Newly diagnosed diabetes cat Oli

[erin38]

Hi Everyone
My lovely 12 year old cat Oli is at thus minute just been admitted to the vet hospital with newly diagnosed diabetes. I am a bit frightened for him as I am new to this. I am also quite alarmed as they say he needs to be in hospital for three days so they can stabilise him @ cost of $1100, wow what a shock! I hope it will not be this expensive all along? he is only 12, I thought normaly they are about 14 years before they get this? Any advice would be appreciated. Cheers Erin38 confused_cat

 

[Just-As-Appy]

Hi Erin38,
Is there a reason other than 'just' diabetes that your cat is in hospital? Does he have another condition such as DKA? If the vet has said that he is going to get the cat regulated for you to bring home and there are no other complications, I think that most experienced people would say that you should just bring the cat home and we can help you. If there is another condition that requires vet treatment, then take this opportunity to read all the information you can about diabetes in the cat, the best insulin to use (depends partly on where you are as not all are available in all countries), and the importance of diet and home testing.

If you could post a bit more information, others can give you more help. Why did you take the cat to the vet when he was diagnosed? how was the diagnosis of diabetes made - an in office blood test or a send out for fructosamine? Has the vet talked to you about home testing? Does you cat have other health problems?

Sorry its a lot of quetions, but it all helps to put together a picture so that we can give you the best suggestions.

 

[erin38]

Oli is 12 years old. He has always had a sensitive tummy to some wet foods. About 2 months ago he began getting more frequest diarrhoea ie every 3-4th day. he also started peeing a lot and drinking heaps of water. I thought he might have thyriod disease as he is fed well yet was always hungry and appeared to be ;osing weight rapidly. I never once suspected diabetes. I took him to the vet 2 days ago and they said could be thyroid or kidneys, the took full bloods. the bloods came back today with elevated glucose and urea. They asked me to get a pee sample so I did and took it in today, it was full of glucose, so they said he has diabetes and asked to keep him in for three days to regulate his insulin and diet.
That's all I know for now.
Cheers erin38

 

[Teresa and Poopy]

Good morning. :smile:

I'm not sure why some vets operate under the "let's keep them a few days to get them regulated" routine. It's really not needed if diabetes is the only concern...IF you are willing to test at home. (Some people aren't, or aren't told they can, and that probably explains the vets view of regulating.)

I've learned to take what the vet says with a grain of salt. All too often vets have minimal knowledge about feline diabetes. They have to know about so much, for so many types of animals, feline diabetes just isn't a major portion of their practice. Too bad we don't have specialists for feline diabetes like we do for human diabetes. :cry:

If you're willing to learn to test at home (which most of us here do), there's no reason to leave Oli at the vet. :smile:

Questions I'd ask:

What insulin are they using? (Hopefully it's one of the main three: Levemir, Lantus or ProZinc)
How much are they using?
What food do they recommend? (Many of us use Binky's list to get low carb food for our sugar babies - the link is in my signature)

 

[Ry & Scooter]

Hi and welcome!

My cat was only 5 and a half when he was diagnosed with diabetes. It can come on at any age really. Most cats are older adults though.

If your cat has no other complications (ketoacidosis, mostly) then I say get your script for insulin and bring him home! We can show you how to get him on the path to regulation at home and for MUCH cheaper than the vet can do.

See, lots of vets try to "regulate" cats in a few days at the office. But as you know, vets are HIGH STRESS places. All the noise, unfamiliar scents, other animals coming and going... stress can SIGNIFICANTLY raise blood glucose levels (up to 150+ points!) and so, quite often, vets get false readings at the office. Even nondiabetics have elevated blood glucose when stressed! This tends to lead to them giving your cat too much insulin. Then when your cat gets home and back in a quiet comfortable environment, their blood glucose goes back down... and if you still shoot that high dose your vet gives you, your cat could hypo (and hypoglycemia is potentially DEADLY). I can't stress how dangerous this is. Dosing this way has killed cats before!

There are 3 big keys to the management of diabetes. Neither one is more important than the other, but they are all VERY important if not NECESSARY to effectively and SAFELY treat this disease.

1. Insulin. The 3 insulins we recommend are Lantus, Levemir, and PZI (Prozinc). We have a proper dosing protocol for each insulin. You do NOT want Caninsulin or Humulin N.
2. Home Testing. We use glucometers meant for human diabetics to test our cat's blood sugar, just like human diabetics test theirs. This allows us to safely administer insulin. Any glucometer with affordable testing strips will do. If you're in the USA, Walmart's Relion Micro and Confirm are 2 very affordable meters. Accuchek, Bayer Contour, and OneTouch are some other good but more pricy ones. You want to avoid the Freestyle Lite or anything with True or Tru in the name (ie. TrueRead. These are usually generic meters found at Kroegers, Walgreens, etc.)
3. Low carb, canned or raw diet. Just like human diabetics have to watch their carb intake, so do our cats. Carbs will significantly raise blood glucose. We recommend foods with less than 7% calories from carbs. Just pick one you can afford and your cat likes. Janet and Binky's lists here show carbs in some popular foods.

 

[Blue]

Hi Everyone
My lovely 12 year old cat Oli is at thus minute just been admitted to the vet hospital with newly diagnosed diabetes. I am a bit frightened for him as I am new to this. I am also quite alarmed as they say he needs to be in hospital for three days so they can stabilise him @ cost of $1100, wow what a shock! I hope it will not be this expensive all along? he is only 12, I thought normaly they are about 14 years before they get this? Any advice would be appreciated. Cheers Erin38 confused_cat

First thing I will say is that you do NOT need to have your cat at the vet for any amount of time 'to regulate'.
Regulation does NOT happen at the vet office, ever. What happens is that you have a cat who is stressed, depressed, you are much poorer, and the cat is not regulated. Regulation can take days, weeks, even months, so don't waste your money trying to have Oli regulated at the vet office.

There is no reason at all for your cat to be at the vet office. You just get the rx for the insulin, Lantus and Levemir are good, pick up a box of KETOSTIX to test urine for ketones and a blood glucose meter at the pharmacy, Relion is a good economical one, plus the test strips and lancets. Then, remove any dry food you are feeding Oli and replace it with low carb wet food like fancy feast pate. YOU can do all that is needed at home for your Oli.

When a cat is left at the vet 'to regulate', the cat is stressed by being away from you and is likely fed food not appropriate for a diabetic cat, so the resulting BG numbers that your vet gets from the attempt 'to regulate' will end up being high. The vet will then take your money and send you on your way with a dose that is TOO HIGH for your cat and could cause harm to Oli when you get home. Why? Because the dose the vet says may be fine at the vet office when Oli's numbers are higher, and he's miserable and stressed, but when Oli's home in his own bed and with you and all his stuff there, his numbers will be lower, so the dose you give that the vet advised may be too high and cause Oli to hypo.

Before insulin is started, it's a great time to see if you can check if Oli is actually a DIET CONTROLLED diabetic. There have been several cats who have just been switched to low carb wet food, and all dry food and treats removed....and their BG numbers come way down and they don't need ANY insulin.

If you get the above supplies, the people here can easily help you take care of your Oli. Testing is a quick poke on the tip of the ear, and my two cats pretty much slept through the pokes... it does NOT hurt the cats, just in case your vet tries to tell you it will. The numbers from the BG meters are just fine for you to use, so you don't need any fancy expensive pet meter. Human meters are reliable enough for humans, so what would make them unreliable for our cats? There is a 30point difference in readings between the human and pet meters, but that's no reason to use the pet meter. Just compare the cost of the test strips for the pet meter and the human Relion meter, and you will say PASS to that pet meter.

Ask the vet what insulin you may need to use. if possible, it's best to make the food change if needed first and you won't have to worry later when Oli's numbers are plummeting.

I should have asked this first, but how was Oli determined to be a diabetic? Did the vet do blood work and did it include a fructosamine test? What signs did Oli have when you took him to the vet?

Age has nothing to do with feline diabetes. There are some cats who are steroid induced diabetics and others who have insulin resistance conditions, like my Shadoe who was diagnosed when she was 6yrs old, and most others just have pancreas that need some help. Quite often, you will see cats who are on insulin for a short time because all they needed was a diet change and a bit of time for the pancreas to heal a bit.

If Oli is still at the vet now, just call the vet and say you are coming to pick up Oli and you will also want the rx for the insulin. Your cat, your money, and your decision. If Oli is not sick, then bring Oli home to care for him.