Yesterday my baby boy Buddy (age 12) was diagnosed with Diabetes - more blood work is pending but he may also have a thyroid issue. To call this bad news is an understatement. I have 2 other special needs kitties and Buddy *was* the healthy one (he is the youngest of them, the next one is Trouble age 12.5 years and Alcoa age 17). The vet is waiting for more medication before we start treating Buddy and he goes back next Saturday for x-rays (I had a whole senior package but he is... sensitive so we were breaking it down into 2 days). I am fortunate in that my vet is a special needs expert - that''s why we go to him but I'm still heartbroken for this - I suspected it but my father died unexpectedly Dec. 10 2011 and I've been so busy that I haven't been home that much - now I worry about being a bad mommy. Currently the are eating Orijen dry food but we've been struggling with soft food - they have had some very expensive soft food but they have decided that they hate it (all three) and that they only want whiskas pouch food, no pate'. Any advice would be welcomed as we start on a new journey in an already complicated one.
My baby boy, Buddy
- Thread starter LadyDarya
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Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)
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Welcome to FDMB!
There's got to be an affordable wet food they'll eat. Have you checked out Binky's lists? Some people have seen 100 point drop in blood glucose just from switching to all canned food. The trick is finding the right ones.
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html There are 2 charts linked off that page (old and new) and both are very useful.
Look at the % calories from carbs column. A good line in the sand is 7% or less, and maybe grocery store brands like friskees and fancy feast are that low. Most are the "pate" style however, so it might be a trial and error thing, but better to try the brands that are not going to break the bank first. Most cats here eat common grocery store or pet store brands.
You mentioned that your other kitties are special needs kitties as well? There is a unlimited amount of knowledge on the forum of just about every type of special needs cats. You can probably find answers to just about any question you have.
Carl
There's got to be an affordable wet food they'll eat. Have you checked out Binky's lists? Some people have seen 100 point drop in blood glucose just from switching to all canned food. The trick is finding the right ones.
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html There are 2 charts linked off that page (old and new) and both are very useful.
Look at the % calories from carbs column. A good line in the sand is 7% or less, and maybe grocery store brands like friskees and fancy feast are that low. Most are the "pate" style however, so it might be a trial and error thing, but better to try the brands that are not going to break the bank first. Most cats here eat common grocery store or pet store brands.
You mentioned that your other kitties are special needs kitties as well? There is a unlimited amount of knowledge on the forum of just about every type of special needs cats. You can probably find answers to just about any question you have.
Carl
Melissa and Bailey
Very Active Member
Welcome Darya and Buddy! We are glad you found your way here.
Bummer on the 'healthy' kitty coming down with FD. However, you will find that diabetes is very manageable and Buddy can have a long, happy life with this diagnosis. You are not a bad mommy, a lot of people have guilt about not catching things sooner but cats are so secretive in their habits it is really easy to miss.
Another link for you to help with food transitioning - this page is written by a vet and is about transitioning dry food addicts to wet food. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Tips for Transitioning PDF 1-14-11.pdf Lots of good tips there.
Have you considered home testing Buddy's glucose? You can use a regular human meter and strips, and get a drop of blood from his ear. Here is a link to a video that shows you how it's done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8 (The cat in the video is named Buddy too! :lol: ) Home testing is a great way to monitor kitty's progress without expensive vet visits, and to keep kitty safe once you start using insulin.
Good luck and feel free to ask more questions!
Bummer on the 'healthy' kitty coming down with FD. However, you will find that diabetes is very manageable and Buddy can have a long, happy life with this diagnosis. You are not a bad mommy, a lot of people have guilt about not catching things sooner but cats are so secretive in their habits it is really easy to miss.
Another link for you to help with food transitioning - this page is written by a vet and is about transitioning dry food addicts to wet food. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Tips for Transitioning PDF 1-14-11.pdf Lots of good tips there.
Have you considered home testing Buddy's glucose? You can use a regular human meter and strips, and get a drop of blood from his ear. Here is a link to a video that shows you how it's done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8 (The cat in the video is named Buddy too! :lol: ) Home testing is a great way to monitor kitty's progress without expensive vet visits, and to keep kitty safe once you start using insulin.
Good luck and feel free to ask more questions!
Vicky & Gandalf (GA) & Murrlin
Very Active Member
Hi,
You say you suspected it, does that mean you noticed increased thirst, excessive peeing and weight loss? I assume those are the symptoms since vet wants to run a thyroid panel as well and they are the same things people can see in cats with diabetes or hyper-T.
And I also assume Buddy is a nervous cat or hates going to the vet, hence the 2 visits? That's why I want to caution about jumping to the diabetes conclusion. He should have a blood test for fructosamine to definitively diagnose diabetes. Some cats who stress easily can have 200 pt increases in blood glucose from the stress of a vet visit.
Most likely diabetes will be found to be the cause of his symptoms, especially since he was eating dry food, but it's important to get the right tests. Even dry foods which claim they are no grain can cause increases in blood glucose for cats. Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they need to eat raw meat, not processed meat with all the moisture drawn out of it. There is a very excellent site maintained by a marvelous vet, Dr. Lisa Pierson http://www.catinfo.org which can help you with the eating issues. She explains how to transition difficult cats to a raw or canned diet, either of which is better than dry foods and about feline diabetes. That would be a very good starting point for you. Then come back here and ask questions, we can get Buddy back on the road to health and perhaps the other 2 as well.
I see Melissa included the direct link to Dr. Lisa's food transition pages, but check out her whole site as it's essential reading to help every cat owner understand the needs of their cats, be they special or not. Heck, they're all special, aren't they? cat_pet_icon
You say you suspected it, does that mean you noticed increased thirst, excessive peeing and weight loss? I assume those are the symptoms since vet wants to run a thyroid panel as well and they are the same things people can see in cats with diabetes or hyper-T.
And I also assume Buddy is a nervous cat or hates going to the vet, hence the 2 visits? That's why I want to caution about jumping to the diabetes conclusion. He should have a blood test for fructosamine to definitively diagnose diabetes. Some cats who stress easily can have 200 pt increases in blood glucose from the stress of a vet visit.
Most likely diabetes will be found to be the cause of his symptoms, especially since he was eating dry food, but it's important to get the right tests. Even dry foods which claim they are no grain can cause increases in blood glucose for cats. Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they need to eat raw meat, not processed meat with all the moisture drawn out of it. There is a very excellent site maintained by a marvelous vet, Dr. Lisa Pierson http://www.catinfo.org which can help you with the eating issues. She explains how to transition difficult cats to a raw or canned diet, either of which is better than dry foods and about feline diabetes. That would be a very good starting point for you. Then come back here and ask questions, we can get Buddy back on the road to health and perhaps the other 2 as well.
I see Melissa included the direct link to Dr. Lisa's food transition pages, but check out her whole site as it's essential reading to help every cat owner understand the needs of their cats, be they special or not. Heck, they're all special, aren't they? cat_pet_icon
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