Newly Diagnosed with Questions

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mico3568

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My cat, Miko, is a big boy. We’ve had him for three years, and he weighs in at a hefty 26.4 pounds. His previous owners free fed him dry food. We put him on a feeding schedule and fed him Halo Spot’s Stew dry, but he actually gained weight when we did this. We took him to the vet to find out if anything is physically wrong with him (thyroid, diabetes, etc.). He hates visiting the vet and needed to be sedated twice before they could take the blood sample. He was a zombie for the next four days until the sedative worked through his system.

When we got the test results back his blood glucose was almost 400, and the vet diagnosed him with diabetes. She switched him to Purina DM and wanted to perform a fructosamine test in two weeks. I declined because they wanted to sedate him again. I’ve been researching and decided to test him myself at home. I bought the ReliOn Confirm and have been randomly testing him. The range has been from a high of 89 about one hour after breakfast to a low of 56 at bedtime. Are these diabetic numbers?

I’ve been trying different wet foods, but he’s a reluctant to change. I finally found one that he semi-tolerates. He has been slowly transitioning to Merrick BG 96% Chicken. I’m slowly mixing more wet with the dry, and it seems to be working. Is Merrick BG good for an overweight and possibly diabetic cat?

I know Miko is overweight, but he’s also a large cat. If I stand him up on his back legs (like a little toddler) he stands about three feet tall. I know I’ve seen a formula for estimating a cat’s ideal body weight, but I cannot remember where. Does anybody know this formula so I can figure out how many calories to feed him?

What about the Halo dry vs Purina DM. I know they are both dry foods, but is one better than the other? I can’t finds the carb content of the Halo anywhere.

Sorry about the long post, and thanks in advance for any questions/comments/answers.

Scott
 
So he is not on insulin? If so, these are not diabetic numbers. If he is on insulin, they are numbers too low to shoot.

Have you seen Dr. Lisa Peterson's website: http://www.catinfo.org? She has ideas about transitioning from wet to dry and gives information on ideal weight.

It would be best if you could get him off the dry. It most likely will help trim him down which would be healthiest. Oliver ate Science Diet Lite for years because he was overweight and never lost a pound. We put him on an all wet diet and he got back to his ideal weight in 6 months.
 
hi there and welcome.

i'm not good with the food stuff too much, especially when at work and distracted but did want to address the thing that jumped out at me most from your post. the numbers you are getting when testing at home where he is more comfortable, those are totally 100% normal non-diabetic numbers. whatever you do, if the numbers stay like that, do not let anyone start him on insulin.
 
Thanks for the quick replies. He is not on insulin, and that makes me so happy to hear that his numbers are normal. I'll keep monitoring him at various times to make sure his numbers stay at those levels.

I've got him eating about half wet and half dry. It has taken me three weeks and a mountain of wasted wet food to get to this point. Hopefully he'll be switched over to 100% wet in another week. I have seen Dr. Lisa's site, and read several stories about the obese cats she has taken care of. This site and Dr. Lisa's site have provided me with a lot of information that will be useful in helping Miko. Thanks again.

Scott
 
You say Miko gets stressed at the vet (an understatement).

Many kitties (most) have higher BG at the vet due to 'vet stress'.

But most raise about 100 points at the vet, so in the 400s at the vet
is very stressed, indeed.

If this happens again, insist on a fructosamine test before the vet 'diagnoses'
diabetes.

The fructosamine test determines the average BG over the previous two weeks,
and is more accurate than a spot-check blood test.

Read up on the symptoms of diabetes in cats (especially excess thirst and peeing).
You have the meter so you can do blood BG tests at home.

Dr. Lisa's site on weight management for cats is very good:

http://catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity
 
Yeah, I've never heard him put up a fight like that. They took him into the back room and I could here him hissing and howling. I'd rather not sedate him again if I don't have too. It scared me to see him not responding to anything for 4 days. He just sat in his bed.

He doesn't have any symptoms like excessive drinking or urinating. His activity level seems fine (he runs around a plays with our other cat) and has no problem cleaning himself. The reason we took him to the vet was because of his wieght. They diagnosed diabetes after the initial blood test because his BG was so high. I'd rather monitor his BG at home if this is adequate. Is there a specific time his BG should spike?
 
If he is not diabetic, you can just test randomly. Sometimes if a kitty is going off insulin, we say to test after eating to see if the bg levels come down.

Sure glad you tested at home before you started insulin. What a lifesaver!
 
If there is a vet who makes house-calls, that might be a better option for you and
your kitty.

Less stressful. But of course you have to get kitty out from under the bed.
 
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