New Member - Glycobalance and Insulin Questions

[OliverorOlivia]

First timer here and found alot of good information. I may have missed the search button but with Oliver being unique, he may have some unique qualities.

Oliver is a male, orange tabby mix (not sure on his stray father) 8yrs old and about 14lbs. He's about 1.5x the size of a normal cat in height so even at 14lbs, he doesn't look overweight. At around age 3 he had a bladder crystal that ruptured his urethra and he had to get a PU surgery (hence the terrible screen name). Since then he was on RC Urinary SO wet/dry until July 2023. We noticed he had blood in his litter box and while at the very for an aggressive UTI, they diagnosed him with diabetes (600 reading at the vet/in pain). We tried to get Bexacat but his ketones were too high so we got stuck with Prozinc 2x a day and switched to Glycobalance.

Since then, we are still trying to get a regulated dose and hes constantly begging for food. We are up to 6.5units of Prozinc and still in the 300s using an Alphatrack reader.

We currently feed him at 8am Fancy Feast can (from the list of low carb), 1230pm Glycobalance dry (2 portion - 12g), 4pm GB dry (2 portion 12g), 8pm GB wet can (3oz), 10pm GB dry (2 portion - 12g), 230am GB dry (1 portion -6g), 6am GB dry (1 portion - 6g). Vet recommended 200cal/day. Dry food is on an automatic feeder (and he tries to fight it to get more). He still wakes us up screaming for breakfast after his 6am snack. We mix about 1 can of water in with his wet food just to ensure he's getting water as his intake has drastically slowed. But his constant hunger makes me think we are underfeeding him. I also noticed the more dry he eats, he is likely to get constipated, which adds more fun to this journey.

So my questions (if you've made it this far). I noticed that Glycobalance is higher in carbs than the recommended Fancy Feast options. What benefit does GB provide compared to a standard storebought brand? The website just says high protein and essential nutrients.

In terms of insulin, how many units do we increase to until we look for other alternatives? Our vet has slowly increased us by 0.5 units every 2 weeks and it's taking quite a while (and a ton of test strips)

Side note, we've noticed his back legs are starting to act weird. Not sure if it's just from lack of movement or diabetes as he just lies around all day. His jumping seems to be less graceful and more chaotic in nature. I've read this could be from the diabetes.

Most recent Insulin curve, taken every 2hrs
8am food/insulin shot - 406
10am - 375
12pm - 326
2pm - 309
4pm - 303
6pm - 324
8pm - 339 (2nd dose)

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome to FDMB!

I suspect what is interfering with your ability to get Oliver regulated is the Glycobalance. It's approximately 27% carbohydrate. We consider under 10% as low carb and the Fancy Feast is about in the 5% range. Glycobalance is like feeding a diabetic cookies, and not very good cookies. These are the first few ingredients: Chicken by-product meal, barley, wheat gluten, corn gluten meal, soy protein isolate, tapioca, powdered cellulose, chicken fat. Barley is high in carbs and many cats have a gluten sensitivity. My all time favorite ingredient is powdered cellulose -- another term for sawdust. There is absolutely no advantage to the Glycobalance. In fact, the manufacturers lost a class action suit for calling it "prescription" since there is nothing in the food that is remotely prescriptive. The Fancy Feast is a far better option.

If you opt to switch to an entirely low carb diet, I would suggest making the transition slowly. Once you start to eliminate the high carb food, there's a good chance you'll see Oliver's blood glucose numbers start to drop. I couldn't quite tell how long you've been using Prozinc. It's a very good insulin for feline diabetes. I would not suggest switching insulin until you give the Prozinc a fair chance once Oliver is on a low carb only diet.

What you're describing with respect to your cat's hind legs is likely diabetic neuropathy. Adding methylcobalamine (methyl-B12) to his diet will help as will lower blood glucose numbers. Zobaline is a methyl-B12 that is formulated for cats and is available on Amazon.

I'd also encourage you to set up your signature and spreadsheet. The information is in this post on helping us to help you. Your signature will tell us a bit about Oliver (e.g., what insulin you're using, when he was diagnosed) so we don't keep asking those questions. The spreadsheet will allow you to keep track of Oliver's progress and will allow us to follow, as well.

Are you monitoring your cat's ketones?

The members here are very generous with their time and knowledge. Please let us know how we can help.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

To answer your question on the added benefit of Glycobalance, there is none. There are much better low carb commercially available options. Many of us put wet food in an automatic feeder too, to help get more sleep. The Petsafe or Catmate 5 compartment ones are popular.