New cat and newly diagnosed

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Doodler

Doodler

Member Since 2014
Earlier this month we acquired my mil's cat when mil had to be moved to a memory care unit. There is a long, convoluted story here, but the reader's digest version is that we live several states away and had not seen her in over 10 years (her decision). When my DH arrived at his mothers house it was clear this cat, Thomas Tuesday, was in dire need of vet care. DH warned me he was bringing home a sickly cat, and boy did he ever! Thomas Tuesday arrived bony, walking on his hocks, third eyelids raised, weeping eyes, ears full of gunk, missing numerous teeth, and he was so smelly. When I put down food and water for him and watched as he nearly drank the entire bowl of water, I knew....and then I laughed at DH for bringing Thomas Tuesday home knowing the vet bills we were about to embark upon. I also knew why DH couldn't leave Thomas to a shelter or rescue. Despite his rocky relationship with his mom, this cat was her friend and companion for 10 years. DH worried that Thomas' condition would make him an immediate candidate for euthanasia and Thomas was a smart kitty...he adores DH. I had already made a vet appointment in anticipation of his arrival and Thomas Tuesday saw our vet the following day. The blood panel confirmed diabetes and his white blood cell count was over twice what it should be. He was given a broad spectrum antibiotic and was started on Lantus. He's been on Lantus and the antibiotic for only 6 days now and we already see a remarkable change in him. He's clearly feeling better. His eyes are bright, he's almost walking normally, he's exploring the house and the horrible odor he carried has disappeared.

I'm here on the forum to learn more about caring for a diabetic cat, in particular diet. Our vet placed him on Royal Canin's diabetic formula, but it is looking like Thomas will almost certainly have to have the remainder of his teeth removed. We are waiting to make the final determination on that surgery until he is a little more stable, but the poor guy's mouth is in terrible shape. The Royal Canin food is a dry food and I'm told they don't make a diabetic wet food. I found the page with the wet food suggestions and will explore those options. Any thoughts or advice is welcome!
 
Hi,just want to welcome you to the most wonderful place to be for advice and encouragement. And I want to commend you for taking on the responsibility of your mil' s sugar kitty.You are doing great already! Best of luck with all that is ahead,sometimes up sometimes down.we call it the sugar dance!P.S..just ask lots of questions and other experienced people will be along soon to advise.I am fairly new here,but thanks to all their help,my Whitey is doing terrific!
 
Thomas Tuesday is one very lucky "sweet" boy! Good for you taking the iniative.

Yes there are diabetic wet foods. If you decide to go with a prescription wet food Purina DM is the one vets seem to prefer. However, there are so many options for you. Two of the better and less expensive options are Fancy Feast Classic and Little Friskies Classic Pate (all flavors except the Mixed Grill). The key is low carbs ideally less than 10%. You can find a comprehensive food list at this link http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf. Peruse the rest of that site as it has so much useful information. Many on the board use these brands and this is what I switched both of my cats to when Squeaker was diagnosed. He was able to go into remission with these foods and Lantus insulin. I used to see these foods as garbage but have since realized how much better they really are.

Are you home testing BG? That is something you should do especially after starting insulin and changing diet. The glucose can come down quickly and you want to make sure to test so Thomas doesn't become hypoglycemic. Print this out and keep it handy so you can be prepared if he does go hypo:

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15887

A lot of vets are opposed to home testing and those who support it push the AlphTrak meter. But again, there is an alternative. Many here, myself included, use the Relion meters from Walmart. I have the Confirm meter and it takes a very small sample size. I paid about $15 for the meter, $9 for 50 test strips, and $4 for 100 thin lancets. Using this meter also help me to catch a relapse when Squeaker had a flare of pancreatitis earlier this year so don't let anyone tell you that human meters are not effective for cats.

When you have any questions, ask, ask, and then ask again if you need to. You have truly found the best forum possible to help guide you through this ordeal.

Anita and Squeaker
 
Welcome Thomas Tuesday and caregivers to the message board. Would you please share your first name with us?

Bless you for taking on the responsibility for your MIL's sickly kitty.

You mentioned "living several states away" so it sounds like you live in the US. Just double checking, since we have members from around the world, but most of us are in the USA or Canada.

The Royal Canin diabetic food does come in a wet(canned) food version. It's not as low in carbs, somewhere in the mid 20% carb range. We like to recommend carbs <10% but it's an ok food for now.

This Food Chart by vet Dr. Lisa Pierson lists most of the canned foods available in the US. We look in the 3rd column for foods that are <10% carbs. Most diabetics seem to do very well on the lower carb foods. I feed my diabetic cat Wink the Fancy Feast pate style foods, the Friskies Special Diet pate foods and some of the lower carb Friskies classic pate foods. He's been in remission (OTJ, off-the-juice, insulin being the juice) for about 20 months now and doing well on these foods. They also fit my budget.

We highly recommend learning how to home test. Would you be interested in a couple of links to testing tips? Supplies needed?

You are using a good insulin with the Lantus. You may find as the infection clears that the BG (blood glucose) levels drop dramatically so that you need to adjust the insulin dose downwards. That can happen very quickly, from one day to the next even.

I would recommend going to pick up some ketone test strips at the pharmacy. Infection + too little insulin + not enough food can lead to DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) an expensive vet only treatable condition that can be fatal to your cat. Not trying to scare you, but from some of the things you said, I think it would be very worthwhile for you to be testing for ketones daily.

It's likely that with the teeth issues, the BG levels may be difficult to regulate. Yes, more stability would be good before anesthesia and having all the teeth pulled if that is what is needed.

Please, learn to home test before you switch your kitty Thomas Tuesday to a lower carb food. We want to help you keep your kitty safe, and the switch to a lower carb food can dramatically drop the BG levels 100 points or more overnight, leading to a need to drop the insulin dose. Vet Dr. Lisa Pierson has this great article about Diabetic Cats that talks about this.
 
Anitafrnhamer said:
A lot of vets are opposed to home testing and those who support it push the AlphTrak meter.
Click to expand...


I lucked out. My vet encourage and showed me how to home test and advised a human meter for me on our diagnosis visit, before I even found this site.

Then I found this site which was a great relief, because beyond that advice, I ended up disagreeing with her on the food she insisted I feed (1$ a can DM), and the amount of time I test, and how we regulate.

In the end it turned out great. One I brought in my spreadsheet with a months worth of reading and a way healthier cat, my vet has been happy to let me hold the reigns, and give me basic advice when I call.
 
Thank you for the advice and suggestions. To answer a few questions; my name is Shari and yes, we do live in the US. Southern-ish part of Illinois.

We have not been testing for BG (blood glucose? I assume). It wasn't even brought up by our vet. Sounds like it's something we should be doing. I'll read up on it and see what needs to be done there. Yes, the how to links would be appreciated.

It looks like I'll have many options as far as food goes! Hooray!
 
Welcome to FDMB.

Have a look at my signature link Glucometer Notes for more info on what test number ranges may mean.

And check the link Secondary Monitoring Tools for additional assessments you may make to monitor your cat's health.
 
Hi Shari! Thanks for introducing yourself. Like a lot of new members here, you told us your cat's name but forgot yours. Nice to meet you too!

The How To's of Home Testing

Ear Testing Psychology or How to get your cat to accept the process (bribes, lots of bribes) Written by member Kpassa.

New Member Shopping List.

Most of us here use a human meter to blood test our cats like the Relion Confirm or Relion Micro available at Wal-mart. Inexpensive test strips for these.

As member BJM said, there is a link in her signature for the reference ranges on what those BG (blood glucose) numbers mean.
 
Thank you to BJM and Deb & Wink for more links. Sorry to have posted and run off, but the following day my folks had an emergency that required me to stay and help provide care for them for a month. All is good now and I'm back home, getting back into the swing of things. I have not had time to explore any of the links, but will be doing that over the next few days.

My husband took over the primary care of Thomas Tuesday in my absence and looks to have done a good job of it! He is not the same cat I left here a month ago! He's brighter eyed, has gained some weight, and is alert & active. I even saw him playfully chasing after one of our other cats yesterday! This is a cat who could barely walk when I left!

Thomas has an appointment tomorrow to have his bad teeth removed, and it's looking like that means he'll lose what he has remaining for teeth...and those aren't many as it is. His poor mouth is in such bad shape most of his teeth appear to fallen out on their own before he came to us. We do know he has not had previous dental work. :( Hopefully he'll be more comfortable with their removal.

Our vet says that after he's healed from his surgery we will start exploring a better insulin level for him. My husband only had him checked once while I was gone and while I don't have the exact numbers, I was told they weren't great. I'm looking forward to making some more progress with him!
 
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