Kittencat Brat
New Member
Hi, Everyone! Well, now I know why my 8-year-old Tuxedo boy was losing weight and being uncharacteristically needy. He went to the vet yesterday and was diagnosed with diabetes. I didn't even know cats could get it. His bg was over 600 yesterday and was in the high 300's this morning. Good grief. Poor kitty! My vet does an annual house call to give everyone their shots, and year before last, when I was carrying Simon to the exam table for his shots, he lept out of my arms. I tried to hold onto him (not clever) and he basically shredded my forearms, then launched himself off my kitchen counter and about 20 feet across the kitchen to the foot of the stairs, which he cleared in about two more leaps and then I didn't see him for the rest of the day. As he sailed across the kitchen, my vet's eyes followed him as he said "my, but he certainly is athletic!" Hence the nickname, "Rocket Cat." Simon is affectionate and an excellent bed cat. He loves to be petted and even comes when called, although sometimes I have to keep calling him. He does not like to be "fussed with" other than petted and will not allow me to brush him. My vet expects that he will be able to come home on Thursday. He will need two insulin shots daily, and monthly (for now) vet visits to monitor his bg. Simon is one of my five cats, who are all 100 percent indoor cats. I am so grateful for this website and forum, which have already been true Godsends to me! It is clear to me that we're going to need to make some major changes! First, I think that everyone needs to get onto a healthier and less carby diet (we're on Science Diet now). It doesn't seem feasible for me to switch everyone over to canned food, so I'll probably go with home made food and am looking for recipes. Oh, not to worry, I understand that it could be fatal to Simon to just switch him to low carb when he's taking insulin, without proper and knowledgeable veterinary supervision. One of my other kitties, orange tabby Purrrrr, really needs to lose about 5 lbs. and I think this would help her as well, plus just be better for all of them in every way. Also on feeding, in the past I have just left the dry food available to them 24-7. Now I think we will need to have regularly scheduled feeding times, and not have it available all the time. That's the only way I know of to monitor Simon's food intake. Second, I plan to start home bg testing for Simon. Because I am a Type II diabetic, I already have a meter (Accuchek Aviva) and test strips, and am all too familiar with carb counting at least as it applies to humans. I am able to maintain non-diabetic numbers through diet and exercise, so require no insulin or medication at this time, so the whole insulin thing is new to me. I mentioned home testing to my vet and believe this may have been a new concept to him -- am not certain. Also, when I mentioned low-carb diet, I think he may be looking to a Science Diet "diabetic" formulation which may or may not be low carb. He is a wonderful vet and person, and I expect that he will welcome me being probably a lot more proactive than other Sugarcat clients. I know that in human diabetes dietary recommendations there are groups of professionals who consider a "low carb" meal to contain about 60 grams of carbs, while in the real world of experience of many of us, anything over 35 or 40 grams can cause a spike that we want to avoid -- and suspect that similar conflicts of opinion may exist within feline diabetes as well -- is this correct? Any ideas or suggestions on dealing with this situation, any appropriate cat food recipes, best ways to approach my vet, anything else that's been helpful to you, etc., will be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all you terrific beans and your Sugarcats! Nancy
