Introducing Sugar Bear

[Sugar’s Mama]

My Sugar (unfortunate name choice in hindsight!) was diagnosed yesterday after a Saturday vet visit. He’s the most loving and cuddly cat I’ve ever had. Though not his usual self, he’s still a purr ball of love when I stabbed his ears for testing so I’m thankful for his chill temperament.Sugar has always drank a lot of water and loves his fountain. In hindsight, we’ve been going through litter more often so he was likely drinking more. What brought us to the vet was that he was feeling a bit bony/skinny and low energy. His blood work was otherwise OK. Urinalysis came back with no ketones and no bacterial growth. His BG was in the 500’s, though!

We found out late on Sunday and it took all day to sort out buying insulin and a meter so he just got his first dose this evening. Was nerve wracking, but feel a bit better knowing there’s something I can do. And, finding this sub last night definitely put me in mission-mode! Thank you all! I’ve started a spreadsheet, not much data yet but satisfying to see slightly lower numbers which will hopefully continue!

For food, his sibling Spicy and him were eating IAMS Indoor Hairball and Weight Control dry food for many years. The bowl is still out for her but he is currently completely ignoring it. Starting Friday, we were feeding Sugar plain chicken and tuna just to make sure he was eating. Today I stocked up on a variety of low carb wet foods to see what he will eat. So far, Wanuba BFF and Stella and Chewy Carnivore Cravings were both a winner.

I’ll continue to gather data, but have a few initial questions as I sort out the food situation:

-The vet prescribed Royal Canine Glycobalence dry food… I had thought to slowly add it in with the IAMS dry food until it’s all that brand for both cats. It seems like everyone here is very much against any dry food. If I still feed Sugar appropriate wet food before shots and he is ignoring or not eating much would this be OK?

-For wet food, as long as the % are good, is switching up flavors/brands OK or should I stick to a one brand or a smaller variety? There are so many to choose from!

-Is seaweed (unsalted, no additives) an OK snack? He goes CRAZY for nori sheets. Used it as a bribe for the first shot today.

-Is catnip Ok? He loves the kitty-ganja.

Thanks for any answers and first week advice!

 

[Meredith (& Bro)]

Hello! I'm a newbie too, although I did have a diabetic cat many years ago and remember a bit from then. Now I'm newly taking care of my elderly mother's cat who was recently diagnosed as well

My thoughts re: seaweed and catnip are that they are probably fine as long as he's not eating tons of either. Nori sheets are super low in calories, and the same goes for catnip, so Sugar would have to be eating quite a lot of it to make a difference I think. It's probably good not to go overboard, but I think a little bit here and there is certainly worth the treat value in facilitating giving him his insulin or whatnot.

Re: foods - if Sugar is willing to eat wet food exclusively, that's most likely going to be much more helpful path than dry for a diabetic. I'm not a fan of any of the mass marketed vet prescription diets personally, even the canned formulas. I feel they often have a lot of questionable ingredients in them and are pretty expensive, when for the same price or even less you can get non-rx canned foods that are much lower in carbs and have cleaner ingredient lists. But, if Sugar isn't feeling well and is having trouble eating, I'd say offering any food he's willing to eat for now is better than him not eating at all. At least until you get his BS regulated.

With regard to switching up flavors/brands, I think that's fine (I do it), but just make sure you check the nutrition data for each flavor because different flavors from the same brand can have significantly different carb contents and ingredients. I like brands that post their detailed typical nutrient analysis data online because it makes things easier (two of my favs are Wellness/Core and Weruva), but there are plenty of choices of course if you're willing to dig a little for the info. And people here always seem to have lots of good suggestions.

Sounds like you're really on top of the situation and working hard to support Sugar, that's great! It'll get easier as you go, I'm sure.

 

[Sugar’s Mama]

Thanks for your reply, and I hope Bro is feeling good today! Do you call him Bro because he’s your moms cat or did he already have that name?

For the food I chose today I used this chart. Definitely helpful with what you described, styles of brands having very different numbers.

Thank you for saying it will get easier… it all feels daunting right now and it’s only day one!

 

[Meredith (& Bro)]

Bro is feeling fine, thanks! We caught it early so he really hasn't had a bad time of it thankfully. And that's the name my mom gave him

Yes, that food chart is amazing! I only wish it were more up to date, although I completely understand how much work it must take to compile that data so I see why it hasn't been kept up. But there are many newer foods available now that aren't on that chart, and also companies do change their formulas sometimes without a lot of hoopla about it so the older the info is, the more I'd want independent verification from the food company. But Dr. Pierson's catinfo.org website was a lifesaver for me and my first diabetic cat, and that chart has helped me tremendously through the years - not just with feline diabetes, but for my other cats who had CRF. I am so thankful for the hard work she has done to help us dedicated cat folk out!

I see you've tried some Weruva foods; they're great because their detailed nutrient data is right on their website linked from each variety/flavor of food. Glad to hear Sugar has been receptive to some of those new foods too.

And it does feel so overwhelming in the beginning, doesn't it? You can do it though; you've already done a lot of the work just getting yourself and Sugar to this point Keep on keepin' on!

 

[Sugar’s Mama]

What a perfect name, then!

Wenuva BFF pouches are currently our front runner. Sugar gobbled it up and it has such cute packaging with a gray cat! I’ll check out the website and Dr. Pierson’s.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

One thing you should seriously consider.....switching both cats to low carb canned food. Not only will it add more moisture into your civvie's diet (which is much better for their kidneys), it will also lessen the chances of you having a 2nd diabetic cat! (and it also means you don't have to worry about which food your sugarcat is getting into)

Before kibble was invented, vets very seldom saw diabetic cats because most cats either ate what they caught or had scraps of meat from the dinner table. Since kibble came on the scene and people flocked to it due to it's ease of use, more and more cats are becoming overweight as well as diabetic.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

 

[Sugar’s Mama]

Thanks, Chris! That is my ultimate goal but my other cat currently has no interest in the wet food and is a bit stubborn so I’ll need to progressively switch her over.

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

hi and welcome to the club, wow you are really on top of things with your signature, spreadsheet, and doing home BG testing already. Very impressive, took me like a month to get there!

we have a six-cat household and once Hendrick was discovered to be a sugar cat we threw out the kibble and started feeding everyone on a schedule, wet food only. It has been a real challenge, ngl. months and months of transition and struggle, trying so many different kinds of canned food. But worth it!

 

[Sugar’s Mama]

Thanks, Kyle! I’m so happy I found this place early and didn’t just blindly follow my vet. She advised giving the shots for two weeks then going in for a curve.

Six cats! That’s bonkers. In the best way, of course!

Watched your ‘pokey’ video - you use the lancet without the trigger (is there a name for that thing?)? Is there a trick to that? I may have to try that. Still getting the hang of it and have had to poke multiple times to get a drop.

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

Thanks, Kyle! I’m so happy I found this place early and didn’t just blindly follow my vet. She advised giving the shots for two weeks then going in for a curve.

Six cats! That’s bonkers. In the best way, of course!

Watched your ‘pokey’ video - you use the lancet without the trigger (is there a name for that thing?)? Is there a trick to that? I may have to try that. Still getting the hang of it and have had to poke multiple times to get a drop.

that is correct, we do not use a lancing device. We tried that way in the very beginning but it makes a loud click and it was no good, Hendrick was startled by it and would jerk his head. It was recommended that we try what is called freehand, where you just hold a lancet in your hand and poke the ear. And in the beginning, we used longer lancets (.5in/13mm) so we could really tell what angle we had and where we were poking. We also used a thicker lancet at first. 27G iirc.

All of these things helped us get the hang of it, and now we use a 30G lancet, short little ones that are designed for use in a lancing device but we freehand them.

[edit] and even after all this time, sometimes it takes me more than one stab. This morning for example, I don't know why -- his ear was nice and warm, but the first stab didnt want to bleed until after I stabbed a 2nd time. So I ended up with two droplets. arghh

 

[Sugar’s Mama]

Thanks! I think I’ll try a slightly larger lancet first as his ear gets used to it. Sugar isn’t bothered by the sound. He purrs if you just look at him, so he’s just soaking up the pets and attention! But, good to know there are options.