Miami area help

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marianfriskie

Member Since 2013
Our 10 year old male cat "Friskie" was diagnosed with feline diabetes on Saturday. He has lost a considerable amount of weight in the last year. In march of 2012 he weighed 16 lbs. We we took him for his check up in march 2013 and he weighed 13 lbs. The vet was not concerned at that point because we had changed his diet to a higher protein lower carb food. He continued to lose weight while our other cat was steadily gaining weight. We became concerned and when we took him in on Saturday he weighed 10 lbs. They took a blood sample and the vet suspected it might be hyperthyroidism. We will get the results on Monday. However they also tested his urine and blood at the vets office and found he had feline diabetes. The vet prescribed Humulin n to be given twice a day. He also prescribed an antibiotic.

We are still in shock and a little confused. I spent most of the day Saturday searching for information on the web. It seems that ProZinc is the best insulin for cats. I plan to ask my vet about it when I get the blood test results on Monday. Also, I have questions about diet. We have already been trying to wean them from the dry food and provide more wet food. When we do feed dry food we have switched to a higher quality food that is 40% protein. The only draw back is sometimes they do not like to eat the healthier dry food. They do like the wet food.

I also have questions on testing the blood sugar at home. How to do it and what to look for.

We are also considering getting a scale to monitor his weight.

I am concerned about our other cat because he is nine years old and has gained weight recently. We plan to get him checked out so hopefully we can prevent him from also getting feline diabetes.

It is alot to process at one time. I would appreciate any advise or suggestions.
 
Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic cat

Welcome!

If you are already giving insulin, wait on food changes until you are home testing. You will need 27-28 gauge lancets, a human glucometer such as the WalMart ReliOn Confirm with test strips, and urine ketone or ketone/glucose test strips. Blood glucose testing will help keep your cat safe. Urine ketone testing will help identify if excessive ketones are building up. Ketones are a by-product of fat breakdown for calories. Too many may indicate diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially fatal, expensive to treat complication of diabetes.

We go by percent calories from carbohydrates, rather than percent weight of protein. And they don't tend to list carbohydrate conent on the products. Soooo... there is a big food list over at Cat Info that you may print out for shopping Select any which are 10% calories from carbohydrates or less. Cats have no need for fruits, vegetables, nor grains in their diets, so don't be confused by the marketing to humans who may need those! Friskies pates are one of the least expensive, low carb foods available in the US.

Make your food transitions gradual to avoid GI upsets - maybe change 25% per day.

Prozinc is vastly better than Humulin N as the latter lasts only 6-8 hours in the cat. Other good long lasting insulins include Lantus and Levemir.
 
Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic cat

These are your glusoe reference ranges for decision making using a human glucometer
< 40 mg/dL
- Treat as if HYPO
< 50 mg/dL
- If before nadir, steer with food
- At nadir, often indicates dose reduction is earned
50 - 130 mg/dL
- On insulin - great control
- Off insulin - normal numbers
> 150 mg/dL
- At nadir, indicates a dose increase may be needed
180 - 280 mg/dL
- Any time - The renal threshold (depending on data source and cat's renal function) where glucose spills into the urine. Test for ketones, glucose is too high.
>= 280 mg/dL
- Uncontrolled diabetes and in danger of DKA and hepatic lipidosis
- Test for ketones; more than a trace, go to vet ASAP.
 
Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic cat

Hello and Welcome to the FDMB,the best place you never expected to be. We have a broad range of knowledge in caring for your diabetic cat. We live and breathe diabetes 24/7 and can help you with many of the day to day details of managing your newly diagonesed cat Friskie.

If your cats like the wet foods, there is no reason to keep giving them the dry food if you have not yet started the insulin. Many cats do very well on wet food only. Do be careful with the transition, to avoid stomach upset, change over slowly.

I'd love to see you with a better insulin for your cat then the Humulin N. It causes very fast and steep drops in cats, does not last very long 6-8 hour duration but is is inexpensive. The other insulins Lantus, Levimir and Prozinc are longer lasting, gentler insulins with much longer durations. They are more expensive up front but with proper care, can last 4-6 months.

The Merck veterinary manual specifies Lantus as the first choice insulin for cats. Humulin N is the first choice for dogs. Because of cats more rapid metabolism, the Humulin N is not a good choice, not a long enough duration. Not many owners are able to get good control of the BG (blood glucose) withe the Humulin N because of this short duration.

Check the Lantus manufacturers website for a "Lantus Savings Card" program. If your vet prescribes the Lantus, make sure the prescription is written for the Solostar pens. It will be $25 for your first 6 pens.

Please, ask any questions you may have. We should be able to help you in this new sugardance you have started with your cat Friskie.

Would you please tell us your first name and where you live? Country, state/province, city if you would. We'd appreciate it so we can provide country specific advice.
 
Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic cat

Thanks for all the useful information. Still trying to digest it all. In response to your question my first name is Maria and I live in Miami, Florida. My cat friskie asks for food frequently. Should I feed on a schedule or give food when he is hungry ? Thanks again for all the help. Maria & Friskie confused_cat
 
Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic cat

A diabetic can't use all the food due to the insulin lack and may need as much as 50% more food.

Good food choices are canned or raw low carb, high protein foods, such as Friskies pate, Fancy Feast Classic pates, Wellness, and more. An excellent food list is available at veterinarian written site, Cat Info as well as explanation of why dry foods are not good for cats.
 
Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic cat

Hello there

Humalin N is not the best insulin for cats - its fast acting and harsh on their systems. You are right prozinc is better but also so are Lantus and Levemir

Diet - BJ is right - choose a low carb canned food. No dry which is good cos it sounds like your cats dont like it anywya.. Pick a food from this list with less than 10% calories from carbs (column C). Many of us feed what BJ said ie fancy feast classic pates or friskies pates or wellness grain free. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

testing - is critical to keep your cat safe and to know when and how much dose to change. Here are some tips: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13c_CPZVKz27fD_6aVbsguadJKvjSrSAkD7flgPPhEag/pub. Some cats can be challenging at first so dont give up and ask us lots of questions!

We are also considering getting a scale to monitor his weight.
Click to expand...
I just use my own scale and weigh myself with and without cat. Once every couple of weeks/


Wendy
 
Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic cat

Maria, I would suggest removing your last name from your signature. Leave your first name only. You can never tell what software is searching the web to find names and emails to send spam to. We'd like to keep you safe.
 
Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic cat

Thank you for all the help and support. We are still new to this and have many questions. How do I add a picture to my posts?

Thanks again,

Maria and Friskie
 
Hi,

My cat was diagnosed on 7/6/13. I still have a lot of questions and was wondering if there was someone online who lives in my general area (South Florida). I appreciate all the help and support.

Maria and Friske
 
Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic cat

Is Lakeland near where you live?

We can probably answer most any question you have. Just ask.

To get a picture in your avatar, you need to get it small enough. Here are directions from over in the Tech Support forum.
Deb & Wink said:
1. To get a picture up by your name, shrinkpictures.com has an Avatar tool to shrink a picture you have.
2. Select the Create Avatar tool over on the left hand side of the screen
3. Follow the directions on that website to shrink the picture to 90 x 90 pixels max size.
4. Save the picture to your computer. Remember the name you gave it and the folder where you saved it. Something simple lie 'Yourcats name avatar" in your picture folder would be good.
5. Now that you have a small enough picture, it's time to update your user control panel in the FDMB.
6. Go to the upper left corner of your screen and click on the words, User Control Panel
7. On the next screen, a row of tabs is presented. Select the Profile tab
8. On the next screen, there are a number of choices along the left hand side. Select Edit Avatar.
9. Go down to the box where it says "Upload from Your Machine"
10 There is a browse feature that you can click on.
11. find the folder and name of the picture you saved back in step 4.
12. Click on that picture to select it.
13. Click on submit to save this change.

You should have a picture in all your posts now. You can change the avatar picture in the future too.

It may look like a lot of steps but I like to give clear step by step directions where possible. It will probably only take you about 2-3x minutes to do the actual steps. The hard part is going to being choosing only one picture of your cat to share with us. :o :shock: :o
Click to expand...
 
Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic cat

Maria,

Oh good, I see you changed your signature to only have your first name like I suggested.

2 ideas for you to get more help.

1. Would you please go to your user control panel, profile tab, edit profile and enter your location. Something like " USA, FL, Miami area" would be good to see. This way, more people may see where you live and you may get more offers for local help.

2. One other thing you can do is to go to the very first post in this thread. Click on the edit button over towards the right of the screen. Change the subject to something like "Miami area help". That way, anyone scanning the board will see it and jump in. The way it is right now, the subject header with your request for Miami help is buried down many posts and is not so visible.

Try those two suggestions please.
 
Thanks. I made changes as you suggested. I live in Miami Lakes, FL in northeast Miami-Dade county close to the Dade/Broward line. Now in addition to diabetes, Friskie also has hyperthyroidism. My vet is referring me to a specialist in hyperthyroidism. He is not sure how hyperthyroidism affects diabetes. Treatment options are pills or radiation. Need a good vet in my area that is familiar with hyperthyroidism and diabetes. Trying to stay positive. Appreciate any help or suggestions.

Thanks,

Maria and Friskie
 
Logically, hyperthyroidism increases the metabolism, and thus the need for calories.

Slowing down the metabolism, either by medication ($), surgery ($$) to remove the thyroid, or I-131 treatment ($$$), will reduce the need for calories.

You won't feed as much, and because you won't be feeding as much, the insulin requirements should also decrease. It will be very important to monitor the blood glucose levels.

Also very important: slowing down the thyroid may unmask renal disease. The decreased rate of blood flow may result in decreased filtration, letting toxins build up. Monitor drinking and urination very closely.
 
You have the area where you live in your signature, but it is not searchable by member id. If you go to your user control panel in the upper left of the screen, select Profile tab, select Edit Profile from the left hand menu, go down to the Location field. Type in your location info there and submit to save.

Only current active Member I could find in the Miami FL area is Courtney and Kismet. She hasn't been on for almost 2 months but I'll try to PM her for you.
 
Check this Google Maps search
Once the search comes up, if you edit the address so it has your full address, you'll get the nearest ones to you.

There are Vet Interview Topics in my signature link to help you find what you need for diabetes. You'll want to look for a specialty clinic - internal medicine, maybe endocrinology.
 
He had a little bit of diarrhea this morning. I am assuming it could be the change is diet or maybe from the antibiotic he is taking. I would appreciate your ideas or suggestions.

Thanks,

Maria and Friskie
 
What antibiotic is he on?

Many antibiotics destroy the good bacteria in the gut. You can add 1 teaspoon of plain yogurt with active cultures to his diet. Or some fortiflora added to the food. This contains all sorts of good bacteria (probiotics) and will help restore the intestinal fauna.

Give these 2 hours before/after the antibiotic.

The Newman's Own cat foods you are feeding are ok, <10%carbs ,EXCEPT for the Beef & Liver which is 20% carbs. That's too high for a diabetic cat.
 
Hi Maria,

We have a member in the Miami area that is willing to help. Her user id is "Courtney and Kismet". She has been on vacation and just got back. If you still need assistance, please let us know.

Thanks.
 
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