Michelle

[Michelle McGeever]

Hi group. I'm Michelle McGeever. I'm 44 years old and live in Painesville, Ohio. My 12 year old cat Calvin was just recently diagnosed with diabetes in September. He gets two shots of insulin a day. Is there any certain kind of food I should feed him? His sugar is normal right now. He gets his normal dry food and gets canned cat food once a week and on holidays as a special treat. I also reward him a small kitty treat after he gets his shot, which are his Temptations cat treats. Are these bad for him? Just need some advice.

 

[Tuxedo Mom]

Welcome to the group

There are a number of things that you can do to make Calvin's treatment plan more efficient. The first is to learn to home-test. Since glucose numbers are not a static entity testing at home can make sure that it is safe to give the insulin shot. Another thing that would be most helpful to Calvin would be to change to an all wet low carb diet. Dry food is not good for any kitty, especially one with diabetes. However you should not make a diet change until you are home testing since a change to a proper diet can cause glucose numbers to drop a lot in some cases and you would need to be checking the glucose levels carefully while doing a diet change. There have been members on here who have even been able to get their kitties off insulin in a very short time period with doing a diet change to wet low carb food. Also Temptations are very high in carbs, so finding a lower carb treat would also be good.

If you have specific questions you can post on the Health forum at:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/health-links-faqs-about-feline-diabetes.14/

where there is a lot more "traffic" . Also if you could add in what type of insulin you are using and the dose it will give others more information in order to be able to provide better advice.

 

[Michelle McGeever]

Hi Tuxedo Mom. Thanks. I'll keep this in mind. How I found out he was diabetic was when I took him to the emergency vets for an infected puncture wound after getting into a fight with his sister Sylvester. They put him on antibiotics and I followed up with my regular vets two days later. They started him on 2 units of PZI U-100 insulin. My regular vet checked his blood sugar within a week and he was still a little high, so they bumped him up to 3 units. He's doing fine on the 3 units and when I got his blood sugar checked again last month, he was at 115, which was normal. The only problem is that I have an auto feeder since I have four cats all together, so they have access to food whenever they want. I was told to cut back on the food intake, but I don't want to seem like I'm starving my cats either. But I will keep your advice in mind. Also my veterinarian is pretty understanding when comes to Calvin and when I ask questions, she explains her answers thoroughly and is very caring.

 

[Tuxedo Mom]

Michelle

Glad to hear that Calvin's numbers have been good. However numbers can go up and down throughout the day even with a non-diabetic kitty. Some kitties are very prone to vet stress and can show higher numbers at the vets because of this stress. A diabetic person is told to always test before each shot and one or two times in between. The same applies to our kitties. Sometimes a kitty can have a higher number because of hitting lower numbers after a shot, This can cause the glucose numbers to go higher for a day or a few days. A test done when a kitty is in a bounce, would show high numbers and a vet could think an increase was needed, while actually a decrease would be in order. This is why regular home testing can be a valuable tool to know exactly what is happening throughout the day.

 

[Michelle McGeever]

Hi Tuxedo Mom. I'll ask my veterinarian about testing Calvin at home. I'm supposed to go on Friday the 18th to get his blood sugar checked. Is there any certain monitor I should use to test Calvin? Since he's been on insulin, he does eat a lot more. Is this normal? It's good that he's his normal self and eating like a "piggy", but I don't want him to overeat to where he'll get sick. This what I meant to ask too.

 

[Tuxedo Mom]

Hi Tuxedo Mom. I'll ask my veterinarian about testing Calvin at home. I'm supposed to go on Friday the 18th to get his blood sugar checked. Is there any certain monitor I should use to test Calvin? Since he's been on insulin, he does eat a lot more. Is this normal? It's good that he's his normal self and eating like a "piggy", but I don't want him to overeat to where he'll get sick. This what I meant to ask too.

Many vets will not advise home testing, although new veteriarian standards for treating diabetic kitties includes educating the owner in home testing. I personally use the AlphaTrak 2 pet meter,but most of the people on here use a human meter, since the cost of test strips for the pet meter is very expensive.

Does Calvin need to gain weight? Usually diabetic kitties will eat more when they are not well regulated, since the body has trouble utilizing the food properly, so the kitty always feels hungry. Once a kitty is at their best weight and is well regulated they tend to eat less.

 

[Michelle McGeever]

Hi Tuxedo Mom. Calvin did gain weight. When first diagnosed, he weighed only 8.8 pounds, but now he's up to 10 pounds now. He may need to gain a little more weight. Thanks for the advice on the testing meters. I'll keep this in mind. the pet meter doesn't require me to poke him with anything to get blood does it? He don't like needles very much.

 

[Tuxedo Mom]

Hi Tuxedo Mom. Calvin did gain weight. When first diagnosed, he weighed only 8.8 pounds, but now he's up to 10 pounds now. He may need to gain a little more weight. Thanks for the advice on the testing meters. I'll keep this in mind. the pet meter doesn't require me to poke him with anything to get blood does it? He don't like needles very much.

All glucose meters require a "poke" to get the blood droplet. It is not as bad as it sounds. When my first kitty was diagnosed I was "teaching" myself and didn't do a very good job...I was upset and nervous and he could feel the tension. Once I came on this site and learned how to do it properly, it went much smoother. Now he will come to the testing area on his own when I ask him if it is time for a "pokey test" and actually sits and purrs while I do the test. He gets a bit of food or treat after every test and he is VERY food motivated. My other FD kitty is not as excited about the tests but will sit quietly while I do them. For her, the treat is a good combing or brushing, which she really loves.

This link has lots of information and tips on home testing:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/