? New Member, 10/21/21 - Possible Remission, Diet Recommendations Welcome

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DaryaAndCN

DaryaAndCN

Member Since 2021
Hello,

First of all I want to say thank you to every single person on this website. I have been reading like a mad woman since my cat (Chicken Nugget) was diagnosed on August 28th. This has all been so helpful, intellectually and emotionally.

A little background: We have been feeding CN, Age 8, 4 cans of Fancy Feast Classic Pate a day (2 cans in the morning, 2 cans at night) in hopes she gains some weight. She is currently 6.5 pounds. As of October 13th, the vet advised us not to give her insulin anymore since her BS was low and she seems to be in remission. She is no longer excessively drinking or urinating. I do have an AlphaTrak but she will not let me test her BS to be 100% sure.

I have a few questions about diet if anyone has advice. Is there anything else I can give her in between feedings to help her gain weight? I've read boiling chicken but I don't want to affect her BS negatively. Should we be feeding her more? Will that affect her BS? Should we maybe be dividing the cans up differently? I've read some people feed multiple times a day. She eats all of her food when we give it to her, though it usually take a little bit of time because it's a lot of food. No dry food at all.

Any help is welcome!

Edit: Sorry I forgot to make the subject line 10/21/21, New Member. I do not know how to change it.
 
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Hi and welcome
Vets often tell caregivers the cat is in remission too early. We recommend making sure you get a strong remission.
Without seeing some data on the blood glucose levels it is impossible to tell if CN is really in remission.
Have you tried to persevere with home testing. We rarely get a cat who will not settle down and be tested. I will send you a link below about tips to home test. I can’t stress enough how important it is to get that strong remission.
Another thing I would do if you are not giving insulin is testing the urine for ketones with a bottle of Ketostix. It’s a simple test and will tell you if there are any ketones present. Diabetic cats who are not getting insulin can develop ketones which can be dangerous.
FOOD
I would spread the food over the day and evening
Eg. 1 can at each shot time and 1/3 can at +2,+4 and +6 each cycle. That is still the same amount of food you are giving but it’s better for the pancreas to spread it out. If you want to give more, you can add some fresh chicken or more low carb canned food

I would recommend you set up a spreadsheet and try
The home testing again. That is the best thing you can do for CN by far!
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi and welcome
Vets often tell caregivers the cat is in remission too early. We recommend making sure you get a strong remission.
Without seeing some data on the blood glucose levels it is impossible to tell if CN is really in remission.
Have you tried to persevere with home testing. We rarely get a cat who will not settle down and be tested. I will send you a link below about tips to home test. I can’t stress enough how important it is to get that strong remission.
Another thing I would do if you are not giving insulin is testing the urine for ketones with a bottle of Ketostix. It’s a simple test and will tell you if there are any ketones present. Diabetic cats who are not getting insulin can develop ketones which can be dangerous.
FOOD
I would spread the food over the day and evening
Eg. 1 can at each shot time and 1/3 can at +2,+4 and +6 each cycle. That is still the same amount of food you are giving but it’s better for the pancreas to spread it out. If you want to give more, you can add some fresh chicken or more low carb canned food

I would recommend you set up a spreadsheet and try
The home testing again. That is the best thing you can do for CN by far!
Click to expand...


Thank you so much for this advice, I will keep trying to test her. Good to know it is safe to spread out the feedings / doses. You guys are life savers literally!
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Good for you!
What type of insulin was she on and how much?
Click to expand...

She was on 2 units of Vetsulin twice a day. She started drooling and acting tired and the vet let us know her BS was 119 (we hadn’t dosed her because of the behavior) and requested we not dose her until she was symptomatic again. I’ve been wondering if I should start giving her 1 unit twice a day, but I want to get a BS reading before I start giving her insulin again, for obvious reasons.

Edit: I’m reading the links your provided and I’m seeing that if I get anything over 200 I should start giving her insulin again?
 
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We can help you get sorted out but you would need to set up a spreadsheet and your signature so that we have some information.
To get a strong remission the insulin needs to be reduced gradually, as per the dosing methods down to 0.1 unit then a drop.

So you would have started off at 2 units, then gone down to 2.75 units, 1.5 units, 1.25 units, 1 unit, 0.75 unit, 0.5 unit.0.25 unit, 0.2 unit then a drop.
By doing it this way you are giving the pancreas time to heal itself.

Just stopping cold turkey at 2 units will not give a strong remission…..or a remission at all.

I would strongly suggest you test for ketones in the urine while you are not giving any insulin. I gave you informed about that in post no 2
 
Okay thank you. Can you recommend a lancet size as well? The ones that came with the AlphaTrak seem to big and she swats at me when I try to get her ear :(
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Size 26 or28 gauge lancets are best for beginners. Are you giving her a treat as you test?
Click to expand...

Okay thank you I will order those. I am not sure what treats she is allowed. I’ve read freeze dried treats but I haven’t seen them in the store, is that something I can order on Amazon? The vet said the fancy feast pure natural treats were okay, which are just small pieces of fish.

Thank you again for talking to me. I’ve been really afraid, confused, and sad. This is helping air that out.
 
The ones you mentioned are ok
I did a search on the forum
I did a search on the sit and found this posted by some membets
When testing you can give them a treat so they will associate after testing they will get a reward, any freeze dried treats are ok such as
PureBites Freeze-Dried Cat Treats with Chicken Breast 2.3 oz ()https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071P7M2HG/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20. I

Also chewys has freeze dried treats also


The freeze dried treats you can get at petsmart, petco and order from chewy. Purebites is popular (cheaper if you buy the dog food ones). My crew like vital essentials it's dehydrated freeze dried raw comes in flavors

freeze dried minnows, made by Vital Essentials. I also buy the ones made for dogs. They're the same as the freeze dried minnows for cats. just cheaper. They also carry other freeze dried treats. I ordered mine through Amazon.

I think the vital essentials are more of a crunchy texture than the purebites

If you cat likes any of these you can buy the bigger bags for dogs they are the same ,you will get more for your money just break then up into smaller pieces
 
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If you're wanting your kitty to gain weight, one option is to give a larger quantity of what you're currently feeding your cat. The alternative is to try a low carb but higher calorie food. For example, Fancy Feast Chicken Classic is 3% carbs and 91 calories for a 3oz can (30.3 calories per oz) whereas Wellness Chicken is 4% and 220 calorie for a 5.5oz can (40 calories per oz). While a difference of 10 calories doesn't seem like much, given the overall calorie intake, it can mount up. In addition, many cats metabolize a low carb diet far better than what they may have been eating prior to their diabetes diagnosis.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
The ones you mentioned are ok
I did a search on the forum
I did a search on the sit and found this posted by some membets
When testing you can give them a treat so they will associate after testing they will get a reward, any freeze dried treats are ok such as
PureBites Freeze-Dried Cat Treats with Chicken Breast 2.3 oz ()https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071P7M2HG/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20. I

Also chewys has freeze dried treats also


The freeze dried treats you can get at petsmart, petco and order from chewy. Purebites is popular (cheaper if you buy the dog food ones). My crew like vital essentials it's dehydrated freeze dried raw comes in flavors

freeze dried minnows, made by Vital Essentials. I also buy the ones made for dogs. They're the same as the freeze dried minnows for cats. just cheaper. They also carry other freeze dried treats. I ordered mine through Amazon.

I think the vital essentials are more of a crunchy texture than the purebites

If you cat likes any of these you can buy the bigger bags for dogs they are the same ,you will get more for your money just break then up into smaller pieces
Click to expand...
I picked these up today!! Thank you!!
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
If you're wanting your kitty to gain weight, one option is to give a larger quantity of what you're currently feeding your cat. The alternative is to try a low carb but higher calorie food. For example, Fancy Feast Chicken Classic is 3% carbs and 91 calories for a 3oz can (30.3 calories per oz) whereas Wellness Chicken is 4% and 220 calorie for a 5.5oz can (40 calories per oz). While a difference of 10 calories doesn't seem like much, given the overall calorie intake, it can mount up. In addition, many cats metabolize a low carb diet far better than what they may have been eating prior to their diabetes diagnosis.
Click to expand...
That is exactly what we feed her! Do you think I could give her more then 2 cans at a serving?

Made another vet appointment too just to be safe since someone pointed out she may not be in remission.
 
I would spread the food out over the first half of the cycle. If your cat's pancreas is healing, it's better to not give a ton of food all at once. Spreading it out is a bit easier on a healing pancreas since you're not overwhelming it's reawakening when it comes to producing its own insulin.

In addition, since you're using an insulin that can hit hard and fast, giving food over several hours helps to offset the the potential drop in numbers from the Vetsulin.

If there's anyway you can convince your kitty to let you test, you won't have to rely on the vet for your data.
 
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