Hello, and welcome to FDMB,
You've found the best site on the planet for help and support with feline diabetes. :smile:
Tiger1 said:
... I have noticed that he has been flopped at the water bowl and his whole brisket fur gets soaked in the process. His litterbox has been unbelievable with urine, gigantic clumps daily, showing all the symptoms of a diabetic cat.
...So, I cannot afford to take him to vet...
This could well be diabetes (although some other conditions do also have some similar symptoms).
But - whatever the cause - your kitty is clearly unwell. And he
does need to see a vet to get a diagnosis.
Prior to going to a vet you could test his urine for glucose (indicative of diabetes). You can buy test strips from any pharmacy. They're not expensive. I'd recommend Ketodiastix because these test for both glucose
and ketones. Testing for ketones is especially important at this point because diabetic ketoacidosis can be a serious complication of diabetes. (If ketones are present they can quickly build to dangerous levels, and the condition is expensive to treat too.)
Here's a link to a page of pics and info showing how to test your kitty's urine:
http://www.sugarpet.net/urine.html
Tiger1 said:
... and I understand now he needs to go on a low carb diet. I am wondering if I can cut his dry food completely and feed him raw venison, as he and the other cats literally climb up my leg for when I am preparing meal for myself, they usually wind up getting most of it? So my question is, should I remove dry food from his diet and feed him raw venison for starters?
A low carb wet food diet is best for diabetics. But as Wendy says, feeding a
raw diet is not as simple as giving plain raw meat. It's rather like feeding a cat 'fillet of mouse' instead of the 'whole mouse'...if you see what I mean...
But you could switch your kitties to ordinary low carb canned food and
supplement their diet with raw meat. My understanding is that around 20% of the diet (equivalent of one meal out of five) can be plain meat, as long as the rest of their diet meets all the nutritional requirements (which
should be the case with any decent quality canned food.)
It is important to make the switch from dry to wet food gradually to minimise the chance of tummy upsets.
Switching from wet food to dry food can lower the blood glucose quite a bit in some cats. A minority may even not need insulin at all. But most cats
do need insulin.
With good care though, quite a number of cats can go into remission from the diabetes. 'Remission' means that the diabetes can be diet-controlled. Some cats only need to be on insulin for a short time. (And the remission rate for the cats of FDMB folks is quite high...)
As Wendy said, most of us here test our cats' blood glucose at home on a regular basis. This isn't hard to learn, won't hurt the kitty, helps enormously in managing the diabetes, and saves a lot of money in vet's bills (as all glucose testing can be done at home and not at the vet's clinic).
There are lots of people managing their cat's diabetes on a budget here. There are upfront costs for sure (vet diagnosis etc), but ongoingly the key costs would be for insulin and blood testing supplies.
What is your kitty's name?
Please ask any and all questions you want to. We're here to help.
Eliz
