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Cathy

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My 7 yr old ginger tom, "Timmy the Cat Who Thinks He's a Squirrel" got diagnosed today. He used to be a Garfield look-alike, but has gone from 20+ to 14 lbs since May (when his labs were normal)
My dilemma is this... I have 6 cats! Timbomb is one of four found at 3 weeks in a horse hay delivery, sans mama. A 5 yr old stray and a one yr old foster round out the herd. One of Tim's sibs has metastatic fibrosarcoma, for which I have chosen quality time over quantity time. (She'll last maybe 6-12 months)
I'm a physician, so resources are fine, and needles not scary. I just have no idea how I'm going to monitor and regulate his food and water intake! The diabetic foods put the others at risk for kidney/bladder stones, and that's assuming he would eat it in the first place.
Any "almost" crazy cat ladies or gents out there managing a sugarcat in a full household?
 
There are people here with multiple cats and a diabetic (or two). So you're not alone :smile: Most people just feed all their cats one diet: low carb canned and/or RAW. http://www.catinfo.org has more info on proper nutrition for cats and why canned food and RAW are best for all cats. You don't need the prescription diabetic junk food :-Q Vets push that stuff because they don't know much about nutrition and they may get compensation for selling the foods. If you bought any, just return it to the vet and say your cat won't eat it.

Fancy Feast, Friskies, Wellness, and many other commercial brands of foods are good for diabetic cats.

What insulin did th vet put your cat on? Some insulins are better choices than others.

Do you plan on testing your cat's blood glucose levels at home? Since you're a doctor, you know how important it is for Human diabetics to test their blood glucose levels daily. A diabetic cat is no different. A Human blood glucose meter works well for a cat. No need to buy an expensive pet blood glucose meter.
 
Thanks Squeem3! I was thinking of this: The herd eats Iams weight control +hairball, which isn't the worst thing carb-wise. If I can get Timmy to eat raw, or even just fish/chicken on the side, he will eat less Iams. I plan on using Lantus, and am leaning toward the intensive, tight control plan for the next few months, in hopes he might get a remission. He's a big dumb lump of a cat, so I'm not adverse to home monitoring, and actually have a human meter at my disposal. Any insulin will begin to get his metabolism back on track, and I'd rather keep him "less high" but not risk the hypogylcemia until he is in better shape.
And... again, whew, what a relief to find this message board!!!! :-D
 
My diabetic cats and another special needs cat get fed sort of separately. One is lucky and gets his own bedroom for feeding. Two share a bedroom. With the food for diabetic on a dresser while the fold for the special-needs, three legged guy is on the floor. I have my bathroom divided by a gate for another two. The last two share a bedroom but one gets placed in a carrier while the other one finishes her food. My other cats eat together in the kitchen.
 
Welcome Cathy! This board is incredibly helpful...ok I've been here for like 72 hours now but I can't imagine getting through this without it! I haven't even begun to read up about the diet part yet, I had my own struggles with the whole needle thing. You'll find plenty of help here.
 
Hi, Cathy, and welcome! I also have six cats. Blaze is diabetic (diagnosed in March), so big special diet. My financial resources are slim, so when Blaze was diagnosed, I panicked a bit. If I could afford it, they'd all get the same stuff so that no one would be jealous, but I can't. The upshot is, Blaze is fed separately. He gets canned food supplemented by ground chicken or turkey or fish (pure protein) and Blue Wilderness high-protein, low-carb dry (because he misses his crunchies -- but Blue is expensive, so I use it as a garnish). He loves the duck variety. He also loves fresh tilapia.

Everyone else gets the same dry we've always used, and they eat from a communal bowl. Once in a while as a treat I mix in a little wet or give them some of whatever meat I'm fixing for Blaze. Everyone wants what he gets, and all he wants is the old familiar crunchies!
 
Welcome! This board is a great place and full of folks that "have been there, done that" on just about everything cat related.

Sounds like you are well on your way and with none of the poky thing - needle hang ups that some of the rest of us had at the beginning. ;-)

I have 7 cats and all eat mostly low carb food so it's a little easier that way and I don't have to worry if Houdini gets into someone's leftovers. I have to make sure he eats enough but doesn't over eat...which he will given the chance. The dry food is gone because it's not good for everyone else and if he gets any of it his BG's go through the roof!

Good luck and be sure and ask plenty of questions!
 
Some people with a lot of cats mix Friskies and Wellness.

I have 5 cats - two of whom are diabetics adopted through this group. I feed them all Wellness chicken or turkey (one cat has allergies to beef & fish).
Two of my 5 are skinny-minis and don't get enough calories from the canned Wellness - so they get some EVO dry or Wilderness Blue dry while locked in the bathroom.
 
Welcome! I have two cats, mocha the diabetic, and twix our civvie. Because of twix's food allergies they do eat separate foods but at the same time. Either me or peter stand out in the kitchen while they eat what is offered and when they are done the bowls get picked up. The only free time twix feeds is at night, when mocha is locked up in our room. I'm sure you will get it all figured out!
 
Well, damn near killed him with the first dose of Lantus. Misread the syringe, gave him 20 units, not two. 2 days in ICU, he's fine now. I get nothing for Christmas. Having the most problem with my human family, who just don't understand that ONLY I GET TO FEED THE CATS.
 
Cathy said:
Well, damn near killed him with the first dose of Lantus. Misread the syringe, gave him 20 units, not two. 2 days in ICU, he's fine now. I get nothing for Christmas. Having the most problem with my human family, who just don't understand that ONLY I GET TO FEED THE CATS.
Click to expand...
Wow! That was a close call, but the good news is you fur-kid will be fine.

One thing you may want to consider since you will be using Lantus is getting the SoloStar pens, rather than a vial. I have two diabetic cats and even with both of them getting 2 units BID, I ended up having to throw about a third of the vial away. The pens are essentially "mini-vials" that use the U-100 syringes. Most of us that use the pens find we don't have to throw any insulin away because of staleness (by the way, the 28-day viability for Lantus only applies to human users - feline users get several more weeks of use before the insulin loses its punch). Also the "mini-vials" are marked also, so it provides a bit of a visual reminder of how much Lantus you are loading in each syringe.
 
holy crap! how scary!

fwiw, i have 17 cats and for the most part they all get fed the same thing. low carb friskies, the occasional 9lives and other low carb wet varieties, and some raw here and there. in my personal opinion, trying to feed this one separate from that one or feed this one that food and this one that food is waaaaaaaay too much. no need to make it harder than it is i say :)

just check out http://www.catinfo.org for a very complete lesson in feline nutrition and then i'm sure you can come up with a plan so you don't have to worry about that aspect of this dance quite so much.
 
OMG How scary!

I think both the cat and I would have ended up on the ICU if I ever have that happen to me. Kitty for the overdose and me from heart failure. Just happy that he is going to be fine. But on the upside I guess we don' have to go over the signs of Hypo. But that is one hell of a trial by fire.

FWIW we have 10 cats, no current diabetics but a civie with food allergies and everyone here gets the same thing. I have to agree with Cindy no reason to make this any more difficult than it is already, plus if any of your herd is like mine, someone would figure out a way to steal food they aren't suppose to have.

To err is human to forgive after several days of cold shoulders feline. :-D

Mel
 
I have 8 cats living here. Everyone eats the same exact thing - low carb., low phosphorous canned food. Canned Evo 95% meats, Evo cat & kitten, Friskies, 9Lives, etc. This way I do not have to worry that Stormy Blue gets into anything high carb.

Stormy Blue, age 14.5 years, (now diet controlled diabetic), and the very elderly, (20/21 years), Sugar Cat, (that is her name - she is not diabetic),
are also supplemented with low carb Evo kibble because they are hard to keep weight on and that kibble has a LOT of calories per ounce.

BTW, I am VERY happy to know that your baby is okay now after that whopper of an insulin OD!

~M
 
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