Only a couple days in...

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yong & Maury GA

Yong & Maury GA

Member Since 2017
Hello. I just posted my introduction but I had a question that I hope someone can help shed light on. My boy, Maury 8 1/2 years old, was diagnosed Monday 9 January 2017 and started his insulin treatment the same day. The vet offered to wait before getting started but I did not want to put it off. His Blood Glucose was 450+. He is on 1.5 Units of ProZinc every 12 hours, appetite seems normal, but he might be drinking a little more water than before. **Addition: He is eating 1/2 can of wet Purina DM in the morning and evening before his shot and I am transitioning him with the dry DM just for grazing in between, which I purchased at the Vet as well. No previous health issues, except when his weight loss started Spring/ Summer 2016** All his signs before diagnosis sort of pointed to Hyperthyroidism, which I was familiar with from a previous kitty, but the blood work came back as Diabetes.

*I am supposed to take him back in 2 weeks, for a day stay, to do his first curve to see how the dosage is working.


I called the Vet and spoke with one of the assistants and asked her if I should be concerned. She informed me drinking and eating should not increase at all, even after only 2 days. She immediately referred me to call an Internal Medicine specialist for him. I don't want to go in a panic but I only have 1 person, in my tiny social group, who knows about diabetic cats because she has one (unfortunately she lost the other a few years ago). I guess I'm looking more to other newly diagnosed cat parents; Did anyone notice increased drinking, only, the first few days or first week of starting insulin with their kitty?

Would greatly appreciate any responses. I don't want to rush and call a Specialist, especially since I'm a little financially restricted after that initial diagnosis and supply visit :(. Don't get me wrong, I have always had a special kitty by my side and I am willing to do almost anything to make him better, manage his diagnosis, buy his supplies. He is my world ♥ and I am just a little scared about all this new stuff and gathering knowledge is my best arsenal.

Thank you for any help. Apologies for the lengthiness to ask a simple question.
 
Last edited:
Hello and welcome ! You are in the exact right place for you and ur kitty to receive help, compassion and knowledge. Info I know experienced members will want is are you home testing? What food are u feeding ? Also have u checked out the excellent Stickies on the forum that corresponds to your insulin type ??? Might also be good to go to thread tools and add a question mark icon to draw attention to your post. Again, a warm welcome ...if not for this wonderful group of people I don't know how Elmo and I would be doing :)
 
I just added a few things after seeing the questions from my introduction. I am not home testing with a glucose meter, I just have the DIASTIX right now. When I noticed he drank all his water 2 periods in a row I did to a test strip last night and it's about the same as it was when I first dipped one before the Vet appointment. So it doesn't seem to have risen but it also doesn't appear to have lowered any. I don't know how fast results can show once starting insulin. My Aunt's cat was diagnosed a few years ago and she did not remember.

The last 2 days I have been reading a little on the forum before I decided to join today, and I have bookmarked the insulin type page. :)
 
Sounds great first steps. A website that is invaluable is catinfo.org by a vet with tons of good info. Home testing is a must , for kitty and for you. Glucometers can be purchased at Wal mart along with test strips. Popular brand here is Relion.
 
While you wait for more experienced response you might also set up a signature where you can place all,pertinent info that makes it easier for the folks that will be helping you. :)
 
Also put question mark icon from thread tools on your title ....will help draw attention to your thread :);)
 
Hi Yong?
I just wanted to say welcome. I have a cat on ProZinc as well. Someone more experienced will answer your question about the drinking. From my reading an increase in drinking is one of the symptoms of diabetes. We adopted an untreated diabetic cat from animal control. He was drinking a lot of water at first but no longer does.
You will love home testing once you get in the routine of it. Our vet said on the very first visit that we needed to home test, that the BG numbers will be artificially inflated in his office because of the stress the cat is under. We do all our curves at home. That saves a lot of money.
 
Thank you, Pati. I do plan to learn. The odd thing is, his drinking was not excessive before diagnosed and I can't say it's necessarily excessive now, but it has increased. My big sign that something was wrong was his weight loss. The only additional sign started, maybe a month ago at most, which was rear leg weakness. Kind of looks like he's ice skating with his back paws when he was on the hard floors. Thank you. :cat:
 
Hi Yong,

Welcome to you and your dear Maury.

The best thing you can do is get hold of a glucometer and start home testing so that you'll be able to find out exactly how Maury is responding to his insulin (and you'll be able to run your own home blood glucose curves!). We can help you learn how to test.

In the meantime, you might want to try secondary monitoring of water consumption:

Secondary Monitoring: Water Consumption

- Measure water left out at AMPS.
- Measure to see what's left at PMPS to see how much was consumed during AM cycle.
- Measure water left out at PMPS.
- Measure to see what's left at AMPS to see how much was consumed on PM cycle.

While a crude method, if you do this secondary monitoring it may give you some small indication of how Maury's running at the moment during the day and overnight.


Mogs
.
 
Home testing is the one thing you can do to keep your kitty safe. Without a glucose test before feeding and giving the shot, you are risking your sweet kitty going into hypoglycemia, a serious and sometimes fatal condition from not enough glucose in the bloodstream. The meters and strips at Walmart are inexpensive and used by many people here.
 
Critter Mom,
That is kind of what I'm doing, just not pinpoint measuring his water. I've been watching his increased visits to the bowl as well. I'm more curious to signs I should look for in this early stage of starting or if it's supposed to be more of a seamless transition when starting. I hope that made a little sense.

donnalea,
His blood test had him over 450 just 2 days ago. Last night his Diastix was about the same reading. I don't think he's getting enough insulin to make it drop that fast, but I know that can be a bigger concern once the insulin is more regulated. I am going to ask about home testing when I have to take him for his day visit in 2 weeks. I know it is the better way to monitor him. Thank you. :)
 
Yong said:
The only additional sign started, maybe a month ago at most, which was rear leg weakness. Kind of looks like he's ice skating with his back paws when he was on the hard floors.
Click to expand...
That is most likely due to diabetic neuropathy (nerves get damaged by the high blood glucose levels) but it may also be due to lower potassium levels (a blood test can be done to check this and any potassium supplementation needs to be done with veterinary supervision and regular blood tests).

If it is just the neuropathy then, as Maury becomes better regulated, his walking should get back to normal. Supplementation with B12 methylcobalamin can also help resolve neuropathy symptoms. A diabetic-friendly supplement is Zobaline (available online). Here's a YouTube video of a kitty successfully treated with B12:



Mogs
.
 
Pati said:
Hi Yong?
I just wanted to say welcome. I have a cat on ProZinc as well. Someone more experienced will answer your question about the drinking. From my reading an increase in drinking is one of the symptoms of diabetes. We adopted an untreated diabetic cat from animal control. He was drinking a lot of water at first but no longer does.
You will love home testing once you get in the routine of it. Our vet said on the very first visit that we needed to home test, that the BG numbers will be artificially inflated in his office because of the stress the cat is under. We do all our curves at home. That saves a lot of money.
Click to expand...
You have a great vet! An awful lot of them aren't that knowledgeable about FD, or that helpful and willing to work with you!
 
Hi, Yong and Maury, welcome to FDMB! Yong, are you transitioning him off all dry food completely? Diabetic kitties need to eat a diet of canned/wet food that has less than 10% carbs. The catifo.org website that Beth73 recommended is a great site for valuable nutritional information, and also has a fairly comprehensive chart listing the analyses, to include carbs, of a lot of popular food brands. Contrary to what you may have been told, you don't need to feed an expensive "prescription" diet (they are actually sometimes not even good for your kitty!), a lot of us feed foods like Fancy Feast Classic pates , Friskies, etc.

If Maury is drinking that much he is probably suffering some degree of dehydration. It can be very helpful to add a teaspoon or three of warm water to his wet food. Cats generally will not drink enough to keep themselves well-hydrated as they are genetically predisposed to getting most of their fluid requirements from their food, i.e."kill" (mouse, bird, whatever). Obviously, most of our housecats aren't hunting small critters for their meals, so we have to help replace those fluids by adding water. :):):)

It can take several days before you start to see changes from insulin therapy. The more regulated he becomes, the more progress you will see, but treating FD is a marathon, not a sprint, and change sometimes comes about very slowly. But don't be daunted by this, you have already taken great steps forward! Your next step should be learning to home test Maury's blood glucose; it's the best way to determine how well he is responding to the insulin, to determining dosage, and to keeping him safe. A human glucometer is fine, in fact most of our protocols here are geared to using a human meter. The pet specific meters are costly to buy, and the test strips, which you will use a lot of, btw, are prohibitively expensive and not readily accessible, generally having to be purchased online and shipped.
 
Yong, did Maury just start eating the Purina DM when he got started on insulin or is that what he always eats? That could explain why he is suddenly drinking more water - the change of diet.
 
Squalliesmom - No, I'm not taking him off but when changing foods there is a transition phase so it is less likely to cause upset tummy and diarrhea. For the dry food I am looking at Nature's Variety Ultimate Protein. It's very similar to the Purina DM formula for high protein, low fat, and The Nature's Variety has much lower carbs. I plan on asking the Vet what they think about using it instead of the DM dry. I am also still giving him his Friskies wet food with the DM wet food. Thank you for letting me know it may take a few days before I see if it's helping. The Vet assistant I called today made it sound like it should be immediate and because it wasn't I should get him to a specialist.

Pati - I just got the dry DM food Monday when he was diagnosed so he's only had a little bit at a time mixed with his regular which is Purina Indoor Formula. He primarily eats dry in between his wet food as "snacks."
:cat:

Crittermom - I'll check to see if his Potassium was tested on his blood work that was just conducted.

Thank you everyone for so much advice with us being very new! :cat:
 
Yong said:
No, I'm not taking him off but when changing foods there is a transition phase so it is less likely to cause upset tummy and diarrhea. For the dry food I am looking at Nature's Variety Ultimate Protein. It's very similar to the Purina DM formula for high protein, low fat, and The Nature's Variety has much lower carbs.
Click to expand...
There are only two dry foods that are acceptable for a diabetic cat, Young Again Zero Carb and Evo Cat & Kitten. All other dry foods are too high in carbs for kitties with FD, and you will continue to see higher BG numbers as long as you feed dry food. Dry food is actually not really good for ANY cats, as it is full of indigestible filler and carbs, and promotes dehydration.
 
I know dry food is not exceptionally good for kitties but I told the vet I used to leave it in between for grazing and they suggested I do the same with the new Purina DM. He is a very good boy and only really uses it for that. It's a little less than 1/2 a cup (that is what the measurement of his food scoop is) and he does not eat all of it over a 24 hour period. I just do not want him to be super hungry between his canned food because then he will eat it too fast and throw up :(.

Maybe I can try just wet food and hope if he gets hungry in between he will ask me for some more. Or should I wait until after I take him for his day monitoring and hopefully learn how to home test? Thoughts? (from anyone:cat:)
Thank you all in advance, again.
 
Hi Yong.
Your goal is to get Maury regulated. How much insulin that will take in part depends on how much carbs he is getting in his diet. Similar to people in that diabetics should eat low carb. If they choose to not change their diet and eat cake for instance then they will need a higher dose of insulin. It doesn't matter if it is a small piece of cake. :) If you do not reduce the carb content now, his insulin will be based on what he is currently needing. At some time in the future if you reduce his carbs, the amount of insulin will have to be adjusted. You might find it easier to change his diet to low carb now rather than "starting over" by waiting to change his diet. A word of caution though, you need to be careful when changing his diet. Ideally you would be home testing when you do so. A change to a lower carb diet can make a big difference in his BG numbers. I learned how to home test by reading the links and watching videos. It was much easier than I was imagining. :)
You can feed him more than twice a day so he has a smaller amount of food at each meal. That might make him less likely to eat too fast. Some people that have less flexibility in their schedule use auto feeders set to open while they are gone.
There is a lot of information on FDMB as to calculating the carb content of different foods. There is also a list of low carb can foods that you can reference.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top