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[tiggs@oscar]

Hello, hope I am posting in the right place! Hamish is an Australian ( now living in Scotland) DSH who was diagnosed in May 2011. Overall health is good but he has proved insulin resistant and also positive for Acromegaly. Tried the prescription diets but very expensive and he still needed increased doses of Caninsulin. He is currently on 16 I.U's twice daily. Great to find this site. TO.

 

[j_o]

Welcome to the board! You don't need to feed prescription food to a diabetic the best thing to feed them is a low cal wet food only diet it will make a huge difference in trying to contol his blood sugar. I have no knowledge of the Acromegaly but I am sure there is someone on here that will have some advice for you. Also are you home testing before you give insulin? If not you should go out and get a meter and start testing any human meter will do.

 

[hmjohnston]

Hello there! I'm heather and my Sneakers is an acro cat (but not IAA).

We have an acro/IAA/Cushings forum on the FDMB although we are more active on the FB page- look for Feline Acromelagy. It is a closed site so request to be linked in and you will get a LOT of information :lol:

I feed my cat regular canned food from Wal-Mart, although I am not sure what Scotland has (we have a few English-isle posters on it that can give you pointers, and one from Edinborough (?sp)) Prescription diets are not the best, 1- if they are dry- do not have the moisture needed and they have too many carbs, and 2- most prescription canned comes in only 1 flavor and the cat gets bored with it quickly. I mean, how many days in a row do YOU eat liver for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? After the first two meals I'd scream and go hunt for dry

Yes- home testing is vital for any diabetic cat and a human meter is just fine to use.

Regular questions-
What insulin is Hamish on?
What is his current food?
Do you test for ketones?

 

[Patti and Merlin]

Helloooo,

I'm Patti and Merlin - an "old" acromom. My Merlin has passed over the "bridge" but I'm still active in the acro community and we have quite a large one now. I'm sorry you and Hamish received the acro diagnosis but now we can move on from there and get you lots of great info and help. WE have another girl Ingid and her kitty TC living in Scotland also - Edinburg. Are you anywhere near there?

You don't need to feed prescription diet. Canned pate foods are usually best but it's good to have some gravy foods available in case your Hamish's numbers should go very low at any time. The important thing is that he eats.

Are you on facebook at all - the acro group here on FDMB is great as we all belong here too but we can interact more quickly over in FB. Let us know. No problem tho if you can't - we will all see you here too!

So glad you found us!!!!!

 

[Blue]

Hello, hope I am posting in the right place! Hamish is an Australian ( now living in Scotland) DSH who was diagnosed in May 2011. Overall health is good but he has proved insulin resistant and also positive for Acromegaly. Tried the prescription diets but very expensive and he still needed increased doses of Caninsulin. He is currently on 16 I.U's twice daily. Great to find this site. TO.

Welcome to FDMB.
This board has a sister site which is mainly for the Acromegaly and High Dose owners to post.
You can go to catacromegaly.com and register; I and the other admins will watch for your registration and add you in.

Heather is correct about the acro community being more active on the facebook group as well. You can apply to the Feline Acromegaly group there and we'll add you in.

Being where you are, Caninsulin is the insulin most used for diabetic cats, but most cats with acromegaly are using Levemir, and some are using Lantus. Hopefully you can speak with your vet about switching to one of the other longer lasting insulins.

The foods fed are mostly wet pate type foods or even raw; some others may be able to provide you with good types of foods in your current location.

I had two acro cats, one has passed, and the other is currently off insulin... his highest dose was 37units twice a day on Levemir.

I hope to see you on the FDMB Catacromegaly board and also the other group on facebook.
http://catacromegaly.com/

You may want to join the other Facebook group Feline Diabetes with around 800 members and which is the facebook presence for this board. I have noticed that there are more active members who are not on North America, so they may be able to give you some ideas on foods you can feed.

 

[Patti and Merlin]

This is some "old" food info but maybe it may help you get started. It was put together by another old acro mom from England.
The numbers after each food refer to % of calories from protein/ fat/ carbohydrates/ and finally Calories (kcal/100g)
Whiskas Fisherman's Choice in Jelly Pouches 38.0 54.3 7.6 78

Rabbit in Gravy 37.0 50.5 12.5 76

Steam Cooked POUCHES, Poultry Selection in Jelly (Poultry, Turkey, Duck, Chicken) 38.0 54.3 7.6 78

‘Oh So Meaty’ chicken pouches (sold singly) 48 47.7 4.4 80

Rabbit & Chicken in Jelly 37.5 56.9 5.6 75

Butchers Classic Fish & Meat Selection in Jelly 37.5 53.6 8.8 80

Felix in Jelly (Chicken, tuna, rabbit, turkey, beef) 38.2 53.5 8.3 72

in Jelly, meat selection Foil Trays (Rabbit & Lamb, Duck & Beef, Chicken & Turkey). 40.6 52.2 7.2 73

‘As Good As It Looks’ POUCHES, Meat Menus of Succulent Steaklets in Jelly (Chicken, Beef, Rabbit, Lamb) 67.1 29.1 3.8 73

Tesco Premium Cuts In Jelly Pouches (chicken, tuna, Salmon & Prawn, Rabbit & Turkey) 36.5 55.3 8.2 77

Finest Succulent Chicken Breast Collection pouches 71.7 27.2 1.1 63

Sainsbury Pouches in Jelly 33.5 56.0 10.5 84

Kitekat Chicken & Rabbit in Jelly 31.3 54.3 14.3 78

Royal Canin Recovery 39.0 51.3 9.7 108

Hill’s m/d Dry 43.0 44.0 13.0 -

Hill’s m/d Canned 46.0 41.0 14.0 -

I hope this makes some sense to you and helps a little...

 

[tiggs@oscar]

I am over the moon at your responses. Thank you. You know what it is like to go away from the vet and start processing all the information at home? Well, this is helping. I will definitely link onto the two sites suggested as the approach of home monitering is an interesting one.
HM Johnston - Hamish is on Caninsulin and branded cat food (whiskas etc dry for breakfast and wet for dinner). His ketones were removed as I didn't want any baby Hamish's. Only kidding!!
This is something else to investigate.

Many thanks everyone.

TO

 

[hmjohnston]

I am over the moon at your responses. Thank you. ...
HM Johnston - Hamish is on Caninsulin and branded cat food (whiskas etc dry for breakfast and wet for dinner). His ketones were removed as I didn't want any baby Hamish's. Only kidding!!
This is something else to investigate.

Many thanks everyone.

TO

That is funny!

No, unfortunately ketones aren't that funny in real life. The presence of ketones can be a deadly disease that diabetics get. The trifecta for diabetic ketoacididosis is not enough food, not enough insulin, and an infection. And in the states it is a costly disease to try and cure- my guess it is everywhere. So if Hammish decides to quit eating from normal be on the lookout. Ketostixs can be found in the pharmacy and you check by holding it in his pee .

Insulin- canisilun is not the best as it is made for dogs. If you can get Lantus or Levemir (a better choice for acro-cats as Lantus sometimes has a sting in large doses) . I don't know if you would need a prescription or not for it. US yes, Canada, no.

And I would ditch the dry food. BUT- learning to home test first can save you heart-ache later.

Hopefully you will be close to one of our other people and can get some one on one pointers from them although many have to learn the sink or swim method and usually end up doing quite well.