New member, FIV+ kitty recently diagnosed with diabetes

[Laura.Camila]

Hi Everyone!!!

Hans is a rescued kitty we adopted in November last year. He's FIV + we deal with fungus/ skin issues, had urinary stones he was on pro-plan veterinary diets UR but is now on Hills W/D with cans of royal canin glycobalance. Had to have most of his teeth removed on January/13 ( he has 2 canines left) but that resolved his inappetence, lethargy and pain ( he had been hospitalized several times because of it). Had a bad crisis in July with his liver due to a medicine given for his skin issue/ fungus but managed to be stabilized. After managing crisis, we're now facing diagnosis of diabetes (October/12).

We're looking to obtain as much info we can on kitties who are in a similar situation like Hans. His glucose level last night was the highest at (508). Vet said we should move to 70 (protein-chicken/fish)/30( Hills w/d kibbles) diet after mentioning the 508 BG. 30 kibbles (w/d Hills) and 70 protein( chicken or fish). And any information on what would be considered extremely high or dangerous BG levels on a kitty for reference so we know if we should take him to the ER. Any tips are welcome really there's limited information on the country we live in.

Age: 7-11yrs old
Sex/Neuter status: Male/ neutered
Body weight: 4.3 kg(October 17). Has weighed 4.1kg before.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and all your help!!!!

 

[Laura.Camila]

Sorry! I forgot to mention that he's missing one ear. So glucose testing has proven extra tricky since we don't want to do it in just one ear but there isn't much left of he's left one and he'll move or shake his head and we don't want to poke him more times than we absolutely have to. Any tips are also welcome

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

The best thing you can do to reduce his blood glucose is to get rid of all the Rx foods, especially the kibble. W/D kibble is about 36% carbs and the canned is about 26%. There's absolutely nothing in "prescription" food that actually treats diabetes. The only time it may really be necessary is if your cat gets a stone in their bladder so a short time on a stone diet may help...but it's not meant to be a lifetime food.

Diabetic cats need to eat canned or raw foods that are less than 10% carbs. In the US, most of us feed foods like Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies pates or 9-lives ground because they're affordable and easy to find. With you in Columbia, it may take a little digging, but although they aren't called "Fancy Feast" in all countries, the company that makes them are in pretty much every country.

Are you already giving insulin? If so, what kind, how much and what dose were you started on?

I forgot to mention that he's missing one ear.

Some people use the paw pad instead of the ear. It's important to use the carpal pad since that one doesn't touch the floor.

As for how high is an emergency, there is no set number. We've had cats here with BG's of over 700. It takes time for the high numbers to do a lot of damage but the low numbers can kill quickly. If Hans's blood glucose drops below 50, that's when you'd need to intervene with something high carb. Most of us use Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers (the gravy has a lot of carbs) but you can also use things like corn syrup, honey or pancake syrup.

The one thing you do need to be concerned about at those high numbers is ketones. You can get Urine ketone test strips at any human pharmacy/chemist that sells human diabetic supplies. Anything over "trace" is a medical emergency. Other symptoms to be concerned with are not wanting to eat, even favorite foods, hiding and overall just looking/acting sick. Ketones can get out of control fast so it's a good idea to test once a day. Here are some Urine Testing Tips

Also, tests done at the vets office are unreliable due to vet stress which can raise the cat's BG up to 200 points. If your vet wants to do "curves", do them at home! If you have the vet do them and they see those artificially high numbers due to stress, he could think you need to give more insulin and then you go home, Hans relaxes and you give the new, higher dose. That can end up being a tragic mistake.

Don't want to totally overwhelm you so soon so if you have any questions, please ask! The people here are very generous with their time and will help teach you everything you need to know to keep Hans as healthy as possible!

 

[Wendy&Neko]

One of our members did a food chart listing appropriate diabetic foods for latin and parts of South America. Take a look at it to see if there is something you can find in Columbia that is appropriate: MEXICO AND ARGENTINA FOOD CHARTS Another option is to make your own food. This website has a formula some of our members have used: https://catinfo.org/making-cat-food/. I didn't have exactly your situation, but did have two cats, one diabetic that would eat anything she could get her paws on, and a second cat with idiopathic cystitis and crystals who was originally on the "vet" urinary food that was way too high in carbs for the food thief. Eventually the vet suggested raw food as something that would work for both. And it did. Later on I found out that any low carb and low phosphorus wet or raw food with plenty of water added would work.

We've had members before with one eared cats, or only able to test on one due to an issue with one ear. Another option that some people use to reduce the amount of ear testing is to get the Freestyle Libre attached to their cat. A couple posts with pictures are FreeStyle Libre: video, demonstration, explanations, tips – discussion! and Freestyle Libre for Cats; Tips and Information You will still need to do some home testing, as we've had several members find that the Libre isn't as accurate in lower numbers, where you really need to know how low the cat is.

As for high numbers, there were quite a few times my Neko's blood sugar reading read "Hi" on the meter in her first diabetic year, meaning it was too high to read. Thankfully she didn't stay there.