Newly Diagnosed - Lola

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ElizabethAnn

Member Since 2014
Hi Everyone. I am new to this forum. My 9-year-old cat, Lola, was just diagnosed with diabetes. She had been overweight for several years, but in the last couple of months, she lost nearly 5 lbs. She has always been a hungry girl, but recently her constant whining for food and attempts to get into anything and everything to find food have increased dramatically. It has caused a lot of stress in our household. That is the reason I took her to the vet. Also, she had surgery to remove (beneign) lumps last year, and where they shaved her never grew back. The doctor checker her urine and blood, and he confirmed that she has diabetes. He prescribed the Purina DM wet food, and I am supposed to take her back in 1-2 weeks to check her glucose to see if her diabetes can be managed through diet. My fingers are crossed. The vet also set her bloodwork to a lab to check to see if she has any other heath issues. Again, my fingers are crossed that she has no other issues. The diabetes is hard enough on me, and her. When she was diagnosed at the vet's office, I was in shock, and I didn't ask a lot of questions. I didn't know what to ask. I am going to talk to the vet tomorrow about her blood test results, and to determine when she needs to go back. What should I be asking the vet? I just don't know enough to know the right questions to ask, and I want to make sure I provide the proper care for Lola. Any advice will be much appreciated.
 
Welcome to fdmb ElizabethAnn

Lets see, Im still technically a newbie myself. My cat, Hidey, was diagnosed at the beginning of January. When he was first diagnosed my vet put him on vetsulin. That did not work with him, his numbers stayed high and after a month of worrying and fighting with my vet I DEMANDED he be switched to Prozinc. After switching his diet and a month on insulin he is now in remission and has been off insulin for 3 months (my fingers are crossed) Vetsulin is a short working insulin, which I did not know until I searched on here. Most here will recommend Lantus, ProZinc, Levemir, and BCP PZI are all good insulins to use and last about 12 hours per shot.

I would not recommend the Purina DM, I know a lot of vets especially mine push the prescription diets. It is not needed. Here is a link to the foods that are recommended but most here seem to use fancy feast pates, or friskies.
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Also here is also a list of low carb treats:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9172

We also advise to home test. You can use a human glucose meter, although some vets push the pet specific meter on you...mine being one of them. I was a sucker and bought it, spent $150+ to find out after a month that the human meters are a LOT cheaper and just as reliable. Some vets don't even bring up home testing, mine didnt. She advised me to bring him in a week or so to check his numbers. If I took her advice, I would have killed him for sure by giving him his shot when his blood glucose was too low. The thing that slapped me in the face with a huge DUH! was when someone on here said "would you give your child a shot without knowing their blood glucose first?" Well, no.....and my cats ARE my children. Testing seems intimidating at first, but it does get easier for both of you. Also, your vet may suggest bringing her in to do a curve (testing every hour) this is not necassary if you start home testing. Blood Glucose will rise from stress, and illness so if your cat is like mine it would be a very stressful ordeal, and results (most likely) wouldn't be as accurate as they could be at home, not to mention it saves you some money.

Heres a shopping list of things you might need:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11Uf ... edit?pli=1

Once you start home testing it is a good idea to start a spread sheet to keep track.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50130
 
Welcome! Dirtybirdsoaps has already given you some great information and links.

dirtybirdsoaps said:
I would not recommend the Purina DM, I know a lot of vets especially mine push the prescription diets. It is not needed. Here is a link to the foods that are recommended but most here seem to use fancy feast pates, or friskies.
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
Click to expand...

Just wanted to add that for our diabetics (and it's great for non-diabetics, too!), we look for anything that's less than 8-10% calories from carbs, the lower the better (first Column C).
 
Thank you very much for the information! I don't even know if she will need insulin yet, but I do know that I can't afford $40/case prescription cat food regardless.

Dirtybirdsoaps,
This link is not working. Can you please re-post it?

Heres a shopping list of things you might need:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11Uf ... edit?pli=1
 
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