Newbie - Diet Change Over Questions

[eaholmes]

Hi: our cat Alan was diagnosed 4 weeks ago. His blood glucose at that time was 530 mg/dL. The vet prescribed 2 units of Lantus x 2 daily along with Royal Canin's prescription diabetic food. We have followed her instructions, kept a journal. Today the vet did a glucose curve before his morning meal he was at 282 the following readings done every 2 hours were 474, 455, 403, 432 and 403. The vet's instructions were to increase insulin to 4 units x 2 daily. We discussed changing from the dry food to Fancy Feast or Wellness. I gave her the nutrition info from the link on this website. While not totally apposed to wet she still felt dry was easier. However, the more I read (this site and others) the more I am determined to switch to wet. I couldn't find the exact way to change over from dry to wet. I am lucky my cat likes wet food. I started with 1/2 can of Fancy Feast and 1/16 cup of dry mixed in. He should weigh 12 lbs (he is underweight by a few lbs at the moment). Should I feed 2 cans spaced out throughout the day? How much dry food should I continue to use to titrate him down? Also, I have another cat who is obese and doesn't take to the wet as well (still determined to switch them both). How many cans should I be feeding him to help him lose weight slowly. Finally, do you feed treats? If so how often? What brand(s)? How do treats fit in with the strict calorie guidelines for diabetic cats? Thanks

 

[BJM]

Change about 20-25% of the calories from one to the other each day to reduce GI upset and to allow for insulin adjustments. Do this without raising the insulin, as the glucose should come down about 100 mg/dL and the dose may need to be dropped!!!

We need to get you home testing the glucose for your cat's safety.

You will need an economical human glucometer such as the Arkray USA Glucocard 01 or 01 mini from our shopping partner ADW (link at top of page). Alternatively, a branded version of these meters may be purchased at WalMart as the ReliOn Confirm or Confirm Micro.

Get ample test strips - a box of 50 and a spare, so when you open the 2nd box, you order another. If the budget permits, buy mulitple packs of test strips to get free shipping from ADW.

You'll need lancets which are 27-28 gauge for pricking the ear.

Neosporin ointment with pain relief. Apply a dab on the outer edge of the ear between the vein and the ear edge. Wait a couple minutes. Wipe thoroughly. Test by pricking in that little edge area, about 1/3 of the say up the edge of the ear.

 

[BJM]

Also see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for urine testing tips.

Use KetoDiaStix to test for glucose and ketones in the urine (get from human pharmacy in diabetic section or ask pharmacist)
If you have glucose in the urine, the blood level was above the renal threshold since the previous void. You don't want that.
If you have more than a trace of ketones in the urine, it is an emergency.

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

Heres some tips for transitioning to wet but as BJ said you need to be super careful - are you open to home testing??
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

Many of us here feed freeze dried chicken treats as they are low carb ie Pure Bites but heres a bigger list : http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9172

A rough guideline to food intake is : Required calories per day = [13.6 X ideal weight in lbs] + 70
Fancy feast is around 85 calories a can. However an unregulated cat may need to eat more so start with the above and weigh the cats every couple of weeks and adjust as needed

Wendy

 

[Deb & Wink]

Hi Alan's mom or dad and welcome to the FDMB. Lot's of experience here with feline diabetes.

My sugardude foster Wink was a dry food addict. I used most of those tips and techniques in the article Wendy pointed you to. This transitioning tips worked to get him to switch from his beloved dry food to wet food. It was fast, about 3 weeks but he was very stubborn about switching.

What is your name?