Max - Not sure what's up :(

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Krystel & Andre & Max

Member Since 2013
Hi everyone! Nice to meet you all. We've relied on FDMB so much for understanding what's happening to Max, our recently-diagnosed love bug, and we can't tell you how much we appreciate all the information and assistance.

We're not too sure what's happening with Max, honestly. Max is an 11 year old Maine Coon who weighs about 17lbs. He was diagnosed with diabetes a few months ago, and started on 2.0U of Lantus on September 18. His BG levels remained high after four weeks, so the vet upped his dose to 3.0U on October 31. But, still, our home BG testing shows that not much seems to be happening when we give him a shot. For example, here are his levels for the past weekend:

16-Nov-13
AMPS 300 - Shot given in scruff
+4 327
+8 280
+10 278
PMPS 262 - Shot given in scruff

17-Nov-13
AMPS 270 - Shot given on left side
+4 292
+8 309
PMPS 364 - Shot given on left side

Max is fed about 3/4 cup a day of a zero-grain low-carb dry food (EVO Chicken & Turkey) - and we're very open to switching him to a canned food (that is available in Canada) if that would help him. Another clue about what might be going on is that unfortunately he's taken up the habit up peeing outside of his box. He still gets in the box, but then pees over the edge - something he's never done before.

So our big question is... what should we do? Does this look like a case where we should be increasing his dosage? Or perhaps is it something to do with his food, or something else entirely?

Any insight or advice you can offer would be VERY much appreciated! :smile:

Thanks in advance,
Krystel, Andre & Max
 
Hi there and welcome from a fellow Canadian. My Neko is part Maine Coon (I think). There are plenty of low carb wet foods available in Canada. If you look at the cat food list on http://www.catinfo.org most are available in Canada. Look for ones where the carbs are under 10%. Most people here feed Wellness, Fancy Feast Pates or Friskie Pate, but there are lots other people use as well. Any of the Evo wet food flavors are suitable too. Neko is on raw food and occasionally gets Wellness.

However, if you do change to wet food, you will have to monitor closely, as BG can drop quickly moving from dry to wet. I would recommend a change to wet food as your first move. Also, we don't change doses by 1.0 unit at a time. We change by .25U amounts. If you don't have syringes that measure .5U, you'll need to get those first. Increasing faster than .25U can miss the good dose.

Have you posted on the Feline Health forum yet? People there can help you get set up with a spreadsheet that most of us use to track doses and BG's. The Tech Forum also has the details on how to do that. The SS are what people here look at to provide advice on dose changes. And one last thing - I notice you don't have any BG tests at night. Often cats can go lower at night - Neko does it all the time. If you could get a test just before you go to bed, it'll help fill in the picture of what is happening. And the tests during the day don't have to be at the same time. A mid cycle check around +5, +6, or +7 might be lower.

On the peeing outside the box, maybe he just needs a higher sided version. Some people here buy tall storage boxes and cut an access door in that. If he's feeling any neuropathy in his hind legs it might be harder for him to squat as he used to. Or you might need to put pee pads around the box.
 
I switched Cedric over to 100% grain free, high protein, low carb canned and his BG dropped about 100 points (this was in May 2011 if you look at his sheet). I also opted to give him 4 small meals a day of canned. We had just moved into a 2 story home, so he was also getting more exercise.

Wendy has a point about possible neurophathy or however you spell it. although I have to say my Dallas sometimes doesn't squat enough and makes a mess. Monday he elected to pee by the opening of the box and it went all over the rubber mat. the day before it went in between the top and the bottom of the box (which I don't think was on right). Using piddle pads is a great idea for now, you can get them in the dog section at the pet store.

Have you had his teeth cleaned recently? It is possible that there is something else that is causing his BG to be higher. Cedric needed a tooth extraction with his dental in February, and I think that reduced his BGs some, but he ended up with pancreatitis which is painful, and was part of his ongoing struggle with getting the right dose.

Good luck and welcome!
 
Welcome from one Max mom to another. :-D

If you can get him completely off the dry food that will make a world of difference in his numbers more than likely. While what you are feeding is one of the lower carb drys it is still up there compared to almost all the pate/loaf style canned food on the market. And if he is highly carb sensitive that alone could be the reason for the higher numbers.

As far as peeing outside the box...I would have him checked food a urinary track infection. UTIs are fairly common in diabetics and infection will raise BGs.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn and The Fur Gang
 
You mentioned Maine acoon; its possible that he needs a larger box, in addition to ruling out UTI, and improving the glucose control. I use a cement mixing tray from a home supply store (Home Depot in Columbus, OH, USA) these tend to be fairly sturdy as cat boxes, plus the bottom edges are rounded to allow smooth dumping.

If there is any neuropathy (ner-ah'-pa-thee), giving a specific form of Vit B12, methylcobalamin, helps. I've seen posted that Vitacost brand may be an inexpensive version.
 
Thank you all so much for your advice. We're definitely going to switch Max to canned food (today, hopefully!) and get him tested for an UTI. We've also heard a bit about testing for ketones, so we'll give that a try, too. Poor little (er... big) guy! :)

We'll post again in a few days to report back on his BG levels on canned food. Thanks again!!!
 
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