newly diagnosed 9 year old

Status
Not open for further replies.
Mikey’sDad

Mikey’sDad

Member Since 2021
Greetings, I have a 9 year old rescue, Mikey, who weighs 11 pounds. I noticed that he had been ravenous about treats and food recently. Intuitively I thought something might be wrong and I needed a baseline blood panel, as I had little history on him. He seemed to be very lovable and cuddly, and was consuming water but not in an alarming amount.

His blood work came back and his sugar level was 268. The vet said that she thinks diet management will help alone since his numbers are not off the chart. All other BW was good. How realistic is it that he will not need insulin, or am I fooling myself? Also she prescribed food from Chewy -Purina DM dry at night and wet in the day that will take me to the poor house. Are there other foods that work as well that are over the counter? I will start with this, but I really can’t afford 57 bucks for 24 cans and 69 bucks for dry?
I can’t seem to find if 268 is diabetic or just hyperglycemia . I am worried and scared as I just lost another rescue not long ago.
Thanks,
Thomas
 
Last edited:
Thomas said:
Greetings, I have a 9 year old rescue, Mikey, who weighs 11 pounds. I noticed that he had been ravenous about treats and food recently. Intuitively I thought something might be wrong and I needed a baseline blood panel, as I had little history on him. He seemed to be very lovable and cuddly, and was consuming water but not in an alarming amount.

His blood work came back and his sugar level was 268. The vet said that she thinks diet management will help alone since his numbers are not off the chart. All other BW was good. How realistic is it that he will not need insulin, or am I fooling myself? Also she prescribed food from Chewy -Purina DM dry at night and wet in the day that will take me to the poor house. Are there other foods that work as well that are over the counter? I will start with this, but I really can’t afford 57 bucks for 24 cans and 69 bucks for dry?
I can’t seem to find if 268 is diabetic or just hyperglycemia . I am worried and scared as I just lost another rescue not long ago.
Thanks,
Thomas
Click to expand...

Welcome! Most members here feed either raw or Fancy Feast classics or Friskies - all wet food. That is what I feed my cats (Fancy Feast classics) and my vet also tried to get my to do Purina DM but that is just too expensive. It also isn't better than any other food. I'll let the more knowledgeable and experienced members chime in on this. But overall, you don't need to feed DM. AT ALL.

I'm sorry about your loss. I recently lost one as well.
 
Hi! I'm on my way out the door but wanted to respond (and help bump up your post). Did your vet happen to run a fructosamine test? Did they test for ketones?

Thomas said:
Purina DM dry at night and wet in the day
Click to expand...
Purina DM dry is high in carbs though the wet isn't too bad (6%).
A lot of us feed Fancy Feast Pates and use this food chart - http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

You'll want to stick to low carb (0-10% carbs though most of us end up around 5% or less); if you end up starting insulin at some point, you'll want medium carb (11-15%) and high carb (16%+) to steer lower numbers.

I also recommend getting set up home testing so you have an idea of Thomas' numbers at home (and you can see if he's really a diabetic...)
Hope that helps a little bit :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
April & Quincy said:
Welcome! Most members here feed either raw or Fancy Feast classics or Friskies - all wet food. That is what I feed my cats (Fancy Feast classics) and my vet also tried to get my to do Purina DM but that is just too expensive. It also isn't better than any other food. I'll let the more knowledgeable and experienced members chime in on this. But overall, you don't need to feed DM. AT ALL.

I'm sorry about your loss. I recently lost one as well.
Click to expand...
Thanks, my vet sent me some other options but I may go with the Fancy Feast because he was eating that, but not the classics. He never liked Pate before but he is so hungry. I cancelled the Purina DM. My anxiety has kicked in full tilt!
 
JaxBenji said:
Hi! I'm on my way out the door but wanted to respond (and help bump up your post). Did your vet happen to run a fructosamine test? Did they test for ketones?
I don’t think he was tested for Ketones. The vet is going to email me the lab. His other numbers were great.
Wow, that chart has my head spinning! I have no idea what any of that means

Purina DM dry is high in carbs though the wet isn't too bad (6%).
A lot of us feed Fancy Feast Pates and use this food chart - http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

You'll want to stick to low carb (0-10% carbs though most of us end up around 5% or less); if you end up starting insulin at some point, you'll want medium carb (11-15%) and high carb (16%+) to steer lower numbers.

I also recommend getting set up home testing so you have an idea of Thomas' numbers at home (and you can see if he's really a diabetic...)
Hope that helps a little bit :bighug::bighug::bighug:
Click to expand...
 
Thomas said:
I can’t seem to find if 268 is diabetic or just hyperglycemia .
Click to expand...
Cats can get an increase in blood sugar from stress at the vets. I had a non diabetic cat test in the 220's at the vet, 53 at home the next day. The fructosamine test mentioned above gives you a value for the last two weeks and can tell you if this was a one-off or more a concern. Was a urinalysis done too?

You mention treats - which ones are you giving? Some are quite high in carbs, but any that is a pure meat treat is good. Purebites is one brand, but there are others, and cats seem to love them. Prices are better for bigger bags in the dog aisle.
 
Thanks for the update. I am not trusting my vet who comes to the home. The cat was stressed when she was getting blood and the blood sat for 4 days before going to the lab. I am going to feed him on a low carb diet and then take him to the vet for fructasamine and urinalysis in 6 weeks

He eats Purebites now, was addicted to Temptations and Greenies like 12 a day. I stopped that and he seems to like Purebites. I wish I could say the same for Fancy Feast classics. He does not seem to like Pate. But I am determined not to go on a Prescription Diet because my bank account won’t like that
 
Thomas said:
Thanks, my vet sent me some other options but I may go with the Fancy Feast because he was eating that, but not the classics. He never liked Pate before but he is so hungry. I cancelled the Purina DM. My anxiety has kicked in full tilt!
Click to expand...

What about flaked or roasted? I fed my cats those too but they eventually were less than thrilled.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top