Paddy - newly diagnosed foster cat - Chinchilla

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Phoenix Animal Rescue Aus

Phoenix Animal Rescue Aus

Member Since 2021
Hi, I am Carolyn and I run the rescue group Phoenix Animal Rescue Horsham Ltd based in Rural Victoria Australia.
Recently we had a very distressed call from Paddy's owner who had adopted Paddy through us in March 2021. She advised Paddy was at the vet clinic and they believed he had diabetes and the vet said euthanise or treat with insulin injections. This was obviously a shock to her and so she called me. We agreed to bring Paddy back into our care and get his health sorted.

Paddy is a Silver Chinchilla DOB 7/1/2010 and he is an affectionate and chatty guy.
We had the blood test done and it was confirmed Paddy had diabetes.
Glu
193668240_1910734249078328_820279874610838638_n.jpg

Glu 27.50mmol/L 3.95-8.84 High
ALT 168U/L 12-130 High

This is a new area for us. We have a asthmatic cat on a preventative puffer and ventalin but we have never treated a diabetic cat.

So far we have changed Paddy's diet to a raw one which he has adapted to very well.
We have a glucose meter and test strips ready to go but have not yet taken the next step.
With the new diet we have already noticed that Paddy is not drinking anywhere near what he was before and certainly not urinating as much either.

Any guidance / advice would be greatly appreciated
 
Sounds like you are doing a good job so far! The first things we usually recommend here are switching to a low carb diet and learning to home test, so great on already starting those! A lot of times switching to low carb can help bring the blood sugar down quite a lot.

Did the adopter notice any symptoms that prompted her to take him to get checked for diabetes? Did the vet only do a standard blood panel or did they also do a fructosamine? Do you know what kind of insulin they want to start him on?

How do you feel about testing his blood glucose at home? We have resources I can link with tips and tricks for it if you would like :cat: Another thing we recommend is setting up a spreadsheet for the BG readings. If you need help with dosing, people will want to look at his spreadsheet before giving advice. Here is a link on how to do that!

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
 
Hi and welcome Carolyn and Paddy
I am so glad Paddy’s owner decided to treat him
I live in Sydney.
The best insulin to get would be Glargine ….also called Lantus.
I would also elect to use syringes not a pen, as pens can only go up or down in dose in 1 unit increments. We recommend going up in 1/4 unit increments. The syringes you will need to get are BD U-100 3/10 30 or 31 gauge 8 mm syringes which can be bought at most pharmacies.
1/2 unit syringes are better but we can’t get them in Australia but they can be ordered from the UK if you want.
When you get the lancets ( to prick the ear) try and get 26 or 28 gauge lancets as they are bigger and easier to use in the beginning

Also changing to a low carb diet is needed for diabetic cats. I am going to send you a link to suitable foods and also lots of other information for Australian caregivers.
You don’t need expensive prescription foods for Paddy. Any low carb food is fine.

Also I see you are going to home testing. Well done. It sounds daunting but it becomes routine very quickly and Paddy will adapt very quickly. What type of meter did you get? Most of us use a human meter as it is much cheaper to run. It is the test strips of the pet meters that cost a lot more.
We have a spreadsheet where you can put in all the data you collect from the tests.

We have found most vets do not get a lot of training about feline diabetes and tend to recommend prescription foods (which are high carb) and also many don’t recommend home testing which is strange as that is the only way to tell if the insulin is working and to check that the dose is not taking Paddy too low.
Getting glucose tests done at the vets can be misleading as most cats get stressed at the vet and their BG goes up higher than it would if tested at home.
Also please check with us before starting the insulin as many vets start at too high a dose.

I would also ask the vet if Paddy had any ketones in his urine when he was diagnosed…this is important.

Diabetes is a very treatable disease in cats and some go into remission. They can lead normal lives and become very close to their caregiver.
Anyway, ask all the questions you want….we are happy to help in any way. It’s a steep learning curve in the beginning but soon becomes routine.

We can help you get the spreadsheet set up If you like

ETA I see you have swapped to a raw diet….well done! Is it just raw meat or are you adding things like calcium, taurine to make it nutritionally complete? Some of the raw diets you can buy from Coles and WW have a preservative added and not really recommended.

Here is the link to Aussie information
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...for-aussie-feline-diabetic-caregivers.217781/
 
Last edited:
Hi Everyone,
Paddy was very tolerant and we managed to do some home testing on his blood glucose levels.
8:17am BGL 19.9
Breakfast of raw diet at 8:20am
Water drank from 9pm previous night to 9am this morning was 30mls and two wee clumps in his litter tray.
9:20am BGL 17.6
11:37am BGL 18.7
Lunch at 12 midday of raw diet
1.27pm BGL 17.7
3.44pm BGL 18.00
6pm BGL 19.8
Dinner at 6:30pm Raw Diet
7:35pm BGL 17.9
Water drank from 9am to 9pm today was 50mls and 1 wee clump in his litter tray.
10:30pm BGL 17.8
 
So great that you've taken on Paddy to help him, and congrats on starting home testing!

As @Sarah&Soph mentioned, we like to use spreadsheets here to help with keeping up with a cat's progress and to offer advice for how to dose the insulin once you start it. It looks from his numbers that he will need it. If you'd like, we can help you do that. I'm going to tag Bhooma @Bandit's Mom to help get you all set up if you'd like.
 
Sarah&Soph said:
Sounds like you are doing a good job so far! The first things we usually recommend here are switching to a low carb diet and learning to home test, so great on already starting those! A lot of times switching to low carb can help bring the blood sugar down quite a lot.

Did the adopter notice any symptoms that prompted her to take him to get checked for diabetes? Did the vet only do a standard blood panel or did they also do a fructosamine? Do you know what kind of insulin they want to start him on?

How do you feel about testing his blood glucose at home? We have resources I can link with tips and tricks for it if you would like :cat: Another thing we recommend is setting up a spreadsheet for the BG readings. If you need help with dosing, people will want to look at his spreadsheet before giving advice. Here is a link on how to do that!

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
Click to expand...
Hi Sarah&Soph Paddy's owner recognised that he had started to drink a lot of water and was filling his litter box.
Vets did a general blood test to check levels.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi and welcome Carolyn and Paddy
I am so glad Paddy’s owner decided to treat him
I live in Sydney.
The best insulin to get would be Glargine ….also called Lantus.
I would also elect to use syringes not a pen, as pens can only go up or down in dose in 1 unit increments. We recommend going up in 1/4 unit increments. The syringes you will need to get are BD U-100 3/10 30 or 31 gauge 8 mm syringes which can be bought at most pharmacies.
1/2 unit syringes are better but we can’t get them in Australia but they can be ordered from the UK if you want.
When you get the lancets ( to prick the ear) try and get 26 or 28 gauge lancets as they are bigger and easier to use in the beginning

Also changing to a low carb diet is needed for diabetic cats. I am going to send you a link to suitable foods and also lots of other information for Australian caregivers.
You don’t need expensive prescription foods for Paddy. Any low carb food is fine.

Also I see you are going to home testing. Well done. It sounds daunting but it becomes routine very quickly and Paddy will adapt very quickly. What type of meter did you get? Most of us use a human meter as it is much cheaper to run. It is the test strips of the pet meters that cost a lot more.
We have a spreadsheet where you can put in all the data you collect from the tests.

We have found most vets do not get a lot of training about feline diabetes and tend to recommend prescription foods (which are high carb) and also many don’t recommend home testing which is strange as that is the only way to tell if the insulin is working and to check that the dose is not taking Paddy too low.
Getting glucose tests done at the vets can be misleading as most cats get stressed at the vet and their BG goes up higher than it would if tested at home.
Also please check with us before starting the insulin as many vets start at too high a dose.

I would also ask the vet if Paddy had any ketones in his urine when he was diagnosed…this is important.

Diabetes is a very treatable disease in cats and some go into remission. They can lead normal lives and become very close to their caregiver.
Anyway, ask all the questions you want….we are happy to help in any way. It’s a steep learning curve in the beginning but soon becomes routine.

We can help you get the spreadsheet set up If you like

ETA I see you have swapped to a raw diet….well done! Is it just raw meat or are you adding things like calcium, taurine to make it nutritionally complete? Some of the raw diets you can buy from Coles and WW have a preservative added and not really recommended.

Here is the link to Aussie information
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...for-aussie-feline-diabetic-caregivers.217781/
Click to expand...

Hi Bron and Sheba, We are using a contour next human meter.
We are feeding Paddy the Big Dog Cat Raw Diet from Petstock. That appears to be a a good option at this stage until we get our head around other options.

Paddy was very tolerant and we managed to do some home testing on his blood glucose levels.
8:17am BGL 19.9
Breakfast of raw diet at 8:20am
Water drank from 9pm previous night to 9am this morning was 30mls and two wee clumps in his litter tray.
9:20am BGL 17.6
11:37am BGL 18.7
Lunch at 12 midday of raw diet
1.27pm BGL 17.7
3.44pm BGL 18.00
6pm BGL 19.8
Dinner at 6:30pm Raw Diet
7:35pm BGL 17.9
Water drank from 9am to 9pm today was 50mls and 1 wee clump in his litter tray.
10:30pm BGL 17.8
 
PerfumedCatMom said:
So great that you've taken on Paddy to help him, and congrats on starting home testing!

As @Sarah&Soph mentioned, we like to use spreadsheets here to help with keeping up with a cat's progress and to offer advice for how to dose the insulin once you start it. It looks from his numbers that he will need it. If you'd like, we can help you do that. I'm going to tag Bhooma @Bandit's Mom to help get you all set up if you'd like.
Click to expand...


That would be appreciated. Steep learning curve at the moment.
 
Phoenix Animal Rescue Aus said:
We are feeding Paddy the Big Dog Cat Raw Diet from Petstock. That appears to be a a good option at this stage until we get our head around other options.
Click to expand...
The raw diet is a great option because it's very low carb. I looked at the ingredients for that brand and it has some things in it that a cat doesn't need, like carrots, but overall it seems fine. Lots of caregivers here feed less expensive canned foods like Fancy Feast and Friskies, but if you can afford to keep Paddy on the raw that will be the best chance he'll get for lowering his glucose and maintaining his kidney health as well since he is considered a senior cat.
 
In addition to the information that Bron and others provided, this is a link to our post for new members on helping us to help you. It contains information on how to set up a spreadsheet (if you need help, I'm linking @Bandit's Mom), what information to include in your signature so we don't plague you with the same questions all the time, and making sure you have a "hypo" kit.

Also, Lantus is now available in biosimilar/generic forms. At least in the US, the biosimilars are Basaglar and Semglee. They are less expensive here than Lantus. (I have no clue what the costs are in Australia.)

The learning curve for managing feline diabetes is a bit steep. However, much of it becomes routine. The members here are very generous with their time and knowledge. Please let us know how we can help.
 
Last edited:
PerfumedCatMom said:
The raw diet is a great option because it's very low carb. I looked at the ingredients for that brand and it has some things in it that a cat doesn't need, like carrots, but overall it seems fine. Lots of caregivers here feed less expensive canned foods like Fancy Feast and Friskies, but if you can afford to keep Paddy on the raw that will be the best chance he'll get for lowering his glucose and maintaining his kidney health as well since he is considered a senior cat.
Click to expand...


Thank you for your feedback :)
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
In addition to the information that Bron and other provided, this is a link to our post for new members on helping us to help you. It contains information on how to set up a spreadsheet (if you need help, I'm linking @Bandit's Mom), what information to include in your signature so we don't plague you with the same questions all the time, and making sure you have a "hypo" kit.

Also, Lantus is now available in biosimilar/generic forms. At least in the US, the biosimilars are Basaglar and Semglee. They are less expensive here than Lantus. (I have no clue what the costs are in Australia.)

The learning curve for managing feline diabetes is a bit steep. However, much of it becomes routine. The members here are very generous with their time and knowledge. Please let us know how we can help.
Click to expand...


Thank You - will get my head around setting up a spreadsheet and uploading into my signature. :)
 
Hi Carolyn,
Well done starting to test the BG. I’m glad Paddy is Ok with it.
Have you started the Glargine yet?
I used to buy it from the pharmacy with a script from the vet for about $100 for 5 cartridges (that are used in the pens)
The vet used to sell me a single cartridge for about $55 so it was much cheaper to get the 5 pack.

If you have not started the insulin yet, I would buy some ketostix from the pharmacy amd test the urine for ketones. The Ketostix is only about $10 or $12 for a bottle of 100 strips..it’s a simple test and worth while as diabetic cats who have not started insulin can develop ketones.
 
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