug:
jeanne
 
The Hill's W/d food is meant for WEIGHT LOSS. That is not what you want for your cat, since she already lost 4 pounds.
It uses fillers, cellulose specifically, to add bulk that can't be digested and let's a cat feel fuller and lose some weight.
I think you need to find a different food and talk to your vet about why they suggested this food for a diabetic cat that has lost so much weight. Poor choice, IMHO.

BTW, the W/d dry is 37% carbs. Wink was on the W/d when I first fostered him. It took time to get him eating a better food. But once that happened, he went OTJ (off-the-juice, insulin being the juice).

See the Prozinc ISG forum "Sticky" or pinned posts at the top of that forum for some Prozinc specific information.

There is also that link that @jt and trouble (GA) pointed you to, on how you can help us better.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Wink was on the W/d when I first fostered him. It took time to get him eating a better food. But once that happened, he went OTJ (off-the-juice, insulin being the juice).
Click to expand...
Same thing happened to us. I weaned Trouble off the dry and his numbers dropped 100 points, almost over night. He was much easier to regulate, then went into remission. OTJ as Deb so aptly put it.;)
 
At the moment the most important thing is that Sibby is eating and you are able to give the insulin. Whatever she will eat is fine for now and give her small frequent meals throughout the day and evening. Wet food is obviously better but eating something trumps everything. Once she is fully recovered from all her illnesses you can worry about changing over to a low carb diet.
Also a daily check of the ketones in the urine is very important at this stage. You can do this by buying a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy.

With DKA in the recent past you don’t want to be skipping any doses of insulin so if you find a lower than normal Preshot , stall, don’t feed and post and ask for help.
 
Thank you all for the wealth of information, my heart is bursting with the support. She is continuing to do amazing and is definitely getting her energy back and that kitty naughty streak. She got into the pantry and was trying to bust into the dog’s kibble, laughable but heartbreaking at the same time (she’s done this in the past even when she had her own). I removed it completely this morning.

I had bought the hydrophobic litter and ketostix already, but had no idea the meter existed and that is a much quicker option, thank you! That is on its way.

I am devastated by the food choice of the vet and placing her on w/d. Her instinct brand was much lower in carbs, the taste of the wild Rocky Mountain was a terrible choice all around I found and even talking with her Siberian dad’s owner she had even changed his food recently as well. I started the slow transition to fancy feast pate this morning and she really seemed to like it. She actually was eating that variety for awhile when she was about a year old and I don’t remember having any issues with it. I also ordered the Dr. Elsey’s kibble to have on hand to try later. As much as I don’t want to add in the kibble it may become a necessary evil if her foraging habits continue or to offset the two canned meals I was doing before all of this due to work schedules. Now for treats-freeze dried turkey have replaced the temptations. Are these ok? Any other suggestions?

Prozinc-as of right now her no shoot number is 200. Only twice since she’s been home (10/26, 185) has she been there. BG was riding around higher range at 270 lower 223. Then her appetite spiked, she’s eating normally without having to be syringe fed. Higher range now 370 and lower 320. Now yesterday she was 410 am prior to shoot. This is all on the new w/d. 4 hr recheck was 323. This morning was better 327 and we started to transition to fancy feast. I am hoping for better control with no insulin changes.

One more question, the meter I had has 33g lancets. When she first came home I couldn’t get enough of a bead from her ear with that fine of a gauge. What gauge do you use, do you use the device/free hand poke? Do your cats tolerate the foot pad better?

Thank You :)
 
Sibby16 said:
As much as I don’t want to add in the kibble it may become a necessary evil if her foraging habits continue or to offset the two canned meals I was doing before all of this due to work schedules. Now for treats-freeze dried turkey have replaced the temptations. Are these ok? Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
ANY "pure meat" freeze dried food is fine. MAKE SURE you read the labels for any kind of additives. I was shocked to find a member (new) found freeze dried meat with additives! "Purebites" Is a good product . My non diabetic wont touch them:rolleyes: but MANY here use them.

Hope you and Sibby have a good day!
jeanne
 
Here are the instructions for your Signature. It will give everyone an at a glance view of all Sibby's particulars:

  • under Settings, Click on Signature. This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
    • There is a limit of two lines which may include two links; you may separate pieces with commas, dashes, | etc. This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
    • Add any other text, such as
    • Caregiver & kitty's name (optional)
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
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Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

BELIEVE me both these applications are only going to help. They help US help YOU!;)
:bighug:
jeanne
 
Look for lancets that say for alternative areas. I think I tried 25 gauge at first before my vet had me use needles, his preference that became mine. And a spreadsheet will help more people to help you. We are so used to looking for trends and colors on our spreadsheet. We have people that can set you up in minutes. Just say the word.
 
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