Trusting your vet.

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Tpc

Member Since 2018
Hello, my name is Thomas. About 2 months ago we took our cat to the vet because he wasn't acting normal and was peeing alot!!!!! We were informed he had diabetes and the vet prescribed insulin treatment along with a diet change.. We started with one unit and progressed to now, 6units. My problem is that since the onset I needed to get educated and trusted my vet to instruct me. Well I had this feeling that I wasn't getting enough information and that's why I'm here. My vet told us to use Vetsiliun (sp) and change his diet to Hills, prescription diet, Glucose/Weight Management m/d dry cat food. Time goes on 6 to 8 weeks and we keep increasing the units of insulin, we are up to 6 units and his blood tests are still coming in high , between 200 and 300. So, I'm thinking about getting Glucose meter so we can test him our selves. Each time we take the cat to the vets for the day we get a bill of 60 to 80 bucks. So I have been getting educated slowly from friends and family and now to you. Our vet had never informed us that all dry cat food has more carbohydrates than a diabetic cat should have. But no where on the cat food that the vet prescribed is there a % given. I've read a low carb diet is less than 10% carbs. Only canned food shows percentages of carbs. What I've been reading is that we should have been feeding a wet/low carb cat food. I hate to question my vet or question his professional position, and that is another reason I'm here. Little Bit, the patient is doing alittle better, it's almost 2 months since his diagnosis, he is still drinking and peeing alot but he is more himself. Total cost since diagnosis is apx 1000 bucks. I had really thought we got a handle because of catching it early, and had hope's of remission, and still do. Can we or should we change LBs diet now to canned wet low carb food or maintain our vets guidance.
 
You came to the right place Thomas. There is no reason on Earth not to get your own meter, test at home and adjust the dose yourself with a bit of knowledge from us. If your vet disagrees with home testing there is really something not right.
Unless Little Bit has another condition you may have bought your last can of overpriced cat food. This should not be that hard or expensive.
Now your 1,000 new friends who have lots of practical experience will help. This is the best place you could be right now; nice people, expert help and no snickering or reaching into your wallet.
 
Hi and welcome Thomas and Little Bit. Don't be too hard on the vet, I have learned that they only get about 5 hours of education on canine/feline diabetes. The experienced members here have been dealing with FD 24/7, 365 day a year, some of them for years. The information here is factual and backed up with many, many members' input, plus professional studies.
You do need to home test, it's the best tool to keep LB safe and see what the insulin is doing for him. We can help with getting you started. Yes, diet change is in order, we can also help with helping you find a wet low carb food. However, you need to be testing first, regularly, before a diet change. A wet low carb food can lower the BG (blood glucose) significantly and you need to be aware of how that change is affecting LB's BG.
So, first, get a signature created, this is info about LB that will be displayed with each of your posts. Here is a link to that:
SIGNATURE
Then start a thread in the Main Health Forum for advice on testing, diet, etc. If you like, you can just copy and paste your message here to a new message there. Here's a link to that forum: MAIN
This forum is just a welcome mat, and there are more eyes to see and respond. Read, read, read :D. The info on the home page is a good place to start. Very best wishes. :cat:
 
Hi and welcome. You have been given great advice.
I would also consider changing insulins to a longer acting one such as Lantus. It is still given twice a day but it lasts the 12 hours and is a gentler insulin and suits cats well.
Bron
 
I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home. Testing will be a great tool for keeping lb safe and to help find the right dose. I suspect the dose is way too high. The food you are feeding is not appropriate for a diabetic cat. Before you change to a low carb food, lower the dose and test. If you switch to a low carb food that dose may be dangerous. The food chart is in my signature as well.
 
Welcome! The vet who diagnosed Mia also sent us home with Hill's m/d food. I started researching right away and called her and told her what I had learned. She then did some research on her own and called back to apologize for giving me bad information on what food would be best. I kept the bag of food and found that I could use a few kibbles of it to steer Mia's glucose up in cases where she was getting too low. The fact that I could use it for that was absolute proof to me that it was definitely not an appropriate food choice for a diabetic! (If I remember correctly, the m/d is 18% carbs. So, it is not AS bad as many dry foods, but still too high for a diabetic to be regularly eating.)

If your vet is reasonable, perhaps you can share some of the info from catinfo.org (which is the site of a vet specializing in feline nutrition) and get the vet's support in a food change to low-carb wet. If your vet is not, it is up to you how you want to proceed. My choice through all of this has been to educate myself and do what I have learned is the right thing, regardless of whether the vet says otherwise. I ended up parting ways with the vet that diagnosed Mia. Even though she apologized for her bad food recommendation and was onboard with a low-carb wet food diet, she 'strongly' recommended against home testing saying it would 'damage the animal/human bond'. That is absurd; if anything, Mia and I are more bonded now than before all of this. Testing is extremely important, and I have no idea how anyone can manage this well without doing it. After a couple of vets, I was finally able to find one that had more knowledge/experience, and even more importantly, was willing to work with me and let me pretty much take the lead in managing Mia's diabetes.

UPDATE: I have a link to the database version of the cat food list in my signature. You can enter your desired criteria and filter the list. That makes it much less overwhelming.
 
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