New member 1/22/23 - I am glad I found this group

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Jjtcisco

Member Since 2023
My 8 year old male has been sick for a couple of months. He was diagnosed as a diabetic Thursday. The vet has his glucose levels under control. However he has an infection and is receiving IV antibiotics. The white blood cell count is coming down but slowly. Until the count comes down, he has to stay at the animal hospital.

The vet has stated that I don’t need to home test. This didn’t make sense to me and now that I have found you I understand the importance.

How do I start the search to find a vet that specializes in feline diabetes? What are things I need to look for? At this point I’m just overwhelmed. Any advice you can give will be welcomed.

Thank you all in advance. Jackie
 
Hi Jackie and welcome!

what’s your cat’s name?

I can’t answer your question about how to find a vet that specializes in feline diabetes because I’m not sure there are any. Unfortunately most vets do not know a lot about feline diabetes….they have many animals to look after and they all have different diseases and treatments. That’s why the experienced folks here are a life saver and you’re in the best hands :bighug: it’s normal to feel overwhelmed. I was too at first, but the more you learn the more comfortable you’ll feel and with practice, it all just becomes part of the routine like feeding and cleaning the litter box. You can do this and we’ll help as much as needed :cat:

your instincts are spot on about home testing. It’s very important just like it is for humans with diabetes, although most vets don’t think so. Most of us here use human meters like Walmart’s ReliOn that has the most cost effective test strips. Food is also important and vets are always trying to get you to buy expensive high carb prescription cat food that is not good for a diabetic cat. They need low carb foods that are 10% or less in carbs. What food are you currently feeding? Insulin is also important. The best insulins for cats are Lantus and prozync. Do you know what insulin they’re going to prescribe?

Here is a helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help. With a diabetic cat you need:
  • A low carb wet diet that is 10% carbs or under. Most of us use around 4-7% carbs
  • A suitable insulin such as Lantus or Prozinc which are long acting, more gentle insulins than the old insulins.
  • We recommend hometesting the blood glucose with a human meter…it is not necessary to use a pet meter which is expensive to run and is no better. It will keep your kitty safe and you will know how the dose is working for your kitty. Only testing every so often will not tell you what is happening in between those times and an awful lot can happen in even a day
FOOD CHART have a look on this chart and choose foods that are under 10%. This is an excellent site for diabetic cats…it has been around for more than 25 years and has very experienced people to help you.

Keep asking lots of questions!
 
Thank you so very much for your quick response. My sweet baby boy is Tom. At this time he eats friskies shreds. The vet says he has his insulin balanced to his food. He does love his dry food but I know he cannot have it anymore.

Tom has been at the hospital since Thursday so I don’t have his number. His glucose was at 400 on Thursday.
I have added some information to my signature and will continue to do so as I get it.

Thank you again for the information, links and kind words.
Jackie
 
Welcome to FDMB! The initial few weeks of learning about managing your cat's diabetes are definitely overwhelming! That's the bad news. The good news is that is become routine relatively quickly. In addition, there are typically people here 24/7 to provide assistance and support.

There are two options for more specialized treatment. There are "cat only" veterinary practices. This is the search page to find a member of the American Assn of Feline Practitioners. I've used feline only practices in two cities and the vets were very good and knowledgable about treating feline diabetes.

The other option is to see a vet who specialized in internal medicine. From the experiences of members here, they can be hit or miss. At least how I interpret members' experiences, you run into the same problem with a general vet practice -- they treat a broad range of animals and apply the knowledge from one species to another. Needless to say, cats are not small dogs. The insulin that may be good for a dog is not great for a cat due to a cat's faster metabolism.

With respect to what to ask about, several years ago we developed this post on screening a new vet.

It's unusual for a vet to hospitalize a cat that is diabetic and has an infection. Do you know if your cat had developed diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA)? Ketones can develop when an infection/inflammation is present, there's not enough insulin being dosed, and a cat isn't consuming enough calories. It's a dangerous condition and depending on the level of ketones, can require hospitalization. It's important for your to know if Tom developed ketones or if there are any other underlying medical conditions in addition to the diabetes.

Your instincts are spot on. Home testing is critical and is supported by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) for the treatment of diabetes. When Tom is ready to come home, I'd encourage you to be informed about insulin choices. The AAHA recommends either Prozinc or Lantus (glargine) for the treatment of feline diabetes. The other insulins (e.g., Vetsulin, Novolin) are shorter acting and do not last 12 hours and they onset hard and fast. Prozinc and glargine are longer acting, gentler insulins.

Please let us know how we can help. The members here are very generous with their time and knowledge.
 
Jjtcisco said:
Thank you so very much for your quick response. My sweet baby boy is Tom. At this time he eats friskies shreds. The vet says he has his insulin balanced to his food. He does love his dry food but I know he cannot have it anymore.

Tom has been at the hospital since Thursday so I don’t have his number. His glucose was at 400 on Thursday.
I have added some information to my signature and will continue to do so as I get it.

Thank you again for the information, links and kind words.
Jackie
Click to expand...
I’m not sure what he or she means by having his insulin “balanced by his food” unless they’re talking about basing the dose on the daily food intake? I’d ask for more information on that as well. The more you know the better so you can make informed decisions and take control over Tom’s care
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
I’m not sure what he or she means by having his insulin “balanced by his food” unless they’re talking about basing the dose on the daily food intake? I
Click to expand...
I think what they are saying is…they are feeding him the dry food or friskies shreds (probably twice a day which seems to be what most vets think is needed) and they have a dose of insulin that keeps the blood glucose in acceptable levels.
 
Yes, this is correct. He is calculating the dose to the food he is eating. He is suppose to eat 3/4 of a can of friskies shreds twice a day with no dry food. I have yet to get him to eat that much. I think his glucose numbers are too high for him to have a good appetite.

Tom came home yesterday (been at vet's office from Thursday - Monday) and we had a good night. He was almost back to his old self. However, this morning he was not OK. He was listless and almost unable to stand. I gave him the 5 units of insulin that has been prescribed and his glucose was still at 498. He is now back at the vet's office and will have to stay until Thursday. I wish I felt more comfortable adjusting the dose of insulin to bring down the glucose numbers. I don't believe that he is getting the right dose. I'm not real confident in my vet's ability to work with feline diabetes. Every morning, his numbers are in the high 400s. My vet doesn't want me to test Tom's blood using a meter, he told me he would do it. I purchased a meter and will use it with or without the vet's approval.

Thank you all again for your help.
 
If your kitty was diagnosed less than a week ago….giving 5 units of insulin is a massive amount of insulin.
Most cats start off with 1/2 to 1 unit of insulin and then increase slowly over time if warranted.
I would seriously question how much your vet knows about feline diabetes.
I am worried Tom can hardly stand today. Do you know if he had DKA at the vet when they kept him for days?
If I were you I would ring up the vet now and ask the following questions
  • Did Tom have DKA(diabetic ketoacidosi) when he was hospitalised at diagnosis?
  • What insulin is he getting?
  • How did they arrive at 5 units of insulin as a starting dose?
  • Please ask for some anti nausea medications such as cerenia and or Ondansetron. This is really important as Tom needs to eat, and eat plenty of food. Don’t let them just give you an appetite stimulant….you need an antinausea medication to give first.
  • While he is unwell and not wanting to eat…let him eat whatever he wants at the moment. That is more important than trying to get him to eat a certain food. It doesn’t matter if it is not low carb. We just want him to eat. We can worry about low carb once he is a bit better.
  • I completely disagree with your vet about home testing. What he is doing is putting his head in the sand and hoping for the best.
    Please do keep home testing. It is so important to keep Tom safe. You don’t have to tell the vet you are home testing if you don’t want to…he is not at home with you. And remember Tom is your cat and you are paying the money for the vet to do the best he can and your wishes MUST be listened to. Tom can’t talk and you are his advocate.
Please let us know how you get on…I am very concerned about Tom.
 
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