Stacie 10-15-21 new member

Hi my name is Stacie. I am nine days into treatment with my diabetic cat Tigger. She also has ibd with small cell lymphoma and we believe prednisone is what gave her the diabetes. Her blood glucose was 400 when they did her curve test. We are using one unit twice-daily of prozinc insulin. She is also on a diet of glucose support MD by Hill's prescription diet. She has dropped 3 pounds in the last 6 months and I'm wondering how to put weight on her during this time or do I need to wait longer for the insulin to work? Thank you for any help.

 

Welcome to the FDMB Stacie! Sorry to hear about Tigger's diagnosis but with proper treatment, diabetic cats can live a long and healthy life! Some even go into remission!

You're probably right about the prednisilone. Has your vet discussed trying to wean her off of it?

Here's some basic information but please ask any questions you think of!

Successful treatment of diabetes has three main steps.
The first is diet. A diabetic cat needs to be eating a low carb canned or raw diet. You don't need any special "prescription" foods either! There's nothing magic about them that treats diabetes. Many of them are too high in carbs (especially the dry ones!), and the ingredients tend to be low quality, too! Most of us feed our own cats Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies pates or 9-Lives ground because they get less than 10% of their calories from carbs. They are also easy to find and affordable.

With IBD in the mix, you may need to look into a novel diet. The "prescription" food your vet has you on is actually too high in carbs and there's actually nothing special in it that treats diabetes. You're paying a premium price for a food with inferior grade ingredients and a well advertised name. Good news is it's 100% guaranteed so you can return it! Most of us just told our vet that our cat wouldn't eat it.

Changing to a low carb canned or raw diet can be enough for some lucky cats to become regulated but since you're already giving insulin, any diet change needs to be done slowly and while you're home testing. Reducing the carbs in the diet can drastically reduce the need for insulin.

Next is insulin. ProZinc is a good insulin for cats so hopefully it'll work well for you! The one thing we do see here too often is vets that start at too high a dose and then increase too much, too quickly. It's good that your vet started you at a reasonable dose but watch out for big dose changes! Increases should be done in .25 to 0.5 unit increments.

Last, and not least, is home testing. Many vets don't even discuss this with their clients, for varying reasons, but if you had a diabetic child, you would test their blood sugar before every shot, and we should do the same for our furkids. Also, testing done at the vet's office can be unreliable due to stress, which can significantly raise the BG. By testing at home, you get more accurate results.

Most of us use a human meter from your local pharmacy because it's accurate and affordable to use. A favorite in the US is the Relion Premier Classic from WalMart. The meter is only $9 and the strips are $17.88 for 100.
There are "pet" meters, but the strips for them are about $1.00 EACH which is too much for most of us when we test at least 4 times a day (more if they're running low or dropping fast)

Testing before every shot, you make sure it's safe to give insulin at all. By testing in between shots, you learn how the blood sugars are responding to treatment.

We have a special spreadsheet we all use to record our test results that's a very valuable tool too. Here are instructions on getting the spreadsheet.

Keep asking questions! The people here are very generous with their time and we all want to help your "extra sweet" Tigger live a long and healthy life!

 

Hi and welcome Stacie and Tigger to the forum.
I am sorry she has IBD and lymphoma.
Have you thought about testing the blood glucose yourself. It is the best way you can keep Tigger safe and to know how the insulin is working.
TIPS ON HOME TESTING here is a link for you to look at.

HELP US HELP YOU has links to setting up the signature, spreadsheet, hypo kit and other useful information.

Heve you looked at feeding a home made or raw diet for the IBD? Or using a novel protein? The Hills MD is too high in carbs.
I will tag @Wendy&Neko as she may have some suggestions about small cell lymphoma and pred.

Ask lots of questions and again welcome.

 

There is likely an alternative to the prednisolone. Many people whose cats have SCL use budnisonide. Pred is more typically used for IBD.

Please let us know how we can help.

 

I'm going to tag @PerfumedCatMom re: pred and SCL for her input

 

My cat is on pred for her SCL and it is the most effective steroid for it. Many who have diabetic cats choose budesonide as it has less of an effect on glucose levels but it is not as effective as prednisolone for SCL, so I have chosen to privilege treatment for her lymphoma over her diabetes. I have had to increase her insulin doses dramatically in order to fight against the effect of the steroid on her glucose levels, though this is not true of all cats—I just met Amanda and Comet on the Lantus forum yesterday and Comet is on pred for IBD and his levels are low and steady rather than erratic like my Ruby’s. Every cat is different, so you will have to see what works best for yours.