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Emimi and Gustin

Member Since 2015
Hello everyone! I found this site late last night and decided to join. I’m Emi and Gustin, my 5 yr old cat, was diagnosed with diabetes and pancreatitis two months ago. The vet prescribed Purina DM as a food source, fed twice a day and twelve hours apart, and put him on 0.5 units Lantus twice a day. However, Gustin, has been acting like he’s starving between meals. After he eats, he’s fine for five hours, but for the remaining seven hours, he is constantly meowing for food. I feel so bad not being able to give him any more food until his next feeding time. Can I give him any snacks between meals to help with his hunger? If not, is there anything else I could do?
 
Hi and welcome to FDMB!

To manage Gustin's diabetes, you don't need an expensive prescription food like Purina DM. Here is a food chart; you need to look for a low carb wet/canned food under 10%. Some good, inexpensive choices include Fancy Feast Classics and some of the Friskies Pate. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

The ravenous hunger can be a sign Gustin's diabetes is not yet regulated. Many of us feed our cats frequent, small portion sized meals throughout the day. If you're not at home during the day, an automatic pet feeder is handy. Low carb snacks are fine between meals.

I don't know what his BG (blood glucose) numbers have been but am guessing the 0.5 units of Lantus twice a day may be too low. Members here can better assist you in our wonderful Lantus forum.

Are you home testing? By home testing, we mean checking BG levels. While on insulin, home testing is a must and gives you a good idea of whether the insulin dose you're giving is appropriate or needs to be adjusted. Vet BG levels tend to be higher, often 100 points or more, especially with a stressed cat. By home testing, you'll also eliminate needless, expensive vet visits. You can also do BG curves at home.

A lot of us use human glucometers such as Walmart's ReliOn Micro or Confirm and strips. Starting out, we suggest using a 26 or 28 lancet gauge.

For tips and videos on home testing check out these links:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/testing-and-shooting-tips.85113/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Again, welcome!
 
For safety, you must be home testing before you do any food changes.
Tests at the vet's office may be 100-180 mg/dL higher than at home.
Changing the food to low carb, canned food may reduce the glucose 100-200 mg/dL, and in one cat, reduced the glucose by 300 mg/dL.
 
Thank you for all the links and replies!

Gustin is 10 lb right now and seems somewhere between 3 and 5 on the body conditioning chart, so he's a bit underweight. I have been checking his pre-shot BG and it ranges from 160 - 180 mg/dL. Without insulin, his BG before meal time (still 12 hours apart) are 260 - 340 mg/dL. I haven't tried doing a BG curve yet. Is it possible to test his BG too much? One of my relatives is a nurse and warned me that people with diabetes often experience damage to vessels and skin and that I should try not to prick him if I could help it, so I'm wary of over testing.

I'll give feeding smaller meals a try and let you know how that goes. Are there any autofeeders you recommend? Also, I found the shortcut shopping list on this site and noticed that the phosphorus levels for Fancy Feast and Friskies seem really high. Is phosphorus a problem for cats with pancreatitis?
 
Emimi and Gustin said:
I haven't tried doing a BG curve yet. Is it possible to test his BG too much? One of my relatives is a nurse and warned me that people with diabetes often experience damage to vessels and skin and that I should try not to prick him if I could help it, so I'm wary of over testing.
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No, testing Gustin's BG levels frequently will not harm him one bit. In fact, more frequent testing helps a cat because the more you poke, new and more capillaries are formed, making drawing blood easier. Cat's have few nerve receptors in their ears, hence little if any pain. If Gustin reacts, it's because he's reacting to being restrained and touched but he will get used to it, especially if you reward him with low carb treats and heaps of praises.

Start out by touching and massaging Gustin's ears and give him a low carb treat. Then graduate to the next step: the poking.

It will get easier. Despite what your relative says, cats do not experience damage to vessels and skin.
 
If Gustin's sligtly underweight, it should be OK to add a little extra to his daily food allowance until he reaches ideal weight. A reasonably-priced digital baby scales like one of these is a great aid to weight management. With the aid of the body condition chart and regular weight checks you will be able to determine Gustin's ideal weight. Thereafter, if he starts to gain reduce his food allowance a little; if he starts to lose, increase it a little.

With Lantus, you can spread the food out into mini meals; one meal before each injection, and the rest spread out over the course of the day. NB: the last meal in each cycle should be finished by 10 hours after the injection was given. This is so that the pre-shot blood glucose test for the next 12-hour cycle won't be food-influenced. The pre-shot test gives an indication whether it is safe to give the next dose, so it is important that it is not 'falsely' elevated by the effects of a recent meal.

Lots of members here recommend the Petsafe 5 automatic feeder. I bought other feeders before I heard of it, but I wish I had one. :) I found timed feeds to be very helpful in getting Saoirse regulated. Also, because she has pancreatitis it's necessary to feed her regular, small meals so the feeders help with that side of things, too (especially at night!).


Mogs
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Feline diabetics are a bit different from human diabetics in certain respects. Cats are obligate carnivores while humans are omnivores. Cats have a thicker skin with protective fur; human skin is thin and must be protected from injury by clothing.
No one here has reported ear infections from testing.
Bladder/kidney, respiratory, and dental infections seem more common in feline diabetics vs skin and foot infections in humans.
 
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