new diagnosis for an overweight cat

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

threesenough

Member Since 2013
Hello,
My name is Threesenough and other kitty friends suggested I join this board. On Sunday our 18lb love bug was diagnosed with diabetes. His sugar was 1,000, or as the vet said off the chart. We started him on 2 units of insulin that night. He is doing MUCH better, still not 100% but not lethargic and ignoring his food anymore, sigh of relief. The question I have is that most of the things I'm reading are for cats that have lost drastic weight as a sign of the disease. Tobby is still 18lbs, so clearly the priority after stabilization is to get him to loose weight. I know wet food is the key, and we will make the switch as soon as the vet signs of on it. As I read last night i'm not supposed to rush in and change everything at once! Has anyone else started this process with a fat cat and successfully gotten the weight to come off?

Regards,
3's
 
Hello and welcome to the board!

What kind of insulin are you are using? Some are better than others for cats.

Low carb wet food will help him lose weight since its generally lower calories than dry. An unregulated cat will be unable to process food properly so I would focus on stabilising him first, then weight loss. However I wouldnt change to low carb wet food until you are home testing. Many cats go into remission or their blood sugar lowers fast with a change to a low carb wet food so its not safe to change the food and give insulin unless you are home testing.Let me know if you want more info.

What were you feeding before?

Wendy
 
Thanks for responding. I did more reading last night and I see that the goal is to get him stabilized without going all crazy with changes and then making changes one step at a time. He is on a glargine type of insulin and I'm terrible with names so I forgot what kind. I saw the name in some of the reading I did last night and it's one of the recommended kind. He was on a prescription UT dry food, as he wouldn't eat the wet food. Due to budget issues after comparing ingredient by ingredient I moved both cats to Purina One UT Health. We have our first follow up with the vet on Monday and the list to discuss is growing.. including the "I want to test at home and I want to switch him to wet food" discussion. Per one of the articles here that was super helpful I know the switch to wet will naturally take his blood sugar level down so the key it to adjust the insulin shot hence the need to home test. If vet is on board...well there are other vets at the clinic.

He also currently has a respiratory issue going on so he is on clavamox too, which all of that stress i'm sure increases the sugar level as well. Tobby is acting more himself though, even came to visit me in the bathroom this morning and let me blow dry him. One step at a time.
 
Hi 3's and Tobby and welcome to the message board!

Where do you live? What country, state/province, nearest city/town? This will help us to make recommendations on the testing supplies.

You don't need your vets permission to test. If you are in the US, go to Wal-Mart, pick up a Relion Confirm or Micro glucometer and matching test strips, some lancets for alternate site testing and we can teach you how to test over the internet.

The Relion Prime meter and test strips are even less expensive, but that meter needs a larger blood drop for testing. It can be tricky for a person new to home testing to be successful with the blood drop.

We advocate home testing, because it helps to keep your cat safe when you test before every shot.
 
We live in PA, just outside of Pittsburgh. Oh I'm going to test at home, and thanks to the site I've got the info and already concluded the mini Relion at Walmart was the way to go. Tobby's human Grandpa is diabetic so it's sweet he's very concerned I work with the vet and don't over poke his grandkitty! I've also been doing the food research and will be bringing up the transition with the testing on Monday. This really came out of the blue so I think maybe his cold triggered it all, which makes me hopeful we can get him OTJ when we address the weight via diet. I've tried a bunch of the "diet" foods and now I'm educated enough to see why they never ever worked for him! Thank you all for your support!
 
You mean the relion micro? Thats a good meter!

Here are some test tips : https://docs.google.com/document/d/13c_CPZVKz27fD_6aVbsguadJKvjSrSAkD7flgPPhEag/pub

Also here is a shopping list to check you have everything you need.

Getting started shopping list
1. Meter ie Walmart Relion Confirm or Micro.
2. Matching strips
3. Lancets - little sticks to poke the ear to get blood . new members usually start with a larger gauge lancet such as 28g or 29g until the ear learns to bleed. Optional - lancing tool.
4. Cotton balls to stem the blood
5. Neosporin or Polysporin ointment with pain relief to heal the wound
6. Mini flashlight (optional) - useful to help see the ear veins in dark cats, and to press against
7. Ketone urine test strips ie ketodiastix - Important to check ketones when blood is high
8. Sharps container - to dispose of waste syringes and lancets.
9. Treats for the cat - like freeze dried chicken
10. Karo syrup/corn syrup or honey if you dont have it at home - for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast
11. A couple of cans of fancy feast gravy lovers or other high carb gravy food- for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast

Wendy

PS tell grandpa that cats ears have less nerve endings than his finger so it doesnt hurt as much. My boys dont even wake up when I test sometimes...except when the treat appears.
 
Since you'll be hometesting, this may serve as a good reference for you.

Here are some glucose reference ranges used for decision making using glucometers. Human glucometer numbers are given first. Numbers in parentheses are for non-US meters. Numbers in curly braces are estimates for an AlphaTrak.

< 40 mg/dL (2.2 mmol/L) {< 70 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- Treat as if HYPO if on insulin
- At nadir (lowest point between shots) in a long term diabetic (more than a year), may earn a reduction.

< 50 mg/dL (2.8 mmol/L) {< 80 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- If before nadir, steer with food, ie, give modest amounts of medium carb food to keep from going below 50 (2.8).
- At nadir, often indicates dose reduction is earned.

50 - 130 mg/dL (2.8 - 7.2 mmol/L) {80 - 160 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- On insulin - great control when following a tight regulation protocol.
- Off insulin - normal numbers. (May even go as low as the upper 30s (1.7 mmol/L){60s for an AlphaTrak}; if not on insulin, this can be safe.

> 150 mg/dL (8.3 mmol/L) {> 180 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- At nadir, indicates a dose increase may be needed when following a tight regulation protocol.

200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) {230 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- no shot level for beginners; may slowly reduce to 150 mg/dL (8.3 mmol/L) {180 mg/dL} for long-acting insulins (Lantus, Levemir, and ProZinc) as data collection shows it is safe

180 - 280 mg/dL (10 - 15.6 mmol/L) {may be 210 - 310 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- Any time - The renal threshold (depending on data source and cat's renal function) where glucose spills into the urine.
- Test for ketones, glucose is too high.

>= 280 mg/dL (15.6 mmol/L) {may be >=310 mf/dL for an AlphaTrak}, if for most of the cycle between shots
- Uncontrolled diabetes and thus at risk for diabetic ketoacidosis and hepatic lipidosis
- Follow your insulin protocol for dose adjustments
- Test for ketones; if more than a trace level of ketones, go to vet ASAP.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top