Newly diagnosed

[fairweathersally31@gmail.]

Hi everyone,
My cat, mr mistofflees, is just about to get diagnosed with diabetes and hyperthyroidism on monday, its all very overwhelming and confusing, to make matters worse my boy is 14 and he has had a heart murmur his whole life which turned into heart failure 4 years ago, he is absolutely fine apart from not being able to race around for very long before he has to stop to catch his breath, the issue is that we have already decided not to use insulin manage it because of the stress it would cause him and his heart not to mention the stress of the blood testing, plus he is a menace to society and he considers it a past time to attack us randomly which is another reason we wont be injecting him, so instead we will be using medication which is a liquid in his food and obviously we will be putting him on a suitable diet and we will monitor his urine for ketones as well as medication for his thyroid (his blood sugars were extremely high on his initial blood test) please could anyone reassure me that this can help him, theres so much on here about using insulin and the importance of it that im hoping we can still manage him, and maybe advise on some suitable wet and dry food for him as I think the diet will be the main thing we need to get right. Im so glad I've stumbled across this site, hopefully I can find some useful advice here. Im in the UK

 

[PLUAC]

Hi everyone,
My cat, mr mistofflees, is just about to get diagnosed with diabetes and hyperthyroidism on monday, its all very overwhelming and confusing, to make matters worse my partboy is 14 and he has had a heart murmur his whole life which turned into heart failure 4 years ago, he is absolutely fine apart from not being able to race around for very long before he has to stop to catch his breath, the issue is that we have already decided not to use insulin manage it because of the stress it would cause him and his heart not to mention the stress of the blood testing, plus he is a menace to society and he considers it a past time to attack us randomly which is another reason we wont be injecting him, so instead we will be using medication which is a liquid in his food and obviously we will be putting him on a suitable diet and we will monitor his urine for ketones as well as medication for his thyroid (his blood sugars were extremely high on his initial blood test) please could anyone reassure me that this can help him, theres so much on here about using insulin and the importance of it that im hoping we can still manage him, and maybe advise on some suitable wet and dry food for him as I think the diet will be the main thing we need to get right. Im so glad I've stumbled across this site, hopefully I can find some useful advice here. Im in the UK

Hey- I think the liquid med you are going to be using is Senvelgo. My kitty has been using it since January and is doing great! I check for ketones in his urine about every other day- catching him when he urinates is the hardest part. Let him finish but not cover and dip the stick before the litter absorbs it. I have the stick ready and put a baby cam facing the litter box. Bootsie started at blood sugars over 400 and within a week of starting senvelgo 130's -140's. He has never gone too low. It is important he be closely monitored by the vet for ketones during the first couple weeks and every 3-4 months as long as he is on it. It has worked great and has been pretty easy for us.. I use Fussie cat and royal canin glycoadvantage cat food. Hydration is super important if you can choose a high protein less than 10 percent carb WET cat food. Mr Mistoffees may need different food than mine ( no or little fish) since he has thyroid issues as well. Good luck! and let us know how it goes.

 

[CORKY]

Welcome to FDMB
While you wait a bit for a member that can assist you with Senvelgo you can read on the subject, link below
A non-diabetic cats' glucose level is between 50-120
Diabetic cats need to have a diet of wet can or raw foods between 0-10% carbs. as well as a feeding schedule, feeding 3-4 small meals or snacks during the day is recommended to keep the insulin in check.
Home testing is highly recommended to avoid hypoglycemia, many member use a human monitor, no need for a Pet Meter
Below is a UK food list as well, we are looking for Dry Matter Carbs, I will tag another member that can assist you with other concerns and questions you may have , Please keep posting
@Wendy&Neko

Bexacat / Senvelgo
Info - UK INFORMATION (Food, Insulin, Vit B12, and other 'need to know' stuff)

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello and welcome. You have an amazing kitty if he's been living with heart failure for so long and kudos to you on his care.

We have had several kitties with CHF here on insulin and getting blood testing, my girl Neko being one of them. It wasn't a stress for her. She often purred through her testing and shots. Testing = treats to follow, didn't take her long to figure that out. She also learned that shots made her feel better and she got cuddles with it.

Hyperthyroidism can contribute to insulin resistance, meaning if you can get his thyroid numbers controlled, it should positively impact his diabetes.

Good luck with the Senvelgo. Keep us updated, I'd like to hear how it goes. You might want to consider starting ketone testing right away, just for practice. There are blood ketone meters as well as the urine sticks if that turns out to be hard to do. The blood meters test for more types of ketones. Some tips here might help: Tips to catch and test a urine sample