Recently diagnosed and a ?

[IzPen]

My ten year old cat was recently diagnosed and I’ve been checking out this forum and trying to take deep breaths and not get overwhelmed. I took Penster in when I noticed she always seemed ravenously hungry, starting searching for food all the time, drank a lot of water and also was urinating more. Her BGs were just over 300 when I went to the vet and her other tests were confirmatory as well. However, the vet said given that she’s stressed at the vet her BG may actually be a bit lower and we should with just changing her diet first. I had been doing dry in the morning and wet pate in the evening after I get home from work. She has also been on dry solely for two weeks when I was on vacation and my neighbor was feeding her. The vet recommended that I come back in 3 months and we’d see how she’s doing and to bring her back sooner if she gets worse.

In some ways she seems a bit better after about a month. She isn’t as ravenously hungry. She’s definitely still hungry at meal times but not constantly begging all day or searching for food in the cupboards. However, she still drinks a ton and is peeing a lot. She also seems to be a a bit less energetic. She can still jump up to the table tops etc, but she does seem to sleep more.

I guess my question is, if diet alone is going to help, how long until I’d see significant improvements and should I really wait out the 3 months (appt is October 5th) or take her back in and start her on insulin?

Thank you in advance! It’s really hard to not know if you’re doing the right thing by following a doctor’s advice.

 

[Idjit's mom]

Hi and welcome to FDMB. It is good that you are looking at Pen's diet, as that is one of the three basic components of effective diabetic treatment. We advocate a low carb wet diet for our sugar kitties, and can make recommendations for low carb options as well as some transitioning tips from dry to all wet food. Please visit www.catinfo.org for information on feline nutrition. Dr. Pierson from catinfo.org has compiled a food chart for many commercial canned brands. Most dry food is very high in carbohydrates (and usually very low in actual nutritional value) and it's like feeding a human diabetic a steady diet of starches and sugar. There are only two or three dry varieties that are low/no carbs, but they are pricey and still lack the moisture our kitties need.

If you were testing blood sugar at home you would know how the diet changes you have made are working. It's not hard to learn, and since Pen is diabetic you are always going to want to test, whether she goes into remission or not. Once a diabetic, always a diabetic, even food controlled. I would not wait until October 5 to take her back to the vet to see what the blood sugar level is. If she needs to be on insulin, better sooner than later, as having high levels takes a toll on organs and can cause diabetic neuropathy ( weak back legs). And, the sooner you begin effective treatment, the better chance of remission.

Your vet was right to know that tests at the clinic might be elevated, but that's a long time to wait to find out what's going on. Many vets just aren't well educated in feline diabetes and I'm glad you are researching and questioning. We can offer lots of help regarding home testing blood sugar, what supplies, where to get them, and how to do it.

You can read the Getting Started and the Education sections on the Home Page to get a better idea of what feline diabetes is and what effective treatment is. You can ask questions and express concerns on the Main Health forum HERE, so more members can read and respond. This forum is more of a Welcome mat and not as heavily monitored.

Best wishes going forward. We will help in every way we can.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

Hi. I would get her on an all low carb wet food diet and get a glucose meter and start testing at home. If you must use dry food while transitioning to all wet, I suggest Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein (between 4 and 5 % carbs). You do not have to put her through the stress of another vet visit just for a glucose check if you can test at home. The effects of the diet change should become evident pretty quickly. I think that within a couple/three weeks of the diet change, if her glucose numbers remain too high, I would get her back to the vet (if the vet insists on another visit) or share the glucose testing numbers with the vet and ask that he/she give you insulin to start. If insulin becomes necessary, hopefully, your vet will be on board with starting with a long-lasting insulin like Levemir (detemir) or Lantus (glargine) or at least with ProZinc. Those are the best ones.

Please post any additional questions you have on the main health forum. Welcome!