Newbie: trying diet control first -questions.....

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Charlie15

Member Since 2016
My Charlie is 15.5 and was diagnosed last week with a blood sugar of 350. He had lost weight ( now 13.5 pounds) and was vomiting and drinking more.
We are Giving diet control a test run.
He was given purine dm and I was instructed one can twice day. He was not a fan. He was free fed dry food previous to this. I am now trying other low carb wet foods such as the fancy feast classic. He'll eat maybe 3/4 can 2x day. He's more of a snacker than a meal eater and I can't leave the food out because my other cat has severe food allergies.
How much should he be eating?
Do I need to time his eating?
I was not given a bg monitor so I can't comment on levels.
He is vomiting less which I take as a good sign, maybe once every other day as opposed to every day.
How long does it take for diet control to work?
I think he's also getting a cold ( he has herpes ) and I'm giving him his l lysine paste, but I'm afraid it might have carbs. Does anyone have knowledge of that?
I'd love some positive feedback or help on making this diet work for him!
Thank you so much. So glad to have found this !
 
You really do need to get your hands on a blood glucose monitor and learn how to test at home. There's no way you'll know whether he's responding to the diet change in a positive way. One BG test maybe weekly at the vet's isn't going to give you enough info. Many people here use Walmart's ReliOn brand human glucose meters because the strips are economical. You need one that takes only a tiny amount of blood to give a reading.

Friskies pates along with the Fancy Feast you've tried (pate only, no gravy or sauce) are fine for diabetic cats. You can mix that food with a bit of the wet DM. There are very few low carb kibbles but one that is available online is Young Again Zero Mature. Apparently you can request a sample. It's expensive food but calorie dense so you don't have to feed much.

My diabetic cat is about the size of your guy and he doesn't eat a full can of DM twice a day. He gets 1 can a day that I mix with some Friskies pate for flavour variety, so maybe 1.5 to 1.75 cans a day.
 
My Squallie weighs 15 lbs, and he gets fed one 3.5 oz can twice a day, with one half-can for lunch. He frequently doesn't finish the whole cans (he's gotten better at that as the sugar dance goes on) so I just pick up the dish and give it back to him an hour or so later. At that point he'll usually clean the bowl, but some days he just won't finish it all. I don't worry too much about it - he was about 12.5 lbs when diagnosed, and not really underweight, so even with not finishing cans he has managed to put on at least a pound and a half (most of which he doesn't need, lol)!
 
Hello, Charlie's Person; welcome to you both. :bighug:

Charlie15 said:
My Charlie is 15.5 and was diagnosed last week with a blood sugar of 350 [...] and was vomiting and drinking more.
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Has Charlie been checked for ketones? If not can you test him ASAP (either using Keto-Diastix or other urine strips OR get your vet to test for them). If you're testing at home and he tests positive with even a trace of ketones call your vet immediately for advice. If any higher than trace he would need to be taken to the vet immediately for emergency treatment. More info at the following link:

Are you testing your kitty for ketones?

With the high blood glucose levels, weight loss, vomiting and a respiratory infection brewing Charlie could be much more vulnerable to the risk of developing diabetic ketoacidosis - especially if he's not receiving insulin at the moment. (The vomiting really worries me because cats producing ketones can become nauseated.)

Whereas it would be great to try to get Charlie into a healthy BG range with diet alone, with all that's going on at the moment it might be better for Charlie to start insulin treatment. I think perhaps the safest and wisest thing to do right now would be to take Charlie to the vet to get his respiratory issue checked ASAP (diabetics are far more vulnerable to infection) and also his ketone levels (bring a urine sample with you if you haven't already managed to test for ketones at home).


Mogs
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I spoke with the vet today. She gave me advice of two cans a day at specific times and not to shift the times/ His respiratory issue is due to his herpes ( virus) so I'm using lysine to treat. It's a drippy clear eye and a sneeze. I'd take him in if it changes. He hasn't vomited in 3 days and hasn't lost any weight since last week.

I'm praying diet works. We're giving diet alone 4/5 weeks. If he has any additional symptoms or doesn't improve then we will move to insulin. Trying path of least resistance first.
I appreciate all the advice . I think I'll get a sample of that zero carb dry food.

I can try testing for ketones at home.
What do I need and how do you catch cat urine for testing ??

I have a special needs toddler at home and another cat with food allergies (just diagnosed last week too~ a whole different situation i'm trying to manage)
My stress is through the roof right now keeping on top of everyone's needs !
 
Charlie15 said:
I'm praying diet works. We're giving diet alone 4/5 weeks. If he has any additional symptoms or doesn't improve then we will move to insulin. Trying path of least resistance first.
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I truly hope the diet change is all that's needed, but if his glucose numbers don't come down in a week, it's not going to. The sooner you get his numbers under control, the more likely that he can go into remission though so don't hold out on the insulin too long

Charlie15 said:
What do I need and how do you catch cat urine for testing ??
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You can get urine ketone testing strips from any pharmacy that has diabetic supplies....I think a box of 100 WalMart brand strips are less than $10

Here are some Urine Testing Tips....hopefully one of them will work for you!!

Charlie15 said:
I have a special needs toddler at home and another cat with food allergies (just diagnosed last week too~ a whole different situation i'm trying to manage)
My stress is through the roof right now keeping on top of everyone's needs !
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We all totally understand that feeling!! Hopefully you'll get a handle on both kitties needs soon!!
 
Thank you!
I'll go buy the ketone strips today and find some time during my son's nap to read up on how to do the test and do it today.
Thanks for the links.
On a positive- Charlie ate better last night and this morning. One can at night and at am. I know he's not that congested because he could smell and ate around the lysine paste I put on his food. Bugger.
 
Charlie15 said:
he [...] ate around the lysine paste I put on his food. Bugger.
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Cats. :rolleyes:

Good job getting the ketone strips. Testing's easy; collecting the sample's the trickiest part. ;) Read the instructions on the pack; it'll tell you how long to wait after you've dipped the stick into the urine sample before taking the reading. There should be a colour chart on the pack. When the appropriate time has elapsed check the colour on the stick against the colour chart provided.

Good to hear that Charlie ate better; long may he continue to do so!


Mogs
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Charlie15 said:
I know he's not that congested because he could smell and ate around the lysine paste I put on his food. Bugger.
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Heh.

Another (cheap and easy) way to deliver lysine that you might try: you can buy capsules with powdered lysine supplements in any pharmacy or even grocery store (they're supplements meant for humans), open the capsule and sprinkle the powder on wet food and mix it in. My cat never seemed to taste it or mind it in that form. Just check with your vet first about doing this to make sure there aren't contraindications for your cat and to get proper dosage (my recollection was that I used half a capsule's worth of powder per day, but I don't remember exactly how much it was supposed to be).
 
Tested for ketones 2x today. Both negative
Not an easy task keeping my toddler and the cat in my site line & out of each other's way at the same time all day!
I do notice, however, lots of water consumption.
 
Charlie15 said:
Tested for ketones 2x today. Both negative
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YEAH!!! That's great news!!

Charlie15 said:
Not an easy task keeping my toddler and the cat in my site line & out of each other's way at the same time all day!
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I bet it's not!! Keeping track of an active toddler is bad enough.....adding a sugarcat makes it 10 times harder

Charlie15 said:
I do notice, however, lots of water consumption.
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That's normal for an uncontrolled diabetic.....they drink a lot of water in an attempt to "dilute" the sugar in their bloodstream. Their body knows there's too much sugar, so it tries to regulate it the only way it can. Of course the extra drinking leads to the excess peeing too!

One of the biggest (and fastest) changes when we started on insulin was the drop in the amount of water China was drinking and the number of times I had to scoop kitty litter greatly reduced
 
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