The journey is just beginning

[Heather G]

Johnny, 12, was diagnosed with diabetes on Saturday so I spent two hours lying next to him crying because I am a crazy cat lady and proud of it. He will start on insulin Thursday then we will go through this journey together. I was very scared and upset but after talking to a few people whose cats have diabetes I am starting to calm down.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hi Heather,

Your Johnny looks a lot like my Bertie.

Finding out that one of our kitties has diabetes can be a huge shock. But the good news is that feline diabetes is treatable; and with good care a diabetic cat can live as long and as happily as a non-diabetic.
It's also the case that quite a few diabetic cats go into remission (ie, become diet-controlled diabetics). And maybe your Johnny will be one of those lucky ones.

Do you know what insulin Johnny will be prescribed?
And what are you feeding him at the moment; wet food, dry food..?

Very best wishes,

Eliz

 

[Heather G]

He starts the insulin Thursday so I'm not sure what kind he will be prescribed. Right now, he gets urinary tract formula cat food because my other cat has issues with crystals in his urine twice a day and wet food one time at night. I've also let him develop bad habits like taking pieces of pork off my plate but that will stop now! It's reassuring to hear about other cats who are thriving with diabetes.
Thank you for your concern,
Heather

 

[phlika29]

Hi and welcome

Is the urinary tract food you are feeding a dry food? Ideally you want to consider switching johnny over to a low carb wet food. This can help being down glucose levels by 100 or so points and thereby reduce the insulin dose needed.

We recommend looking at the website and food chart done by dr Pierson. She even talks about felines prone to urinary tract issues

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth

You really want to find a food that has less then 10%of calories from carbs. We recommend switching slowly by about 25% per day to avoid upset tummy's.

 

[Jan and Katie]

Johnny, 12, was diagnosed with diabetes on Saturday so I spent two hours lying next to him crying because I am a crazy cat lady and proud of it. He will start on insulin Thursday then we will go through this journey together. I was very scared and upset but after talking to a few people whose cats have diabetes I am starting to calm down.

My cat was diagnosed October, 2014. A few things I have learned: no more dry food ever, don't let your vet sell you a $50.00 bag of DM dry food, feed Fancy Feast Classic Pates. I chose the Turkey & Giblets Feast because it does not contain any fish. I also feed Kitten Fancy Feast -Tender Turkey Feast and Sheba Premium Turkey Pate and for a treat- freeze dried PureBites. that is it. I feed 5 small meals a day using a timed feeder for a daily food intake of approximately 8 oz. of wet food, my cat weighs 14 lbs. I found that the chicken pates raised BG in my cat, however the Purebites do not, perhaps because he only gets a few pieces a day. This diet makes for an ultra low carbohydrate count. Before he started insulin (ProZinc) I detoxed him off dry food for 3 days, feeding only a wet food diet, this gave me and the vet a good starting point regarding insulin dosage. Perhaps Johnny's BG will go down enough from a diet change alone and a best case scenario is that Johnny can be diet controlled and never need to start insulin. Please learn to home test, do not let your vet talk you into blind dosing , test before every injection. Use a new needle with every injection. The ReliOn Prime meter from Walmart is what I use, I have a red and a blue one. The test strips are $9.00 for 50, very inexpensive. I also use a ReliOn lancet and ReliOn thin Lancets- 26 gauge. Vets tend to push the Alphr-Trac meter, however the strips are $1.00 plus per strip, way to expensive considering the amount of testing you will end up doing. It is not hard to test BG with an ear prick and although your cat will most likely be protected from hypoglycemia because of the wet food diet (the liver wakes up once all the sugars and carbs are out of Johnny's system and thus the liver keeps the sugar from going to low to cause a problem) knowing his BG before every injection is the way to go. Purchase a box of Keto-Diastix from your local pharmacy and use them whenever you can catch a urine sample and follow the directions on the box regarding testing. You will be checking for glucose in the urine and ketones. If you get a positive reading for ketones call you vet immediately. Glucose in Johnny's urine is a possibility but is not a indication of whether to dose or not, only BG readings tell you that. I chose to tackle my cat's diabetes using a process called Tight Regulation which uses a sliding scale for dosing based on the BG before each injection rather than dosing ProZinc every 12 hours at a fixed dose, the best case scenerio is that I can get him OTJ entirely and at the least very tightly regulated.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Insulins that work well with cats are Lantus, Levemir, PZI and Prozinc. Lantus and Levemir are human insulins you will get from your pharmacy. If your vet prescribes either of these, ask the prescription for the pens instead of the vial. With the vial, the insulin will become ineffective long before you can use it all. With the pens, because they are packaged in smaller containers, you should be able to use almost every drop. There are 5 pens in a package and depending on your dose, should last about 8 - 9 months or more. PZI and Prozinc are pet insulins you will get from your vet's office.

All of these are long acting insulins. You want to avoid insulins such as Vetsulin, Cannisulin and Humulin. These are short acting insulins and have steep drops in BG levels. These usually do not work well in cats. With any insulin, you want to start low and go slow. What this means, start at a low dose, such as 1 unit, and gradually over a period of weeks, increase it by very small increments. We recommend waiting at least one week between dose increase and only increase by 1/2 unit. The goal is to find the optimal dose that will keep the glucose levels under control. By learning to hometest, you will be able to determine how well your dose is working.

If you have more than one cat, a low carb/high protein canned food diet would be beneficial to all of them. By keeping all cats on the same diet, it makes it easier to manage Johnny's diabetes and also reduces the risks of any of the other cats from developing FD.

It is overwhelming right now, but don't worry, we can help walk you through this dance.

 

[Deb & Wink]

Johnny, 12, was diagnosed with diabetes on Saturday so I spent two hours lying next to him crying because I am a crazy cat lady and proud of it. He will start on insulin Thursday then we will go through this journey together. I was very scared and upset but after talking to a few people whose cats have diabetes I am starting to calm down.

Well, if you're a crazy cat lady, then all of us here must be crazy cat ladies or gents too! We all have diabetic cats and love them to pieces.

This sugardance is a journey. It took time for your kitty to become diabetic, it will take time for Johnny to get regulated and feel better.

Deep breath in, hold, release, deep breath in, hold, release, deep breath in, hold, release...........................

We've all been where you are now and truly, it will get easier and better and Johnny will start acting like his old self again.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hello Jan and Katie, and welcome to FDMB

although your cat will most likely be protected from hypoglycemia because of the wet food diet (the liver wakes up once all the sugars and carbs are out of Johnny's system and thus the liver keeps the sugar from going to low to cause a problem)

(emphasis mine)

Unfortunately, it is not the case that a cat on a low carb diet is protected from hypoglycemia. (I really wish it was true, it would make life a lot easier.)
I used the Hodgkins protocol for my cat when he was first diagnosed...until he had a major hypo episode. And I've known of a fair few other cats on low carb wet diets to also have hypos.

Some cats seem better able than others to release stored glucose into the bloodstream to protect against hypoglycemia; but the ability to do that seems to be specific to each cat.

I'm glad the sliding scale method is working well for Katie. It is a very useful approach for some cats. (I also use a sliding scale for my cat which is adjusted according to the preshot number (and according to how much he's likely to drop on a given dose)).

Quite a few folks here store their hometesting data on a Google spreadsheet. We have our own template (there are versions for BID and TID dosing). They are colour-coded and it makes it much easier to see blood glucose patterns/trends at a glance. Do say if you would like to set one up.

Best wishes,

Eliz