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MichelleListim

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Hi! My son Yaniv and have our pet child, Anakin. (yes we are starwars fans!) He is about 13 or so and was just diagnosed with Diabetes. Our lives have been turned upside down. He doesn't like mushy food (we've tried) so we are staying with hills crunchies C/D as he has Kidney issues too, the vet says it will help if he stays on the C/D rather than changing to the Diabetic food. He wakes me up every morning at around 5:00am with this very plantive cry. Sometimes he wants to eat, and sometimes not. I give him a 1/4 cup then, and he nibbles. He usually starts up with his plantive cry about an hour later, when I have to accompany him to his dish and he usually nibbles some more. At 7:30am my alarm goes off and he gets one ml of insulin Sub-Q. He usually nibbles some more and then he gets another 1/4 cup that he can nibble on throughout the day. Usually around 5:30 PM he starts asking for more food and nibbles a bit... then again at 6:00 or so and then at 7:30 PM he gets another 1ml of insulin and usually eats some more. He often nibbles a bit more at around 10:00pm. and then we cover his dish and doesn't get anything again until the morning. Frankly, I am tired of Anakin waking me so often in the morning. I don't know what to do about it and how to stop it. He is used to free-feeding and when we tried to feed him just twice a day (around insulin time) he stopped eating completely. Even though he is free feeding, he likes us to acccompany him to his dish and sometimes we have to stand there and pet him until he eats. This evening, even though he had his insulin and ate well... he was sleeping on my son's bed and when my son tried to move him a little he didn't wake up and continued to sleep. Yaniv had to shake him to wake him. I think he was having a hypo and he ate and seems to be better. I am glad there is a chat group for pet parents of diabetic cats... I hope you can help or just be there when I have to vent. It is scary, but we are coping, we love our little Ani Kat so we will do what we can. I am currently unemployed so this has been a strain financially. Fortunately our vet, Bannfield, has a program to help us save some money but it is still hard. I will check back soon and I am glad that you are there.
Thanks for any advise or encouragement that you can give us. nailbite_smile
Michelle
 
Hi Michelle,

I hope it will help to know we were all overwhelmed at first. Knowledge is power and the more you learn about this disease, the easier it becomes. Start reading the threads from other newbies and the FAQs.

What insulin is Anakin on? What is the dose?

The best thing you can do immediately is to learn to test him at home. Then you will know how the insulin is working. You'll know before each shot whether it is safe to give the amount you are planning on. It will help eliminate the possibility of a hypo. We have taught hundredsnof people how over the Internet and we can teach you. We have free newbie kits with everything you need to test:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=19541
 
MichelleListim said:
Hi! My son Yaniv and have our pet child, Anakin. (yes we are starwars fans!) He is about 13 or so and was just diagnosed with Diabetes. Our lives have been turned upside down. He doesn't like mushy food (we've tried) so we are staying with hills crunchies C/D as he has Kidney issues too, the vet says it will help if he stays on the C/D rather than changing to the Diabetic food. He wakes me up every morning at around 5:00am with this very plantive cry. Sometimes he wants to eat, and sometimes not. I give him a 1/4 cup then, and he nibbles. He usually starts up with his plantive cry about an hour later, when I have to accompany him to his dish and he usually nibbles some more. At 7:30am my alarm goes off and he gets one ml of insulin Sub-Q. He usually nibbles some more and then he gets another 1/4 cup that he can nibble on throughout the day. Usually around 5:30 PM he starts asking for more food and nibbles a bit... then again at 6:00 or so and then at 7:30 PM he gets another 1ml of insulin and usually eats some more. He often nibbles a bit more at around 10:00pm. and then we cover his dish and doesn't get anything again until the morning. Frankly, I am tired of Anakin waking me so often in the morning. I don't know what to do about it and how to stop it. He is used to free-feeding and when we tried to feed him just twice a day (around insulin time) he stopped eating completely. Even though he is free feeding, he likes us to acccompany him to his dish and sometimes we have to stand there and pet him until he eats. This evening, even though he had his insulin and ate well... he was sleeping on my son's bed and when my son tried to move him a little he didn't wake up and continued to sleep. Yaniv had to shake him to wake him. I think he was having a hypo and he ate and seems to be better. I am glad there is a chat group for pet parents of diabetic cats... I hope you can help or just be there when I have to vent. It is scary, but we are coping, we love our little Ani Kat so we will do what we can. I am currently unemployed so this has been a strain financially. Fortunately our vet, Bannfield, has a program to help us save some money but it is still hard. I will check back soon and I am glad that you are there.
Thanks for any advise or encouragement that you can give us. nailbite_smile
Michelle
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Hi Michelle,

I just wanted to mention to you that there are several cats who are DIET CONTROLLED. Yes, your vet may say to stick with the crunchies, but it may be worth your while and for Anakin's health if you could try to switch to low carb wet foods.... Just think - you could switch foods and she may no longer need any insulin! Wouldn't that be a great savings! One of my diabetic cats has very high numbers if she gets just a few pieces of dry food.

There are plenty of choices in foods, so look at the ones on Binky's list and give it a try.... how I see it, if it eliminates the need for insulin, it may be worth it.

Binky’s Food Lists
Feeding Your Cat: Know The Basics of Feline Nutrition

Many people use a timed feeder so if you portioned her food into the feeder sections, you will be able to sleep.
Petsafe 5-meal Auto Feeder

if you start testing her before each shot, you may just find that you can give her less insulin, but testing is the way to know if she needs more, the same, or less insulin.
 
Hi and welcome :-D
You can always vent here, and get some good advise to help your kitty, too.
We mostly all feed out kittys wet food. And we pretty much all test our kitty's blood sugar before every shot to know whether it is safe to give the insulin or not. And then we try to get some mid cycle tests when we can, too, so we know if the insulin dose is too much or too little. By the way 1 ml is the same as 100 units, I think. So, you are probably giving .01 ml or what we call 1 unit of insulin. Did you get the insulin syringes with the 1/2 unit marks on them?
Feel free to post as often as you want and to ask all the questions you want and to vent all you want :-D We understand.
 
When a diabetic is not regulated, he is hungry because he cannot use the calories provided by food.

Old school vets said to feed only at shot times. We no longer do that. Some feed on a "mini meals" schedule in the first half or so of the shot cycle, some use a timed feeder, some leave canned low carb food out all day, sometimes with part of it frozen.
 
Poopy and I welcome you to the best place you could have found! cat_pet_icon The folks here are real time, hands on knowledgeable of feline diabetes. We all live with it every day.

Poopy and I are still pretty new to all this too, so I'm sure others will have more long term knowledge advice to give. Switching Poopy and my non-diabetic cats over to all wet food, low carb, wasn't a breeze but it did happen. Poopy's constant hunger has abated and he's gained weight (a great thing since he lost so much prior to diagnoses). You'd be surprised what a day or two of hunger can do for a finicky eater! And doing home testing isn't as difficult as can be imagined, even though we are still in the hit and miss stage ourselves.

Hugs and scritches to you and Ani Kat! cat_pet_icon
 
there are many tricks that we can give you to transition Anakin over to canned food. giving a diabetic cat dry food and then trying to work the insulin to compensate for the extra carbs is a little like a diabetic human eating a chocolate bar every day and using more insulin to make up for it. anakin will feel better and the insulin needs will decrease if you switch him to low carb canned foods.

there are many other cats with kidney issues here as well. here are some other food links.

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition - everything you need to know about proper nutrition and lots more from Lisa A. Pierson, DVM.

NOTE: The following food lists can become outdated quickly because pet food companies are known to change formulas.
Manufacturers have six months to reflect these changes on their labels. The lists may not be up-to-date.

Pet Food Nutritional Values Comparison (August 2010) - values for cat foods

Janet & Binky's Food Charts (March 2008) - what you need to know about cat foods

US Canned Cat Food Data in order of Phosphorus Content (%) - from Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Chronic Renal Failure (does not include % kcal from carbs, but does include dates of when data was obtained)

UK Tinned Cat Food Data in order of Phosphorus Content (%) - from Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Chronic Renal Failure (does not include % kcal from carbs, but does include when data was obtained)

List of Low-Carb/Med.-Fat Food for Cats with Diabetes AND Chronic Pancreatitis (July 2008)

Gluten Free, Low Carb Wet Cat Food - Fancy Feast Varieties (November 2010)
Click to expand...

cats are known as being the hardest animal to get their diabetes regulated. i would strongly encourage you to hometest. you may have been lucky the other night when your son couldn't wake anakin up. hypoglycemia can kill - it is nothing to mess around with and we strongly encourage all owners of diabetic cats to learn to test their cats so that you KNOW what his/her blood sugar is.

we can teach you how. all of us do it. cats and people both get used to it and it becomes as routine as brushing one's teeth.

glad you found us - i hope you will repost and let us know how we can help you best.
 
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