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pattymac

Member Since 2013
Good morning all! Not sure yet if my 13 year old Manx is diabetic yet but he's showing all the signs. He has an appointment at the vet's tomorrow. I have 4 cats and a dog. I have my Manx, a Maine Coon rescue, an approx. 18 year old sweet old orange kitty and a little calico troublemaker and a husky/shepherd.

It's been a tough summer in our house, between living through floods, we live in southern Alberta and health issues with the cats. Now this is happening so feeling a bit overwhelmed. Been doing some reading on feline diabetes and it seems like it's fairly manageable. Probably easier to manage in cats than in people. My Dad had type 2 and was the worst for wanting anything and everything with sugar in it.

Some of what I was reading was about food. I ran out of crunchies a few days ago so the critters haven't had any which is now likely a very good thing. I read one article that stated that grocery store brands like Fancy Feast and Friskies can be better than high end foods that usually contain fruits and veggies, not good for the diabetic cat. I have to go get food today, does anyone have any suggestions. I can get most brands. I was also reading to stay away from the prescription diets as they have too many carbs.
 
Welcome, Manx and Manx's Bean!

Food is an excellent place to start if the cat is not yet on insulin. Most of us use the food list from catinfo.org and look for anything less than 8-10% carbs from calories (Column C), the lower the better. This means that most of the Friskies pates, Fancy Feast Classics, and even 9Lives Pates are perfectly fine to feed your cats without breaking your wallet. The catinfo.org website also contains a comprehensive guide to feline nutrition and why wet food diets are so much better for obligate carnivores and the various health problems that can be caused by poor nutrition, so it's worth a read-through.

If it is confirmed tomorrow that Manx has diabetes and the vet decides to start insulin, please make sure that it is one of the three insulins that are recommended for treating feline diabetes: Lantus (glargine), Levemir (determir), or PZI/ProZinc. All other insulins are not recommended for use in cats.

We are also really strong advocates of home-testing our kitties here, especially if you're also making a diet change. It's much the same as a human would test themselves before shooting up with a potentially deadly medicine like insulin, so why put our furkids at risk? Here's a link to an ear-testing tips page that will give you an idea of what testing entails and we can help you with the specifics as you get started.

Much of what I've mentioned above can be found in the AAHA Diabetes Guidelines that you can feel free to pass along to your vet. Please let us know how it goes with the vet and if you have any other questions in the meantime. :-D
 
Thanks! It's crazy, been buying the cats what I always thought were good foods, you know the fancy brands with all the 'good' ingredients. They obviously know better because they all really like Fancy Feast etc and will eat them no problem. I watched the video of the vet and Buddy doing the ear testing and it looks pretty simple. My Mom is a retired nurse, she doesn't see too well but said she could likely help with injections. Is there anything I can do to make him more comfortable until his appt tomorrow?
 
Hi Patty? and welcome to the FDMB!

Is your kitty's name Manx? or is that his breed?

About the only thing you can do right now is start transitioning to the low carb foods. When you see your vet tomorrow, remember one thing...the blood glucose number you get at the vet is going to be up to 200 points higher than what it would be at home. The stress of going to the vets office can raise their blood glucose that much (which is why SO many vets recommend starting at way higher doses of insulin that we do..they don't understand that the number is "stress induced")

If kitty is diabetic, it's important for you to go ahead and start home testing while you're transitioning to lower carb foods. It's possible that just a diet change can mean you won't need insulin! We've seen it before! I might even try changing to low carb and NOT starting insulin until you've tested for several days at home to see where you're starting from, as well as getting him off the high carb food. High numbers are a worry, but they slowly cause organ damage. Low numbers kill quickly...and if you start giving insulin at the same time you're removing carbs from his diet, it could cause a heartbreaking situation.

IF you do get the diagnosis of diabetes tomorrow, here's some things you'll need to be getting

1. Meter ie Walmart Relion Confirm or Micro or Prime (Confirm and Micro use a very tiny sample but the strips are a little more expensive ($18 for 50) The Prime takes a little bigger sample, but the strips are the cheapest ($9 for 50) I suggest getting the Confirm or Micro to start with...once the ears "learn to bleed", you can go to the Prime and save the money on strips)
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

If kitty does end up being diabetic, have your vet give you a prescription for insulin (Lantus, Levemir or Pro Zinc) While you're transitioning to wet, low carb food, you could use the ketodiastix to test his urine for ketones. If more than a trace, it's an emergency.

Good luck to you, and we're happy you have found us!

P.S. You're totally correct on the food issue...We all believed that myth about dry being best and if veggies and fruit are good for us, why not for our cats? The pet food industry should be ashamed of itself, but as with everything, there's money to be made
 
Thank you so much Chris and everybody. I had a quick look at Walmart and will also check our Shopper's Drug Mart, they know me there as I get my Mom's prescriptions there and they're friendlier.

I suppose he should be eating smaller more frequent meals? I got some Fancy Feast pates and some Friskies pates. I gave him a can of FF and he ate most of it. Seems to be feeling a bit better right now. It's been about 4 days since any of them have had crunchies and I got them some Purebites chicken treats. He likes those too.

Oh, he's a Manx and his name is Bobee, short for Big Bro, his official name. Funny though, I noticed he started to look kind of frumpy back in May/June so I took him to the 'supposed' best vet in town for a complete set of blood work, thyroid tests and urinalysis. The vet told me everything was fine and normal! Anyway, he's got an appointment with the vet I've used for everyone else and hopefully the other vet sent over his bloodwork results so they have them for tomorrow.

Will be checking all the info on here tonight!
 
Well remember, the biggest cost is in the blood glucose strips...the meters are cheap, and some come with a few free strips, but when you go back to get more, they're $1 a piece. If you want to get one from Shoppers Drug Mart, just make sure you can afford the replacement strips that go with it. We like to see at least 4 tests per day, but lots of us test even more often, so you can see how that would run up a pretty big bill if the strips are more expensive.

That's why we recommend the Relion's from WalMart...they're about $15 for the meter, and depending on which one you get, the strips are from $9 to $18 for 50 strips

There's also one you can get through our shopping partner, American Diabetes Wholesale called the Glucocard 01 or 01 mini ...they're the same as the Relion, just without the Relion name. The strips from the Relion work in it too, so if you run low, you can get the Relion strips from WalMart if you need to

Let's see what your vet has to say tomorrow. If BoBee is diabetic, you can learn everything you need to from us..Most vets might see a handful of diabetic cats in a year. The people here live and breathe diabetes every day of the year...some for many years.
 
PHEW!

Well Bobee is not diabetic! So blood test for hyperthyroid T4 is going to be done and should know by Saturday if that's his problem. The vet wondered about kidney failure but his creatnine etc was good back in June and I told him I had one cat go into kidney failure and he wasn't like this at all. So they're going to check that as well anyway. He is grumpy even at us which is unusual and one of the symptoms of hyperthyroid.

Anyway, I did learn alot here!! So at least if one of the other cats becomes diabetic, I certainly know where to come for help and support!!
 
Good news on Bobee not being diabetic! Sounds like you've had quite a year if you had to survive the floods too.

If you switch the furkids to low carb wet, you might not have to worry about diabetes in the future. One of the things you might want to keep an eye on is the phosphorus level in the foods. The lower the better should kidney disease become an issue. It's also listed in the food chart someone linked for you.

FYI - in Canada, we cannot get the Relion meters and strips, unless we cross border shop. You'd want a meter with the smallest blood drop requirement and the lowest cost of strips. Many people here shop on eBay for strips.
 
So happy to hear that Bobee isn't diabetic!! I'm sure that takes a load off your mind...now to just find out what IS going on!

I totally agree with Wendy...Now that you know that high carb and dry foods are bad for your kitties, it just makes sense that you'd transition everyone over. In the long run, they'll all be healthier...and less likely to develop diabetes

Happy Dancing here!! dancing_cat dancing_cat dancing_cat
 
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