Just diagnosed. So overwhelmed.....

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FlyingBallerina

Member Since 2017
Hi everyone,

My sweet cat Bella was just diagnosed. I am scared for her, and I think she feels too bad to be scared....
  • Diagnosed 4/6/17, her symptoms started a week before this
  • ProZinc, 1 unit every 12 hours
  • Using AlphaTrak2 and KetoStix
  • Before diagnosis she was on Hills k/d for her kidney disease, both dry and wet. Now that I am worried about her carb level, I put her on Fancy Feast pate (she likes it but doesn't feel like eating much now) and Purina Beyond (best I could find last night in the grocery store). Her kidney values are currently ok, so the vet said to worry more about her glucose level.
The day of her diagnosis, her level was 676 (recorded at vet). The next day, at the internist, her level was 472. I just got her glucometer today. 7 hours after her first shot, 599. Right before I fed her for her next, it was too high to read :( This is what scares me the most -- that she'll have permanent damage from it being so high.

I have had KetoStix since 4/7, all have been negative for ketones (thank god) and the highest reading for glucose (not surprising).

She has her first curve on Thursday at the vet. I know these can be done at home, but I feel like if they observe her for a day they might be able to make some good recommendations on how to handle giving her the shots and drawing blood. She is not a chill cat -- her chart at the vet has (in capital letters with stars on the ends) "DOES NOT LIKE BEING RESTRAINED". Her ears seem to be very hard to get a sample from, and she hates it every step of the way. I suspect I am only able to do it currently because she feels so bad and doesn't have the energy to fight.

Currently I am leaving dry food for her to graze on and feeding her 1/2 can of Fancy Feast before each shot, of which she eats maybe 2/3. She is 9 pounds, and I'm very worried she's not eating enough because she feels so bad.

Is there anything I can do to make her feel better/eat better (besides the high carb treats she of course loves)? What should I watch for with such high numbers? I am so overwhelmed. I feel like we just got her kidneys to a manageable level, and now this.
 
There are low carb/low phosphorus foods available. If you can eliminate all dry food it can have a definite impact on blood glucose values. You can buy freeze dried meat treats that most diabetic kitties like.
 
Maybe you can get her to be ok with poking her ears by giving her a treat she can't resist even if she feels yucky at the moment. She'll allow you to test and learn that with the test comes a yummy treat and MAYBE be ok with it by the time she's fiesty again?! A little warm water added to the food might entice her to eat more.
Starting a Spreadsheet here is a good idea so everyone can see her numbers and see how the insulin is working. It's early in her treatment but the more tests the better you can see how the insulin is working. So far it sounds like you're doing all the right things. Extra water helps keep them hydrated and can be added right to her food. I recently started doing this and it has helped my cat stay hydrated through his constantly high numbers.
 
@Yong I'm looking for the link to the low carb low phosphorus wet foods so FlyingBallerina can look at it.

ETA: Oops! I see that you put the link in your post on the welcome thread.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
@Yong I'm looking for the link to the low carb low phosphorus wet foods so FlyingBallerina can look at it.

ETA: Oops! I see that you put the link in your post on the welcome thread.
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Yep! Thanks to you guys I got it!

Good news: she ate more overnight. I will start a spreadsheet tonight, but this morning her level was 638. She's not touching her dry food, which I guess I should be happy about, but she is eating plenty of Fancy Feast right now.

What treats do y'all give your cats? Can someone suggest a brand? I am going to find her something better than the Temptations she loves.
 
Sorry about the diagnosis. Do you have a copy of the latest labs? If not please get them. Do you know what stage kidney disease she's at? If you start a spreadsheet you can tgen post the labs. Depending on the stage you might need to compromise on the carb level so as not to stress the kidneys. KD is high carb so there will be lots to try. When Max's CKD advanced I fed him some Hi Tor Neo was might be one to try.
 
If she will eat just wet food I would eliminate the dry (it's not good for kidneys). You can leave extra wet food out to graze on rather than dry. If she insists on dry Young Again Zero is low in carbs (1%) and less than 1% phosphorous... but it's really important kidney cats have enough water. Try to desensitize her to having her ears touched. Touch them when you pet her without poking for the time being, then give a treat. (Treats you can give are little pieces of meat, cold cuts that don't have a lot of filler like Boar's Head, tuna.) You can always put a phosphorous binder on her food if her phospherous is too high. Do you do sub q's at home?
 
Definitely eliminating the dry food, if possible, will help bring those numbers down. The freeze dried treats I give to my furbabies is Simply Nourish chicken, which is actually a Pet Smart brand. I got my boy in the habit that each time we test, he gets his treat. Being smart as they are, they catch on that it only takes a second to test... If you are comfortable, they'll be comfortable, too.:cat: In my experience anyway. If your concerned about getting some weight on your baby without the extra carbs of dry, you could add some FF kitten food, if needed. The other thing to note is that stress will make the BG numbers higher... being at the vet's office, illness, etc.

I'm fairly new here too. I know this whole process feels overwhelming. This forum is VERY informative and supportive. Most important for us is to breathe and be kind to ourselves. ;)

Welcome to the group! :bighug:
 
FlyingBallerina said:
Yep! Thanks to you guys I got it!

Good news: she ate more overnight. I will start a spreadsheet tonight, but this morning her level was 638. She's not touching her dry food, which I guess I should be happy about, but she is eating plenty of Fancy Feast right now.

What treats do y'all give your cats? Can someone suggest a brand? I am going to find her something better than the Temptations she loves.
Click to expand...
Glad she's eating lots of Fancy Feast. I buy the Orijen brand freeze dried meat treats for Teasel. :)
 
StephG said:
by the time she's fiesty again
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Good news! She's feisty again! She finally ate to my liking today -- about 1.5 cans of Fancy Feast and she grazed on some dry food! She fought me both this morning and evening on taking her glucose and shot. Never thought I'd be so happy to see her fight me. :)
tiffmaxee said:
Do you have a copy of the latest labs? If not please get them. Do you know what stage kidney disease she's at?
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When she got her original diagnosis, her numbers suggested stage 2. I am beginning to wonder if she really had CKD or not though -- from her latest ultrasound, the internist said she was probably just born with small kidneys. Her kidney numbers were on the high end of normal (but still normal!) in her last test -- I will have to look for the results somewhere. But, this was on k/d food, since we're going higher protein/lower carb now I have a feeling they'll creep up :( getting her glucose under control is more important right now though.
JanetNJ said:
If she will eat just wet food I would eliminate the dry (it's not good for kidneys). You can leave extra wet food out to graze on rather than dry. If she insists on dry Young Again Zero is low in carbs (1%) and less than 1% phosphorous... but it's really important kidney cats have enough water. Try to desensitize her to having her ears touched. Touch them when you pet her without poking for the time being, then give a treat. (Treats you can give are little pieces of meat, cold cuts that don't have a lot of filler like Boar's Head, tuna.) You can always put a phosphorous binder on her food if her phospherous is too high. Do you do sub q's at home?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion -- I went to the store (details to follow) but could not find Young Again Zero. She is drinking plenty of water right now thankfully. I have not done a sub q at home -- as hard as it is to give her insulin, I have no idea how I would keep her still for an IV :( Question: a phosphorous binder? I have not heard of this, do you have more information?

Update: She now has a spreadsheet! Her numbers today were still high (above 600) but I could tell she felt better and they have come down slightly over the last 12 hours. The food and insulin together are working!

I also made a shopping trip to Petsmart. Here are the spoils:
1 bag of RedBarn freeze dried whitefish (she doesn't understand that these are treats and not styrofoam....I'm not sure how to get her to try one. Thanks for the suggestion Kris & Teasel!)
2 cans of Fancy Feast for kittens (thanks Geenaroses!)
2 cans of Purina Pro Plan Focus
2 cans of Wellness Grain Free
3 containers of Nature's Recipe Grain Free

The last 3 are from the low phosphorous list. I decided to buy a few things to give her some variety and figure out what she likes best. Thank you guys so much for that list -- it was an absolute lifesaver. I am so glad I found this board and even more glad it convinced me to start home testing -- I feel so much better knowing there's no chance I'll give her too much insulin.
 
Young again is online only www.youngagainpetfood.Com if you email them they will send a sample. Don't be too scared by the price tag. They only need a few tablespoons a day or about a 1/4 cup. So it is about the same for 6 months of wet food... The big bag for two cats anyways.
 
Glad to hear she's fiesty again! LOL I remember the first time I said thank God Chuck is being a d*** again! I was excited because it was his "normal" behavior that I hadn't seen in months!
 
StephG said:
Young again is online only www.youngagainpetfood.Com if you email them they will send a sample. Don't be too scared by the price tag. They only need a few tablespoons a day or about a 1/4 cup. So it is about the same for 6 months of wet food... The big bag for two cats anyways.
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I am used to paying $80 for an 8.5-lb bag of her renal food. This is cheap in comparison! I sent them an email -- thank you so much!
 
FlyingBallerina said:
Currently I am leaving dry food for
Is there anything I can do to make her feel better/eat better (besides the high carb treats she of course loves)? What should I watch for with such high numbers? I am so overwhelmed. I feel like we just got her kidneys to a manageable level, and now this.
Click to expand...
Frank was pretty ill when he was diagnosed and not eating hardly at all. I found that mixing warm water with the canned food and making him like a smoothie really helped get him to eat.
Welcome to the board! I'm pretty new here too, but amy always lurking on people's posts to try to suck up as much info and suggestions as I can.
 
It's great that you have your spreadsheet set up and are going to take the BG testing bull by the horns. It'll be very empowering and confidence building. :)
 
JanetNJ said:
Make sure to ask for a sample of the Young Again Zero Mature. It's slightly lower in phosphorus.
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I got in contact with them and they're going to send me a sample! Thank you so much for recommending it!

Kris & Teasel said:
It's great that you have your spreadsheet set up and are going to take the BG testing bull by the horns. It'll be very empowering and confidence building. :)
Click to expand...
Oh my gosh it is. I feel so much better knowing her number. My worry compared to 2 days ago is down about 65%. I would argue the first 5 days are the hardest.

Also, she was down to 554 today!!!!!! The diet is really, really helping, and maybe her body is adjusting to the insulin. I just hope it isn't straining her little kidneys too much -- at her curve on thursday I'm going to have them do an in-house blood test to see how they are responding. She is eating really well and finally acting like herself again, giving me a sigh of relief.

I owe my sanity to you guys (seriously -- I have lost six pounds since this all started due to stress). I can't thank you enough for the help and suggestions.
 
Hi. I'm glad you are testing. How about starting a new condo tomorrow? Most post a new one each day and link the old one to tge new one. It's also helpful to post the results in the subject box.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Threads are referred to as "condos" on the Lantus forum. Not sure why.
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I sure will then, after this one last post :)

I have awesome news thanks to you all!!!!

The vet called me to check up on Isabella since I hadn't talked to them since Sunday. I gave him a rundown of all her numbers and what I was changing in regards to her feeding. He was very impressed and actually cancelled her curve for Thursday -- He said I should do a curve myself (!!!!) on Sunday! He said (just like you guys did) that I would get much better results at home and after she'd been on the insulin longer. Wow you guys! This is serious!

Thanks to you guys, I am confident we can do it right and get way better results than doing it at her vet -- she won't be stressed out and will eat more like herself at home. The only thing is that she may hate me more, but that's ok, I'm her Mom :)

We have an appointment on Monday to go over the results and also they are going to take some blood to check her kidney values.

Again, I can't thank you all enough. I am so glad I found this place.
 
FlyingBallerina said:
I sure will then, after this one last post :)

I have awesome news thanks to you all!!!!

The vet called me to check up on Isabella since I hadn't talked to them since Sunday. I gave him a rundown of all her numbers and what I was changing in regards to her feeding. He was very impressed and actually cancelled her curve for Thursday -- He said I should do a curve myself (!!!!) on Sunday! He said (just like you guys did) that I would get much better results at home and after she'd been on the insulin longer. Wow you guys! This is serious!

Thanks to you guys, I am confident we can do it right and get way better results than doing it at her vet -- she won't be stressed out and will eat more like herself at home. The only thing is that she may hate me more, but that's ok, I'm her Mom :)

We have an appointment on Monday to go over the results and also they are going to take some blood to check her kidney values.

Again, I can't thank you all enough. I am so glad I found this place.
Click to expand...
I'm very glad that your vet is so supportive. Glad we were able to help get you started. :)
 
FlyingBallerina said:
I sure will then, after this one last post :)

I have awesome news thanks to you all!!!!

The vet called me to check up on Isabella since I hadn't talked to them since Sunday. I gave him a rundown of all her numbers and what I was changing in regards to her feeding. He was very impressed and actually cancelled her curve for Thursday -- He said I should do a curve myself (!!!!) on Sunday! He said (just like you guys did) that I would get much better results at home and after she'd been on the insulin longer. Wow you guys! This is serious!

Thanks to you guys, I am confident we can do it right and get way better results than doing it at her vet -- she won't be stressed out and will eat more like herself at home. The only thing is that she may hate me more, but that's ok, I'm her Mom :)

We have an appointment on Monday to go over the results and also they are going to take some blood to check her kidney values.

Again, I can't thank you all enough. I am so glad I found this place.
Click to expand...
That's great. The cost of testing is totally covered by what you are not having to spend at the vet.... And the results are more accurate. Well done, mama.
 
FlyingBallerina said:
I sure will then, after this one last post :)

I have awesome news thanks to you all!!!!

The vet called me to check up on Isabella since I hadn't talked to them since Sunday. I gave him a rundown of all her numbers and what I was changing in regards to her feeding. He was very impressed and actually cancelled her curve for Thursday -- He said I should do a curve myself (!!!!) on Sunday! He said (just like you guys did) that I would get much better results at home and after she'd been on the insulin longer. Wow you guys! This is serious!

Thanks to you guys, I am confident we can do it right and get way better results than doing it at her vet -- she won't be stressed out and will eat more like herself at home. The only thing is that she may hate me more, but that's ok, I'm her Mom :)

We have an appointment on Monday to go over the results and also they are going to take some blood to check her kidney values.

Again, I can't thank you all enough. I am so glad I found this place.
Click to expand...
If he will give e you an email address you can just email him a copy of the link to the spreadsheet and he can check it whenever he wants as it updates live.
 
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