New DX and lots of questions!

[Kris10S]

Background:
SO 3 weeks ago Oliver was diagnosed as diabetic. We were leaving for vacation in a week and his blood sugar was 385 and since he was still eating (a lot) and drinking (a lot) the vet suggested we try new food and see if we notice a difference. We went from letting him graze to splitting his meals and limiting his food to 3x a day (morning, after work, just before bed). She said we shouldn't be starting insulin if we were going to be gone which made sense and we were comfortable with that decision.

For 3 weeks now he has been switched to a dry, diabetic management food and his sugar went from 385 to 320 something (i think). Our Vet (which I love) said it wasn't a big enough drop and since he is still drinking A LOT and just lying around we needed to start insulin. I have asked several time about switching him to wet food, but she said what he is on is good for him (I am still up in the air about this).

Now to the questions:
On Monday we started 1 unit (i think this is how it's referred) 2x a day of ProZinc and so far I haven't noticed a difference (she said if the dose is good we might see a change in a few days). We also moved to a 2x a day feeding schedule with the insulin. (I am getting a testing monitor from a friend today and will start testing this weekend.) He is having an issue with the 2x a day feeding, especially overnight. Does it harm him if I leave a little extra in his bowl? I only notice it right after work 5ish and then overnight. We are trying to do 6:30 am and 6:30 pm schedule.

I see everyone talking about wet food and saying it's best. If that's the case why won't my vet suggest we switch to a wet food. Oliver is barely over 17lbs and they have me feeding him 3/4 a cup a day which I think is HALF of what he would graze on before. I was previously seeing another vet in the practice and she had told me his frame is that of a larger cat and that yes he was overweight, but only by 1 or 2 lbs and because of his frame he would always be a bigger cat. What are your thoughts or suggestions on this issue?

Overall I think his diagnosis comes from steroid shots over the years due to his seasonal allergies and that I let him get over weight (filling his bowl when it was empty). He has always been a playful, lovable cat and now all he does is meow when you touch him and lay around. I am ready to get him back to normal, but just not sure what the best option is for him.

Any words of advice or encouragement are GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read and respond!

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

It is fantastic that you are going to home test. It is the only way to ensure that your cat stays safe.

Uncontrolled diabetic cats cannot process food properly. That is why they are always hungry. It is better to feed small meals many times a day, the exception being the 2 hours before an insulin shot. You do not want the pre-shot blood glucose test to be food influenced.

The prescription DM food is too high in carbs. It's around 16-18%. Diabetic cat food should be under 10% carbs. Vets get most of their nutritional information from the sales reps that sell the prescription food, so they think they are doing the right thing, and they make money off the sales. More information can be found here: http://catinfo.org

You do not need an prescription cat food. Fancy Feast pates and Friskies pates are under 10%. If you switch to a wet food diet, you needing to be testing on a regular basis. Cutting out dry food (of any kind) can drop a cat's numbers a lot (and I mean a lot). You don't want your cat to go hypo. And speaking of hypos, please read the following two threads.
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/

I'll leave it to others to answer the other questions and to chime in on what I've answered.

I'll leave the Prozinc questions up to the Prozinc pros. There are very informative stickies at the top of the Pronzinc page: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/

Take your time, it's a steep learning curve.

 

[Lillie]

I'm pretty sure everyone on here will recommend a canned pate that is low in carbs in lieu of the prescription dry food the vet recommended. I don't know why the vets keep recommending the dry prescription food when there is less expensive and even better canned food out there for diabetic cats. It seems most (or many) here are feeding the Friskies pate and other commercial brands that are low in carbs. Many here feed several meals a day and it seems the twice a day only feedings are becoming out of date. I'm sure someone way more experienced will come on to help you. You don't have to feed what the feed tells you to feed. I was told I had to feed my kitty the prescription diabetic food and I just flat out refused. I stopped all dry food and switched to a canned duck and my kitty's glucose did a drastic drop. So much so he went into remission. He also lost a lot of his fat and is a very svelte trim boy now.

 

[AlphaCat]

My Fabby has always been a bigger cat. Her brother weighed in at 20 pounds of svelte! She's always hovered around the 17-18 pound mark. ( She was daintier than her brother, lol) However, we only took her to the vet because she was losing a lot of weight. Like Red mentioned. Diabetic kitties can't absorb and use their food as fuel, so despite my Fabby being food aggressive and hungry all the time, she was losing weight. (I'm glad you were able to catch yours before Oliver had dramatic weight loss.) Fabby went from 17lbs to 12 lbs in 4 months. Now we struggle to get enough food in her to maintain the 12 pounds. So when you get a low carb food there should be a serving size. For a 12 lb cat Fabby must eat 2 cans of Friskies a day to maintain her weight. I split it up into 4 meals, and I test before I feed her each time.

We went with the wet food with the lowest carbs that was available near us. Friskies Pate, and I even kept on the ones with 4 carbs or less for the first month. Even with her insulin, every time she eats a meal she drops her glucose number about 50 points (give or take). Splitting up her meals actually helps the stability of her diabetes because she does drop with food alone.
It's so important to home test, I'm glad you're getting that going! Start looking at some of the spreadsheets of some of the members here to get familiar with how it looks, and you'll also see how they dosed and why. Every time I did a glucose test in the beginning I would give a 0 carb treat. Fancy Feast makes a one ingredient that Fabby drools over when it's testing time. There are videos to help you get through the testing learning curve if you need them.

Ask more questions if you have them! Everyone here is very helpful!

 

[Kris10S]

Background:
SO 3 weeks ago Oliver was diagnosed as diabetic. We were leaving for vacation in a week and his blood sugar was 385 and since he was still eating (a lot) and drinking (a lot) the vet suggested we try new food and see if we notice a difference. We went from letting him graze to splitting his meals and limiting his food to 3x a day (morning, after work, just before bed). She said we shouldn't be starting insulin if we were going to be gone which made sense and we were comfortable with that decision.

For 3 weeks now he has been switched to a dry, diabetic management food and his sugar went from 385 to 320 something (i think). Our Vet (which I love) said it wasn't a big enough drop and since he is still drinking A LOT and just lying around we needed to start insulin. I have asked several time about switching him to wet food, but she said what he is on is good for him (I am still up in the air about this).

Now to the questions:
On Monday we started 1 unit (i think this is how it's referred) 2x a day of ProZinc and so far I haven't noticed a difference (she said if the dose is good we might see a change in a few days). We also moved to a 2x a day feeding schedule with the insulin. (I am getting a testing monitor from a friend today and will start testing this weekend.) He is having an issue with the 2x a day feeding, especially overnight. Does it harm him if I leave a little extra in his bowl? I only notice it right after work 5ish and then overnight. We are trying to do 6:30 am and 6:30 pm schedule.

I see everyone talking about wet food and saying it's best. If that's the case why won't my vet suggest we switch to a wet food. Oliver is barely over 17lbs and they have me feeding him 3/4 a cup a day which I think is HALF of what he would graze on before. I was previously seeing another vet in the practice and she had told me his frame is that of a larger cat and that yes he was overweight, but only by 1 or 2 lbs and because of his frame he would always be a bigger cat. What are your thoughts or suggestions on this issue?

Overall I think his diagnosis comes from steroid shots over the years due to his seasonal allergies and that I let him get over weight (filling his bowl when it was empty). He has always been a playful, lovable cat and now all he does is meow when you touch him and lay around. I am ready to get him back to normal, but just not sure what the best option is for him.

Any words of advice or encouragement are GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read and respond!

Thanks for this info!

 

[Kris10S]

It is fantastic that you are going to home test. It is the only way to ensure that your cat stays safe.

Uncontrolled diabetic cats cannot process food properly. That is why they are always hungry. It is better to feed small meals many times a day, the exception being the 2 hours before an insulin shot. You do not want the pre-shot blood glucose test to be food influenced.

The prescription DM food is too high in carbs. It's around 16-18%. Diabetic cat food should be under 10% carbs. Vets get most of their nutritional information from the sales reps that sell the prescription food, so they think they are doing the right thing, and they make money off the sales. More information can be found here: http://catinfo.org

You do not need an prescription cat food. Fancy Feast pates and Friskies pates are under 10%. If you switch to a wet food diet, you needing to be testing on a regular basis. Cutting out dry food (of any kind) can drop a cat's numbers a lot (and I mean a lot). You don't want your cat to go hypo. And speaking of hypos, please read the following two threads.
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/

I'll leave it to others to answer the other questions and to chime in on what I've answered.

I'll leave the Prozinc questions up to the Prozinc pros. There are very informative stickies at the top of the Pronzinc page: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/

Take your time, it's a steep learning curve.

Thank you!!

 

[Kris10S]

I'm pretty sure everyone on here will recommend a canned pate that is low in carbs in lieu of the prescription dry food the vet recommended. I don't know why the vets keep recommending the dry prescription food when there is less expensive and even better canned food out there for diabetic cats. It seems most (or many) here are feeding the Friskies pate and other commercial brands that are low in carbs. Many here feed several meals a day and it seems the twice a day only feedings are becoming out of date. I'm sure someone way more experienced will come on to help you. You don't have to feed what the feed tells you to feed. I was told I had to feed my kitty the prescription diabetic food and I just flat out refused. I stopped all dry food and switched to a canned duck and my kitty's glucose did a drastic drop. So much so he went into remission. He also lost a lot of his fat and is a very svelte trim boy now.

Thanks!!

 

[Kris10S]

My Fabby has always been a bigger cat. Her brother weighed in at 20 pounds of svelte! She's always hovered around the 17-18 pound mark. ( She was daintier than her brother, lol) However, we only took her to the vet because she was losing a lot of weight. Like Red mentioned. Diabetic kitties can't absorb and use their food as fuel, so despite my Fabby being food aggressive and hungry all the time, she was losing weight. (I'm glad you were able to catch yours before Oliver had dramatic weight loss.) Fabby went from 17lbs to 12 lbs in 4 months. Now we struggle to get enough food in her to maintain the 12 pounds. So when you get a low carb food there should be a serving size. For a 12 lb cat Fabby must eat 2 cans of Friskies a day to maintain her weight. I split it up into 4 meals, and I test before I feed her each time.

We went with the wet food with the lowest carbs that was available near us. Friskies Pate, and I even kept on the ones with 4 carbs or less for the first month. Even with her insulin, every time she eats a meal she drops her glucose number about 50 points (give or take). Splitting up her meals actually helps the stability of her diabetes because she does drop with food alone.
It's so important to home test, I'm glad you're getting that going! Start looking at some of the spreadsheets of some of the members here to get familiar with how it looks, and you'll also see how they dosed and why. Every time I did a glucose test in the beginning I would give a 0 carb treat. Fancy Feast makes a one ingredient that Fabby drools over when it's testing time. There are videos to help you get through the testing learning curve if you need them.

Ask more questions if you have them! Everyone here is very helpful!

Thank you!