? Newly Diagnosed Tabby with IBD, Seeking Feedback Diet, Monitor, Schedule

[Lisa & Twiggy]

Hi Everyone,
My 17 year old tabby, Twiglet (Twiggy) has recently been diagnosed with diabetes. Her last BG at the vet was 376 but she had tested over 400 previously. She is rather petite at ~9 lbs, but she usually is lower at around 8.5lbs.
She was diagnosed with IBD ~5 years ago and has been on 1.25 mg prednisolone a day. The vet has had me start to wean her off the pred and she is currently at 1.25 mg every other day as of end of last week (2/1). The goal is to wean off, monitor the IBD and if does flare see if budesonide is a potential option instead.

We are going to the vet this afternoon for educational session on the insulin injections, etc. We are going to do low dosage for a week and then do the freestyle libre for monitoring her curve the following week. We were prescribed the lantus pen and we will be starting her this evening. I'm so appreciative of this forum (and was recommended by vet) but there is so much info I'd love if anyone could provide any feedback on the following questions:
1. Twiggy has been on the Royal Canin hydrolyzed protein diet to help with the IBD. I have read over and over the importance of doing a low carb diet. She did have slightly elevated kidney levels (but not highly concerning yet), so the vet suggested Royal Canin Feline Rental Support + Hydrolyzed Protein. I looked up the carb content and from what I can find it is very high ~ 40%. I would like to be able to lower her carb intake. Does anyone have any recommendations on alternate food options as we still have to battle the IBD in addition to the diabetes while considering her kidney health?
2. I did extensive reviewing on the pet glucose meters and I ended up going the human monitor route and got the ReliOn Premier Blu that has the bluetooth feature. Any pros / cons anyone can share? I understand we will need to get familiarized with conversions.
3. Scheduling - how much time do you need to prep to test / feed / inject cat generally? My husband and I trying to plan out the schedule as I understand we need to be as consistent as possible with the feedings/injections.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated as this is definitely going to take some adjustment Thank you in advance!

Lisa & Twiggy

 

[squeem3]

My newly diabetic also has IBD and potentially kidney issues (breed genetic disposition). The IBD is managed by a novel protein commercial raw diet and budesonide. My cat has always eaten raw food. The diabetes was caused by long term use of prednisolone for the IBD. The vet switched my cat to budesonide at the same time as the diabetes diagnosis. My vet is fine with me feeding a raw diet. It's not something he recommends most other clients to do but he's been my vet since my first diabetic cat and he trusts my judgement.

Does your cat have any food intolerances or sensitivities due to the IBD? Many IBD cats do. I think a novel protein limited ingredient canned food diet might work if raw in any form is not an option. Rawz is often a recommended brand of food for IBD cats but I don't know how many carbs it contains. You'll have to check the food chart https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

There's a website with more info on IBD if you aren't aware of it, https://www.ibdkitties.net/

A typical routine is test, feed, give insulin. Experienced people can do all this in a matter of minutes. Newbies might need to break it up into steps until they get the hang of it. Always test before giving insulin. That way you know what the blood glucose level is and if it's safe for insulin to be given or not.

Check out the Lantus forum here on FDMB. The stickies at the top of the forum have tons of info.

 

[Lisa & Twiggy]

Thank you for your feedback!