Newly Diagnosed Male Cat

[COFFEE_1966]

Long story short I have a relative that recently adopted a cat from a local animal shelter about 1 month ago. We think his age is around 18 months. After about a month we thought he may have a bladder infection because he was drinking alot of water and peeing alot. Eventually we took him to the Vet. Another long story short they diagnosed him with diabetes. The Vet kept the cat for about a week. They have it on insulin and Vet prescribed dry cat food. After doing some reading on this forum we wanted the cat to eat the Fancy Feast Classic Pate canned food. But I guess this cat is picky because he wont eat it. I would give anything for this cat to go into remission, so we can get him off the Vet prescribed dry food and to get him off insulin. The cat's glucose is 350, and we give him insulin twice a day.

1. How often does the glucose need to be checked?

2. Is there another canned wet food we should try and or are there any dry foods we should try?

Thanks for any help. This is all new to me. I don't feel like my relative is doing a good job taking care of this cat. We have 2 cats of our own and are considering adopting this cat, so it can get the care it needs. But this cat does pee alot and that is a potential problem. If we could get him into remission that would really help. I think the key to this is with the right food...

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello and welcome. 18 months is awfully young for a cat to be a diabetic. Can you tell me if the vet did more than just a general bloodwork to diagnose him? Was a urinalysis done? A fructosamine? I'm really surprised the vet kept the cat for a week, unless there was something else wrong with the cat. Most cats don't even stay more than the appointment time now.

There are lots of canned wet foods out there that are low carb. It is important to transition from dry food to canned food slowly for two reasons. One, it can greatly reduce the amount of insulin needed and two - it can cause GI upset to switch foods quickly. This post gives some tips on transitioning:

• Transitioning your cat from dry to wet food

In the US, this food chart lists a lot of wet food products out there. You are looking for something with carbs 10% and under.

As for checking insulin, ideally you'd be testing before every shot to see if it's safe to give insulin, and also some times in between shots to see how low the insulin dose is taking the cat. We determine how to change insulin dose based on how low it takes the cat.

There are some basic things we'd like to know about you and your kitty for us to help you better. Such as type of insulin and type of food he's eating now. More information in this post:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome to the forum
If the kitty continues to eat dry food it is very unlikely he will go into remission. Diabetic cats need a low carb wet diet to have any chance of remission.
The peeing a lot will reduce once the blood glucose is more under control. I’m not sure I understand why peeing a lot is a potential problem unless he is not peeing in the litter box.

 

[COFFEE_1966]

Yes there have been a few times he has not peed in the litter box. He has peed on clothing and inside the pet carrier.

I will find out today the name of the insulin. This is all new to me. We have had several cats over the years and we never had a cat with diabetes that I'm aware of. We are learning as we go on this one. Bare with me.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

It would be worth while getting the kitty’ urine tested for a UTI if he’s peeing outside the litter box.

 

[COFFEE_1966]

Yes he had a UTI, so that may be why he was peeing outside the box. The UTI is under control now. I think that's why my relative had the Vet keep the cat for a week. My relative is disabled and has trouble giving the cat medicine.

 

[COFFEE_1966]

The insulin is ProZinc. 5 units two times a day.

I tried to upload a pic, but it wouldn't let me.

 

[COFFEE_1966]

 

[Wendy&Neko]

5 units is a LOT of insulin to start with. We typically start cats on 0.5-1.0 units of Prozinc.

Are you home testing his blood sugars yet? I'd worry about hypo when starting on such a large dose of insulin right away.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

I agree 5 units is a very big dose to start with. I also worry about a hypo.
Make sure they have honey or Karo in case o a hypo. I would be asking the vet to review the dose and look at hometesting.

 

[COFFEE_1966]

The Vet refers to it as 5 units. It may be 0.5

We are testing the Glucose, I'm not sure how one would test blood sugars.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

blood sugar = blood glucose.

The Vet refers to it as 5 units. It may be 0.5

There is a big difference between the two. The syringes should be U-40 syringes and half unit markings on them. The units should be marked on the syringe. The 0.5 unit dose is half the 1 unit dose. 5 units is 10 times as much insulin.

 

[COFFEE_1966]

The syringes are Covetrus U-40 insulin syringe.

Glucose is consistent 350ish when we check it. But I hate checking it because I hate poking the cat, it's terrible. He's getting to where he knows what's coming. I hate this kind of relationship. They just want to be loved on. I hate poking him for the Glucose reading and I hate poking him 2 times a day for the insulin shot.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Looks like your syringes have 1/2 unit markings, that's good.

But I hate checking it because I hate poking the cat, it's terrible. He's getting to where he knows what's coming. I hate this kind of relationship. They just want to be loved on. I hate poking him for the Glucose reading and I hate poking him 2 times a day for the insulin shot.

With time and treats, can look forward to ear pokes. My cat ended up coming running whenever the test kit came out. Check out some of the tips and videos on this post: Hometesting Links and Tips. A lot of people give the insulin shot when the cat's head is in the food bowl.

 

[COFFEE_1966]

Yeah I injected with insulin tonight when he was leaning over the bowl eating.

It's the glucose poke that my wife and I are struggling with. We tried several times this morning and gave up for the day on the glucose reading.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Maybe this will help
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 10 or 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that'sthe side you want to poke with

 

[COFFEE_1966]

I just wanted to give an update, I think the cat (my brother named him Coffee) is doing better.

Last week his glucose readings started to get lower in the afternoon. And then in the mornings we started seeing acceptable numbers, so we cheeked with the Vet and have not needed to give him insulin since the evening of 08.10.2024...

08.11.2024 > 77 @9:00 AM
08.12.2024 > 77 @7:30 AM
08.15.2024 > 72 @5:25 PM