I just got back from the vets where I found out my little guy Calvin has diabetes. He will be 10 in August and has been very health up until this point. I am completely overwhelmed with this news but I am trying my hardest to figure this out so I can help him. I am giving him antibiotics right now for a UTI and on Tuesday I will be going back to the vets to start the whole insulin adventure. I just wanted to introduce myself on here and I am trying to get as much information into my brain as possible.I will probably be on here a lot in the next week or so. I am glad to know I am not alone in this.
I just found out
- Thread starter jeelsh
- Start date
- Status
arozeboom
Very Active Member
Welcome! FDMB is the best place to be. Everyone here is very helpful and generous with their time. My Ruby was diagnosed at Christmas and with the help & encouragement of the members of FDMB, she's now officially "diet controlled". We would never have been able to do it without the help we found here.
Amy makes a good point. Before you start on the expense of insulin and materials needed, just get yourself a meter to test Calvin's BG at home, see about switching to a low carb wet diet, and you may find that with the proper diet and the round of AB for his UTI, he may turn out to be a diet controlled diabetic as well.
BJM
Very Active Member
{{hugs}}
and breathe!
You're reading, that's great.
Focus on learning to test and a low carb canned or raw diet before getting into insulin. As Gayle points out, infection often raises glucose levels; once the infection is gone, the cat may be able to maintain decent glucose levels while eating low carb canned food, so long as other medical problems or infections do not occur.
Food: we recommend low carb canned or raw foods.
One reference is Binky's Page; look for anything with less than 10% in the carbohydrate column.
Another link is Pet Food Nutritional Values
Please make any food transitions slowly - mix about 25% more of the new and less of the old per day (0/100, 25/75, 50/50, 75/25, 100,0)- to avoid upset stomach, refusal to eat, and diarrhea from changing too suddenly.
There are some secondary tools for monitoring linked in my signature. The one for ketone urine testing is important, as unregulated diabetics break down fat instead of being able to use glucose. Ketones may occur with diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially fatal, and expensive to treat, complication of diabetes. Monitoring for urine ketones will let you know if you're reaching a danger point.
and breathe!
You're reading, that's great.
Focus on learning to test and a low carb canned or raw diet before getting into insulin. As Gayle points out, infection often raises glucose levels; once the infection is gone, the cat may be able to maintain decent glucose levels while eating low carb canned food, so long as other medical problems or infections do not occur.
Food: we recommend low carb canned or raw foods.
One reference is Binky's Page; look for anything with less than 10% in the carbohydrate column.
Another link is Pet Food Nutritional Values
Please make any food transitions slowly - mix about 25% more of the new and less of the old per day (0/100, 25/75, 50/50, 75/25, 100,0)- to avoid upset stomach, refusal to eat, and diarrhea from changing too suddenly.
There are some secondary tools for monitoring linked in my signature. The one for ketone urine testing is important, as unregulated diabetics break down fat instead of being able to use glucose. Ketones may occur with diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially fatal, and expensive to treat, complication of diabetes. Monitoring for urine ketones will let you know if you're reaching a danger point.
Wow there really is so much to take in with this. I talked with my vet and he wants me to change the food and we will see where it goes from there. I was glad he was more than willing to let me switch food first. But he wants me to wait to switch anything until Tuesday, when he will see my little guy again. He said the number one things was the clear the infection up first.
My main concern is that I have another cat, Bear, who is not diabetic. So would I need to fed her separately? Calvin is a bit of a pig so I want to make sure she is still getting the right amount of food. (Currently they are just eating dry food... I know now that that is not the best thing but its all I have ever done with my cats.) Plus I really don't want them fighting over the food. I really just want them both healthy and happy. Calvin has lost a lot of weight recently and has not been himself lately. I am hoping once the diabetes is under control he will be back to the fun and loving cat he has always been.
Thanks for welcoming me on here. My name is Jes by the way. I just realized I didn't post that, and I should have.
My main concern is that I have another cat, Bear, who is not diabetic. So would I need to fed her separately? Calvin is a bit of a pig so I want to make sure she is still getting the right amount of food. (Currently they are just eating dry food... I know now that that is not the best thing but its all I have ever done with my cats.) Plus I really don't want them fighting over the food. I really just want them both healthy and happy. Calvin has lost a lot of weight recently and has not been himself lately. I am hoping once the diabetes is under control he will be back to the fun and loving cat he has always been.
Thanks for welcoming me on here. My name is Jes by the way. I just realized I didn't post that, and I should have.
Pumbaa
Very Active Member
Jes, welcome! You found the best place to be to help you deal with Calvin's diabetes.
As soon as I found out that Pumbaa had diabetes, I threw away the dry food that both Pumbaa and Larry (non diabetic) were getting daily. Fortunately, they always got canned food in the morning, so they were used to wet food. I didn't want to have to feed them separately, and, I'll tell you that both cats are looking so much better now that they are on low-carb canned food only.
I was hoping that diet change alone was going to be enough for Pumbaa, but it wasn't. So a week after his diagnosis, he went on Lantus insulin.
I'm going to pray that Calvin won't need to go on insulin once his UTI is cleared up and he's transitioned to low-carb canned food.
Suze
As soon as I found out that Pumbaa had diabetes, I threw away the dry food that both Pumbaa and Larry (non diabetic) were getting daily. Fortunately, they always got canned food in the morning, so they were used to wet food. I didn't want to have to feed them separately, and, I'll tell you that both cats are looking so much better now that they are on low-carb canned food only.
I was hoping that diet change alone was going to be enough for Pumbaa, but it wasn't. So a week after his diagnosis, he went on Lantus insulin.
I'm going to pray that Calvin won't need to go on insulin once his UTI is cleared up and he's transitioned to low-carb canned food.
Suze
- Status