Hello all. My name is Alicia. I have a 7 year old, 15 pound tabby cat (Oliver) who was diagnosed with feline diabetes last October. His sugar level was 569! (YIKES!). Mr. Vet said he was probably going to go into diabetic shock at anytime. I could not afford insulin shots at the time so I decided to put my cat on a "strict" diet. My veterinarian recommended prescription hard feline food and advised me that Oliver would probably not live past Christmas 2011. Sad, but I could do nothing else at the time. As a protein supplement to the prescription food, I decided to feed him fresh turkey breast and fresh salmon. He loves it - but last week I took him to the vet to have shots updated. Well, they performed a sugar level test - 550! OMG! I felt so bad so I agreed to "dip" into the Christmas funds to start him on insulin shots. We are going to the vet this afternoon for a sugar check. I'm nervous. Do you have any other suggestions what to feed him? I read that prescription feline food was not a good option??? Any other suggestions would be helpful as well.
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Elizabeth and Bertie
Member Since 2010
Hello Alicia- and Oliver, and welcome to FDMB!
Well done to you for finding this forum, and well done too for deciding to treat Oliver's diabetes.
Everyone is scared at first. I think 'shock' (how did this happen?), 'horror' (how did it get this bad?), and nausea ('how on earth am I going to cope with this..?) are pretty common responses.
OK, so now just take a deep breath.... And now another one.....
Your cat is now going to be on insulin. Insulin is brilliant! But insulin therapy does need monitoring. The single most useful thing you can do is to test your cat's blood glucose at home. You should be able to get a free test kit from this site to get you started. :smile: Testing isn't as bad as it sounds and you will get a lot of support here to help you get going with that.
Next up is diet. Dry food is bad for diabetes and raises the blood glucose levels. Low carb wet food is good for diabetes, and can really help with blood glucose levels. However, because removal of dry food can lower glucose levels (and hence the need for insulin) absolutely DO NOT REDUCE DRY FOOD UNTIL YOU CAN HOME-TEST! This is SOOOO important...
Can you tell us what insulin Oliver is on? And what dose?
Edited to add: Diabetes is not a death sentence. My cat has been diabetic - and on insulin - for nearly 6 years and is in super condition! :smile:
Well done to you for finding this forum, and well done too for deciding to treat Oliver's diabetes.
Everyone is scared at first. I think 'shock' (how did this happen?), 'horror' (how did it get this bad?), and nausea ('how on earth am I going to cope with this..?) are pretty common responses.
OK, so now just take a deep breath.... And now another one.....
Your cat is now going to be on insulin. Insulin is brilliant! But insulin therapy does need monitoring. The single most useful thing you can do is to test your cat's blood glucose at home. You should be able to get a free test kit from this site to get you started. :smile: Testing isn't as bad as it sounds and you will get a lot of support here to help you get going with that.
Next up is diet. Dry food is bad for diabetes and raises the blood glucose levels. Low carb wet food is good for diabetes, and can really help with blood glucose levels. However, because removal of dry food can lower glucose levels (and hence the need for insulin) absolutely DO NOT REDUCE DRY FOOD UNTIL YOU CAN HOME-TEST! This is SOOOO important...
Can you tell us what insulin Oliver is on? And what dose?
Edited to add: Diabetes is not a death sentence. My cat has been diabetic - and on insulin - for nearly 6 years and is in super condition! :smile:
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