Just Diagnosed

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

martinimom

New Member
2 days ago, martini, my 8 1/2 yr old spayed calico, was diagnosed w/ diabetes. after the initial shock wore off, i started doing my own research online, along w/ scheduling an ultrasound of the liver w/ a specialist (appt on 01/14/11).

she was slightly overweight, so we mixed low cal food w/ her normal food. she did lose a noticeable amount of weight, but was also much more vocal, so we took her to the vet. she had just had bloodwork done in june 2010, but we had it done again last week, so w/in just 6 months this developed!

per my vet & all of the information i've found online says to change her food, do home testing along w/ vet's bloodwork, & 2x day insulin shots. any recommendations on any of these - food? home testing?

i guess i don't know what else to ask or tell because i don't know enough about this disease yet. martini is very restless & uninterested in her food.

thanks!
 
Hi

I can't help you with what wet food brands to use since I am not in the US, but you should have a low carb wet food for her, and many cats when switch to that don't need any insulin.


What was her blood glucose at at the vets blood test?


And what insulin did the vet prescribe?
 
Welcome!

It is normal to feel overwhelmed when you first get the diagnosis and when you first start to explore this site. We all felt that way.

Here is a good beginning hometesting site: http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/bgtest.htm

and a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8

It is best to learn to hometest before you change the food since it can mean a big change in blood glucose levels.

As for food, we try to feed wet lo carb under 10% carbs. Here is a food chart that will help: http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html

Read and reread and ask lots of questions!
 
Diabetes is not a death sentence, no life span lost and your cat can live a long happy life as long as you treat this disease.
This is very treatable

You should know that most of the responders to your posts are not vets, including me.
A vet will have dvm by his or her name.
That said; It is very important to check for ketones. You can buy ketodiastic regent strips at the pharmacy to check the urine
for ketones. They can become serious quickly and need immediate vet attention.
Regulation takes time and cannot be done at the vet’s office.
The problem with diabetes is that you can go to 30 different vets and get 30 different treatments.
Working with your vet is very important but it will be your knowledge and learning that will be your cat’s best asset.
The way most people would recommend to give insulin is to start with no more than 1 or 2 units 2x daily. Your cat may need more but
by doing it this way you won't risk passing the correct dose, which can cause the glucose to go higher instead of lower and you have
less of a risk for a hypoglycemic attack.
Lantus and Levimar are great insulins to start with. Pro zinc is also a good insulin Caninsulin (vetsulin) and humilin N although they
work for some cats are harder to work with. I would recommend that N never be started with and used only as a last resort.
One thing lots of people do here is home test their cats bg's using a human glucometer. It doesn't hurt (neither do the shots)
and it will let you know if it is safe to give insulin and give you the information to treat your cat properly.

Stress can raise the blood glucose more than 100 points so the glucose numbers at home may be significantly less and more
accurate then the numbers the vet gets as it can be stressful for your cat at the vet’s office.
I think it is the most important tool in treating this disease.
I had problems with testing in the beginning thinking that it wasn’t worth it to my cat, ie, quality of life but boy was I wrong.
My cat purrs through the whole process. Test your cat before every shot.

It is recommended to feed a low carb high protein diet.. If there aren't any health issues, I recommend you feed canned food with
less that 10% carbs. Cats are carnivores and dry food lacks the moisture a cat needs and normally gets when eating.
Dry food is NOT better for a cat’s teeth and a dry food diet may cause other problems down the line.
Vet prescription foods for diabetes hold no value and is not better then commercially available canned foods. Save your money.

. There are cats here whose diabetes is diet controlled on a low carb diet without giving insulin.
. I can’t stress enough how important it is that your cat eats. That is the number 1 thing. The change of foods from dry to wet
can and should be gradual and as I said it is very important that your cat eats, so if he won't eat low carb foods,
you can work around that. If your cat will only eat dry foods, so be it. . Your insulin needs may be lower if you use low carb foods.
Go to Janet and Binkys list to find low carb canned foods

I know I may be overloading you with information, but I promise that things will get easier as time goes by.
It sounds scary but it really will be ok and it will soon become routine for you. Please let us know what type of insulin
and how much, how many times a day when you have that information so we may help you further. I am going to include a few links to read so you may become more knowledgeable. Please don't expect to absorb everything all at once. The people here are great and will do what they can to help so please keep posting and asking questions. Good Luck
 
Welcome.

I feed all my cats a low carb, wet food diet. It is a mixture of Friskies pate flavors, Wellness, and Authority. I add a little water to the food too. I would feed better food than Friskies, in terms of protein quality, but I am currently unemployed so I have to watch my cash flow.

As Sue said, please learn to hometest before switching diet if Martin is on insulin. The drop in blood sugar can be significant.

As for an insulin, there are several good ones. I use Levemir, so highly recommend that. Lantus and ProZinc are also good, but I have no experience with them. Stay away from Vetsulin/Caninsulin (same thing, different names in different countries). I used to use that, but Levemir is so much better for cats and there were quality issues with vetsulin a while back that I am not sure are resolved.
 
I foster diabetic kitties that are surrendered. Right now I am feeding 5 who are on insulin (Lantus) and 2 who are in remission.

Economics are a consideration. So, I feed a mix of Wellness, Merrick and Friskies - all the low carb varieties listed in Binky's List.

My mix for the day includes a 12.5 can of Wellness, 3 cans of Merricks Cowboy Cookout and 6-8 cans of Friskies. My civie also eats this mix. Several of my cats are big cats, Maine Coon types who weight 13- 17 pounds.

Lantus does twice a day has resulted in many of my fosters going into remission over the past 4 years. Some will never go into remission. But, testing is essential to keeping them regulated and healthy.

Good luck,

Claudia
 
My cat was diagnosed in September in the 500s at about 20 pounds. he had been drinking a lot of water and was not feeling good. He weighed 27 at his previous annual exam. (Very large cat - like Maine Coon but not one.) He was given Lantus and started on 2 units twice a day. In hindsight I would have started with one unit twice a day and then increased as necessary. During this time, i changed his food from dry high carb to canned high protein. I was not hometesting at the time but was taking him to the vet for his tests. The vet kept increasing his insulin and we got to 4 units twice a day in no time. That along with the change in the food filled his insulin shed in his body quickly. I believe that is the reason that he had a seizure one night. Because of this message board, I know now how critical it is to home test so that i know the BG level before the shot. Also because of this board, I was ready when he had the seizure. My cat had no symptoms. Be sure to read about hypos and have Karo syrup or something similar ready. I had liquid medicine droppers and some type of sweet syrup like Karo, honey, etc. in every room. And have some high CARB food on hand to give after the syrup if the cat will eat to help bring up the BG level. I was thankful that my cat slept with us otherwise I might not have known about the seizure as quickly. I was working part time and was at home some days but gone others so I bought a timer feeder so that he could have food while I was gone. I think that giving him 4 smaller meals in a 24 hour period was good for him as it helped his pancreas heal a little better. AFter only about a month, he got off the juice and is doing fine.

Here is what I learned from this board and my reading, etc:

Be sure that there is no other medical issue going on because some infections may cause an increased BG level.

Learn how to hometest now. Test before every shot. If the level is under 150, I would not give a shot according to the suggestions of the protocol I found here. If it was between 150 - 200, it said that you had options which included not giving the shot, feeding and testing again or just not giving the shot period. To do the test, we use a flashlight that is around the head so that your arms are free. I give treats before the test, during the test, and after the test. WE found freeze-dried chicken treats that were very high protein treats and he loves them. I bought two meters AccuCheck Aviva and Relion. I have had more success with Relion from Walmart since it requires the least amount of blood for a sample. I bought small lancets to test with but had a hard time getting blood. Many on the board said that they had to use a larger lancet at first to get the ears so that they gave blood. I also could not get any blood using the lancet device so i just use the lancets. It takes fewer times to get blood now. Keep your chart up to date so that if you have a critical question, you can get the best response from the readers.

Learn how to do the curve. My cat was not on insulin long enough for me to really get that process and understanding of highs and lows down. It is still confusing at times.

BG levels are extremely different (higher) at the vet although I remember one person on the board who did not have that problem with her cat.

Start with a small dose and do not increase (or decrease) much at the time. There is a protocol on this board that helps to guide dosage changes and suggests how long to leave them on a new dose before adjusting again. It also advises you on when not to give a shot (ie. do not give a shot if BG is under 150. If between 150-200, there werew 3 options. Use small needles so it does not hurt as badly. The choice of Lantus was a good one. I think most people on this board are using or have used it.

Stick to a schedule as closely as you can. Shots 12 hours apart. Apparently after you get data on your cat, if shots are given early or later, then some adjustments can be made. These adjustments are made by people who have had a lot of experience and have a lot of data on their cat. I did not have that much experience.

Change slowly to a canned high protein, low carb food and watch BG levels carefully so you don't contribute to a hypo event. REad about the shed and hypos so that you are ready if your cat has a hypo. As I said i had liquid medicine droppers along with the syrup available in every room. I also had some gravy food that was high carb to bring sugar up after the hypo. The syrup brings up the BG level quickly after a hypo but does not last so try to give the cat some high CARB food to help bring it up. There are a couple of lists about food on this board. Get a high protein food that is less than 10% carbs. Labels can be confusing. Read the charts that you find on this website. I feed 4 meals a day instead of 2 while he was on insulin. I used timer feeders when i was not home. I woke up at night to give him his night meal. Chart the meals along with the shots because that gives you so much more information about how your cat is responding. Also, make notes about health, activity level, vet visits, etc. There is so much happening at once, you will forget things. The chart really helped me.

I am sure there is more that I learned here but these are the most important for beginners - at least in my experience. There are wonderful people on this board who really know about this disease and can help you with anything I believe. Good luck. You can do this.
 
Thanks so much for the info. I read through much of the website yesterday & printed out a lot also - Hypoglycemia info, food comparison charts, etc.

We have an appt for ultrasound today to make sure there are no other problems (liver, kidney, pancreas). After those results, her regular vet will prescribe insulin & we will start that, along w/ home testing. Thanks for the insulin suggestions - I'm going to print them out & take along. I want to see what he recommends 1st, but then I will at least know what is working for a lot of you & can ask why he chose a specific type.

Her vet gave us Purina DM wet, which she ate last night, but otherwise she hasn't been eating well:-( After today's ultrasound results, I hope to move along much quicker. Please correct me if this is incorrect.

1 - food change & home testing (this weekend, I hope)
2 - insulin (next week)

I am confused how to Ketone test. I read the directions, but we have 3 cats & there usually isn't any along the sides of the box & I can't imagine trying to catch her urine in a cup!
 
Many cats don't like the DM, so don't force it. Plus being newly diagnosed, her tummy may be off. Try and get her a variety of canned foods that are low in carbs and hopefully she'll like some of them.
 
Lots of cats won't eat Purina DM very long. It is basically liver and they don't seem to like the taste. I would just take it back and say she won't eat it. Then you can try some of the less expensive foods with better ingredients on our food lists: Janet and Binky’s chart Lots of us feed Fancy Feast, Wellness, Merrick and Friskies. Pick a food your cat will eat that you can afford.

Oliver would never pee in front of anyone. We ended up putting him in a room with a litter box full of aquarium gravel. He would go and we would have a sample. :razz:

I hope your vet will start low. We suggest .5 to one unit twice a day to start.
 
Out of 10 cats not a single one of them would eat the prescription canned cat food, every single one of them turned their nose up at it, so it is not surprising that yours isn't terribly fond of it,

Here at least everyone eats what my diabetic eats, just good old fashioned Friskies pate flavors, and even my non-diabetics have improved on this diet. So if you can get the whole household switched to the same diet, not only will you love the way your civies (non-diabetics) will begin to look and feel, but you won't have to worry about your sugarkitty getting into the wrong food.

I even switched my dog to a low carb/high protein diet so I KNEW that regardless of what Max gets into he is safe. And even the drooler has improved with the change in diet. Before we changed his diet he was getting ear infection after ear infection..Now we have been ear infection free for 3 months.

As far as test urine, with 10 cats it was impossible to know who did what when so like Sue we just stuck Max in the bathroom alone with a litter box full of gravel, that worked just fine. Some other things I have seen done was to cover a section of the litter box with saran wrap.

But so far it sounds like you are right on track with everything in regards to treating Feline Diabetes and once you start testing and giving insulin come back and we will help you with all the tricks of the trade that we have learned. And don't get discourage if those first few ear pokes don't go well...It is a learning process, and very few of us get it right the first few attempts. But it will get easier we promise.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang
 
Yeah, that DM food is, um, crap. The first ingredients are: Liver, poultry by-products, meat by-products, water... no high quality proteins. Versus Wellness ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Liver, Turkey, Chicken Broth... the chicken and turkey are muscle meat proteins - much better.

Anyway, my cats would eat it as a once in a while thing (I got a whole case of it from Jeddie's former owner when I adopted him), but not day after day. So, pick up some other food you can afford and see what she likes. Don't hesitate to mix different foods together either.

As for ketone testing, can you stick the strip under her butt while she pees? Oh, I remember following Beau into the bathroom so I could do that. He was very suspicious of me, but once they start peeing they can't stop.... Otherwise, if you can stick it into the puddle right as she finishes and before it seeps down into the litter that would work too - you have to shoo her away so she doesn't bury it.

Good plan on diet, testing, insulin - however, your vet may want to start insulin sooner. That's OK as long as you start learning to test right away and don't make diet changes until you know you can test successfully.

Oh, and starting dose is not based on a cat's weight. That is a common error we see here. It should not be more than 1u twice a day, but a LOT of cats need less than 1u, so .5u is a safe starting place. It depends on blood glucose (BG) values, diet, etc. Just post what the vet says.
 
martinimom said:
I am confused how to Ketone test. I read the directions, but we have 3 cats & there usually isn't any along the sides of the box & I can't imagine trying to catch her urine in a cup!
Click to expand...

I have two cats. We stalk them :lol: Camping out by the litter box to catch the diabetic when he/she comes to pee. :lol:
I did like this, I took off the hood on the litter box, then I kept an eagle's eye on where Simba was all the time, to be able to see him go to the loo in time, then I was hurrying to get the little snaps sized sterile plastic glass and put it in under him, not touching him the least, into the pee stream. At first he thought it was a bit bothersome having me messing around with his behind, and sort of turned his head wondering like this if I had gone nuts or something confused_cat Eventually it became a routine and he wasn't so bothered anymore, it was however always hard to see him when he started to head towards the loo.
Just be determined and it will be easy just after a few times.
 
Oh, what a weekend! on Friday, Radiologist took ultrasound & saw inflamation of stomach, which is either infection (got rx for antibiotics) or start of cancer. We should take her back in 4 weeks to be rechecked, if the antibiotics worked, the inflammation will be gone, period. If the inflammation is still there, chances are the diabetes is just temporary & cancer is the real problem. In the meantime, we are to give the antibiotics & insulin, except Martini did not want to eat, so after running around all day Friday, we took her to our regular vet Friday night & he tested for ketones (negative), showed us how to administer the insulin shots (w/ saline) & gave us a pill to give her an appetite & 2 cans of high protein, high fat, "tasty" food. Friday night, she ate 1/2 can of the food & Saturday morning the other 1/2 can. We were ecstatic!!

Throughout the day Saturday, we got all our supplies - insulin LANTUS® (insulin glargine) rx filled (1 u twice a day), syringes (31 gauge), testing monitor (Relion), strips, lancets, etc., except couldn't find a baby scale (gonna online shop today). Thanks so much for all your suggestions - I knew what to look for & what to ask the vet. He prescribed Glargine & I asked why, etc. & said I was on this website... & he actually had us practice w/ a 28 gauge syringe, but we bought 31.

Saturday afternoon & night, she wouldn't eat. We tried everything - 5 different types of moist foods, dry food, tuna - nothing!! So we syringe fed her a little, but ended up wearing a lot too :-( Same thing on Sunday. My mom was up throughout the night every 3 hours syringe feeding her & a few times she wasn't sure she was still alive.

Called the vet this morning & took her in to be fed intravenously for 24 hrs & they tested for keytones again & they are starting, so off to Veterinary Referral Center (VRC) in Malvern we go for them to treat her. The vet said that once she is regulated & eating, she should be ok. I'm starting to worry about my mom, she is in tears every few minutes. I keep telling her everything will be ok & we can't give up on Tini - she sense our energy!! Deep down, I'm scared too:-(

Thanks again for everything!!

Just an FYI - Martini was my cat initially. Throughout college, etc., I took in 3 strays over the years & had 1 outta the free ads & when I moved back in w/ my parents, they came too. When I eventually moved out at 28, I took only the 1 w/ me because he didn't get along well w/ the others & sprayed everywhere. He was blind & eventually developed hyperthyroidism & HCM & passed away this past August at almost 13 yrs. So, I am Martini's Mom, but she lives w/ her Grandparents. I feel like an awful mother admitting that I left 3 furbabies behind, but my parents treat them like royalty!! I only took the Special Needs cat w/ me & don't regret it at all because he was soooo happy being a "one man show" - never sprayed again!!
 
You have had an exhausting few days. I am so sorry that this has been so hard. I hope the ER can get her eating. One of the things they can do is to start a feeding tube. It sounds kind of scary, but lots of members here have done one and it looks worse than it is. http://www.catinfo.org/?link=feedingtubes You can continue with it once she gets home if necessary. Another thing to ask your vet about is FortiFlora. It is a probiotic and a flavor enhancer that cats seem to love and mixed with food increases eating.

You have a good insulin and have done your homework. Be reading up on hometesting so you can start that once she is home with you: Newbie hometesting site It is a wonderful way to keep her safe.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top