Newly Diagnosed and Confused!

[libbysmom]

So our lovable cat of 12 yrs has been recently diagnosed as diabetic. This is my diagnosis and that of the vet based on her symptoms. We can't get her in for her blood work until next week. She has always only eaten dry cat food, which my former vet told me is all cats should eat because canned food is bad for their teeth and digestion. My old cat that ate mostly canned food, with a little dry lived to be 19 1/2 until we had to put her down for thyroid and kidney failure. This time I thought I was doing right by doing just dry food. Fast forward, Libby has always been heavy, but she is a big cat anyway. Now that I'm sure she is diabetic I have switched her to canned food only, Fancy Feast flaked, with just a few dry kibbles of the highest protein, lowest fat dry food I could find. It has been 3 days and she is drinking far less water and for the most part she is eating the canned food, which she never did before. She wouldn't even eat regular tuna or chicken. I'm guessing she has been diabetic for about 4 months, but we didn't realize what was going on. I just thought it was old age.

Now I'm scared that too much damage has been done. Can we reverse this with diet alone? What are her chances of improving and when should I start to see signs of improvement? It was daunting standing in PetsMart yesterday attempting to read the labels on all the food. I found Core Wellness, Grain free Dry which seemed to have the highest protein, lowest fat content. I feel like she needs a few kibbles of dry mixed into the canned food to keep her eating. It has 8 ingredients listed before anything that sounds like a starch or carb. It does have chicken meal, but is all "meal" carb laden? If anyone can suggest the best canned food for diabetic cats please share. Also any hints or tips to get her back on the road to recovery is greatly appreciated. All the vet suggested was wait until her blood work, then they would be able to provide me with "prescription" Royal Canin cat food for diabetic cats. I'm not going down that road, because I don't believe in that. I feel like I can do this with regular food, even if I need to feed her real chicken or fish.

I'm very scared and would love to hear some success stories and hear your tips that have worked. Thanks!

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Welcome. Less drinking and urinating is a sign that the low-carb diet is working. If y go to a pharmacy you can get human urine test strps that test for both ketones (bad if y have those) and glucose. If they show no glucose that is very good,
Here is a listing of low-cab canned
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=117688
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=94685
viewforum.php?f=28
No reason for low fat at all and cat food is typically high fat.
This gives goo d info on feed:
http://www.catinfo.org/
All fish is not good at all.
Most of use here tst are cats blood for glucose using a human meter.

 

[libbysmom]

Thanks for the update. I will print the shopping list to use. That will save a ton of time. I thought low fat was better since she is overweight. I thought it couldn't hurt to drop some weight either. I should follow this same advice for me too! How do you test the urine on the strips, doesn't the litter interfere? I'm used to the test strips, as I've used them in the hospital on patients, but I'm not sure how to test on a cat. How long does it take to see a real differnce and start to reverse the damage? Is it possible to reverse the damage? She is drinking less and seems more active. She also seems content to not have her dry food available all the time, where before she would meow every time you entered the room. She wanted food put in her bowl. She wouldn't quiet down until you gave her more food. Now she is doing well with just two canned meals a day. Should I wean her from all dry? I'm still putting about 12 kibble bits in with each half can of fancy feast food. I didn't want to shock her too much. Thanks!

 

[BJM]

Ditch the dry; she doesn't need it and it makes it harder to stay hydrated. Also, feeding mini-meals will space out the insulin requirements and reduce the stress on the pancreas. Freeze 1/3 to 1/2 to be eaten as it thaws and/or invest in a PetSafe 5 timed feeder (these have worked well for folks here)

You use the urine test strips with a clean catch approach (think ladle, or tongs) or by using clean aquarium gravel and testing within about 15 minutes from deposit. Urine tests only show what was happening since the previous void, so they aren't as useful as blood tests.

An inexpensive human glucometer, test strips, and 26-28 gauge lancets will let you test the glucose level from a peripheral ear nick (ie, a quick prick near the top outer edge of the ear) anuthing above 200 mg/dL, and you'll probably need to use insulin for a while. Good insulins for cats are BCP PZI, ProZinc, Levemir, and Lantus.

Yes, return to a diet controlled state is possible. And many symptoms will resolve with glucose control.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hello, and welcome to FDMB!

So, Libby has been diagnosed with diabetes, but is not on insulin yet? Okey dokey... Then this is the perfect opportunity to switch to a low carb wet diet. That may improve her blood glucose levels considerably.

You say that you're feeling scared. Well, I think most of us were at first ( I certainly was!) nailbite_smile.
But the good news is that diabetes is treatable. (Yay!) And you will very soon learn how to manage your kitty's condition.

As to your wanting to hear "success stories", well they are certainly here - and in abundance! But "success' doesn't necessarily mean that a diabetic cat can be diet-controlled. Sometimes cats are permanently on insulin. But that doesn't mean they have a reduced quality of life. Quite the contrary. With good care diabetic cats on insulin can live as long and as happily as any non-diabetic cat.

Do ask any questions you want to. We're here to help if we can.

Huge reassuring hug to you,

Eliz