New diagnostic

Status
Not open for further replies.
Ohwellok

Ohwellok

Member Since 2017
Hello,

My 13y/o cat Ari had been drinking/peeing more than usual these past weeks so I took him to the vet last Thursday where he was diagnosed with diabetes... I've been reading everything I can about his treatment options and I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the information out there. Wet food, dry food, when to feed, insulin types and doses, glucose monitors and testing… I want to make the right choices but figuring this out is hard because I often travel for work or on week-ends, can’t always be home at consistent hours and my usual catsitter won’t be able to manage injections… In any case, I’m working on finding solutions, one problem at a time!

I’ve switched him to Purina DM which is probably not ideal because it’s still high in carbs and also gave him diarrhea (probably because I switched his food too abruptly), poor little guy… The ½ cup daily portion doesn’t seem enough for him as he’s eaten it all by the afternoon which means he’s a pest at night. He's 11pounds and never had problems with overeating and always had food out before this... I’m looking into wet food options...

I’ve ordered an Alphatrak 2 meter which I haven’t received yet. In the meantime, I test him twice a day with a Freestyle lite (which I understand might not be very accurate) to see if his new food is helping any… His numbers aren’t normal but they don’t seem too worrying, I think? The good news is he’s taking the ear pricks like a champ, so at least now I’m relieved I’m not going to be torturing him everyday with his treatment!

Ari isn’t on insulin yet. The vet wants to write him a prescription and have him come in for dosing, but he has an infected tooth that has to be taken out first. We’re doing that tomorrow!

I’m wondering whether it’s a good idea to try low carb food only at first to see if it’s enough to regulate Ari’s blood sugar, or if starting insulin as soon as possible would be safer? Any opinions on this?

So that’s where I’m at now, confused but hopeful and really glad this forum exists :)
 
Forgot to post a picture :

Rg9DY4ol.jpg


This is his guilty face
 
Hi Welcome Ari and Ari's Hooman,

A low carb (10% or less) food can do wonders can really bring BG numbers down as well as removing that infected tooth. It may be advisable to try the food change first and keep home testing before starting insulin (consulting with your vet of course) Doing the food change and starting insulin at the same time can bring on a hypo situation. Jones really dropped in dosage once he went to low carb.

If you want to try a food change before starting insulin, there is a website - catinfor.org in which Dr. Pierson has done a tremendous amount of work figuring the carb level of many commercial foods. Here is the link http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf. The website has a lot of additional information that you may find useful.

Several of us use FF pates types.
 
Last edited:
Here is some additional information for you.

Some important information for you to have handy - just in case you do start insulin.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/jojo-and-bunnys-hypo-tool-box.2354/

And since you will be testing, we have a spreadsheet that we use here that is very handy, especially if you ever need advice on dosage or Ari's numbers. This is the best tool around for understanding how kitty's doing.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/
 
Last edited:
Ohwellok said:
The vet wants to write him a prescription and have him come in for dosing, but he has an infected tooth that has to be taken out first. We’re doing that tomorrow!
Click to expand...
Hello and welcome!
The infected tooth could cause elevated numbers. I wish you very easy successful removal procedure for tomorrow! Please post updates for us.

Switching to low carbs food and removing the infectious tooth can alone bring his BG numbers down.

In my humble opinion it may be good idea to collect some tests after the infectious tooth is removed/healed and after the transition to the lower carbs food is done - if his BG are consistently low then you'll need smaller dose to start on.

Best of luck for tomorrow!
 
Welcome Ari and his Mum!
I like Tanya and Ducia's suggestion of trying low carb diet and seeing effects of removing infected tooth for a little bit before starting insulin. Good luck tomorrow!:)
 
Thanks for the welcome, everyone!

Ari is back from the vet with three teeth less, a cone on his head and a pretty good buzz going. He's doing fine so far and I'm hoping for a fast recovery

The vet gave us a prescription for Lantus and recommended we start straight away with 2.5u twice daily. However, I think I'd prefer to give Ari a chance to recover a bit and wait to see what the food does for him before starting him on insulin, like everyone here suggested so far. They also said I should probably do the injections and glucose curve at home because he was very aggressive today with the techs that handled him.
 
That is a large dose to start on. I would do your home testing but keep the insulin to the side for a few days. I bet you see the numbers go down even further.

Good thing with the test data you will collect over the next few days is that you can update your spreadsheet and post here for some advice before starting the Lantus.
 
Glad to hear the procedure went well....

It's been a common experience that after a dental the numbers drop significantly.... I would highly recommend you not start at such a high dose. At most start at 1 unit. And test first.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top