Newbies here! Moose, Patricia, & Jesse

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MooseTheCat

MooseTheCat

Member Since 2012
Greetings!

We are Moose the diabetic cat (age 11, big gorgeous orange guy) and Moose's caretakers, Patricia & Jesse (humans in our thirties).

A little history: We (the humans) started taking care of Moose a little less than a year ago. His previous caretaker, a former neighbor of ours, had a stroke and is currently unable to care for him. We're pretty sure at this point that Moose will be with us for life. In addition to Moose, there are 3 other (non-diabetic) cats in the house: Lilac (age 13, same previous caretaker as Moose) and sisters Willow & Sally (age 7, primary caretakers have been us).

When we moved in with Moose & Lilac, we noticed right away that they were (and still are) extremely overweight. Moose was drinking a lot of water and urinating quite a bit. Then he started losing a lot of weight, but he was always hungry.

He was finally diagnosed with diabetes this past spring, and was started on 2 units of ProZinc twice a day. Over the summer, the vet increased his dosages to 2.5 units and then 3 units. All the cats started a meal-feeding regimen of low-carb dry kibble twice a day.

Moose seemed to be doing fairly well for awhile-- increased energy, more active, slimmer, and just a general sparkiness that we had not seen before.

However: over the past month or so, he has become more lethargic and less hungry. He's become unbalanced on his hind legs. We're in close communication with our vet, but we've been doing a lot of reading lately about feline diabetes...which led us to this forum. It concerns us that our vet hasn't been thinking too much about Moose's actual diet (he has tried to push prescription Hills on us, but we know from reading that this food is NOT a good choice). Basically, our vet has said that any kind of food is okay for Moose as long as he is getting the correct dose of insulin. Hmmm...

So, we have been branching out a little.

We are going to purchase a glucose monitor as soon as possible, and get glucose readings on all the cats.

We are also going to start the (slow & steady) transition from dry kibble to low-carb, high-protein canned food for everyone. We've been doing a lot of reading about this, and we're aware that we will have to safely adjust Moose's insulin dosage as we change his diet. We do not want him to overdose on insulin!

Eventually we'd like to make our own cat food at home, but one step at a time.

We'll keep reading from this forum and doing as much research as possible.

-- Moose, Patricia, Jesse
 
Welcome Patricia, Jesse, and Moose (and his other friends),
I'm sure by now you have guessed correctly that we advocate testing at home. There is really no other way to know if the insulin is at the correct dose and how it is acting for your cat. So the first thing I suggest is that you pick up a glucometer and lots of test strips (this is where the expense is, so maybe check around for these prices first b4 choosing a metre). Most of us test around 4 or 5 times a day, so you can see that strips are a critical element in this process. We also record the data in a spreadsheet that can be seen by others. It is very helpful to be able to have experienced people look at the data, especially when things are not going well and it is a long weekend at 10 PM!

You mentioned that you are moving all the cats to a wet diet - excellent. There are a couple of food lists that list carbs and calories, so you can choose food that meets everyone's needs. I would just caution that a cat should not lose weight quickly. This can lead to other complications.

You mentioned hind leg weakness. This may be neuropathy which is caused by unregulated diabetes. It may reverse when his blood sugar comes down to a consistently lower range. It may also be helped by a vitamin B12 supplement - methylcobalamin available at most natural food stores.

I haven't hit all the points - just wanted to say welcome and offer a few thoughts.
 
Thank you for the warm welcome and the information!

We are purchasing a glucose monitor & accessories this evening. We are eager to start a new path for Moose & Co. We definitely want to be safe & as well-informed as possible.

:smile:
 
I should just add that human glucometres work just fine. You do not need a specialty animal metre that some vets sell. If you are in the US, Walmart have an economical and (apparently) reliable glucometre. The important thing is to be able to get strips easily. It is a dreadful feeling to test the cat and find he is low, and discover that the strip jar is empty.

And while I am on the 'warning' track, I'd also point out the information on hypos. It is a good idea to have a few cans of something like Fancy Feast with gravy - the gravy is high carb and can be fed to bring the bg up if he goes too low.
 
Thanks!

We are looking to purchase Wal-Mart's ReliOn Micro tonight after work. Seems like a reasonably-priced monitor with generally good feedback from cat people.

Thanks for the tip about the cat food, as well.
 
It sounds like you all are heading in the perfect direction to help Moose! Here is a shopping list for the testing supplies that might help:


A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. We do stay away from any meter with True in the name and the Freestyle meters. They have proven to be very unreliable and read lower than other meters. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest around. Try the meter out on yourself or someone else before you try it on your cat. You want to be familiar with it before you poke the cat.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 26-28 gauge is good. Any brand will work as long as the lancets match your device.

Ketone strips. (Ketostix) Just like human diabetics use. You will sometimes need to test urine if the numbers are high.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Then heat the ears before poking. You can also use a prescription bottle filled with very warm water. It provides a good surface to poke against.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

And some lo carb treats to give your kitty, successful test or not Lo carb treats

And a video that shows you how: Video for hometesting

And a document with lots of information on ProZinc: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=32799

Let us know how we can help you help Moose!
 
Welcome!!! That's so great that you have taken Moose into your home and are willing to help him feel better. He's a very lucky kitty to have such caring humans to look after him. Please reach out for help as you get the hang of home testing and adjusting the dosage.

My vet was not up to date on home testing either, but considering how much my cat's BG went down when I switched her to wet food, if I hadn't been testing I could have killed her or made her very sick! I'm glad you guys are taking a gradual approach to that. My cat also had neuropathy and could barely walk up the stairs and couldn't jump up on to things, but 9 months later she is like a kitten again and into everything. It can definitely be reversed, though it does take a little time.

I hope Moose feels better soon!

Lori
 
Thanks for all of the kind words and helpful advice here!

We watched the YouTube video on testing cats, and then tested our own human levels. (We're fine!)

Then we tested our cats 3 hours after their dinner.

We started with 2 of our non-diabetic kitties and they had readings of 66 and 68.

And then...it was time to test Moose. His reading was 200. Not surprising, but not great. Slightly lower than his last vet visit.

We had no problems with the actual punctures. All the cats were very, very brave & calm!

We will continue to test Moose daily. We are not going to adjust insulin right away. However, we feel as though we should adjust it if the numbers stay high for the next several days. Alternately, once we transition Moose to low-carb canned food, we will most likely need to lower the dosage.

Also, what's the preferred time frame for testing? How many hours after meals are optimal?
 
Congratulations! Welcome to the Vampire Club!

Some guidelines that might help:

We urge new diabetics not to shoot if the kitty is 200 or under, but to wait 20 minutes without feeding (food raises glucose levels) and retest. If he goes up and is over 200, reduce the dose by a little.

A cat is considered regulated if he is in the 200s at preshot and double digits at midcycle. If he goes down in the 40s, that is getting too low. You'd need to intervene with some gravy food or honey. (be sure to run off the hypo information at the top of this page.)
 
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