frankheat
Member Since 2020
Hey sugar babies. Teddy was diagnosed with diabetes a couple months ago. He was on hills Z/D diet due to skin issues and I didn’t realize how bad the food is for cats. Very high carbs. My vet didn’t tell me that but wanted me to continue him on the z/d and take him to get a glucose curve every three weeks while managing with 2 units pro zinc. Also I think it was the steroid shot for skin issue that set the whole thing off. He has had three injections in his whole life when his skin got very ragged from over-grooming.
Like I said, I did research and found out how horrible Hills food is. I haven’t been able to consult with the vet because of Covid. But my gut told me to switch him to Koha Rabbit meat which is v low carb. I only started testing a couple of days ago but he’s been scoring very low(see ss). I’ve only dosed him with PZ once stupidly because I hadn’t read that you shouldn’t dose a cat under 150. After realizing I was throwing him into hypo I gave him some of the carby hills z/d I still had and some honey. He bounced back and I haven’t given him a shot since.
I haven’t tested him as much today because I wanted to give his poor ears a break. The first set of strips was faulty and I kept getting error messages. I thought it was user error until I opened another package so I messed his ears up pretty good trying to get a reading.
Since I’ve stopped giving him insulin he’s been his old energetic self—one I haven’t seen in months. I didn’t realized he had been hypo the last week+. He was absolutely ravenous for food so I considered him hyperglyc if anything before testing. Also, I think he’s gained a pound of pure muscle in the last 3-4 days. He’s also ceased any grooming issues because his new food doesn’t contain any thing like pumpkin or peas like the other “limited diet” cat foods that didn’t work for him.
I know you are supposed to ease cats off the insulin but he consistently tests in the 50s before meals. If anything, I’m going to switch him to something higher carb like kangaroo. I’m the meantime I’m going to quit insulin but wanted to get some feedback.
It was almost anticlimactic because I geared up with all the testing supplies and was prepared to fight the good fight along all you beautiful people for years possibly. I still plan on testing him intermittently but the whole situation is weird to me but I feel blessed nonetheless.
Let me know if you have any advice going forward to pass along to Teddy. If he continues remission I can’t wait to show my vet because he was telling me how low the odds of remission are. I suppose if you keep him on the Hills z/d diet and manage it with insulin the problem will never go away.
I hope maybe my experience might help some people. Vets, unfortunately, do not alway have yours or your cat’s best interest in mind. Hills Science is deeply in cahoots the Veterinary industry. Like I said, he didn’t even bring up changing food even when I asked him if it was bad for diabetics. I wanted to cry when I finally found out how many carbs there are in it. Also, I think the vet was happy for me to pay hundreds of dollars for glucose curves every 3 weeks but that’s neither here nor there.
Frank
Like I said, I did research and found out how horrible Hills food is. I haven’t been able to consult with the vet because of Covid. But my gut told me to switch him to Koha Rabbit meat which is v low carb. I only started testing a couple of days ago but he’s been scoring very low(see ss). I’ve only dosed him with PZ once stupidly because I hadn’t read that you shouldn’t dose a cat under 150. After realizing I was throwing him into hypo I gave him some of the carby hills z/d I still had and some honey. He bounced back and I haven’t given him a shot since.
I haven’t tested him as much today because I wanted to give his poor ears a break. The first set of strips was faulty and I kept getting error messages. I thought it was user error until I opened another package so I messed his ears up pretty good trying to get a reading.
Since I’ve stopped giving him insulin he’s been his old energetic self—one I haven’t seen in months. I didn’t realized he had been hypo the last week+. He was absolutely ravenous for food so I considered him hyperglyc if anything before testing. Also, I think he’s gained a pound of pure muscle in the last 3-4 days. He’s also ceased any grooming issues because his new food doesn’t contain any thing like pumpkin or peas like the other “limited diet” cat foods that didn’t work for him.
I know you are supposed to ease cats off the insulin but he consistently tests in the 50s before meals. If anything, I’m going to switch him to something higher carb like kangaroo. I’m the meantime I’m going to quit insulin but wanted to get some feedback.
It was almost anticlimactic because I geared up with all the testing supplies and was prepared to fight the good fight along all you beautiful people for years possibly. I still plan on testing him intermittently but the whole situation is weird to me but I feel blessed nonetheless.
Let me know if you have any advice going forward to pass along to Teddy. If he continues remission I can’t wait to show my vet because he was telling me how low the odds of remission are. I suppose if you keep him on the Hills z/d diet and manage it with insulin the problem will never go away.
I hope maybe my experience might help some people. Vets, unfortunately, do not alway have yours or your cat’s best interest in mind. Hills Science is deeply in cahoots the Veterinary industry. Like I said, he didn’t even bring up changing food even when I asked him if it was bad for diabetics. I wanted to cry when I finally found out how many carbs there are in it. Also, I think the vet was happy for me to pay hundreds of dollars for glucose curves every 3 weeks but that’s neither here nor there.
Frank
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he always has food in his mouth when he’s talking to me—like he took a bite of a sandwich right before he walked in room. As well as permanent ketchup and mustard stains on his scrubs from all the hamburgers he eats. 
