Hi all ~ my name is Denise and my sweetie girl was diagnosed 2 weeks ago. Katie Rose is an almost 9 year old, six toed, green eyed, gray tabby we adopted from the pound 8 1/2 years ago. She must have had a difficult beginning in life because she was at the pound with 5 kittens for over a month and weighed 4 lbs when we brought her home. It took her nearly a year to trust us enough to even walk across our laps. Now we are faced with injections twice daily along with weekly visits to the vet for bg curves. She is currently on Lantus, 2 units bid, and has a bg curve scheduled for Friday. No ketones in her urine when she was diagnosed, but her level was about 380. Her only symptom was excessive water drinking. Katie Rose is on canned Purina DM and prescriptiondry food for diabetic cats. We are a multicat family and Katie's brothers are enjoying her dry food. We are doing the best we can for now and hope for better numbers on Friday. I have learned so much from reading this board and am pacing myself with all of the information. Thanks to you all for being here ~ your information is invaluable.
Newbie introduction: Denise and Katie Rose
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BJM
Very Active Member
Welcome!
Since you're already using a great insulin, your first step is learning to hometest. Why? Because you only give insulin when it is safe to do so ... and you can't know its safe unless you test the blood. (urine glucose readings tell you what was happenening a few hours ago).
You may benefit from one of our Home Testing kits for $7.00 shipping cost.
Or you may pick up a meter and test strips from your local pharmacy. Many of us use the WalMart ReliOn Confirm, as it and the test strips are inexpensive.
Since you're already using a great insulin, your first step is learning to hometest. Why? Because you only give insulin when it is safe to do so ... and you can't know its safe unless you test the blood. (urine glucose readings tell you what was happenening a few hours ago).
You may benefit from one of our Home Testing kits for $7.00 shipping cost.
Or you may pick up a meter and test strips from your local pharmacy. Many of us use the WalMart ReliOn Confirm, as it and the test strips are inexpensive.
BJM said:
Thank you for your input, but home testing is not something I would even consider at this point. Katie Rose has trust issues and is barely able to handle the insulin injections. Adding in home testing would greatly decrease her quality of life right now. We have a very good vet 5 minutes away and are working closely with her for now. You might disagree with my decision, but I am doing my best for Katie Rose.
BJM
Very Active Member
Alternative monitoring tools include:
Glucotest crystals to add to the litterbox; they turn color in the presence of glucose.
Urine ketone test strips - if you use acquarium gravel (nonabsorbent), after she uses the litterbox, you can push the gravel aside, tilt the box, dip the strip, and compare to the color codes on the side of the container. Seeing moderate to high ketones means time to contact the vet, as urine ketones may be the beginning of diabetic ketoacidosis.
Water consumption: measure how much you put down each day and subtract the remainder. you should see a decrease as the diabetes becomes controlled.
Th 5 Ps: purring, preening (grooming), playing, peeing and poohing.
A happy healthy cat is usually in a good mood, takes care of grooming, has the energy to be playfaul (or whatever is normal activity), doesn't pee lakes, and has a normal fecal output.
Make yourself a chart - your vet will find the charting helpful too.
p.s.
Lots of folks here have had kitties that were very difficult to test. Through the use of positive reinforcement you may be able to gradually train her to allow home blood testing is possible.
Glucotest crystals to add to the litterbox; they turn color in the presence of glucose.
Urine ketone test strips - if you use acquarium gravel (nonabsorbent), after she uses the litterbox, you can push the gravel aside, tilt the box, dip the strip, and compare to the color codes on the side of the container. Seeing moderate to high ketones means time to contact the vet, as urine ketones may be the beginning of diabetic ketoacidosis.
Water consumption: measure how much you put down each day and subtract the remainder. you should see a decrease as the diabetes becomes controlled.
Th 5 Ps: purring, preening (grooming), playing, peeing and poohing.
A happy healthy cat is usually in a good mood, takes care of grooming, has the energy to be playfaul (or whatever is normal activity), doesn't pee lakes, and has a normal fecal output.
Make yourself a chart - your vet will find the charting helpful too.
p.s.
Lots of folks here have had kitties that were very difficult to test. Through the use of positive reinforcement you may be able to gradually train her to allow home blood testing is possible.
Thank you, bjm, for the alternate testing ideas. If Katie Rose had no ketones in her urine when she was diagnosed, is there a reason to check for them with a test strip now that she is on insulin? I will check into the crystals for the litter box that react to glucose but it may be a tricky process since we have two other cats. Any ideas? Since bumping Katie Rose up to 2 units bid, she has shown great improvement in the 5 p's and her hot spot is finally healing. Thank you so very much for your suggestions. Keep em coming!
kim and simon
Active Member
Hi Denise, bless you for taking care of Katie Rose. There are lots of helpful people here in Health and on the Lantus forums. It would be awesome if you can convince KR to let you test her, but I understand that may take awhile. My particular cat is very easy to test, but I'm sure others with difficult to test kitties will be along.
Most of our diabetic cats eat a canned, low carb diet. It doesn't have to be a prescription food. The best thing to do is to eliminate all dry food (others can speak to this--with her being on 2 units Lantus I'm not sure how fast you would want to switch her over, but I know the recommendation is to change over.)
My cat was eating dry food and I felt so terrible to find out that the kibble was the likely cause of his diabetes. I actually switched both Simon (diabetic) and Molly (non diabetic) to canned food after the vet explained that wet was really better for all cats. They are obligate carnivores and all dry foods have too many carbs for a cat. I wish I'd known this sooner! I will feed all my future cats wet.
Here's some info on Diabetic Diet with Janet/Binky's food lists.
Another food chart with more premium foods (better quality than DM, less expensive or same cost): Nutritional Values
You can actually feed Fancy Feast and get a better quality food than DM. I actually feed Simon Fancy Feast Classic Chicken most of the time. Fancy Feast list.
Best of luck. Try not to get overwhelmed. Take it a little at a time. We are here to help!
Most of our diabetic cats eat a canned, low carb diet. It doesn't have to be a prescription food. The best thing to do is to eliminate all dry food (others can speak to this--with her being on 2 units Lantus I'm not sure how fast you would want to switch her over, but I know the recommendation is to change over.)
My cat was eating dry food and I felt so terrible to find out that the kibble was the likely cause of his diabetes. I actually switched both Simon (diabetic) and Molly (non diabetic) to canned food after the vet explained that wet was really better for all cats. They are obligate carnivores and all dry foods have too many carbs for a cat. I wish I'd known this sooner! I will feed all my future cats wet.
Here's some info on Diabetic Diet with Janet/Binky's food lists.
Another food chart with more premium foods (better quality than DM, less expensive or same cost): Nutritional Values
You can actually feed Fancy Feast and get a better quality food than DM. I actually feed Simon Fancy Feast Classic Chicken most of the time. Fancy Feast list.
Best of luck. Try not to get overwhelmed. Take it a little at a time. We are here to help!
BJM
Very Active Member
Another way charting her behavior will help you, is to help identify changes in insulin response. Some cats, after a period of insulin, become diet controlled and continued insulin can result in a hypo (hypoglycemic attack)
Because you will only have indirect measures of her glucose levels, please read this post on How to treat HYPOS - THEY CAN KILL! Print this Out!!
If you decide to make any food changes, you will need to do them very cautiously because you are not blood testing. For example, changing from all dry to all wet food has, in some cases, dropped the glucose levels 100 points - enough that the insulin dose had to be changed. Without the blood testing, sudden changes could drop her into hypoglycemia, which can be fatal.
Because you will only have indirect measures of her glucose levels, please read this post on How to treat HYPOS - THEY CAN KILL! Print this Out!!
If you decide to make any food changes, you will need to do them very cautiously because you are not blood testing. For example, changing from all dry to all wet food has, in some cases, dropped the glucose levels 100 points - enough that the insulin dose had to be changed. Without the blood testing, sudden changes could drop her into hypoglycemia, which can be fatal.
BJM
Very Active Member
twobopps said:
Yes, there is a reason for monitoring for ketones. If it is taking a while to adjust the insulin dose to one that is optimal for her, she may start burning fat when she can't use the glucose from her food, which can produce ketones. This is one of the steps towards ketoacidosis, a fatal complication of diabetes.
As far as multiple cats ... have the other's been checked recently for evidence of diabetes? If they have a clean bill of health, the probability that it is her urinating glucose is highest.
Melissa and Bailey
Very Active Member
Welcome Denise and Katie Rose! (Love that name!) cat_pet_icon There's a lot of info to read on this site - take your time and ask lots of questions. There are many people here who are willing to help you and your kitty. It is overwhelming at first but diabetes is totally manageable!
Brian
Member
Hi Denise! Home testing is so very important for monitoring your kitty that I'd urge you to reconsider and get a test kit as soon as possible. Get familiar with the testing procedure asap and start introducing the steps to Katie Rose nice and slowly. Since she has trust issues it may take some time before you are both comfortable with it so the sooner you start trying to ease her into it the better, it doesn't need to be traumatic. If some of your other kitties are more relaxed, you can also practice testing them in the meantime to get comfortable with the procedure. Ruling your other cats out of diabetes will also be helpful if you are only able to obtain anonymous urine samples from the litter box for glucose/ketone tests.
Good luck!
Good luck!
twobopps said:
Well, you got me with the 6toes; I love polydactyl kitties.
OK I'll add my 2cents as well.
First. home testing can save your cat's life; simple as that. I know that you may not think you can test or that she will not let you, but you may be shocked at how simple it is and how well she handles it, especially if there's a treat in it for her, after the test. And the treat is given no matter if the test was a success or not. Make sure you are all stocked up on healthy treats..List of Low Carb Healthy Treats
No dr would tell a human to just shoot insulin and come in once a week for a check on your numbers. Diabetics check their BG several times a day because they need to make adjustments with food and with doses, so what makes our cats less important?
As has been mentioned, there are lots of ways to test, and ease the cats into the routine. I have two cats who don't mind testing and one even comes around to remind me when it's time to test.. she's weird but punctual. I have to say that they pretty much sleep through the pokes to the ears, and any difficulties you have in the beginning will settle and disappear. In the start, you are upset and nervous, and your cat picks up on those feelings, but once you two both realize that it's all DOable, it is all smooth sailing!
You want to get your cat off insulin if possible, and it CAN be done for many, but in order to know when to reduce the dose and when to stop shots, you need to know what her BG numbers are. You save money on expensive vet visits, and you spare her the stress of those frequent visits.
Testing on cat’s ear
Now's a good time to mention that there are many many cats who do NOT need insulin once they are off high carb food and all dry food and treats. If you have any cats who already eat wet food, don't give them dry food... it's like feeding a kit a diet of McDonalds happy meals with desserts of bags of Halloween and Easter candies.
Food. Vet food is expensive and for the most part not as good as other foods, plus lots of cats hate it.... it must taste like crap, to the cats, but they just don't like it. Dry food is the worst. Toss the dry as it is contributing to her problem and the high numbers! Here are some food links for you; check out Dr. Lisa's site, and then you can select any number of foods from Binky's list that are under 10%carbs.... most people just feed Fancy Feast or Friskies pates as they are low carb, wet, and better than the vet food.
Binky’s Food Lists
Feeding Your Cat: Know The Basics of Feline Nutrition
Dose. Your starting dose is likely too high; most cats never need that much insulin. It's a good thing you are feeding some dry food because it's likely helping to keep her safe from hypo situations. Before you reduce the dose, be sure to start testing first, and then you can plan to remove the dry food and reduce the dose.
here are some links relating to Hypo:
List of Hypo symptoms
How to treat HYPOS-They can kill! Print this out!
Jojo’s HYPO TOOLKIT
Now for some info on testing for ketones. Just because she may test negative for ketones once does not mean she could not develop them later, so it's a good idea to test urine daily with KETOSTIX. Think of having a fever; sometimes you can have one, sometimes not, but your dr will still take your temperature when you are sick or go for a checkup. Ketones can appear fast and worsen quickly, so you want to take action as soon as you get a test result not negative.
Ketones
Pet Diabetes Wiki: Ketoacidosis
I know. It's alot to take in and is quite overwhelming, but in a very short time, it will be YOU who is posting here to help the new guy.
Julia & Bandit (GA)
Very Active Member
Even fractious cats are ok with home testing after a week or two--you just make sure you reinforce the tests with healthy treats after each one. You can't look at it as something that reduces the quality of her life, because without it it's going to be very hard to get her diabetes under control, and that truly will reduce the quality of her life. A week of discomfort is far better than a hypoglycemic incident or slow debilitation due to uncontrolled diabetes. With the combination of Lantus, a low carb canned diet, and home testing, she has a proven 84% chance of going into remission. Here's a link to an article that you might want to make aware to your vet: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1098612X09001247--let me know if you need the full text.
When my vet told me I had to learn to home test, I was terrified. Bandit is NOT an easygoing cat--you should see his antics when it's time for a bath. The first week was miserable--he fought me tooth and nail. I had to wrap him up in a blanket in order to do it. After about a week and a half, he all of a sudden just accepted it--probably because I stopped crying and resolved that we were doing the tests no matter what because it was the only way to keep him safe and get him better. Today, he runs to his testing basket when he hears the glucometer beep on, jumps in, and starts purring like crazy. If you had told me that first week that Bandit would come around like that, I'd have said you were insane.
We only test once a week now because he's in diet controlled remission. I know everything seems overwhelming right now, but there's a window with the 84% remission rate, and if you wait too long to start following the recommended treatment guidelines, that rate goes down. You just have to look at it as something necessary that is helping Katie Rose, not harming her. She'll come around--they all do eventually.
When my vet told me I had to learn to home test, I was terrified. Bandit is NOT an easygoing cat--you should see his antics when it's time for a bath. The first week was miserable--he fought me tooth and nail. I had to wrap him up in a blanket in order to do it. After about a week and a half, he all of a sudden just accepted it--probably because I stopped crying and resolved that we were doing the tests no matter what because it was the only way to keep him safe and get him better. Today, he runs to his testing basket when he hears the glucometer beep on, jumps in, and starts purring like crazy. If you had told me that first week that Bandit would come around like that, I'd have said you were insane.
We only test once a week now because he's in diet controlled remission. I know everything seems overwhelming right now, but there's a window with the 84% remission rate, and if you wait too long to start following the recommended treatment guidelines, that rate goes down. You just have to look at it as something necessary that is helping Katie Rose, not harming her. She'll come around--they all do eventually.
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