? New Member - Lynk’s wild appetite

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Lindsay & Calvin

Member Since 2021
Hi everyone! We’re Calvin and Lindsay pet parents to three kitties who have kept us on our toes with medical issues this year. In October, our 14 year old male long haired kitty (Lynk) was diagnosed with diabetes. This came as a real shock to us because Lynk was at a perfect weight (according to our vet) and was on a no-carb diet (he’s on a raw food diet, fully endorsed and supported by our vet).

The first couple months had a lot of ups and downs and Lynk’s blood sugar ranged from 2.8 mmols to 22 mmols at the time of his diagnosis. Fortunately, last month his levels seemed to stabilize and his curve was between 4.8 and 10.2 mmols. Doc said we didn’t need to do another curve for at least a month. He’s been on a consistent 2 units of insulin twice a day for 3 months now.

So, this last week Lynk has been absolutely insatiable, like a total bottomless pit. We started getting worried that his glucose was getting high again so we tested his levels again right before dinner today and we got a reading of 3.4 mmols. Lynk got an bigger portion of food than normal, and since he wouldn’t leave his feeding area, we gave him a little more an hour later. It seems he is now satisfied and is resting comfortably on one of his cat trees. Most days lately he’s been at my heels every time I’m in the kitchen very loudly asking for food, though.

I’ve heard of hypoglycaemia but he’s not exhibiting any of the signs that doctor google returned. We are feeding him according to the guidelines recommended to us by our nutritionist (she’s a vet tech who had done supplemental study in animal nutrition and she worked at our vet clinic for years). I’ve also heard of remission but our vet didn’t seem to think it’s particularly likely for our little guy.

So, basically my question is: what do you think could be going on with Lynk’s appetite? Does this sound like remission? Is that too much to hope for at this point?
 
Have you read the information we have here on hypoglycemia? It can be found here
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

Do you test regularly? It is hard to be sure what is happening without seeing his blood glucose numbers.

My cat has become really hungry when his BG is low, and if you look at the link above, suppen ravenous hunger is a sign of hypoglycemia.

Why would it be such a surprise for him to go into remission? Does he have any other medical conditions?
 
Thanks for that link! This is the first time I saw any reference material stating that a ravenous appetite could be a symptom of hypoglycaemia and it wasn’t a symptom our vet told us to watch for.

we didn’t think it was likely that Lynk could go into remission because his diabetes wasn’t triggered by weight or diet. We had to make very little adjustments to his diet in fact. I added some cold pressed fish oil to his food since the doc thought it was possible his protein content vs fat ratio was off. His levels were also very wild for the first month he was on insulin. We were testing frequently but basically were told to stop and wait until the next curve. I think the doc saw us as over reacting to any little variance and wanted us to chill out (there’s merit to this, Calvin would have any anxiety attack any time we did a reading regardless of whether it was good or bad because he is a master worrier).
 
It is strange that he became diabetic while on a low carb diet, was he tested for acromegaly or Cushings? Also medication such as prednisone can bring it on.

I heard it mention that when your cat's blood glucose is in the normal range, their insulin producing cells begin to heal and start produce more insulin on their own. Maybe that is what is happening.

I think though anytime you give you cat insulin you need to test because hypoglycemia is so dangerous. And you may need to adjust his insulin dose.
 
If you would like help with anything else here is a link for you
Here is a link 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.
If you need help setting the spreadsheet up just ask we have a member who will be glad to do it
 
Last edited:
Hi there, great that you have him on a raw homemade diet, but really too bad that he became diabetic still. I have known of one other member who fed raw and her cat became diabetic as well. Is this food made from a recipe provided by the vet? Are there any veggies or other sources of carbs?

Inflammation and infection can also cause high BG numbers. Has your kitty had his teeth looked at recently? An ultrasound to look for gastrointestinal inflammation?
 
Hello and welcome. Can you tell us what type of insulin you are giving?

Other things that can cause a ravenous appetite are hyperthyroidism and soem GI diseases. Good to have those ruled out as well.

My girl Neko was also on a low carb diet and became diabetic, but she had acromegaly, which is a benign pituitary tumour that sends out excess growth hormone and in turn caused the diabetes.

Another post you might want to look is some tips to help with home testing. Once your kitty realizes that treats are involved in tests, they come running when you get out the test kit. Hometesting Links and Tips Cats can sense anxiety at testing time, doing something silly like singing to the cat can help (the human, not the cat). :p Curves at vets often give higher numbers than at home due to vet stress, which is one of the reasons we advocate home testing.
 
Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to reply to my original post. We definitely had a little freak out yesterday when his levels were so low and dr google really let me down.

Calvin talked to our vet today and it was confirmed that Lynk was experiencing mild hypoglycaemia and that we should resume testing his levels before feedings. If his levels are in normal range, we are instructed to not give him his insulin dose.

Some additional answers to the questions I have seen asked:
- Lynk is not currently diagnosed with any other ongoing health problems. Some years ago… 7 or 8 years ago, he did have crystals and they were treated with no further re-occurrence.
- Lynk’s last checkup was about 5 or 6 weeks before we found out he had developed diabetes. There was no indication that anyone was out of the ordinary with his health at that point… I.e. no excessive drinking, urination, or lethargy at the time of his checkup.
- His teeth were inspected during his checkup, no further dental work was recommended at that time. So far, he’s had one dental procedure to remove two small teeth about three years ago.
- at the time of diagnosis, the doc noticed that his thyroid levels were slightly elevated but they believed that his diabetes were the contributing factor and that it wasn’t the time to start treating his thyroid. Lynk had a full blood work up at that time but no other conditions such as Cushings we’re mentioned by the doc.
- No other tests have been recommended by the vet atm… I’m currently going through a bout of treatments for pancreatitis with my girl cat and from my experiences with that, I can confirm that my clinic is not shy in recommending diagnostic tests if they feel it’s warranted (she has had ongoing medical conditions since she was very young, which was why we were motivated to look into raw diets).
- the raw diet: so, I live on the Canadian prairies and I have the luxury of purchasing some commercial raw food that is sourced from Canadian farms, I won’t say the name here because raw diets seem to create some controversial opinions and I don’t want to do that at all and I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I’m advocating for that brand. This company makes a very wide variety of raw diets. Lynk primarily eats Goat whole animal diet. This is different from the “dinner” variety that involves things like sweet potatoes in it. It literally looks like a raw hamburger patty you would throw on the grill when it’s frozen. We also now top up his food with a sprinkle of peg powder and some locally produced cold pressed freshwater fish oil because our vet recommended more fat in his diet. The “treats” he gets are Rayne rewards (expensive but worth it) and Pure Bites. No temptations in this house.
- feeding schedule: twice a day, spaced out by 12 hours. He gets an extra treat each time we take his blood sugar to try to make it a positive experience (he wants no part in getting his ears or paws touched) and one tiny little treat nugget right before bed.
- Lynk has always had really bad anxiety. Over time, and with a lot of work, it’s gotten a little better, but he his blood sugar will rise real fast if we’re not really fast with the testing and why we do all our curves at home.

thank you as well for the help in navigating this site. I will look at updating my profile with basic stats and take a good look at the recommended spreadsheet. My glucometer is connected to an app on my phone so I have a record of all of the checks and curves we have done to date.
 
Last edited:
Lindsay & Calvin said:
- the raw diet: so, I live on the Canadian prairies and I have the luxury of purchasing some commercial raw food that is sourced from Canadian farms, I won’t say the name here because raw diets seem to create some controversial opinions and I don’t want to do that at all and I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I’m advocating for that brand. This company makes a very wide variety of raw diets. Lynk primarily eats Goat whole animal diet. This is different from the “dinner” variety that involves things like sweet potatoes in it. It literally looks like a raw hamburger patty you would throw on the grill when it’s frozen. We also now top up his food with a sprinkle of peg powder and some locally produced cold pressed freshwater fish oil because our vet recommended more fat in his diet. The “treats” he gets are Rayne rewards (expensive but worth it) and Pure Bites. No temptations in this house.
Click to expand...
We advocate feeding raw diets here, so there's no need to be shy about it! And what a lucky cat that he gets to eat goat! Sometimes goat can be very lean so it's a good idea to add the fish oil, as most commercially prepared foods are low in Omega 3s that are good for kitties on multiple levels, especially ones on raw food. Sounds like he's constipated too if he's getting PEG. The only thing I'd be concerned with is bone content in the raw patties. Older cats shouldn't have too many bones because it's high in phosphorus and bad for weakening kidneys. I feed raw boneless meats with a meal completing mix that has all of the vitamins needed as well as a source of Omega 3s. The calcium source is powdered egg shell rather than bone, so lower phosphorus content.
 
Katherine&Ruby said:
We advocate feeding raw diets here, so there's no need to be shy about it! And what a lucky cat that he gets to eat goat! Sometimes goat can be very lean so it's a good idea to add the fish oil, as most commercially prepared foods are low in Omega 3s that are good for kitties on multiple levels, especially ones on raw food. Sounds like he's constipated too if he's getting PEG. The only thing I'd be concerned with is bone content in the raw patties. Older cats shouldn't have too many bones because it's high in phosphorus and bad for weakening kidneys. I feed raw boneless meats with a meal completing mix that has all of the vitamins needed as well as a source of Omega 3s. The calcium source is powdered egg shell rather than bone, so lower phosphorus content.
Click to expand...

Wow! Thanks for the advice on the powdered eggshells, that’s a new one for me and I will ask about that! Fortunately, Lynk isn’t the constipated kitty in the house so he only gets a very small dusting of peg powder… all three cats do. The girls get a full dose because one has mild constipation and the other has borderline mega colon. I keep beef ofal (organ meat) in the house as well, but Lynk will turn his little nose up to that if I try to feed it to him… I think it’s time to wage that battle once more because you are correct that less bone content would be better for him. My girl with the health problems gets 1/3 ofal, 2/3 goat right now and I pick out any chunks of bone I find when making her food. That’s probably how Lynk should be eating too.
 
I'm on the west coast of BC. We also have the luxury of a few raw options made locally with organic meats. Including some without ground bone. If you are feeding the one starting with C, then that one is available here too. I also fed raw, as do a number of people here. Are the Rayne treats low carb? Their food tends to be higher carb. All the Rayne Rewards I looked at have "cane molasses" as the second ingredient! Anything made from sugar cane is likely not diabetes friendly. Plus salt - totally unnecessary to feed at cat. I'd stick with a pure meat treat. I'm currently a fan of the Yappetizers (or rather kitty is). Jerky without the additives. Turkey heart is a fav here.

Thyroid issues can cause insulin resistance, I'd keep an eye on that. Cushings and acromegaly require special blood tests, and aren't something that's part of the regular blood panels. Or something we'd normally suggest testing for right away. There are typically side effects from those conditions and we'd test for them if it's hard to get kitty regulated. Lynk's diabetes diagnosis is too early for that.
 
I would offer some snacks during the cycles as well as the Preshot meals. Giving them during the first half of the cycles is better if you can, say at +3 and+6.
did you tell us what type of insulin you are using and the dose? I came see it.
Also what type of meter are you using? A human ir pet meter? Thx
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top