Just Diagnosed, Kinda Freaked Out About Food!

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OwnedbyZeus

Member Since 2013
We just got diagnosed 3 days ago. My biggest worry is what the heck to feed Zeus! The vet handed us a bag of dry Purina DM as well as 3 cans of the wet. Now I'm reading on here that the dry is a bad idea...which is fine by me, because she really doesn't seem to like it. Ironically she'd been eating the Fancy Feast classics before diagnosis. I'd love to just go back to that! So, the big questions are: Has anyone successfully had their cat eat JUST the Fancy Feast classics? And if I go back to just the Fancy Feast classics, how much is a correct portion? Oh, and according to the vet she's supposed to eat an hour before the insulin. Does that sound ridiculous to anyone else? (Or perhaps it's the 6am insulin time they have her on...so, food at 5am? That's not unrealistic! *eye roll* We'll be lucky if she doesn't end up with my coffee and me with her food!) Thanks in advance for any suggestions/help!
 
Welcome! Diet is key, many people are feeding their cats Fancy Feast, Friskies, and other wet foods; the key is low carbs, 3% or less. I switched my cat to Fancy Feast about a week before diagnosis, then was diagnosed and did about a week of insulin, and here he is well on his way to remission. If you were already on FF stay on it! Just switching to a low carb wet food could reduce GC levels by 100mg. Lots of resources on this site, look around and get comfortable. More people will chime in!
 
Thanks for the quick response, Dusty! As I'm reading more posts, I'm seeing a lot of FF eaters, which makes me happy (and Zeus too, I'm sure.) P.S. Zeus is slightly jealous of your pretty picture--we have doppelganger cats!
 
OwnedbyZeus said:
Thanks for the quick response, Dusty! As I'm reading more posts, I'm seeing a lot of FF eaters, which makes me happy (and Zeus too, I'm sure.) P.S. Zeus is slightly jealous of your pretty picture--we have doppelganger cats!
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Can't wait to see a picture of Zeus! Are you getting ready to self test and all that? It might seem overwhelming at first but it's just a walk in the park. It's the best way to quickly and safely regulate Zeus.
 
We had planned on not starting self testing until after her first glucose curve next week, but now I'm wondering if that's a good plan. I'm a little scared to "go rogue!" Does it mean I start relying on her numbers to determine if she gets insulin? :shock:
 
It is much safer to test before each shot to be sure the dose you are planning to give is safe than to shoot blind. We have taught hundreds of people how to do it, over the internet and would love to help you. Relying on numbers from the vet is problematic. Stress raises bg levles and most cats are very stressed at the vet.

You can send your spreadsheet full of your home numbers to the vet for input. Lots of people here do that.
 
Sue, I'd love any advice you can offer on self testing. Start with the absolute basic info and work up from there... And thank you!
 
Less than 3% carbs is hard to do and unnecessary. All you really need is below 8 %. Here is listing of such foods:
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=94685

Dusty Bones said:
Welcome! Diet is key, many people are feeding their cats Fancy Feast, Friskies, and other wet foods; the key is low carbs, 3% or less. I switched my cat to Fancy Feast about a week before diagnosis, then was diagnosed and did about a week of insulin, and here he is well on his way to remission. If you were already on FF stay on it! Just switching to a low carb wet food could reduce GC levels by 100mg. Lots of resources on this site, look around and get comfortable. More people will chime in!
Click to expand...
 
You can return the bag of dry food and just tell them your cat won't eat it. Catinfo.org is a great resource on feline nutrition and will help you feel better about feeding Fancy Feast instead of the overpriced prescription stuff. ;-)

What insulin were you prescribed? You can change the shot time to any time you want, but depending on what insulin you're using, there are some "right" ways to do this with the least disruption to your progress and/or sleeping patterns.

If you equate home testing to what human diabetics do to monitor their sugar levels, you'll see why this is such an important part of the process. Humans don't go to the doctor's for curves or dose adjustments so why would we send our cats to the vet's when we can do it better at home ourselves? And for cheaper, too. :-D Here's another link to some more great ear testing tips that might be of help.
 
Fancy feast classics are a good low carb choice. She was only getting these prior to diagnosis? no dry ? no dry treats or snacks or human or dog food or anything?'
Hows her teeth? Any other infection? I am trying to work out what may have triggered the diabetes

Thanks
Wendy

PS = what kind of insulin is she on?
 
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