New and scared to death (intro)

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Mauravdl

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My orange tabby, Alex, was not behaving normally last Thursday and I rushed him to the vet because I just had a gut reaction that this was bad. After blood tests, I found out on Thursday he is diabetic and was right on the edge of DKA with a blood glucose level of 811! He's had to be on steroids off and on because he has some sort of inhalent allergy that makes him scratch himself raw. On Monday he had a checkup from the allergy vet and got a steroid injection as well as his oral cyclosporine Mon and Tues. I didn't give him the oral meds on Wednesday because he just seemed not to want to eat.

He's at the vet's on IV fluids and insulin + monitoring and I'm praying we can pull him back from this near-death experience. Because he got the steroid shot, his blood sugar has to be brought down slowly or it risks a big crash when the steroids work their way out of his system. The vet got his blood sugar down to 444 on Saturday until he ate a bunch and it went over the meter limit again but we're thinking this is better than not eating at all which was what he was doing Thursday and Friday. No news today as the office is closed other than just caring for the hospitalized animals. I visited him Friday and Saturday and he was definitely more alert on Saturday, even standing up, rubbing on my hand and purring for me.

He's not out of the woods yet, though. I'm very worried.

The household presents some unique challenges for caring for a diabetic cat since we have seven cats (blame cat rescue and caretaking a feral cat colony), two of which are skinny and need to have full time food access and several of which are semi-feral and won't eat if people are around. I'm fine with giving meds by needle (one cat I had to give 2x daily antibiotics to for almost a year), can do sub-q fluids pretty easily. I've never done blood testing from an ear but am fully willing to learn if we can get him okay to come home again.

I'll have to see if there's something else to give him for his allergy other than the steroids, now. He also has an abnormal heartrate and we have no idea if that will clear up or not if he gets through this crisis.

oh - in case it helps anyone else - I took him in because he was lethargic, wouldn't come for the morning squishy food routine (he's very fond of food) and I had to find him and pull him out from under the coffee table. He was drooling like mad - muzzle, paws and chest were all soaked and he showed no desire to wash them or lick them.

I'm glad to have found this board. I'm crossing my fingers my lovey cat makes it so I can use all the information I've found here to keep him safe and as healthy as possible.

- Maura
 
Hi your story sounds very similiar to mine Last October a skinny homeless kitty showed up on my door step.I feed feral cats in the neighbor and he probably followed me home Nomad was in DKA when I took him to the vet and his BG was 530.When I learned it was diabtes I was relieved because I knew Diabetes is manageable. I was fearing cancer or renal failure that has a poor prognosis.

Probably the most important thing you can do at this point is to ask your vet to put your cat on Lantus or Levenur These are the two insulins that have the best outcomes.You will get plenty of advice and a diversity of view points here.
The good news is that many readers here have had their cats recover from DKA. My diabetic kitty Nomad is sitting here watching now.If he could talk,he would say tell her that her kitty will be alright".
 
Welcome Maura and Alex,

Crossing fingers and paws that dear sweet Alex will make a full recover and be home with you very shortly. Luckily I have never had to pull one of mine back from DKA, but I know several here have had their kitties come back healthy and happy.

But I can address the issue of feeding a small furry horde and a diabetic. I have 10 cats, but only 1 is a diabetic. I also have 3 guys that are well over 15lbs and a couple of young ladies that are skinny minies. Everyone here eats Friskies pate flavors cat food. Now I'm lucky that for now I am home with them all day so I can feed at will.

But basically here I just fill up everyone's plates 4 times a day. They get breakfast, lunch, dinner and a before bed meal. I add about a third of a can of water to each can of food, to help keep it moist through-out the day. It is a little more work than just filling up bowls of dry food. But not only is the health of my diabetic boy Max, worth it, the changes in all my cats' health has made ti so worth the extra time on my part. Since the diet change not only did my diabetic go into remission, but my one guy, much like you fellow, with allegies had his allergies completely disappear, before the diet change he was on 5mg of prednisone daily. The rest of them have just improved in energy level and their coats are fantastic, so sleek and shiney.

I'm sure once you get your dear Alex back you will have a ton of questions and we willbe right here to guide you through all the steps. Home testing is very easy and actually while you are waiting for Alex to get well enough to come home, you could even start practicing on one of your other kitties. I know I did when my first girl was dxed as a diabetic, I just grabbed my most laid back fellow and learned on his ears. Plus he had black ears so I figured if I could test him, then Muse's lighter ears would be easy to test..lol.

This is a very manageable disease, when my first girl passed away, I adopted my current diabetic Max from this very board, (and at some point will do it again). If it wasn't such an easy disease to treat I certainly wouldn't have signed up to do it all over again. =). Especially with a cat that I had no past history with.

Mel, Max and The Fur Gang
 
You're already received great advice. I wanted to touch on something that Mel said in regards to Max. My own kitty, Bean, had allergies before I adopted her. She was given steroid shots that caused her diabetes. Since moving in with me, and the change to canned food only, her allergies have not come back. She is off insulin and off steroids.

I also have a group with different food requirements, I feed 4x per day because I live close to work I can home and feed lunch, but on days when I will be out for a while, I put out the extra food with water mixed in.
 
Thanks for the welcome and the advice, truly.

Today Alex's glucose was over the meter limit again but they were just feeding him and had just given him his insulin. He was eating on his own and is now meowing at the vet techs. He was silent last week. I'm calling that a good sign.

The current cat routine is that there is always a bowl of Nature's Variety Grain-Free Instinct (chicken) dry food available for those cats who need to eat away from the humans or need food in the middle of the night. It's a very high quality high protein, low-carb grain-free food. Then 2x a day I dole out squishy food to the four cats who like it (Alex is one). This is usually one of a variety of flavors of Merrick Gourmet Canned Foods - the staples are a chicken flavor and a turkey flavor but sometimes they get seafood flavors. These are a minimum of 10% protein and most are grain free. I just looked them up and several are low-glycemic index listed as well.

For the cats that get squishy food, they seem to use that as their staple and only hit the dry food if they have a sudden urge for a snack. Alex eats a bit of the dry food but is REALLY into the wet food - the fact he didn't come out for it last Thursday is how i knew something is really wrong.

I work full time so I don't have the ability to be home to give lunch but I could feed in the am with extra for lunch, then when I get home, then a can split up between the plates when I go to bed (this often happens anyway when my really pitiful cat gives me the sad-eye). Any thoughts on whether this is an okay approach?

I'm so glad this board exists!
 
I have one cat who eats ONLY dry food, so she gets fed only when I am around and can supervise the others not touching it.

If all the cats are fine with eating wet canned food, it may be an idea to leave just the wet down and you can give some dry when you are home if you like.

I have one cat, Shadoe, who will have her BG number soar through the roof if she eats even just a few little pieces of dry; she is VERY carb sensitive. You may ask the vet to give only the wet food you OK, only low carb wet, and see if it helps to keep Alex's numbers from jumping high. I take my cats' foods to the vet if they have to stay for any appts; I do not allow the vet to give the vet food.

Good luck and I hope Alex is well enough to come home soon.
 
Maura my tomtom had skin alergies and a steroid shot and that was what landed him here as well. often the steroid kitties have a better chance of remission...but that is not to think of now.
for now when you kitty is released from the hospital you should be all set up with the necessary equpement to test his bg's at home...you can order a newbie kit if you need to.
also it's very good to know the foods on the link i will send you and keep his carb intake under 10....for me i like under 7.
also have keto-stix, sometimes this can come with a newbie kit.
now i'll go find you the food chart.
Lori
and tomtom too!
 
Just a note about using Janet and Binky (GA)'s list...

When choosing a food, you have a few things to consider...

1. carbs - look at foods that contain less than 10% of the calories from carbs
2. ingredients - is the protein sourced from by-products or meat (eg. chicken by-products or chicken).
3. other medical conditions (e.g. some cats need reduced fat or phosphorous)
4. dry vs canned vs raw - dry can not only contain more carbs, but can dehydrate a cat, exacerbating or causing urinary or kidney issues
5. cost and taste
 
I wrote to the wet food co to ask for the protein and carb counts. These are high quality (and expensive :) ) foods with only real meat as ingredients, no by-products. The big question is the carbs one. If I get a response, I'll post it. I also have raw food that I supplement the canned food with because my skinny guys like it too.

Thanks for the pointer to the list and the considerations from Jen & Squeak. I may have to try a few to find one the skinny cats will eat as well as Alex but I'll work it out. Assuming Alex can come home after Xmas, I have that week off work so I can move the bowl of dry food to where I can see it and see how often he's eating from it. Only putting it out when I'm there to watch it won't work because the semi-ferals eat late at night when the scary people aren't around.

It's gonna be a fun juggling act :)

Thank you so much!

- Maura
 
Found the dry food list. I think I'm going to pick up one of the only 2 low-enough carb dry foods (the EVO kitten) and try it a small bowl and some extra wet food in the usual bigger bowl to see if what the semi-ferals do. If they eat the wet and mostly ignore the dry, that may be a workable plan. Just have enough extra dry out for emergency noshes and put out plenty of wet food.

I also found my brand of wet food on the updated wet food list. Several types are at 8 carbs so I may be able to keep the beasts mostly on the brand that has been working for them.

Man, I have a lot to learn. I'll have to stop by the drug store and shop for a meter too.

- Maura
 
Maura, where are you located? Most people use the Relion meter as the strips are alot cheaper, but I can't get that meter in Canada, so I just use the OneTouch as backup and my main one is Bayer Contour.

The strips are what cost you, so look for the meter with the cheapest strips. If you can get a Relion, go with that one.
 
Good tip on the meter strips, thank you!

Just visited Alex - his glucose is down to 98 so the vet is balancing the insulin some now that it's built up in his system. He's eating now to bring it up. Lots of rubs and purrs and he's charmed all the vet techs. We are doing another blood test set tonight to check the kidney levels again and why his blood isn't clotting well. Really hoping for no huge problems there - balancing diabetic diet with renal diet doesn't look simple.

- Maura
 
Unless he is in end stage failure he doesn't need restricted protein. Quality protein, lots of water and perhaps retricted phosphorous or phosphorous binders.
 
U know you have already been flooded with questions about diet.I also think it is important that your cat get on the right type of insulin.the two insulins that work the best for most cats is Lantus or Levemir. There are some that also use prozinc with some success. Please tell your vet not to prescribe Humulin.Almost every person who has had their cat on this insulin has horror stories because this insulin does not work well for cats. As lomg as your cat comes home on the right insulin you can get help adjusting the dose here.

One thing that happened with my cat hopefully will happen with yours.Once Nomad BG was stablized for a few months the numbers on his next blood renal panel improved drastically.

Sounds like you have made some progress.Our thoughts and purrs are with you.
 
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