Just got test results- I'm one of you now

[Mom2Cats]

Hello,

I'm Mary Beth in Southwest Florida. Just found out my 8 year old boy, Ebony, has diabetes. Test results: 574! We're waiting until after Christmas to start insulin since we'll be gone a few days and need to be hands on.

I'm going to start the no grain diet today and see if it drops in the next couple weeks until his next appointment. In the mean time, I need to decide which insulin to use so the vet can order it. Should I go with the expensive one that might cure it or the less expensive that we'll have to use 2x daily forever?

I'm glad that there are so many new grain free foods on the market so I won't have to rely on the expensive Rx foods since I've gone through that when he had UTI issues. I'm feeding two other large male cats so everyone usually gets the same food. Any suggestions welcomed!

Look forward to learning and sharing in this group since I've never had a special needs kitty before.

Purr more, Hiss less

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

No medical advice. Just wanted to say welcome.
Nice surprise for Christmas isn't it? You and Ebony are in the best place possible and we will all get through this together.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

Welcome! You want low-carb wet food. Keep in mind that not all 'no grain' food is low carb. There is a link in my signature to a cat food database that lets you filter by certain parameters. It was created by Dr Pierson (catinfo.org). She recommends "start with protein minimum of 40, fat maximum of 50, carb max of 10, and for cats with kidney issues....phos less than 300." Most of us find that we need to keep carbs much lower than 10%.

I am not sure which insulins you are considering. There are insulin-specific forums here, and you may want to read the informational posts found at the top of each. Cats do have a chance of achieving remission, and longer-lasting insulins are going to provide the best chance of that. Even if remission does not happen for you, you can achieve better regulation with a longer lasting insulin. ProZinc, Levemir (detemir) and Lantus (glargine) are all good options.

Ask any questions you have on the main health forum.. or, if insulin-specific, on the appropriate insulin forum. There is a lot of experience here!

 

[Idjit's mom]

Welcome to FDMB, yep, you are one of us now and I'm so glad you found this site. Since this is all new to you (and I can sure remember just how nervous and and uninformed about feline diabetes I was) I am going to suggest that you go back to the Home page and read the excellent information in the Getting Started and Education sections to the left of the page. This is going to help you understand the disease, how to manage the treatment and help Ebony ideally to remission, to regulation at least so he feels a whole lot better and can live a long happy life.
Knowledge is power and you care enough for Ebony to have found FDMB and want to learn how to help and what to do.
Very best wishes as you learn the "sugar dance".

 

[JanetNJ]

Hello,

I'm Mary Beth in Southwest Florida. Just found out my 8 year old boy, Ebony, has diabetes. Test results: 574! We're waiting until after Christmas to start insulin since we'll be gone a few days and need to be hands on.

I'm going to start the no grain diet today and see if it drops in the next couple weeks until his next appointment. In the mean time, I need to decide which insulin to use so the vet can order it. Should I go with the expensive one that might cure it or the less expensive that we'll have to use 2x daily forever?

I'm glad that there are so many new grain free foods on the market so I won't have to rely on the expensive Rx foods since I've gone through that when he had UTI issues. I'm feeding two other large male cats so everyone usually gets the same food. Any suggestions welcomed!

Look forward to learning and sharing in this group since I've never had a special needs kitty before.

Purr more, Hiss less

Of you decide to go with lantus (the expensive one) you can order it from Marks Marine pharmacy in Canada much cheaper. A years supply of the pens is about $160. Not bad.

 

[Coco’s Momma]

yep, you are one of us now

Welcome to the club Mary Beth & Ebony!

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome.
I’d go with either Lantus, levemir or Prozinc insulin.
Also if you are not going to start insulin until after Christmas I would buy some Ketostix urine testing strips and test for ketones every few days. You can buy them at a pharmacy or Walmart. Not expensive. Cats with untreated diabetes can be prone to ketones which can lead to DKA which is dangerous. So testing for them will keep him safe. Make sure he’s eating his new low carb diet well too.