Just diagnosed pred-induced FD

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Jenner & Felix

Jenner & Felix

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Our pillow-prince Felix, turning 10 in April, was cautiously diagnosed by our vet on the 19th of January-his BG's at the time were 422. He has been on a low-dose pred schedule for over 2 years and we monitor his BG's annually-usually 189 or so, but never 400. His pred dose was for a skin allergy that leads him to lick bare his belly or chew at scabs that form on his hind legs. (his most recent t4 is 2.2-in the grey/normal range for a cat of his age). He varies in weight between 11.5-13.5 lbs. He currently is at 11.75 lbs and has been on his new Hill's MD diet for 7 days complete. BG alphatrak at the vet's was 326 this morning after removing the pred and introducing the new diabetic diet. He never travels well and is open-mouth breathing by the time we get to the vet (25 mins). He has been off the pred-vet rec. due to the dosage being 2.5 mg every 3 days- for 16 days.
I am encouraged by the one week turn-around both the diet and removal of pred has made. Unfortunately our usual vet was not in this morning and we are still waiting to talk to the vet on call today. Like everyone else who posts as newbies, I'm unclear as to what our next & best decision should be. I've read that giving the new diet at least one-two weeks is recommended-before taking another BG and initiating a low-dose insulin. Our vet will be back Monday. Should we just schedule him for a curve draw on monday and get things started or should we wait the second week to see how the diet affects his BG? Felix also had been treated for IBD the month of Dec. and the symptoms have been clear for almost two weeks- diet change? We haven't purchased any home test kits and wonder whether /where we should look?....thank you for all the wonderful posts and feed back-the info. is both alarming and helpful!
 
Hometesting the BGs would be a good start. It's not hard to do, and it's a lot less stressful for your kitty. Now that the pred has been removed the blood sugar may come down without the need for insulin.

What new diet are you using?

A diet high in protein and low in carbs is best. Canned or raw food is usually recommended.
 
Just a note that my nondiabetic licked her belly raw and I gave her steroids and antibiotics once to clear it up. It returned, and I realized that the few kibbles I was giving her was enough to trigger an allergy. It may or may not be true of your cat though...what foods were you feeding?

Jen
 
We really appreciate hearing from everyone-especially today-we still have not heard from the vet-on-call and expect it will be monday before we talk with our regular vet.

Felix's old food was the Felidae for Seniors, on that for about three years until he presented with IBD symptoms. The Wellness brand was suggested and tried, not long enough to make a difference, when our vet suggested the Hill's Prescription M/D (dry) for diabetics two weeks ago. High protein/low carb. Both our cats have been dry food only raised, so implementing the canned into their new schedule to include water intake has taken time. I have seen a reduction in licking which may be food related.

My biggest unknown, today, is whether to wait one more complete week to take a vet BG before deciding on insulin. Where should I go for home test kits? Human test kits?
 
I would also recommend getting a home testing kit and start monitoring his BG at home. It'll save you money and get you more accurate results.

Max was pred-induced diabetic. He'd been on pred for a month to clear up a vomiting issue (he was throwing up every few days, often on the kids toys or in other very difficult places to clean up). Once we got the diagnosis and I came here for info, I got him switched immediately to low-carb canned food (NOT Rx food!), and started insulin about a week after diagnosis. The vet I was working with only worked part time so it took time to get everything figured out.

I started home testing the same day we started insulin. It's easy to do, but it does take a few days for both you and the cat to get used to it. By then he'd been on an all wet, low carb diet for about 5 days. Insulin was necessary for him. We used Lantus insulin twice a day. His BG stabilized after about a week of shots, and then his numbers started to slide downward after about 2 weeks of shots. 6 weeks after we started insulin, he was off it, and has been insulin-free for 11 months. And his BG is staying in the 80s (happy, happy place!) because we've kept him on low-carb canned food only. He just eats Friskies too, so it's not like it's super expensive. I'd love to feed him some of the 'better' brands, but just can't afford it between the two cats.

Bottom line, tho, you really need to home-test him. It's the only way to know if he needs insulin or not. Going to the vet stresses them out, making their BG's higher at the office, so he could end up being put on insulin when he doesn't really need it, or could be put on too high of a dose, which could be very dangerous.

OH! And since I have stuck with two Friskies flavors that are only 7% carbs and he's gone OTJ, Max hasn't had any vomiting issues. It's my belief at this point that the carb content of the dry food he had been getting before was making him sick and causing the vomiting. Varying the carb count on his wet food, even by 2% makes him vomit, so we just stick with the two flavors and don't buy anything else. It's possible, like the pp mentioned, that just getting your kitty off the dry food and on to a low-carb or grain-free food could clear up the skin issue. good luck!
 
I think most people here use human meters. I used a Maxima AST--meter cost $5 plus the cost of test strips. It's pretty cheap, and since I don't have time to shop often, being able to only order online was fine with me. I read on another thread that the Infinity meter is replacing the AST. Both are available from hocks.com. If you use the ad/link above, FDMB will get an 8% commission from your purchase. :-D
 
Thanks Mindy for the meter info..

You had mentioned that insulin was "necessary" for Max during that first week of diagnosis. How did you/vet determine to start that week vs. waiting a second week? based on BG's? My regular vet gave us a window to work in, and given that Felix's BG was 326, down from 422 a week ago, how do I know when to start insulin?

I apologize for the rambling...I'm feeling over-whelmed and disconnected from our regular vet and don't want to jeopardize Felix's health by not making the right decision.

I am humbled by your and other's stories and thank you for your posts!
Jenner
 
most cats hate DM wet or dry and that dry, usually no matter what kind is not good. here is a link to wet food we all use. less than 10% carbs. you can also get a cheap meter from walmart. relion micro or confirm. I would switch diets and test before making another $$ vet visit and then decide form there if insulin will be needed
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html
 
I'd go back to the Wellness if your cats liked it. It's better than the prescription food, higher quality.

Any human glucometer, from Walmart the Relion brand, or from any drug store Freestyle, AccuCheck Aviva, One Touch Ultra, just look for a meter that uses strips that sip the blood. The pharmacist can show you.

Once you start hometesting you may find the BGs are lower at home, less stress from the car ride/vet visit. If the numbers stay in the 200 range or higher I'd start a very small dose of insulin, if they start going into the 100s, hold off and see what food and no pred does.
 
Welcome to the FDMB Family,

My current sugarcat Max we adopted as a diabetic, when he was dxed he was 485, he was started on a very low dose of Lantus while we were waiting for him to be transported to us (He was in Boston Mass, we are in Hastings NE) at the same time his diet was changed to all wet canned food, within 2 weeks ( 1 week after getting here) he was completely off insulin. But had I not been home testing him I would have never known that he was ready to stop his insulin shots. Home testing is the single best thing you can do for Felix.

But about his other two conditions. My one non-diabetic was the same way, except he would also claw at his face leaving it raw and bloody, he was also on a daily dose of pred. Once we had Max in the house and started all 10 of our cats on a canned food diet, Onyx the one on pred, stopped tearing himself up. Finally through trial and error we figured out that it was the dry food that was doing it to him, he was allergic to grains.

I also just recently helped a kitty in a local shelter that had mild IBD to have his diet changed, this little guy is now over a year old, and had suffered from mild IBD all his life, the shelter switched him to a raw/canned diet and his IBD cleared up as well.

With 10 cats (now 11, don't ask...lol) I can't begin to tell you how much better everyone is doing on the change in diet. My diabetic is in remission, my allergic boy had his allergies go away ( we lost him a couple months ago to a brain tumor). And the rest of the furry gang have stunning coats, dancing eyes and more energy than I can keep up with. Had I known many years ago when I started owning cats, how much better canned vs. dry was for my furry babies there would have never been a bag of dry in this house.

You are definitely in the right spot to get all the help you need to help your Felix, the folks here have a wealth of information and many of them have learned how to balance both IBD and Diabetes.

Just keep posting as you have questions and someone will be along to help out.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang
 
DM dry is mostly corn and liver, really not good food for cats especially those with allergies and or diabetes! It truly is a crappy food. DM canned is a bit better but not much.

Eliminate allergens like corn, wheat, soy and even watch fish. See if that helps and go from there. There are diets with novel proteins like duck, rabbit and venison. I wish your vet had talked to you about this before going to prednisone :(

Dr Lisa really has good info on diet, allergies, IBD, diabetes, etc. at www.catinfo.org

Jen
 
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