Newbie!!

[shadowlady]

Hello All!

So the day after Thanksgiving my dear pal Asparagus was diagnosed with diabetes. He is 12 years old. About 2 years ago, the little dude was taken to the vet for his check up and was overweight and had a heart murmur -- we put him on a diet immediately and made sure he got plenty of exercise. As time passed he lost weight and was healthy again... but then my boyfriend and I decided to take him in again because we noticed he was maybe a little too skinny despite his eating regularly - his hind legs were getting weak, and losing hair, and he then he lost a tooth. When his blood test came back his blood sugar level was at 400. Yeesh. Well - we cried our way to the pharmacy after the wonderful vet told us how to give him his shots (he's currently getting 1u of Lantus every 12 hours) and told us to switch him to the Catkins diet. We now have him on Wellness brand dry food (grain free, and according to my calculations only 4% carbs) and tuna for cats from Trader Joe's which also has a low percentage of carb (from what I have read). Sometimes if we just woke him up to give him his shot, we will give him a piece of broccoli, because it's his favorite and we don't want him to get woosey after the shot. We are waiting for a home testing kit from my boyfriend's aunt - who had an extra, and are taking him back to the vet this Friday to get his blood tested.

Our vet said that he was not hopeful that Ace would go into remission -- and that his pancreas might not start back up. While I understand that we will most likely have to give him shots for the rest of his life, I can't help but worry that us not getting him help sooner shortened his life. I hope not by much.
It seems as though his weight already is starting to get a little better, he's eating his food regularly - and drinking plenty of water. I have noticed that he sleeps more (but I am assuming part of that is because his blood sugar isn't so high anymore?)
confused_cat

Anyway, this website is amazing. I read bit by bit everyday, and am very grateful for all of it's information. I look forward to getting to know some of you and sharing experiences with you.

Thanks so much. nailbite_smile

 

[Ken and Sneakers]

Hi
I am not normally on this board but saw your unanswered post and wanted to respond
First off. Lets get this out of the way. His life has not shortened by any means and even if you have to give shots for the rest of his life, he can still be totally healthy. With you getting a meter and doing the work there is much better then a 50% chance your cat will go in to remission using this insulin
realize that the expense is in the test strips so if you are getting a one touch ultra, the strips are twice the price of other meters like the reli on or true track so keep that in mind
If your cat eats canned, you shouldn't be feeding any dry food. The carbs you have is wrong and even the lowest carb dry food has shown to spike the blood glucose more then comprably carb canned.
An all canned food diet with the carbs under 10% is best and give you the best chance of remission
As far as I am concerned dry food is the number 1 reason cats get diabetes in the first place as well as the cause of a host of other health issues

The back leg problem is called neuropathy and can be totally reversed. google and buy xobaline which will help along with regulation

are taking him back to the vet this Friday to get his blood tested.

I hope you are on no more then 2 units 2x a day and preferbly 1. Please do not adjust the dose based on tests at the vets as they can be off more then 100 points due to stress and other factors. When you start testing then you will have results that are more accurate where you can safely make adjustments over time

he's eating his food regularly - and drinking plenty of water. I have noticed that he sleeps more (but I am assuming part of that is because his blood sugar isn't so high anymore?)

I don't believe that this is true but eating regularly is good news. When your cat gets regulated (and he definitly will) then you will see some more energy

If you had to choose a disease to get then this is it. There is absolutely no reason that your cat won't get totally better from this especially with a dedicated proactive owner like you. The sooner you are able to start testing the faster things will get better. Don't worry. You have a lot of support here and within a few months you should have a healthy cat and the shots and testing will be the same as feeding and changing the litter. well not as bad as changing the litter :-| good luck

 

[BJM]

"Drinking plenty of water"

Sorry - This is a classic sign of UNregulated diabetes, along with excessive urination.

Ditch ALL dry food. Pop over to the vet authored site Cat Info and read more. Its a water-depleted diet which leaves the cat in chronic mild dehydration, taxing the kidneys and possibly leading to renal disease or worsening existing renal disease.

Home testing of glucose - get an inexpensive, reliable, human glucometer such as the WalMart Reli[n Confirm (the same as the Arkray Glucocard 01 from our shopping partner ADW from the shopping link above) This will let you know if it is safe to give insulin (only if 200 or high until you have data to show that shooting lower will be safe), plus how low he goes R the nadir - which is used to adjust his dose (no lower than 50, roughly 5-7 hours after giving insulin).

Ps the food calculations are weight adjusted by moisture content to get dry weight, then the grams are multiplied by cLories per gram - in cats & dogs, that is 8.5 per gram fat and 3.5 per gram protein or carb. Once you have the calories, then you calculate % calories from carbohydrates. You want it 10% calories from carbs or lower.

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

Welcome! One of my good friends has a tabby named Asparagus, so I think that name is adorable.

Wellness dry food is 11% carbs (see this dry food nutrition chart: http://binkyspage.tripod.com/dryfood.html). A diabetic cat needs at least less than 10% carbs, and usually less than 8% carbs. As others have mentioned, dry food is also moisture depleted and causes chronic dehydration, and diabetic cats are already dehydrated because of the diabetes. Keeping a diabetic cat dehydrated can lead to an expensive and potentially deadly condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. That's why we encourage a low carb, canned diet for diabetics only. Here's a link to the updated cat food nutrition chart: http://catinfo.org/docs/Food Chart Public 9-22-12.pdf. Pick any canned food that your cat will eat under 10% carbs, but preferably below 8%. Because of his age, I would recommend a food without byproducts, like Wellness canned or Merricks.

When using the right insulin (Lantus or Levemir), feeding a low carb, canned diet, and making dose adjustments according to the Lantus dosing protocol via daily home testing, cats have an 84+% chance of remission. So your vet is either misinformed or not up to date with his research. I would print out this article and bring it to your vet--it discusses remission rates and the safe and effective way to dose Lantus: . Dose adjustments should not be made based of vet testing at the office because those numbers are inflated and unreliable because of stress, which can inflate BG 100-300 points. So bringing your cat in to be tested is a waste of money. With Lantus, you want to test at least three times a day--once before each shot to make sure it's safe to give insulin, and one mid-cycle check (about 6 hours after the shot) to base dose adjustments on. Here's a link that explains how to set up a spreadsheet, which is a valuable tool for sharing your cat's data with your vet, and here on the boards if you need dosing advice: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207.

When choosing a meter, the price of test strips is very important, more important in saving you money than the price of the meter. You want to be able to afford enough test strips to test as frequently as you need. As BJM mentioned, the Walmart Relion is good and has some of the least expensive strips around. It's always good to have a backup meter, too, in case something goes wrong with the main meter. I started with the Relion Micro, and switched to the Aviva Accuchek. The Accuchek strips were more a lot more expensive, but I was getting free test strips from a friend with low blood sugar who always had extras she had to get rid of. Now that I only test once or twice a month, I get my Accuchek strips on Amazon, where they're way cheaper than the store.

Diabetic neuropathy (the weakness in the legs) is reversible once you get the diabetes under control. Methyl B12 helps a great deal with the symptoms, and causes dramatic improvement. Xobaline is the cat brand, but I would order these: http://www.amazon.com/Vitacost-Vita...-500/dp/B0046IET7C/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20. You just open up a capsule and mix with his food once a day. It's cheaper and a more effective dose than the Xobaline. You can't overdose Methyl B12, so it's perfectly safe.

You mentioned that he lost a tooth--did the vet check out his mouth and discuss if a dental was needed? Dental problems are very common with diabetic cats, and you will have to do the dental cleaning and have any bad teeth pulled before you'll be able to get his blood sugar under control.

It is extremely rare to find a vet that gets all the points of feline diabetes treatment correct. That's because vets are general practitioners, and have to learn a lot about many diseases for many animals. My vet was fantastic in that she prescribed the right insulin (Lantus), said I had to hometest because vet testing was unreliable, and handed me a list of low carb, canned commerical foods in different price ranges--but she got dosing completely wrong because she wasn't familiar with the dosing protocol for cats (in the article I linked above). A good vet will look at the information you bring them, and let you take some control over your cat's diabetes treatment. This is the most successful way diabetes is treated in cats, and your cat can become perfectly healthy again. My Bandit had been in remission for nearly 3 years now, and he's healthier than he's ever been. Not only is there hope for your cat, if the right treatment is followed, it's far more likely than not he can recover 100% and be perfectly healthy. My friend's cat (who is also 12) was put on the wrong insulin (Humulin N) and diet (dry food) for 4-5 months before she started him on Lantus. His blood sugar was insanely high and he had neuropathy so bad he couldn't walk more than a few steps at a time and had to pee on a puppy pad in the middle of her floor. After 6 months of the right dosing plan and diet, he's in remission and perfectly healthy.

 

[Tara & Buster]

Welcome! So glad you found us! The learning curve is a bit steep and can seem overwhelming at first, but it does get easier. Everyone here was once in your shoes. Be consistent and diligent - Asparagus will be back on track in no time!

 

[shadowlady]

Firstly i wanted to say thank you for all of the helpful responses and supportive comments. iI also wanted to let everyone mknow that the little guy is doing much better already. hes gaining weight slowly but surely and his blood sugar level is down to 125!

 

[BJM]

Firstly i wanted to say thank you for all of the helpful responses and supportive comments. iI also wanted to let everyone mknow that the little guy is doing much better already. hes gaining weight slowly but surely and his blood sugar level is down to 125!

Blod sugar level measure how and when?

If at the vet's, was it a fructosamine test, which is an average over about 2 weeks?

 

[RuthV]

Welcome aboard - there is a wealth of info here if you just use the search box. Happy reading.

With the advice of this board, I got my cat off the insulin after a couple of months. The biggie was the switch to ONLY canned wet food - namely, Friskies and be sure it says 'paté' on the can. Stay away from dry food and those canned which say 'with gravy.'

My other big tip was the frozen hockey pucks - canned portions frozen for those times when you won't be home for a regular feeding.

This is a great group, no one yells, and you'll find the help and encouragement you need to see you thru this new stage of your cat's life. Best wishes.

Ruth(Valerie)