My cat was just recently diagnosed, Help me please?

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Lizeth and Minino

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Hello, My name is Liz and my cat's name is Minino. He was diagnosed with diabetes on Tuesday. Since then, I have been obsessing over this disease and all i do when I can is to research information online. Today I have encountered a problem. Minino doesn't want to eat his food. The vet put him on Hill's prescription M/D canned. He ate it just fine the past few days but today he smelled it and wont touch it. He has always been quite picky with his food and he will get sick of eating the same thing. I have always been concerned about my pets' diet and have always tried to feed them the best brands.
I had spoken to the vet about this prescription food, why it was so good for my cat with this problem. She said it was high protein, low-carb, low fiber, etc. And I told her if that was the case, if it was possible to find a good holistic food, with high quality ingredients, that was high protein, and low-carb. And her immediate response was "NO, commercial pet foods don't work as well, prescription is the best". I wasn't very happy with this response because I have never been very fond of hill's food, I always thought it was overpriced for the quality, and you could find much better foods within the same price range.

With all this stress of knowing my is kitty sick, I had dropped this food subject until today that he stopped eating. I plan to take him to the vets today, because i'm worried he's not eating and I'm afraid to just change up his diet. I know there are brands of cat food that use high quality ingredients, and are high protein, low carb. such as wellness, evo, merrick, etc. Is this a good idea, or should I just stick to the prescription and just wait and see if he eats it?

I'm sorry, I did not mean to write a novel here, but I have been reading your posts and replies and I know you all can help me do what's best.

Thank you so much,

Liz
 
Welcome. Regarding food, the M/D is OK food but any low-carb (generally gravy-free variety) canned food is fine and generally less expensive. It is important that your cat eat, high carb food if necessary. he following provides a ling for cars in various foods. Low-carb is about 10% or lower.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=115

If you have any question just ask.
 
Very few people here feed any of the prescription diets. You named many quality ones that contain just as much protein. My concern is that you get the cat eating. Many years ago, I think it was summer of 04 Thomas got into severe liver issues because he was not eating. That can come on very quickly. My vet told me to get him eating was our number 1 priority at that point, and the rest would follow.
Having said that, I do now that when Thomas suddenly turns up his nose at food he's been eating, it often means his tummy is upset.
BTW--welcome. Thomas has now been diabetic for 9 1/2 years. The difference now is that with the newer insulins many kitties go into remission.
Dana
 
OK that vet food is crap. Neither of mine will touch it with a 10foot pole. The ingredients are lousy but the vets still push it on people. And worse, it costs way too much!
Sadly vet office even still sell dry foods, and we know that dry food is horrible for diabetics.

Look at this list and select some foods under the 10% carb level.
Binky’s Food Lists

Welcome to the site; you are now in the best place possible to help you help Minino feeling much better. Please know that there are many kitties who are diet controlled and needing no insulin, or are need insulin for a very short period of time.

As with human diabetics, kitties can do just fine and live long and healthy lives even with having diabetes.

Aside from your vet saying to feed that expensive prescription foods, how else is the vet saying you need to treat Minino? Have you started on any insulin, and what kind, what dose? Does Minino have any other health issues? What signs did Minino have that concerned you?

If you can give us a bit more info about Minino, people here can help you. For starters, please look at the list of foods in the link I gave you and select some of the foods listed to try. Many people feed some of the fancy feast or friskies lower carb flavors, but there is such a wide variety on the list that you may just find the wet food you were feeding before was just fine and you can go back to it for Minino ... I am sure he will be happier too!

Again, welcome to the site. Ask all the questions you want and someone here will have some answers for you or be able to provide you with a direction to go to get that info.
 
When Esse was diagnosed, I was in the same position. Except I didn't have this board. LOL, you're already one step ahead of me!.

I use Wellness and Evo almost exclusively. I switch around the Wellness flavors, so they don't get bored with one flavor. I have never given in to the attempts of my vet to buy the super expensive food they sell, and I've seen some good results. Since I have 10 cats (two are diabetic), I need to find an economical (both food and time wise) way, and what's done it for us is the Evo/Wellness. I also give some frozen raw at times, mostly for overnight stuff, and that helps, too.

Welcome aboard, and ask a lot of questions. Each Cat Is Different (ECID), and each owner is their own bean. Find what works for you and your cat, and I'll bet that you'll be an old hand at this pretty fast.

If you don't already, I would strongly recommend home testing. Also, when you get a chance, get a spreadsheet ("ss") set up; not just for us to read, but it will be enormously helpful for you to see the data over time; it shows what works, what doesn't, and may give you ideas as to how to tweak things for your baby for better results. But all that takes time, so whenever you can, you know?

In the mean time, ask, ask, ask...there is a lot of experience on these boards!

Best-
Michele
 
Wow I am absolutely amazed at all of these responses. You all don't know how much it means to me at this moment. Thank you again.
I just got back from the vet, He did a quick physical exam, and everything seemed okay. Minino wasn't dehydrated (Which I was also worried about because I hadn't seen him drinking much, before he used to drink lots!) , the vet explained that could be a good sign since diabetic cats without treatment drink lots of water. So thank God for that.

I mentioned the food issue and once again I got the "no, keep him on prescription diet" response. When I asked him why I couldn't give him another food that was high in protein and low in carb he said to me that it was because there was more to food labels and food than the "guaranteed analysis" he said that "as vets we know exactly what's in the food and what isn't. ". I just said okay, and dropped it.

He also recommended to mix in some dry M/D, or royal canin diabetes dry, to his canned M/D. Immediately I was like "no way!". He said although the best for him is canned, i needed to get him to eat, and since he has been used to dry food all his 8 long years of life, I should do so. Well after reading so much the couple of days, I am well educated on the fact that dry food for my kitty is a no-no! So I took the prescription, hid it well inside my wallet, and came home. Thankfully, as soon as we got home minino ran to his bowl and ate his food. Maybe he was just being a brat this morning? cat(2)_steam .
 
Welcome.


Are you giving insulin yet?

Did the vet tell you what his blood sugar was today?

You already got great information on food and hometesting, so there's nothing I an add, but do want to say hi.
 
Gayle and Shadoe said:
OK that vet food is crap. Neither of mine will touch it with a 10foot pole. The ingredients are lousy but the vets still push it on people. And worse, it costs way too much!
Sadly vet office even still sell dry foods, and we know that dry food is horrible for diabetics.

Look at this list and select some foods under the 10% carb level.
Binky’s Food Lists

Welcome to the site; you are now in the best place possible to help you help Minino feeling much better. Please know that there are many kitties who are diet controlled and needing no insulin, or are need insulin for a very short period of time.

As with human diabetics, kitties can do just fine and live long and healthy lives even with having diabetes.

Aside from your vet saying to feed that expensive prescription foods, how else is the vet saying you need to treat Minino? Have you started on any insulin, and what kind, what dose? Does Minino have any other health issues? What signs did Minino have that concerned you?

If you can give us a bit more info about Minino, people here can help you. For starters, please look at the list of foods in the link I gave you and select some of the foods listed to try. Many people feed some of the fancy feast or friskies lower carb flavors, but there is such a wide variety on the list that you may just find the wet food you were feeding before was just fine and you can go back to it for Minino ... I am sure he will be happier too!

Again, welcome to the site. Ask all the questions you want and someone here will have some answers for you or be able to provide you with a direction to go to get that info.
Click to expand...

Here is minino's story (in a nutshell):

For starters, he is 8 years old and weighs 11.4 lbs right now. His entire life he has been on dry foods (My mistake, now I know :sad: ) , he has gone from nutro, to natural balance, to science diet, to wellness, to royal canin. I was always told that feeding your cat wet food wasn't 1. Very nutritious and 2. Bad for their teeth. So I always stayed away. Man do I beat my self up for it now. About 3 weeks ago he started giving us a hard time with his food. He wouldn't eat so we began trying new foods, and finally found royal canin which he seemed to like. My mom had been telling me that he was losing weight but we also didn't pay much attention to that since he was very overweight and we thought it was a good thing he was taking some of it off. On Tuesday (June 29), we noticed minino had not done #2 in a few days, so I got worried and took him to the vet for what I thought was constipation. The doctor examined him and she said it didn't seem that he was backed up, but it was best to do an organ screen. I also explained about his weight loss, and his eating problem. She said that it would be best to run some blood tests, and organ screen. They called me back in to talk about his health and that's when I was told he was diabetic. His blood sugar was at 398mg/dl , to comfirm, they tested his urine and it was at 1000. They gave him a subcutaneous fluid therapy, prescribed him with M/D food and was put on ProZinc insulin 2 units every 12 hours after food. He is to eat 3/4 -1 can twice a day.
Today (July 2 ) They checked his blood glucose level and it was at 285mg/dl.

I have so many questions, but I will not bombard you all with them right now. What kind of glucose meter can I use to home test him? I know there are some specifically for animals, are they worth the money? Here at home we have a freestyle lite meter that is brand new and we can use it for him. Would this be okay? I certainly don't expect perfect results but something to give us a good idea so that we can keep track of how he is doing.

One more thing, from all the reading that I have done, I have seen that remission is possible. That some cats, can possibly be off the insulin and their diabetes can be controlled with a good diet. I know this is a lot to hope, but I do pray that at least he doesnt have to get two shots every single day for the rest of his life. I asked the vet today and he said this is very rare, that usually 8 out of 10 cats stay on insulin. I'd like to hear your stories, For I really want to have a good outlook on this, I need to hope.

Again thank you ALL, so much for your responses and for taking the time to answer my questions.

-Liz

( I attached a picture of minino, I thought you'd all like to see him)
 

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Lizeth and Minino said:
I have so many questions, but I will not bombard you all with them right now. What kind of glucose meter can I use to home test him? I know there are some specifically for animals, are they worth the money? Here at home we have a freestyle lite meter that is brand new and we can use it for him. Would this be okay? I certainly don't expect perfect results but something to give us a good idea so that we can keep track of how he is doing.

One more thing, from all the reading that I have done, I have seen that remission is possible. That some cats, can possibly be off the insulin and their diabetes can be controlled with a good diet. I know this is a lot to hope, but I do pray that at least he doesnt have to get two shots every single day for the rest of his life. I asked the vet today and he said this is very rare, that usually 8 out of 10 cats stay on insulin. I'd like to hear your stories, For I really want to have a good outlook on this, I need to hope.

( I attached a picture of minino, I thought you'd all like to see him)
Click to expand...


Minimo is adorable.

Yes, you can absolutely use the human glucometer to test him. Most people here do.
You test by getting blood from the edge of the ear. There are videos showing how to do it... I'll go find them in a second. There's lots of tips and tricks on how to do it, the first few days are sometimes tough, but then you find the techniques that work for you and it gets a lot easier. It only takes a few seconds once you get the hang of it.

Hometesting is much more accurate than at the vet, because stress can raise their blood glucose numbers. You can also test much more frequently so have a better idea of what's happening. And, it's cheaper.

A lot of people here have cats who have gone into remission and are controlled solely by diet. It might mean insulin for a little while until his body heals, but then as you're hometesting, you'll gradually start to see his numbers drop, reduce his insulin dose, and continue on, until hopefully he no longer needs any. Some people have also seen drastic drops just from switching to very low-carb food - again, this is where hometesting is important so that you know what's going on. There's no guarantee of remission, but it can happen.
 
It seems too be heard to get good statistics for cats going into remission. Some say over 50% will go into remission and some say less. If the diabetes is steroid induced the remission rate is high. I have had nine (three have crossed) diabetic cats and only one is sort of in remission. That one maybe get one or two shots a week.

The animal meters works fine but are expensive and not really necessary. Human meters are adequate. Each of my six diabetic cats has their own meter. The FreeStyle lite meter is fine and only needs o.3 ul of blood.
 
Hi Liz,

Yes, your freestyle light meter is fine. Here is a video that shows how we get blood out of the ear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8 It is important that you test before every shot, particularly if you have changed over to wet lo carb. The diet can suddenly kick in and really reduce the insulin needs. (For Oliver, it was 100 points less overnight!) You also need to get some numbers for the lowest point in the cycle. With PZI, that is usually somewhere around 6 hours after the shot.

Yes, there are many cats here who go into remission, with a good lo carb diet and insulin regulated by hometesting. Oliver was only on insulin for 6 months, requiring less and less over time. Then we got down into numbers that didn't require insulin for the final year of his life. (He was 17 and died of heart failure a year later. It can be done!

I like my vet very much but we choose to disagree on food. I feed Fancy Feast and think its ingredients are just as good as the "prescription" food. (I have always wondered what exactly makes it prescription other than it costs more....) You can always say he refuses to eat it.....
 
As I said before, Thomas has been on insulin for 9 and a half years now, and is no worse for the wear. The newer insulins seem to have better remmission rates, but I assure you, Thomas does not care or suffer because he gets insulin. It did not take him long to figure out, that getting insulin was part of the eating regimen. And he will also alert me when his levels are high or something, by meowing at the shelf where the glucose meter is kept.
They are smart.
Dana
 
Hi Liz & Minimo welcome I have only been here 1 month and my cat Trey is doing pretty good. My vet did not agree with what I was doing but now I think she sees this place is great...People here know so much about Diabete Felines I am sure Trey will be in remission in a few months Just follow the advice we get here . Wecome aboard and you are on your way to the Falls that is a place where all cats OTJ (off the Juice ) goes I think It s a big party for us too.If you want to know more of Treys story I will be happy to tell you Hugsssssssssss and happy hometesting to you both>>>>>LOL Kath :mrgreen: :lol: ;-)
 
Liz,
Since Minino is YOUR CAT, it will be YOU who decides on the foods you feed YOUR CAT.

All the vets try to push that prescription foods on cat owners; mine did too and I told her it's crap and highly overpriced. There are plenty of much better quality foods than what your vet is trying to force on you.
Look over the list I sent you and pick up a few different kinds from the list that are below 10% carbs and let Minino decide what is edible. Pick up some flavors of fancy feast and I bet you Minino will eat just fine! Be sure to get the ones that are lower than the 10%, but you can also get a couple of the higher carb one because if Minino gets very low numbers, you can feed some of the higher carb foods.
Ask your vet what is the carb % of that prescription food and see what you get for an answer. I bet your vet doesn't know.
Binky’s Food Lists

For the constipation, you can pick up some Miralax and mix it right into Minino's food.
It's called Lax a Day, or ReversaLax here in Canada, and I mix in 1/4 tsp in Oliver's morning and evening big meals, and it's helped him a great deal.
Be sure that you add some water to Minino's food because the Miralax draws water from the body to help loosen up the stool. Within a couple days you should see a difference and a much happier Minino!

The meter you have is just fine; there are others that people use like OneTouch or Aviva, but i think the main thing about the meters is to use the same meter because one may be testing higher than another. I have a couple different kinds; I am betting you will get like many others where you are using one meter but then think hmmm, I wonder what this one or that one is like. Where I get my strips, and other places quite often you get the meter free when you buy a box of testing strips. The one you have will be just fine though.

With high numbers, you should pick up some ketostix for testing urine for ketones. It's very important when you are getting high BG numbers.

About asking questions ... goodness! Make a list and ask all the questions you want! Seriously, it's tough in the beginning to get a handle on FD so any way we can help you, we will.

I cannot help with any questions about the use or workings of the insulin you are giving but there are many here who can. Be sure to test Minino's BG before giving any shots. Most people on this site keep track of their numbers on a spreadsheet, but I don't want to bombard you with info.

I honestly don't know where your vet gets her info. About remission, there are several who are in remission, but provided they are treated correctly.

When I first came to this site, there were two others here around about the same time: Ronnie/Luna and Randi/Max. You know where their cats are? Both of them are OTJ. So you can tell your vet that you know of 3 people that had their cats dx'd around about the same time and 2 of the 3 are in remission. So yeah, it is definitely possible!

You may like your vet and I do like mine, but not that many vets know much about FD so you will find that shortly you will know more than your vet about FD. My vet does stuff like the blood tests and dental and Xrays and ultrasounds but none of them tell me a thing about how to treat my cats for their FD. They did not believe my Shadoe was acro but I forced them to have the tests done, and sure enough, she was.
 
You've gotten some great responses so far, so I'll try not to repeat it -- but I am firmly on the home testing, low carb canned food bandwagon. All 5 of my cats (2 diabetics) eat Wellness Chicken or Turkey and some Fancy Feast or Friskies for treats.

What jumped out at me...

The blood sugar numbers that you mentioned are definitely diabetic, but they are not astronomical. There is an excellent chance of your kitty becoming "diet controlled" after treatment with insulin for a few weeks or months to let his pancreas rest and heal.

Be aware that 2 units every 12 hours may be too much insulin. Read the information about Hypoglycemia so you will be able to recognize the signs. Also learning to home test blood sugar will help a lot.

My two diabetics only need a tiny amount of insulin -- we use Levemir, which is a human insulin.
Rusty gets 0.5 u BID
Tiggy gets 0.25 u BID

Also -- it is very important for your kitty to eat. It is better to eat High carb food than NO food. Some cats need more time for a food change, so if you want to give, say, half-and-half of the old food and new food, go for it.

Also, there are some low carb dry foods. My cats were dry food addicts, so I transitioned first from Science Diet to Blue Wilderness (18% carbs) and then to EVO (8% carbs) (all the time with some canned food too). Finally, we went to 100% canned food with occasional crunchy treats of EVO.

It is also ok to give your kitty extra food if he wants it -- in the early days of diabetes treatment, they may be very hungry because their body cannot properly absorb the energy from the food with inadequate insulin.
 
Thank you all for the wonderful responses. I have gone through the food list I was given in a message and I have decided to try the EVO foods. I still have a few cans of the M/D, so I'm going to start mixing in the EVO to make it a little bit more palatable for him. I don't like the fact that he is not eating his 2 cans a day, he is barely eating 1. So I'm going to try to motivate him to eat more.

Besides looking for a high protein, low carb food, is there anything else I should be looking at when I choose a food for him. As a matter of fact, for canned food, what is the ideal protein amount (or percentage), and carb % I should look for?
He really needs to develop some muscle mass again because you can feel his spine, he's 11.4 lbs and the vet said she wanted to keep him at 9-11 lbs. But she said he definitely needed that high protein to build muscle. Basically, besides the protein and carbs, what else should I keep in mind?
I have also been reading about the actual ingredients of the food, some people say to stay away from grains as much as possible, as well as fruits and vegetables, is this correct? Grain free is perfectly fine with me (I think a lot of the grains in pet foods are fillers anyways), but the fruits and veggies? I thought they needed this?
 
Cats are carnivores and I think all those fruits and veggies are just filler as well. You know what my Oliver's favorite snack is? It's chunks of raw chicken. Before his shots, because you don't want to feed 2hrs before shots, I usually give him some chunks of chicken.
Shadoe won't eat the chicken raw, so I steam cook it for her.

Look for foods from the list that are under 10% carbs; I feed foods 7% and under, with most being around 5%. Food does make a difference and I can tell when Shadoe has eaten something high carb because her BG will be higher.

You can try some different kinds of foods; EVO is a good choice but if Minino won't eat it, it does not matter if it is the perfect food. I have tried a couple of flavors of EVO, and Shadoe won't touch it, but Oliver will eat it a bit. Not every cat likes the same I adopted Oliver, he was being fed that prescription foods and he was all skin and bones. Now he is 6lbs heavier and his bones are covered and he's got a nice shiny coat. He loves his Friskies and some Fancy Feast flavors.

When looking over the foods list, you can pick out ones that have low carb, and high protein.
I am sure in no time, Minino will be eating so much you will be wondering how much food is too much!
 
Lizeth and Minino said:
Besides looking for a high protein, low carb food, is there anything else I should be looking at when I choose a food for him. As a matter of fact, for canned food, what is the ideal protein amount (or percentage), and carb % I should look for?
Click to expand...

Evo is a good choice. Many of us also feed our cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies. If you use the link to go to Binky's food list, you want to try to find foods with as high number as possible in the protein column and less than 10 in the carbs column. Usually the foods that say they have gravy will not fit in this category. I have had four diabetic cats and they have all done well on this diet.
 
Welcome Lizeth and Minino!

Other people have already given you a lot of information, so I will try not to repeat what they have already said.

The very first thing I would urge you to do is start home testing as soon as you possibly can. I would do this before you worry about the food. If he won't eat, go back to the food he was eating before he was diagnosed until you can start home testing. You need to start testing before giving his insulin so you can be sure it is safe to give it to him.

My cat, Mr Tinkles, was diagnosed a little over 2 months ago, and started on 2 units of ProZinc BID also. His BG was 600 at the time. I switched his food within a few days of diagnosis, at the same time I started home testing. One very important thing that you need to know is that you should not change Minino's diet to low carb food until you are home testing. His BG #s are not that high to begin with, and when you switch to low carb, his BG #s will drop. If you are continuing to give 2u of ProZinc, and not home testing, you are running a significant risk of hypoglycemia. That is a relatively high starting dose for ProZinc. The usual starting dose is 1u BID.
 
Hello everyone, It's been a few days since I replied. Thank you so much everyone for your very very helpful posts. On Saturday I bought minino a few different varieties of high protein low carb foods, I saved the binky's food list to my phone and I carried it with me to the petstores. :) I bought him some wellness canned food, two varieties of EVO canned, and Merrick's cowboy cook out. Since then I have been mixing in the M/D with these foods and he has taken very well to them. He's been eating a lot more than last week, when he was only maybe eating 1 can all day. He seemed to enjoy EVO the most, although I haven't finished giving him the wellness.

I have to tell you guys that I am happy because I have seen improvement in minino's behavior, he is a little more lively, Although he is still my lazy boy. But I see him moving around more, chasing lizards in the porch, and chasing my 60lb dog.

I started home testing him as well. The lowest I have seen his blood sugar was 119, and the highest at 285. Today we took him to the vet because he was scheduled for a glucose curve. I didn't end up leaving him there because the vet said since I was home testing, he would rather do a Fructosamine test for which he is scheduled for in a couple of weeks. ( Has anybody ever gotten this done? Does this actually help?). They tested his sugar and it was at 211. He hadn't had his insulin shot for 13 hours. Doctor said things were going well so far, so he didn't want to change his insulin intake or anything. He left him at 2 units, twice a day. I have been testing him before each shot, and when I see his numbers low like the 119, I don't give him the 2 units. But when I saw the 285, I did. I have never given him more. But I have adjusted it to fewer units because I didn't want him to get Hypoglycemic.

Minino hates getting his blood test, and even more the insulin shot, but we are trying. It's not the pinch of the needle, but more that he doesn't enjoy being held for longer than 10 seconds. Seriously. I have learned to take his blood and leave him alone until he gets comfortable and then I sneak up on him and give him the shot.
I have seen videos how to do this, but those cats stay so still, and so calm. Minino starts growling the second I pick him up, it's like he knows already. Anybody have any tips to help him get calm? Petting him for a little before doesn't help much either. I feel so bad poking his ear everyday..
 
Liz.I had a hard time to get blood from Trey and them someone here said they wrap him in a bath towel paws in they can`t get away and he just lays there while I poke the ear and I release him .I Always give him treats or a bit of food tell him how good he is .Trey got so use to it lots of time we don`t use the towel. and then where ever he is laying just go pick up the fur and shoot or do it while he is eating . 6 weeks now Trey just looks at us crazy people. We have to put him on the table most time and he gets poked sometime 20 times a night to make him safe. We have went under 50BG a few times and this is how they get thier reduction by the way we are using Lantus...I know that Trey will go into remission and that is what we are shooting for.. It is hard staying up till 3am but I know it will be worth it If there is anything you want to talk about and if I can help I know nothing about doses but I can poke my cats ear ,mix up a HC snack and give a shot no problem People here are great and I am learning a lot and I can`t believe but I stay calm mostly because they are here for us.. If you need a quick answer Just use your subject line like Dose Advice or Help....works every time LOL Kath Just a few of the things that made it better for us.... :mrgreen: :lol: ;-)
 
Hi Lizeth,

The burrito method that Kath described worked for Oliver. If Minino is really difficult, you can use the clothespin trick: http://www.felinecrf.org/giving_sub-qs_ ... _peg_trick Regardless, be sure you give treats and loves after the poke so he associates it with good things. We always gave Oliver the shot while his nose was in his breakfast and dinner, and he never noticed. Are you sure warming the insulin in your hands a few minutes before shooting? I didn't realize what a difference this could make until I got a flu shot straight from the ice chest. It was painful!

I think you are using PZI, right? It's important that you find out his nadir - the point at which the insulin takes his blood sugar level the lowest. That will tell you how the insulin is really working and will help you adjust the doses. The preshots are vital, so that you know it is safe to give the insulin, but they shouldn't be used to determine dosage. Be sure you are keeping the numbers you get. It helps us if you put them in this kind of pattern:

Date
amps bg level unit of insulin given (amps means morning shot) So it might look like this: amps 235 1 unit PZI
+3 (3 hours after morning shot)
+6 (meaning 6 hours after the morning shot)

Then for the next repeat.

We are all over the world on this board so this format helps us alot. Eventually you can set up a spreadsheet to keep track of your numbers.
pmps bg level insulin given
 
Hello everyone.

Well a little update: Minino is doing OK, he is eating his food really well. I have been mixing in his M/D with some EVO, merrick and wellness.

The problem: He is extremely difficult when it comes to giving him insulin. I have tried everything from catching him off guard(worked the first couple of times), to wrapping his head (yet still leaving his face open), I mean we've tried it all and it doesnt get better it really just gets worse. I have my hands completely scratched and bit from him. Some days we can't even give him the insulin, and i hate that this is going on. As soon as he sees us getting closer to grab him he runs to the garage and hides under the car where we can't get him. Regardless, trying to get him when he is upset is the worst and doesn't get us anywhere.

I am trying so hard, but it doesn't get better. Is there any way to safely sedate him? He has never been a cat that likes to be carried, and doesnt like his paws, or his stomach touched. I just don't know what else to do. I need to regulate him, but it is so hard when he won't stay still to give him his shot.

PLease, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

-Liz
 
I don`t know but I guess I would try a large bath towel maybe you have already tried this I hope you can settle him down maybe give him treats while you shoot the insulin.... nailbite_smile ;-) :mrgreen: Kath
 
Welcome to the best help on the planet!!

Fred was diagnosed 12/24/09, and thanks to the help I got here -- especially the food list -- hes as OTJ as of March. We've had a few issues which put him on, from time to time, but he's basically diet controlled.

If you're concerned about cost, look at the "Special Kitty" (Walmart) listed on the Food List. Fred (and Lucy and Bella) eat it almost exclusively. It helped to get him off insulin -- without killing my budget.

As they say, take a deep breath. We've all been scared and overwhelmed and worried. You'll get through this and you'll be helping others, soon!!
 
Hello everyone! You all have no idea how much I appreciate all the help I have received since I joined, and just how much this website has helped us with minino. On my free time I will surf through topics and read throught it, very very helpful. And It's all because of people like you all.

Well here is an update on minino:

On Sunday we gave minino his 2 units of insulin in the morning after eating. We noticed that he was really lethargic and just layed around all day. That night we did not give him his insulin because we saw him that way. The next morning I had the insulin syringe ready to give him the shot but I decided I was going to test his blood first. It was at 71 ! I thought it was wrong so I put another strip in and checked it again, and came out to 74. I am so glad that I tested him. I didn't think it was as essential as I do now, my vet never even considered telling me to home test, and if I wouldn't have I could have easily killed my kitty! Because his blood sugar was this low we didn't give him insulin at night. The next morning I tested him again, and the day after wards. I test him about a few hours after he eats.
Monday- 74mg/dl
Tuesday- 71 mg/dl
Wednesday- 59 mg/dl

This numbers are really, really low. and he hasn't had any insulin since sunday morning. I spoke to another vet today, told her about my cat and she said the best thing was to do a glucose curve. And to certainly not give him insulin unless he is tested first. Which is exactly what I will continue to do for the next couple of days, and see how he continues doing.

One more thing, he isn't eating ALOT. We serve him food and he eats a little, and come backs later but he's not really eating alot. I'm concerned that his low blood sugar and the fact that he is not eat enough can harm him by giving him problems with ketones. Is this possible? what should I do?

i'm happy his sugar is low, but i'm concerned about ketones. Can someone please tell me a little bit more about that?
Thank you so much, again, thank you ALL!
-Liz and Minino
 
Hi Liz I have only been here for 7 weeks. Your kitty has awesome numbers and is in the normal range....What you should do it put ADVICE in your subject line and more people will read it ok. Dose Minino always eat small amounts I wish I could help more but I am just more for support because I was there not too long ago.. :mrgreen: Kath
 
Be sure to read the information on the front message board about hypogycemic episodes -- you're right, they can kill!

When Fred got low like that (he likes to be in the 80-90 range), I rubbed a little maple syrup on his front paws, which he immediately licked off. Within an hour his BG's were up to normal. If you think your cat might go into shock, PLEASE know the signs and how to treat at home.

Sounds like you're getting on top of things. It will be OK!!
 
Here is an article on ketones: http://www.felinediabetes.com/ketones.htm

His numbers are great and if he isn't on insulin, you are in great shape and ketones should not be an issue. So glad you are hometesting - you really saved his life. (Be sure to let your vet know this! Maybe she will urge his next diabetic cat owner to start hometesting right away.) You may have a kitty who is on a honeymoon. Just remember that you must continue to feed lo carb. Also a curve won't hurt - it will help you explain this all to your vet.

The eating is a problem. Often the prescription food is not the cat's favorite - they don't seem to like the taste after a while. If you look at the ingredients, there is nothing special about the prescription food. There are no magic "prescription" ingredients. You can certainly change to any lo carb food - lots of people feed Merrit and Wellness. Just be sure to take Janet and Binky's chart with you so you get the lo carb: http://www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.htm (8-10%) I love my vet but we choose to agree to disagree about the food. I told her he wouldn't eat it (which was true) and that it was most important that he eat, so I bought regular cat food at half the price.
 
Yes as long as they are eating and not dry is good :mrgreen: I have learn so much here about food and diabetes People here are WONDERFUL THANK YOU ONE & ALL Kath& Trey :mrgreen:
 
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