Long Time Lurker, first time as a New Member

[AddyCareTeam]

Hi all, my cat (Addy) has been diagnosed with diabetes since May 2023 and has been on the Lantus insulin pen since. I give her medication around 8 am and 8 pm daily. I have been lurking on this website as a non-member since May for quick tips and information. I finally made an account because I'm at my wits end. Despite numerous vet visits, my cat is getting worse. See below for stats:

Weight
May 31, 2023 - 9 lbs
August 9, 20223 - 7 lbs
October 11, 2023 - 6.4 lbs
October 30, 2023 - 6.7 lbs (about 24% weight loss since May)

Last Glucose Curve (10/16/2023) She was on 3 units, twice a day at this time. Vet recommended increasing to 4 units after.

8:01 AM - 456 mg/dl (before shot & food)
9:06 AM - 331 (1 hr. after shot and food)
11:24 AM - 343 (3 hours after)
1:04 PM - 249 (5 hours after)
3:12 PM - 289 (7 hours after)
5:04 PM - 211 (9 hours after)
7:07 PM - 209 (11 hours after)
8:00 PM - Night Dose and Dinner
9:15 PM - 295 (1 hour after dinner)

Despite the significant weight loss and increase of insulin to 4 units as of 10/17, she is STILL hungry ALL the time. She jumps on the counter, stove, sink, etc. to look for food. Sometimes, I cave in and give her an extra can around lunch time (she normally gets 3 cans of Tiki Cats Chicken Recipe daily). However, that still is NOT enough.

Vet's Recommendation (10/17/2023): Aside from these high glucose numbers, her thyroid and other lab work came back normal. Therefore, the vet recommend we seek a specialist at this point, but it is costly and I am not sure it will even be helpful. A lot of vet visits have NOT been helpful ("we don't really know but try X").

I feel like an AWFUL pet owner since she remains sick and unregulated despite the time, money, and resource I have spent. I'm also pregnant (due January 2024) and the idea of taking care of both my diabetic cat and a newborn scares me. I don't know what to do at this point.

 

[~Tricia]

Welcome! You’ve come to the right place. There are many knowledgeable people on here that can help. Foremost you are not awful! It’s overwhelming and you are doing the best you can, especially with a baby coming soon! Hang in there! Hugs!

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

The best way for us to help you is if you could please see up your signature and spreadsheet.

Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help. Do you think you can do that? We can help you get it set up if you need help.

being ravenous is a sign effect of the unregulated diabetes since they can’t process the nutrients in food well. I would feed her more now so she doesn’t continue to lose weight. It’s okay to feed a diabetic cats several times throughout the day. In fact, it’s easier on their pancreas and helps avoid big sugar spikes. Tiki is a great food, just make sure you’re feeding the low carb ones.

We don’t recommend increasing the dose by full units. We do ti by 1/4 units so you don’t speed right past the ideal dose.

Unfortunately most vets do not know a lot about feline diabetes….they have many animals to look after and they all have different diseases and treatments.

With a diabetic cat you need:

• A low carb wet diet that is 10% carbs or under. Most of us use around 4-7% carbs
• A suitable insulin such as Lantus or Prozinc which are long acting, more gentle insulins than the old insulins. Lantus is a great one so you’re good there!
• We recommend hometesting the blood glucose with a human meter…it is not necessary to use a pet meter which is expensive to run and is no better. It will keep your kitty safe and you will know how the dose is working for your kitty. Only testing every so often will not tell you what is happening in between those times and an awful lot can happen in even a day. Would you be willing to try it?
• HELP US HELP YOU has information about the spreadsheet, signature and hypo box which you will need to be able to look after your beloved kitty properly

We are happy to help you with setting up the spreadsheet, sorting out what food to buy, how to transition safely to a low carb diet, how to learn to home test and much more.

You will also need some higher carb foods for that hypo box..information in the help us help you link.

This is an excellent site for diabetic cats…it has been around for more than 25 years and has very experienced people to help you.

Keep asking lots of questions!