Newly diagnosed on Jan 28,2016

Status
Not open for further replies.
Catcrzymom

Catcrzymom

Member Since 2016
Hello Everyone.
I am a cat mom to 3 fur babies. Garfield is almost 15 yrs old, and the. I have sisters Daisy & Lily who are 4 yrs old. I had another fur baby, Romeo, who was 14 yrs old when He passed away a year ago. I'm still grieving losing him and now to find out Garfield is diabetic is really overwhelming to me.
I noticed months ago that Garfields fur was changing. It started feeling a bit tacky, and he was starting to lose fur. Then we notice that he was tracking a lot of litter behind him and it was sticking to his hind legs and tail almost like cement. Stopped using the clumping clay litter and tried Blue Wilderness crushed walnut litter. He still was tracking it all over and it still stuck to him but not like the clay litter did. We would try to clean his legs and he was very irritable about it and started scratching us. My husband took over trying to clean him beaus I was getting so tore up over it.
He use to weigh about 30lbs and I started noticing he was getting smaller in his hind quarters and renetly I was starting to feel his boney spine. That really got me upset. I also noticed his eyes were starting to look different. Very glassy eyes and he did act like he was seeing very well. My husband said he though it was due to Garfields age. So we got online and order some natural supplements for joints, vision, immune system and changed the dry food we were feeding our kitties from Purina One to Purina Beyond. They also get wet food with the dry. We also were giving our kitties treats. Garfield would get treats when he let us clean his ears, weepy eyes and body. I had been giving them Temptations and then switched to Greenies for their teeth.
Garfield also has had a skin condition and breathing problems since he was a kitten, My husband and son found him while they were fishing back in 2001. He came out of a corn field mewing and his face was all scratched up like something had tried to kill him. They brought him home and we got him to our vet. He weighed 1.5 lbs and the vet want sure he would make it through the night. Well she (vet) gave him fluids, antibiotics and anything else he needed and we took him home. She said he'd probably always have trouble with his respitory system but he amazed everyone and grew up to a whopping 30lbs! He's always had what looks like a bit of dandruff especially by his tail. We were putting hydrocortisone spray on it. Now it is everywhere and not just a little!
After reading many of the posts here I feel like a terrible cat mom for not getting him to the vet sooner this last time and for feeding my babies dry food and the treats! My babies are driving me nuts looking for treats now and I'm having a difficult time feeding Garfield his special diet and the others something else!
I am a very emotional and frazzled cat mom right now.
Garfield is on Vetsulin 10ml vial- 2 units 2 x day. Also eating Purina DM feline can food. 1 can 2x day. We are to take him back to vet on Feb 4 for check up and check his glucose level.
I appreciate all help and suggestions I can get!❤️
 
Welcome to FDMB.

All of us have encountered the reality that most cat food is intended to make a profit for the manufacturer, not necessarily be optimal for the cat.

Have you popped over to Cat Info? It has tons of great info on feline nutrition and is written by a vet. Many of us have found that a change to low carb, over the counter, canned food may reduce the glucose level 100-200 mg/dL. In some cases, the cat goes off insulin very quickly with the change.
 
Hello and welcome! I'm sorry to hear about your Romeo. I lost my 14 year old baby just over a year ago as well
and I understand about still grieving.
My 11 year old was just diagnosed Nov 30th, so I also understand about feeling overwhelmed as I'm sure we all do on here.
Let me say that you are NOT a terrible cat mom! You've done everything right.
And by coming here you will get lots of support and answers to questions you might have.
Many on here feed there diabetic kitties Fancy Feast CLASSIC and Friskies PATES.
They are low carb and much lower priced, and the best thing is everyone can eat the same food.
That alone takes some of the stress out of the situation.
As far as treats, there are low carb options available. Purebites freeze dried cat treats is one, they come in different flavors.
You can google to find where you can buy or you can buy online.
There is lots of good info on this site as well as good people, hang in there, it will get better!
 
Welcome!

Purina DM canned in terms of carb levels to feed diabetics, but if money is an issue it's not necessary to feed it. The composition of that food is nearly identical to Fancy Feast or other less expensive pate style foods that you can get at the grocery or pet food store.

Getting his glucose checked at the vet is also not necessary. You can use any human glucose meter to check his glucose levels yourself--this is not only cheaper than the vet testing, it's also safer and more accurate for your cat because stress causes blood glucose to become inflated at the vet. Bandit reads normal at home, but his glucose levels can go up as much as 300 points from a stressful vet visit. You use the tips of their ears to get the drop of blood for the test, and it doesn't hurt them one bit (cats have less nerve endings in the tips of their ears than people do in their fingers). While some cats struggle a bit at first (Bandit was a terror!), they all come around eventually with repeated testing and treats after each test. Bandit used to fight me so much I had to wrap him in a blanket to do the tests, and now he comes running and patiently purrs through the test when he hears the glucose meter beep on.

There are lots of options for healthy, diabetic safe treats that you can feed all of your cats! Anything where the only ingredient is freeze-dried meat are diabetic safe. Where do you usually buy your cat food/treats? I get Bandit's at our locally owned pet food store, and at Petsmart. Our younger cat, Orpheus, eats the same food and treats that Bandit eats.

Vetsulin isn't one of the recommended insulins for cats, so if you're not seeing good control with it in 4-8 weeks, I would strongly encourage you to switch to one of the recommended insulins for cats--Lantus, Levemir, or Prozinc. Unfortunately, Vetsulin doesn't have a long enough duration of action to present good control in cats because their metabolisms are twice as fast as dogs. If you need something to bring your vet to convince them to switch the insulin, we can give you copies of the current treatment guidelines for diabetic cats to print out and bring in with you. Lantus is pricy in the U.S., but the cost is reasonable if you order from an online Canadian pharmacy with a script from your vet.

There's a big learning curve that can seem overwhelming at first, but managing a cat with diabetes isn't too hard once you get going! The right food, insulin, and home testing are the three key elements for successful treatement.
 
Julia & Bandit said:
Welcome!

Purina DM canned in terms of carb levels to feed diabetics, but if money is an issue it's not necessary to feed it. The composition of that food is nearly identical to Fancy Feast or other less expensive pate style foods that you can get at the grocery or pet food store.

Getting his glucose checked at the vet is also not necessary. You can use any human glucose meter to check his glucose levels yourself--this is not only cheaper than the vet testing, it's also safer and more accurate for your cat because stress causes blood glucose to become inflated at the vet. Bandit reads normal at home, but his glucose levels can go up as much as 300 points from a stressful vet visit. You use the tips of their ears to get the drop of blood for the test, and it doesn't hurt them one bit (cats have less nerve endings in the tips of their ears than people do in their fingers). While some cats struggle a bit at first (Bandit was a terror!), they all come around eventually with repeated testing and treats after each test. Bandit used to fight me so much I had to wrap him in a blanket to do the tests, and now he comes running and patiently purrs through the test when he hears the glucose meter beep on.

There are lots of options for healthy, diabetic safe treats that you can feed all of your cats! Anything where the only ingredient is freeze-dried meat are diabetic safe. Where do you usually buy your cat food/treats? I get Bandit's at our locally owned pet food store, and at Petsmart. Our younger cat, Orpheus, eats the same food and treats that Bandit eats.

Vetsulin isn't one of the recommended insulins for cats, so if you're not seeing good control with it in 4-8 weeks, I would strongly encourage you to switch to one of the recommended insulins for cats--Lantus, Levemir, or Prozinc. Unfortunately, Vetsulin doesn't have a long enough duration of action to present good control in cats because their metabolisms are twice as fast as dogs. If you need something to bring your vet to convince them to switch the insulin, we can give you copies of the current treatment guidelines for diabetic cats to print out and bring in with you. Lantus is pricy in the U.S., but the cost is reasonable if you order from an online Canadian pharmacy with a script from your vet.

There's a big learning curve that can seem overwhelming at first, but managing a cat with diabetes isn't too hard once you get going! The right food, insulin, and home testing are the three key elements for successful treatement.
Click to expand...



I bought the Purina D can food from the vet. That was before I knew about Fancy Feast and others. I purchased some fancy feast classic chicken food and feed that to my other 2 cats. I will finish the cans I got from vet and will then feed him the Fancy Feast. I do feed him an occasional treat of the freeze dried chicken made by Purina. I will consider talking to the vet about a different insulin if his next bg isn't better.
Thank you for your help. Garfield is a difficult guy to give his shots too and I imagine he won't be easy to test when we start doing that. My husband is very helpful with the shots and helping feed him separate from the other two kitties.
 
Julia and Bandit
I live in the Maryville/Edwardsville area in Illinois. I take my babies to the Horseshoe Lake Animal Hospital and their staff is wonderful. Dr. Mollet is their vet and we love her.
Any suggestions on insulin types that I may consult her about would be welcome. Garfield is presently on Vetsulin.
Thank you!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top