Newly diagnosed

[Cheryl TJs mom]

Hello! I’m new here. My boy TJ was just diagnosed with diabetes a couple day ago. I think I caught it in the early stages because he is 14 and my last cat passed at 15 so I obsessively watch him. I hate the anxiety I have with my pets get older. Anyway I noticed because he was bigger that he was losing weight and he was peeing a lot. I don’t feel he had obsessive thirst or hunger but maybe. I had always free fed my cats and they grazed throughout the day. Anyway his BG was high but all other numbers for his organs looked good. The vet told me to try changing his diet first before we started insulin so I got different wet foods to try. I see fancy feast is popular hear. Is any grain free ok?
I’m hopeful, but not fully expecting a diet only change to fix things.
Has anyone had success with regulating diabetes without insulin?
Second question, how long till I would notice something improving with the food change? I know getting back to a healthy weight will take time but how do I know if diet change is working if at all? Does the urination get better quickly? I just don’t want to try for too long meanwhile he is getting worse. Thank you.
Oh one more thing, I have a younger cat still eating the kibble. Should she only eat wet food as well to prevent future problems?

 

[JanetNJ]

y. I see fancy feast is popular hear. Is any grain free ok?

Welcome. Sorry about the diagnosis but I'm glad you found us. Fancy feast classic or Friskies pate are popular ones. I feed weruva foods. Here is a good list....you'll want to pick foods under 10 percent carb. https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

Foods labeled grain free are sometimes ok, but sometimes the substitute in ingredients like peas and carrots that are still carbs.

Has anyone had success with regulating diabetes without insulin?
Second question, how long till I would notice something improving with the food change?

There have been a few that have been diet controlled from the start that were boarderline. Most people need at least a couple months on insulin, and some will always need it. The old food would be out of the system in a couple of days and you'd get a better idea on what effect the food change has made. It's good to start learning to test now before the insulin even starts. A wet diet is best to keep both cats healthy. It's better for their kidneys as well.

The best way to judge how your cat is doing is by getting a glucometer and testing at home. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home. What was your cats numbers when diagnosed? We're there any ketones ?

When you do start insulin, ask for ProZinc or lantus. They are the most successful. ProZinc is a good price through chewy.com ($102 for a vial that will last you about 4 months). People using lantus usually use a discount card locally or order from Marks Marine pharmacy in Canada.

 

[Cheryl TJs mom]

Thank you for your responses. I had one can of fancy feast pate as I was trying different ones, and man he went nuts for it. I’ve never seen him eat so enthusiastically but at the same time he hasn’t been grazing all night on dry food. has anyone tried Tiki Cat?
Curious how much the average cat eats in canned food per day and I had only used it in the past as a supplement. He needs to gain weight so I want to make sure it’s enough.
His numbers when he was tested were in the 300s. I don’t remember the exact number. I’ve totally been stressing about this and losing sleep.

 

[JanetNJ]

Thank you for your responses. I had one can of fancy feast pate as I was trying different ones, and man he went nuts for it. I’ve never seen him eat so enthusiastically but at the same time he hasn’t been grazing all night on dry food. has anyone tried Tiki Cat?
Curious how much the average cat eats in canned food per day and I had only used it in the past as a supplement. He needs to gain weight so I want to make sure it’s enough.
His numbers when he was tested were in the 300s. I don’t remember the exact number. I’ve totally been stressing about this and losing sleep.

Tiki cat is an excellent food. It's worth a try to see if he likes it. The rule of thumb is about 20 calories per pound of IDEAL weight. SO lets say he is 10 lbs, but should be 12... that would mean he would need at LEAST 240 CALORIES... BUT unregulated diabetic cats tend to need more food than a non diabetic... so esp. since he's underweight, just feed him as much as he wants. Most cats do better on several smaller meals rather than just two big meals. Just no food 2 hours prior to the preshot test so the number is not food influenced.

 

[Cheryl TJs mom]

Tiki cat is an excellent food. It's worth a try to see if he likes it. The rule of thumb is about 20 calories per pound of IDEAL weight. SO lets say he is 10 lbs, but should be 12... that would mean he would need at LEAST 240 CALORIES... BUT unregulated diabetic cats tend to need more food than a non diabetic... so esp. since he's underweight, just feed him as much as he wants. Most cats do better on several smaller meals rather than just two big meals. Just no food 2 hours prior to the preshot test so the number is not food influenced.

Thank you! You all are so helpful.

 

[JanetNJ]

Thank you! You all are so helpful.

If he was eating dry food before, switching to all wet will most likely bring down the numbers quite a bit.

 

[Cheryl TJs mom]

If he was eating dry food before, switching to all wet will most likely bring down the numbers quite a bit.

I really hope so! I always felt I was doing to right thing for their teeth! Little did I know it’s always been the wrong thing. Now I’m thinking my cat that passed had diabetes as well. we did a blood test but that vet didn’t say anything about that. Just that she had 2 “raging infections” so she went on 2 antibiotics. She wasn’t eating anymore and her back legs gave out. She went down fast. She was 16.

 

[JanetNJ]

I really hope so! I always felt I was doing to right thing for their teeth! Little did I know it’s always been the wrong thing. Now I’m thinking my cat that passed had diabetes as well. we did a blood test but that vet didn’t say anything about that. Just that she had 2 “raging infections” so she went on 2 antibiotics. She wasn’t eating anymore and her back legs gave out. She went down fast. She was 16.

I know what you mean. I think I kicked off my cat's diabetes by giving in to her Temptations and Party Mix addictions. Live and learn.

 

[Cheryl TJs mom]

I know what you mean. I think I kicked off my cat's diabetes by giving in to her Temptations and Party Mix addictions. Live and learn.

They love those temptations!

 

[Lizzee]

Hello! I’m new here. My boy TJ was just diagnosed with diabetes a couple day ago. I think I caught it in the early stages because he is 14 and my last cat passed at 15 so I obsessively watch him. I hate the anxiety I have with my pets get older. Anyway I noticed because he was bigger that he was losing weight and he was peeing a lot. I don’t feel he had obsessive thirst or hunger but maybe. I had always free fed my cats and they grazed throughout the day. Anyway his BG was high but all other numbers for his organs looked good. The vet told me to try changing his diet first before we started insulin so I got different wet foods to try. I see fancy feast is popular hear. Is any grain free ok?
I’m hopeful, but not fully expecting a diet only change to fix things.
Has anyone had success with regulating diabetes without insulin?
Second question, how long till I would notice something improving with the food change? I know getting back to a healthy weight will take time but how do I know if diet change is working if at all? Does the urination get better quickly? I just don’t want to try for too long meanwhile he is getting worse. Thank you.
Oh one more thing, I have a younger cat still eating the kibble. Should she only eat wet food as well to prevent future problems?

Hi Cheryl. I'm not as well-versed as other members here but will do my best to help out. I cant answer your questions in earnest as every cat is different, but I can share my experiences.

Tiki-Cat was genuinely life changing for the baby. She was on a diet of Crave / Iams / whatever we can get on sale at the time. Since switching to Tiki Cat she has SO much more energy. It's an incredibly expensive brand comparatively, but after switching her over she's been a lot more active and exploring more, even more than her pre-diabetic self. One thing I like about Tiki Cat too is that it's low in phosphorous and comes with a broth which is good for the kidneys. Older cats are prone to kidney issues and Shurshishka has had urinary crystals in the past, so having a low-phosphorous diet has been incredibly helpful for her. I occasionally give her fancy feast but I think she can tell the difference between expensive food and cheap food. And will always prefer the expensive food.

There are many members here who have regulated with out insulin, but every cat is different. Some may achieve remission, others may not. Others may achieve remission and then get diagnosed again. Unfortunately there is no crystal ball for this kind of stuff as another member has stated and we're just here along for the ride. Though I will say the quicker you manage to achieve regulation, the better it will be.

In terms of how long it will be until you see a difference, it varies. My baby was diagnosed in October with insulin and I switched her diet around December. The results were pretty quick, within a couple of weeks she was regulated. It took her about 1-2 months to gain back all the weight she lost from going DKA. She lost about 4 pounds. Her urination got better the more and more regulated she got. While her BG was still 400+ she would be peeing and drinking all the time. Now that she is regulated, she goes about 2-3 times a day. The more regulated your cat is the more "things will go back to normal." If your diet change is working you will see lower BG values and lower BG curves.

As for the kibble I've never heard of it causing diabetes. I don't believe there's much research on what exactly causes it, just risk factors, though wetfood is typically better as Janet said, much better for the kidneys.