Newbie Here - Jake 15 diagnosed over the weekend

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breayle and jake

breayle and jake

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cat(2)_steam

My little old man has been diagnosed with diabetes! When I first heard this I started to cry, I was told maintaining a diabetic cat would cost $600 a month! And since my monthly income is about $800 I was really crushed. He's been with me since I was a kid and I just couldn't imagine killing him for having diabetes, especially since my mother is a diabetic and we certainly didn't put her down.

When I found this site I relaxed, and felt so much better so thank you guys for being here. Jake has been switched to a wet food diet (which he loves) however, he still walks around the house begging for food. He acts like he's starving! He's been eating 8oz of wet food daily so honestly he's not starving... he's just pissed he can't free feed on his dry food all day!

Today he got into the last of the dry food (I have a few cats and there are some that are 100% outdoors) I don't know how much he ate, but he did eat some... I'm sure he's gonna get some high counts today.

Here's the big question, I'm going to start feeding him a raw species appropriate diet. I went to the butcher shop today and got a whole chicken, and some tastey giblets. Here's the recipie I'm going to use.

http://www.catnutrition.org/recipes.php

Now, how much of this delicious glop should I give him? I know he needs at least 180cals a day to maintain his weight (11.5 lbs) but he was 14 lbs in November when he went in for pneumonia so he lost 3lbs. I'd like to get him back to 14 lbs 'cos he's a pretty big kitty.

If I plan of feeding him three times a day, how much should each portion of the cat food recipe above be? 3oz each? 4?

And how the hell do I make him understand he can't just eat all day, it breaks my heart to hear him ask for food and not get it, especially since he's so bony. My poor baby, I love him so much and I don't want him to be sick! UGH! It's SO hard when the creatures you love get old.

So, let me know, any type of advice would be appreciated by myself and Jake! Thank you so much!

-Breayle
 

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We have lots of people who feed raw. They will be along with their ideas.

Have you read that unregulated cats are literally starving? Their bodies are not processing food well. So it may be that he is really hungry. You might divide up whatever amount you decide to feed into a number of small meals and feed him more often. Automatic feeders are great for this.
 
Hi Breayle and welcome to FDMB. You have found the best place to help you manage your cat'd diabetes.

First, I can assure you that it does not cost $600 a month to care for a diabetic cat. There are many ways to help you regulate your cats blood glucose (BG) levels and will also save you money by eliminating unnecessary vet trips.

Getting rid of the dry food will help a great deal with treating him. You do not need to feed him prescription food. If you use Janet & Binky's food list viewtopic.php?f=14&t=115, look for foods with a high number in the protein column and less than 10 in the carbs column. Many of us feed our cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies canned foods.

Is he on insulin yet? Can you tell us which insulin and the dose. You want to start with a low dose, between 1/2 to 1 unit per day. If your vet tries to start higher, don't do it. Insulin is not dosed by a cat's weight.

Hometesting will also help immensely. This eliminates unnecessary trips back to the vet to have the BG tested. Plus the tests at the vet are not accurate since stress raises the BG levels and most cats are stressed at the vet. By testing before EVERY shot, you will know if it is safe to give insulin. You can use any human glucose meter for hometesting. The Walmart Relion meter is a very economical meter to use and is a good meter.

I can't help you with the raw diet, but that is a good one. The link that I sent you for Janet & Binky's list goes to our nutritional link page. There is a link there for more info on raw diets.

You are going to do well in caring for him and we are here to help guide you.

Lisa
 
Breayle, welcome. Jake is beautiful.

He should probably eat up to 10 ozs or more until he is regulated. Is he on insulin? He may need insulin as well as a diet change to regulate. Then he may go off insulin and be diet controlled (OTJ = Off the Juice).

Not sure how the $600 amt was arrived at, but that would be taking to the vet for curves and blood tests, which is expensive. When I started testing at home, using less expensive syringes (instead of the ones from the vet), etc., my costs dropped from about $125 to about $40 per month.

The cheapest meter and strips is the Relion from Walmart. I think you can get it at Sam's Club also? There are other ways to save money so let us know what costs you need to reduce.
 
Thanks for responding!

Jake is on insulin (Lantus), he's actually on one unit twice a day, his vet had him on one unit once a day but I when I checked his sugar at night it was still so high (543) I gave him another shot. My mother is a diabetic and she suggested we give him another one, he is doing OK on it but his numbers are still pretty high. Only once did we get his sugar under 400 (he was at 333) tonight he was around 414. I tend to give him little scoops of food throughout the day and he was eating about 8oz of wet food. I switched him to a raw died (which he loves) from the recipe found here: http://www.catnutrition.org/recipes.php

Feeding him a raw diet is SO much cheaper than buying him canned food!

I would love to get him at 200 but I know it's good to do it slow... the vet wasn't pleased when I told her that I upped his dose the next day but she didn't tell me to stop doing it either. I just figured if his sugar is really high he needs a shot, just like something my mother would do when her sugar is really high. I'm still new to testing his sugar, and he was pretty upset with me tonight as I had to prick his poor ears like 8 times to get an adequate blood sample for my archaic machine that was given to me. I went out today and got him the FreeStyle Lite, it only requires a .3ul sized sample and claims it's the smallest sample in the world. There's nothings worse than restraining my poor kitty who just wants to eat and sleep so I can poke his already sore ears, the poor guy is bruised there! I feel so terrible :sad:

I'm going to continue feeding raw as it's way cheaper than canned and I know EXACTLY what's in it! If anyone has some recipes that are easy to make (cheap and healthy too) I would greatly appreciate it. Anything and everything can help, I even found his test strips on Amazon.com for $55.00 for 100 count! God bless the internet :D

Thanks again guys, any thoughts please let me know.

-Breayle
 
You are already doing great by being so proactive in Jake's care!

I am not familiar with lantus, but I'm sure there will be many "Lantus Land" regulars to help with the dosing.....

But, I wanted to pop in to say that Jake is a very handsome boy!
 
Well, lantus is a twice a day insulin so you and your mom were right; I wonder why your vet wants once a day? It makes no sense to have your cat run without insulin for half the day, and is totally counter productive!
 
I told her about this site and how Lantus is suggested twice daily for kitties, she said she knew that but wanted to wean him on it for a week and see how he reacted, I just didn't think him going without his insulin all night was a good idea especially since it was so high! My vet wants a log of his numbers on Sunday emailed to her, they are as follows:

2/27/10 - 2:22pm @ 515 1unit Lantus
2/28/10 - 6:37pm @ 429 1unit
3/1/10 - 6:27am @ 444 1unit (*this is when I started him on one unit twice a day)
3/1/10 - 6:35pm @334 1unit
3/2/10 - 6:25am @475 1unit (*Jake got into the dry food last night) @-)
3/2/10 - 6:35pm @417 1unit
3/3/10 - 6:12am @251 1unit (*finally something under 400! All high protein raw meats fed for 24 hours)

So there he is right now, I was so happy to see that 251 this morning! :mrgreen:

And thanks for all the people telling me how handsome my old man is, he's my little goober :D

-Breayle
 
Good job!

Next thing you need to do is determine how low he's going inbetween shots - this point is called the nadir. Test 6-8 hours post shot when you can...
 
OK I'll do that, he was high again this evening (441). The food he's eating:

http://www.catnutrition.org/recipes.php

and

http://www.k9cuisine.com/p-555-before-g ... -food.aspx


At the moment I'm giving him food pretty much whenever he screams at me... from what I figured he's eating about 16oz of food a day right now... he's on NO GRAINS at ALL. No veggies, fruits or roots. Does the food above mess with his sugar? Am I being counterproductive? I can't stand it when he cries the way he does... he's SO hungry all of the time. Although today he was much better with begging for food, however when the day progressed he started up again then when I took a reading he was at 441.

I really don't like witholding food from him and he really seems to be hungry... can I overfeed him and make his sugar peak? I'm worried I'm hurting him more than I'm helping.

-Breayle
 
Breayle,

Have you tried adding water to the food and making it soupy? It takes longer to eat that way, may fill him up better and gets that needed water in.

Edited to add: If you haven't been over the Lantus support group, you should really post there also. Read the stickies on the top of the page and start a new topic. They are all Lantus users. viewforum.php?f=9 They can help you with dosage.
 
This message board is eating my posts....

He's eating a lot but that is to be expected at this stage. It may be a bit counter productive but don't stress it right now. Just work on learning about lantus and getting the right insulin dose over time, and his hunger will diminish.

Jen
 
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