New and Scared to Death

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Loretta Palmer

Member Since 2015
My 10 yr old Layla was just diagnosed with diabetes 3 days ago. She is not social and only has something to do with me, so she was terrifying at the vets. She had to sedate her before she could pick her up. The vet said it would be impossible to give her insulin because of the way she is so we would control by diet. She send me home with Hills m/d dry and wet. Today she will not eat and I have not seen her drink any water. I am afraid she is dying. She has walked around but she is not like the same cat. I do not live where there are emergency vets and the vet is closed. I'm also not happy with the one I saw.
 
Don't panic, take a few deep breaths, your kitty will sense your anxiety. First, what did your cat eat prior to diagnosis? How high was his BG (blood glucose) at diagnosis? Did your vet suggest home testing as many cats freak out when going to the vet.

There are much better and cheaper low carb foods that you can feed rather than the DM that was suggested.
 
Hi Loretta,
If Layla does not like the food you were given, you can try either Fancy feast or Friskies pates. These are low carb and great for diabetic cats.
Just make sure you don't give any food with gravy.
I have not been here that long, so I cant offer much advice. But, you are in one of the best places for your Kitty. There are lots of knowledgeable and helpful people on the forum.
Things might be a little slow today because of the US holiday. But they should pick up again tomorrow.
Hang in there!
 
If you're going to rely on just a diet change go for Fancy Feast or Friskies in pate style foods. I have a friend who's cat was in the early stages of diabetes and just the switch to Fancy Feast chicken flavor classic (pate) was enough to get her kitty back on track. Please swap to Fancy Feast or Friskies, the Hills Diet from the vet will not help. Later on you can attempt to test her BG and maybe even try insulin, the process helps many to bond with their pets.
 
I'm going to get Fancy Feast and Friskies tomorrow. I had her on purina dry indoor and FF Elegant Medleys. I do not remember what her BG level was, but I will get all those records tomorrow. I am very upset with this vet.
 
The prescription food problem is much more common than you'd think. Many, many vets have had so many years of hearing the marketing from the prescription food companies that they really do believe that those are the best/only foods for cats with special dietary needs..

My Rosa is another one who is a complete nightmare at the vet. I've had vets have to cage her and sedate her for normal procedures before now - getting blood work from her takes them ages and usually results in either not enough of a sample, a very distressed cat and/or injuries to the vet tech. And she's dreadful to give pills to, trim her nails, give eye drops etc. And yet she was absolutely fine with getting insulin shots and was also fine most days with having her BG home tested (she would grouch a bit some days and I was the only person who could test her BG so it wasn't perfect, but it was easy enough to do) so I wouldn't write off the idea of being able to give Layla insulin without trying it first. :)
 
She likely tested higher than she is at the vet's office based on the stress of being there. My Max is afraid of everybody but me but only shows it if put in a cage. I test at home and only take him to the vet if something else needs to be checked. He is docile but growls and earned a sticker for being aggressive when caged. Otherwise my vet always says what a good patient he is.

The food you have been feeding is higher in carbs than the fancy feast classics. I give Max the turkey and giblets, liver and chicken, and chicken ones. You need to have some high carb with gravy as well as karo syrup on hand in case the BG drops too low.

When I started and heard that Max was aggressive for his curve I said I never would do home testing. I test a lot. He was dropping at night which is quite common and would have been overdosed had a not tested him.

It is overwhelming at first. Read the stickies a little at a time and it will all start to make sense. Ask questions. We like that.
 
Just have to say that I agree with the food change. I found that the Little Friskies Classic Pate was a much better food than the Rx food.

To help calm your kitty you might want to get a pheromone collar. These are available at pet supply stores or try a product called Rescue Remedy ( Drs. Foster and Smith or a local health food store in the pet section). I had to use a combination of both of these to help keep Squeaker calm during the first couple of months. Unfortunately they weren't effective for me, I was still very nervous at injection time:rolleyes:
 
You've gotten some good advice as to food, but i would like to stress getting rid of any dry food! Its nearly all to high in carbs and dry food is hard on the kidneys too. I haven't heard of many cats that will eat the Rx food after the first can or two.

You are unlikely to need a hypo kit (high carb "gravy " food) if you are not giving insulin, so don't worry about that. That said, I wouldn't give up on the idea of insulin. Cats can be very different at the vet and at home. You might start just by getting blood glucose tests at home, if you can do that you can give insulin. Get a human blood glucose meter from the pharmacy, strips to go with it and lancets to prick her ear. The Target Up & Up meter and the Relion Confirm are both very good and the strips quite inexpensive.

http://catinfo.org is a great site to start learning about feline nutrition. In the black sidebar there is a link to a Protein/Fat/Carbs Chart of nearly all the canned cat food available in the US. We try to keep the carbs under 10% , 5% or less is even better, especially if you are trying to control the diabetes w/ diet only.
 
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