Newbie to cat diabetes..

[Julia & Ass]

Hello All, My name is Julia and my cat is named Ass. I know the name seems horrible @ first but keep in mind I was only 17 years old when I named her and in the end the name fits her very well especially the older she gets (Ass is 15-16 years old) 2 weeks ago I was told that Ass is a diabetic. I had brought her to the vet because she had been having sneezing fits for the last 5-6 days and 2 days prior to the appt. she had cut down on her food intake dramatically and on top of that she was drinking water ravenously. At first i figured she was just drinking more because she was sick but in the back of my mind all I could think about was kidney issues or diabetes. To my horror diabetes was the culprit. I am so ready to handle all of the upcoming issues, at least I think so, but I am so concerned about the cost!! She is not on insulin yet but I have been told that it is VERY likely that daily injections will be in our future and I am okay with that but I cannot afford it!

So I have been looking around for alternatives and switching to a homemade diet seems like a good option. I stopped feeding her dry food and went with a canned food diet for the first week. Then after this weeks visit to the vet they gave me Purina Dietary management dry & canned, she seems to be fine with it but after I read some information about how bad any type of dry food can be I think I am going to nix it. I was just wondering what has worked for anyone here? What didn't work? I realize that if changes in the diet doesn't work then insulin is the way to go and that messing around trying to find a different solution can be hazardous to Ass. The last thing I want to do is cause more harm. I love my Ass!! She is my best friend and I just want to be able to take care of her in the best way. Any tips or advice will be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Julia

 

[Julie & Tux]

Welcome to FDMB! I'm sorry you have to be here but I'm glad you found it. My cat was recently diagnosed as well so I will share what I did from first receiving the diagnosis up to now. Once I learned Tux was diabetic, we completely pulled him from dry food and bought low carb canned food that was 2%. We also bought an at-home test kit to monitor his blood glucose levels ourselves. This helps reduce the vet costs and stress on the cat. Home testing also allows you to monitor his levels throughout the day and start a spread sheet to track his information. If you have a Wal-Mart nearby, they have a great meters and strips that are relatively inexpensive. The meter I use is Relion Prime. It costs $17. The test strips are $9 for 50. The micro-thin lancets are $4 for 100. These are the prices as of today, I just re-stocked my kit this morning. I talked to the pharmacist they had on staff and she was extremely helpful. There are a ton of YouTube videos out there as well as posts on here that show how to test at home. Tux's numbers started to drop once we switched him to the new diet. After a few weeks, we switched to Young Again Zero Carb dry food and his numbers started getting even lower. He was also losing weight again so now we just offer the Young Again as a free choice food and he is back on canned food. I have two other non-diabetics who love dry food so this is the best option for me. A lot of people have their own opinions about Young Again and having food out free choice. It works for me and my cats. In the last few days we started insulin because he did not respond well enough with diet change alone. The needles are not expensive, $12 for 100. The insulin however is and it depends on what kind your vet prescribes. Wal-Mart sells Lantus (the only insulin I am familiar with as that is what we use) for $221. The Cost-Less pharmacy sells the Lantus pens for $63. Shop around if you can and see if anyone will sell you one single pen. If you do start insulin, I recommend reading up on here in the insulin support groups about whatever type of insulin the vet prescribes. There are also links available here about other places to order insulin at a reduced cost. I received more information from here than at my vet's office on how to store, use, and handle the insulin. I hope I helped you out some. I know this can seem very overwhelming but this message board has helped me quite a bit. Don't be afraid to ask any questions as there are plenty of folks on here who are willing to help out and share their years of wisdom. Other than that, read up as much as you can :smile: You're in the right place!

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Hi Julia and welcome to FDMB.

It is scary and overwhelming when you find out your cat has diabetes, but let me assure you, that it is something that is easily manageable. It can also be done within a budget.

Proper diet, hometesting and correct insulin dose will help you get Ass' diabetes under control. A proper diet does not need to be expensive. First, you want to remove as soon as you can, any dry food from his diet. Depending on how he feels about canned food, you may need to transition him off of dry food gradually. Dry food is high in carbs and that is why you do not want to feed it to him. Many of us feed our cats Fancy Feast or Friskies canned foods. Look for the pate flavors, the ones with gravy are higher in carbs.

Hometesting is done before every shot of insulin. You will use a human glucose meter. Almost any brand works, but the Walmart Relion brand meters are very good and inexpensive to use. You will need the meter, strips and lancets. We can help you learn to test. The reason you test before every shot is to 1) determine if it is safe to give insulin and 2) determine how well the dose is working. By testing before every shot, you will greatly reduce the chance your cat will become hypoglycemic.

Insulin - there are several insulins that work well in cats. Prozinc and PZI are two insulins that were developed for use in pets. Lantus and Levemir and human insulins that cats respond well to. If your vet prescribes either Lantus or Levemir, ask your vet for the prescription for the pens instead of a vial. You get the same amount of insulin, however, because the pens are packaged in smaller containers, the insulin lasts longer than in a vial. With the vial, the insulin will become ineffective long before you use it all. One package of pens, which has 5 in it, depending on your dose, will give you enough insulin to last almost a year. Also, if you look on the Lantus and Levemir manufacturer's website, they have coupons for the pens that will save you a lot of money. Also, if you use the U100 insulin syringes, I have used the Relion brand syringes and was happy with them.

Insulin dose - you want to start low and slow. This means you start at a low dose, either 1/2 or 1 unit. If a dose increase is needed, it is done in 1/2 unit increments and over a period of weeks. Once you start getting your blood glucose readings with the hometesting, we can help you determine if you need to increase your insulin dose.

Read through the info and posts on this site. If you have any questions, please ask them. We have all been where you are right now and we are here to help you.

 

[MelbaM]

Hi,
In the case of my dear Lily's diabetes (she's also 15), she does NOT get a glucose test before every shot of insulin. She DOES get two tiny shots per day and a glucose curve every 6 months. So my cost is low. A gloucose curve is testing every two hours for 12 hours to see how the blood sugar levels rise and fall relative to the insulin over the course of a day. My case may be different because the diabetes was the result of steroids for a different condition. Nevertheless, FOOD is the reason for most kitty diabetes and changing Ass' diet is absolutely the first thing to do.

Cats are obligate carnivores - they don't have a choice. They need protein from animal sources. There are many, many 'grain free' premium ($) cat foods out there but they all have fruit and veggies included. Fancy Feast - (classic variety ) is the best (and so reasonable) wet cat food out there. I don't know how much research you are up for but there are formulas to determine the actual breakdown of protein, carbs and fat in cat food by brand name. I'm a techie so I had to do all of that. Here's the link to the formulas: (http://fnae.org/dmb.html)

You'll find Fancy Feast mentioned here all over the place and for good reason. Use it. NO DRY FOOD no matter what it claims. NO PRESCRIPTION food - it's the worst! NO CORN, NO WHEAT, NO YAMS, NO CARROTS, NO BERRIES... just as much protein as you can get. Read every label and good luck with your kitty!

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Melba and Julia,

We advocate home testing for very important reasons and based on many years of hypos/too much insulin incidents. It is amazing how often a cat may have been dosed the same amount for weeks and suddenly, the bean takes a before shot test one morning, and the cat is lower than ever before. If the bean had given the usual amount, it could have caused a hypo. And many, many times a vet will prescribe an amount and say to come back in two weeks. After the cat's body becomes accustomed to the insulin and diet change, things can change fast. Waiting two weeks to check your cat's blood glucose levels can become deadly.

The other issue is that most cats are stressed at the vet and stress raises bg levels. Then doses based on those stress induced numbers can be too much insulin once the cat gets home and relaxes.

It is your cat and you certainly need to decide how to treat him/her. But we are strong advocates of testing before each shot and midcycle (to see how low the dose is taking the cat) We wouldn't go home from our doctor and give our 2 legged children the same insulin dose for a couple weeks without testing; we treat our 4 legged children the same way.

And no, what causes the diabetes doesn't make much difference. Sometimes steriod use can mean higher levels of insulin needed, but still carefuly monitoring is important.