newly diagnosed, possibly pre-diabetic

[OldManEzra]

I [Stephanie] took Ezra (13 years old, 17 pounds) to the vet on Friday for a geriatric visit, expecting his thyroid or kidneys to be causing health issues: hair loss on his back, excessive water drinking, and persistent vomiting. All his lab results came back in a consistent, stable range [yay!], and his weight has been stable as well ... the one exception was his glucose level, which was 289 (07/2023), and in the past has been 186 (01/2023) and 246 (07/2022). The vet then sent the lab work for a fructosamine concentration ... while I was waiting for that result, I discovered this forum, and immediately ordered new food [Fancy Feast classic pate, range of flavors, and Wellness Core pate, range of flavors, and Wellness Core Original dry] based on the carbohydrate/protein recommendations.

The fructosamine concentration revealed completely standard numbers. My vet called an internist for advice on how to interpret these findings [my vet is great], and they think that my cat might be in the very early stages of developing diabetes, and that my best course of action is home monitoring and diet modification.

The glucometer and strips should be ready for curbside pickup tomorrow, and I've been reading through the instructions on what and how to do home testing. I'm cautiously optimistic that with catching things early and making dietary changes I'll be able to reduce his blood sugar and hopefully resolve the symptoms.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to this list. All the research -- on foods, on glucometers and supplies, on methods -- has drastically reduced the amount of stress that I've felt about how to effectively and compassionately treat my cat.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Hopefully with the change of diet, you will be able to avoid insulin.
Are you going to do hometesting to see what the blood glucose is away from the stress of the vet office.?
There is one other thing I would do and that is I would buy some Ketostix from a pharmacy and test the routine maybe twice a week to see there are no ketones in the urine. Ketones can form if there is not enough insulin. or not enough food. pits a form of insurance while you see if the food trial is enough to lower the BGs to normal.
A normal cats BG is 50-120 on a human glucose meter.

 

[JanetNJ]

The food should make a difference esp if you feed any dry food before. Stay away from treats like temptations or party mix. Good that you will keep an eye on it with testing. I have a video in my signature showing how I tested my cat CC at home

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

and Wellness Core Original dry

This is not low carb. It contains peas and potatoes.

The only low carb dry foods are Elsey's Complete Protein, Young Again, Wysong Epigen 90.

 

[OldManEzra]

The only low carb dry foods are Elsey's Complete Protein, Young Again, Wysong Epigen 90.

Thanks for this -- I saw on one of the spreadsheets here [can't find now] that the Wellness Core Original was low carb, but I just ordered a bag of Young Again.

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

Only the wet Welllness Core is low fat.

 

[OldManEzra]

I have a video in my signature showing how I tested my cat CC at home

This video was super-helpful for making the draw less intimidating. I picked up the supplies this morning and did my first glucose test this evening. Ezra was a 77 on the ReliOn, which is shown as being normal range in the spreadsheet. He's only been on the new wet food since Monday, which I can't imagine would result in a speedy significant difference. (It didn't even occur to me to buy control solution, so am assuming the machine was calibrated correctly.)

I'll continue to monitor at home [and will maintain the new food diet regardless, everything I've read about it seems like a really important switch], but if he's consistently at these numbers, I might talk to my vet about starting thyroid treatment instead [even though his numbers are good (3.0 7/2023 | 2.8 1/23 | 2.8 7/22), there's a chance the T4 test might be misleading:
Older cats with consistent clinical signs and high normal (2.3-4.7) T4 may have early hyperthyroidism or a concurrent non-thyroidal illness.

 

[JanetNJ]

This video was super-helpful for making the draw less intimidating. I picked up the supplies this morning and did my first glucose test this evening. Ezra was a 77 on the ReliOn, which is shown as being normal range in the spreadsheet. He's only been on the new wet food since Monday, which I can't imagine would result in a speedy significant difference. (It didn't even occur to me to buy control solution, so am assuming the machine was calibrated correctly.)

I'll continue to monitor at home [and will maintain the new food diet regardless, everything I've read about it seems like a really important switch], but if he's consistently at these numbers, I might talk to my vet about starting thyroid treatment instead [even though his numbers are good (3.0 7/2023 | 2.8 1/23 | 2.8 7/22), there's a chance the T4 test might be misleading:
Older cats with consistent clinical signs and high normal (2.3-4.7) T4 may have early hyperthyroidism or a concurrent non-thyroidal illness.

You have gotten totally normal numbers the last two days. Great job learning to test. I am glad you found the video useful.