In need of advice.

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Chase84

Member Since 2018
Hi there all. My fur baby Marty was diagnosed diabetic almost two months ago now. It's been a roller coaster since finding out. Since the diagnosis his insulin has gradually increased up to 3 units twice daily. (were using lantus and tight protocol). He is fed at 7 and 7 and gets his shots at the same time. He is right around 14lbs.

This all kinda came out off the blue. We came back from vacation and he had lost 4 lbs in 10 days. He's a big cat in general bones and all. Was slightly over weight but not bad at all.

So now we're in two months and the sugar curves are crazy. I did one yesterday and he was at 363 or 20.2 in the morning at 7. Lowest was 132 or 7.3 at 1:30. By 5:30 he was at 483 or 26.8. (using Alphatrek 2).

Two weeks ago he had some teeth removed as they told me that it could be contributing. The week before that they had a urine culture done to test for a bladder infection (negative). A year ago he had some removed also. At the time they didn't catch the is. his sugar was high then and they blamed it on stress from the travel. I'm sorry I'm all over the place and rambling

Right now he's eating DM diabetic management food. Been looking into other options like hound and gatos as I feel like I'm getting milked by the vet at this point. They know I'll do anything for him. I have read that the higher the protein the better.

So I'm curious what you all have had for experiences? Is this normal? They've now scared me and said there is a chance of pancreatic cancer.

He was a stray who picked me at the SPCA about 6 years ago. He'd be 12 or 13 at best guess.

Any information you all can provide me, maybe even put me at ease I would appreciate. Also look forward to hearing your experiences. Thank you
 
Welcome

Take a big breath diabetes can be a little stressful, it takes time to get a cat regulated sometimes even months so you will need to be very very patient.

It would help to try and figure out what's going on if we could see all the data you've gathered, we use a spreadsheet for that this is the link for the instructions on how to use it (http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/)

Diabetic cats need to have a low carb (carbohydrates) high protein diet, preferably wet, DM is very high in carbs so is not helping, you could change the food a lot of people here feed fancy Feast Classic but here's a list that we use (is wonderful) where you can search for a food that your cat likes and suits you and your budget (http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf) look for foods under 10% carbs, you could also see if you can find the hound and gatos in the list and maybe it is under 10% carbs
 
Welcome. Are you home testing? I hope the answer is yes! If you start a spreadsheet and plug in as many test results as possible we can help. Also add a signature including diagnosis date , type of insulin, type of meter, TR, food, other medical issues etc. so we don’t keep asking you. Has your vet been increasing in .25 increments? Have you done any curves?
 
Hi there,

Sorry I haven't been able to reply until now. I am home testing using AlphaTrek 2. And I have been keeping track when I do his curves. Veronica, I have seen that chart before from a website when I had started to do my research on this. At the beginning I was listening strictly to the vet as at that point she absolutely knew more than me until I could gather info. I have a pretty good grasp now on things and have honey on hand, etc in the event we ever have a hypoglycemic event (praying we don't). Lately now we have been running into some other issues. Bowel movements are very loose at times. This morning I woke up to a horrific mess. Feces on the outside of the liter box, the wall, washer, floor, etc in the laundry room. I have previously woken up to some paw prints on the floor and cleaned it up but this was... Wow... I spent two hours cleaning. We were at the vet Thursday and they mentioned giving him pumpkin in with is food. I do not know if this caused it or if something else it up. I am quite beside myself at the moment as I just don't know what to do at this point... Below is the data I have collected thus far.


Date Time Sugars
27-Apr 6:55pm 458 or 25.4
28-Apr 7:16AM 486 or 27
28-Apr 9:37am 418 or 23.2
28-Apr 11:35am 377 or 20.9
28-Apr 1:38pm 370 or 20.6
28-Apr 4:40pm 406 or 22.6
28-Apr 5:35pm 416 or 23.1
28-Apr 7:07pm 378 or 21
28-Apr 7:00am 363 or 20.2
05-May 7:00am 494 or 27.4
05-May 9:00am 322 or 17.9
05-May 11:00am 242 or 13.4
05-May 1:00pm 407 or 22.6
05-May 3:00pm 412 or 22.9
05-May 4:48pm 441 or 24.5
12-May 7:30am 303 or 16.8
12-May 9:30am 260 or 14.4
12-May 11:30am 100 or 5.6
12-May 12:30pm 108 or 6
12-May 2:00pm 99 or 5.5
12-May 3:46pm 291 or 16.2
12-May 4:50pm 499 or 27.7
01-Jun 7am 363 or 20.2
01-Jun 9am 443 or 24.6
01-Jun 11am 314 or 17.4
01-Jun 1pm 231 or 12.8
01-Jun 3pm 152 or 8.4
01-Jun 5pm 356 or 19.8
03-Jun 7:30am 463 or 25.7
03-Jun 9:30am 382 or 21.2
03-Jun 11:30am 259 or 14.4
03-Jun 1:30pm 132 or 7.3
03-Jun 3:30pm 238 or 13.2
03-Jun 5:30pm 483 or 26.8

Thanks
 
Many of us, myself included, are in the U.S. and use different numbers. We aren’t on the metric system. Can I push you to start a spreadsheet? It will allow us to see both world and U.S. numbers.

Pumpkin adds fiber to the food and can be used both for constipation and diarrhea. How much are you adding? When I first was told to try it I gave too much. Starting amount is usually a teaspoon. If it’s not bulking up the stool and you increase to twice a day without results you might want to have the stool checked to see if the cause is a parasite or bacterial. I wouldn’t jump to cancer quite yet but my intestinal lymphoma kitty did have pudding stool for awhile although was acting fine and it only occurred once a day. I always wondered if she couldn’t handle the food she was given for early kidney disease and constant inflammation led to it. How is Marty acting otherwise? Was he on an antibiotic after the dental? That can cause loose stool as can diet changes if not done slowly. Pancreatitis can also cause loose stool.

Has your vet suggested getting an ultrasound? It’s best done by a Boarded radiologist or an internal medicine vet that has tons of experience. My vet had a traveling vet do one and recommended exploratory surgery. I went to another vet for a second opinion and he also ran a test for pancreatitis. Max had chronic pancreatitis and never got cancer. The second ultrasound was done by a Boarded radiologist. The results were as different as night and day.
 
Thanks for the reply! I was giving him 2tp in each feeding so twice a day. After the mess this morning I didn't put it in his feeding this morning. I've also take the cover of the liter box in the hopes it doesn't confine him as much. He is acting somewhat like himself. I can get him to play with some coaxing. He seems a bit lazier than usual. Lays around a lot. I've wondered if thats age, the insulin or some other unknown factor.

I did ask the vet what tests could be done to see if something is going on with his pancreas. Only then did she mention about possibly trying an ultrasound. We're up to probably around $2500 spent now and to be honest, financially I cannot take much more and I can't stand the thought of having him put to sleep. I do not think there is anything that specialized in this area for animals unfortunately (radiologist for animals). I am looking at changing him off of the DM food but I get worried changing anything at this point because it seems like so much is going on if I make a change I won't know what is affecting what. Before he was ever diagnosed I had tried him on high protein food and we ran into this issue of loose stool. I do not know how to proceed as I know being diabetic he requires high protein but if his digestive tract doesn't like it /causes or riles up some potential IBS I am not sure which is worse.
 
That are medications for IBD, budesonide being one that works. Did this start with feeding DM? It could be the carbs in it, the grains, or possibly the type of protein. If you can try feeding a grain free novel protein that might help. You have to really read the ingredients though. It’s anazing how a product will cone in chicken and salmon yet the second ingredient in the salmon is chicken! I’m dealing with skin issues with one of mine and so far have eliminated chicken, turkey, beef, and pork. I screwed up as I didn’t stick to one long enough. It takes minimum 6-8 weeks. I hope you can figure it out and it’s a food issue.
 
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I found that the instinct lamb works for Callie. I tried everything to get rid of the loose stoo9ls. Our vet says that chicken and beef are the worst food for a cat with a sensitive GI system. tiffmaxee is right. It can take a month or 2 before the kitty gets better.
 
Today I bought wuerva mack and jack. Going to try this. Unfortunately many of the foods on that list I cannot source in Canada. Wuerva I can. No chicken as I think there my be an intolerance there. Vet didn't even know the dm chunks and gravey had a high carb content..oy. Shook my confidence a bit. She at least got me walking but with this site and my own research hopefully I can get him sort.
 
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