UK newbie advice on feeding diabetic cat

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EmmaI

EmmaI

Member Since 2016
Hi everyone. Our cat Sally was recently diagnosed with diabetes, her insulin shots began on Wednesday. She is estimated 17 years old; we got her from the RSPCA a couple of years back. The insulin she has been put on is caninsulin at one unit twice a day.

Basically, her first shot was done at the vets in the afternoon. Because of the time, we were told that day, that would be her only shot, then from the next day, it was twice a day. The first full day went fine. I was able to give her both shots the next day. Then, the next morning, she wouldn't eat anything, tried everything. Ended up having to miss the morning shot. She was eating later, so I was able to give her one shot then. Even before the diabetes, it wasn't uncommon for her to not want food in the morning on occasion. On advice from the vet, we now feed her kitten food because we were told it's higher in protein and is better for diabetes. Luckily we found the kitten version of what she ate before - Felix As Good As It Looks which she does enjoy.

This morning I had difficulty getting her to eat before her shot again. My question is, what would happen if I had to miss another shot if she won't eat when it's due? Especially as she has only begun treatment? We go back to the vets this Wednesday again, so will ask them, but really, I would like to hear advice from those who may have gone through this themselves.

BTW, I don't know if here in the UK they ever give those home blood test thingies. It wasn't mentioned to us by the vets, and when I look online, for some reason, it seems to be folks in the U.S. who are doing those.

I am at that early stage where I am paranoid something I do will make her worse!
 
Welcome to FDMB, Emma and Sally! (Waving 'Hi' to you from Surrey. :bighug: )

Is Sally on Caninsulin?
How many units has the vet prescribed?

EmmaI said:
My question is, what would happen if I had to miss another shot if she won't eat when it's due? Especially as she has only begun treatment?
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The reason that a cat needs to eat around the time of his/her insulin shot is so that there is food on board for when the insulin starts to work. If an insulin shot is given and there is no food on board this can increase the risk of hypoglycemia (dangerously low blood glucose).

Note: However, there are some occasions when it is OK to give insulin to a cat that isn't eating. (A couple of examples are; if the cat's blood glucose is very high (and the insulin dose is unlikely to drop the blood glucose too low); or if the cat has been diagnosed with DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis).

Given that Sally is diabetic and needs insulin to help her, it may be necessary to focus on trying to persuade her to eat.
Do you know why she doesn't want to eat in the mornings?
Could she be nauseous? (Any signs of lip smacking/licking? Or seeming to want to eat but then walking away from the food?)
Could a sprinkling of something on top of the food to tempt her? (Crushed cat treats, grated parmesan, nutritional yeast flakes, and Fortiflora are just some of many options for tempting kitties to eat...).
Might she have dental problems?
Digestive problems? (Is she peeing and pooing OK?)

EmmaI said:
BTW, I don't know if here in the UK they ever give those home blood test thingies. It wasn't mentioned to us by the vets, and when I look online, for some reason, it seems to be folks in the U.S. who are doing those.
Click to expand...
Yes, we UK'ers certainly DO use those "home blood test thingies".:) But only a few UK vets seem to actively recommend this.

'Homestesting' is the single most useful thing you can do to help your diabetic cat.
It's a quick, simple process. It isn't that hard to learn. It shouldn't hurt your cat. And it will give you a vast amount of information about how your cat's blood glucose is responding to food and insulin.
There is a glucose meter made especially for animals, the 'Alphatrak'. But most of us use ordinary glucose meters made for humans. In the UK the Accucheck Aviva is one of the popular ones, and it's generally easily available.

In a nutshell, hometesting involves pricking the outer edge of your cat's ear to get a teensy weensy droplet of blood; transferring that droplet to a test strip in a glucose meter; waiting for the meter to count down and give the result; and rewarding the cat with a cuddle or a treat. Strange as it probably sounds, many cats actually come to enjoy the tests because of treats/cuddles!

Meanwhile, there are some other ways you can try to monitor how your cat is doing. And one of the important ones for a newly diagnosed cat is to monitor the pee for ketones. This just involves using ketone test strips that you dip into a drop of pee. The challenge for some people is actually getting that drop of pee. Clingfilm crumpled over a litter tray is a good way to catch a sample. The pee gets caught in the creases. And you only need a tiny amount for testing.
Ketone test strips should be available from most pharmacies. 'Ketostix' test for ketones. 'Ketodiastix' test for both ketones and glucose.
You really want to see that the ketone reading is 'negative'. And if there is a higher than 'trace' reading then a visit to the vet will be in order.

I hope I've not given you too much info, Emma.

Do please ask any and all questions you want to. We're here to help.

And please know that everyone here understands how overwhelming this can be at first. But you will very soon get the hang of this. I promise!

Eliz
 
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Hi again, Emma,

Regarding food, the general advice for diabetic kitties here is to use foods that have less than 10% calories from carbohydrates. But for a cat already on insulin, the carb content should only be reduced if the caregiver can test the cat's blood glucose at home. That's because lowering the carb content of the diet can lower the blood glucose quite a bit in some cats, and the insulin may need to be reduced accordingly to avoid hypoglycemia. (If a caregiver is hometesting they will be able to monitor the effect of the diet change.)

Rather confusingly, some foods that are technically low carb can also raise blood glucose in some cats. :confused:
Cats can have food intolerances, and this can cause raised blood glucose.

A quick note about the food you're currently using...
Some folks here have found that Felix 'as good as it looks' raised their cats' blood glucose (probably because of an ingredient called 'vegetable protein extract'). A minority of cats seem to be very sensitive to VPE. Others are totally unaffected. Hometesting would enable you to determine whether your cat is sensitive to the food or not. But please don't think of changing the food until you've learned to hometest, just in case her blood glucose drops without your knowing.

Eliz

PS. There is a list of low carb UK foods in my signature. And also a link to food info for new UK'ers.
 
Hi there, Emma and Sally. Welcome to you both.

Another UK member here. I home test, too. As Eliz has already outlined above, some people use pet-calibrated meters like the Alphatrak 2 (I'm one) and other people use human meters like the Accu-check Aviva (and I have one of these as a backup in case of a problem with my main pet meter). The Alphatrak test result numbers are closer to the values on laboratory test equipment and for my personal comfort I get peace of mind from using it. But I pay a premium; the test strips are expensive (£39.99 for 50 is the best price I've found - from Animed Direct online), hence the reason why many people prefer to use a human meter like the Aviva (you can get good prices for strips online). The human meters return a lower reading than pet meters but provided they're used with the right human meter reference range for a cat then they can be used very successfully - and much more cheaply - to help keep your kitty safe on insulin and improve her regulation.

Even if your vet isn't keen, I can't recommend strongly enough that you learn to home test anyway. It's so much safer for Sally, and it will give you much greater peace of mind. We can help you to learn how if need be. :)

I note that Sally has appetite issues since starting insulin. As you've already observed, it's tricky enough in general when a cat is off their food but it really makes things very tricky indeed when a cat is on insulin. My Saoirse had appetite problems in the early days, too; and we're not the only ones I've seen with similar issues. I've seen no research papers on the subject but based on my observations of my own cat, reading about other members cats here, and also anecdotal reports of human diabetics, I have formed the opinion that insulin treatment can cause digestive upsets - paticularly in the early stages of treatment as the cat's body acclimatises (and even more so if the cat has to make a diet change as well). There is a very useful page on Tanya's Site (a well-respected and well-researched site). It will help you spot any symptoms of nausea and it also has very comprehensive information on possible treatments that you might wish to discuss with your vet. Tanya's Site also has a great list of tips on how to tempt a cat to eat. Here are links for you:

Nausea Symptoms and Treatments

Tips on Tempting a Cat to Eat ('sleepy eating' is a good 'un!)


EmmaI said:
I am at that early stage where I am paranoid something I do will make her worse!
Click to expand...
Here I am 18 months later and still (slightly) paranoid. ;) Most of us here were very, very nervous when we started out. It is a very steep learning curve at first but things get better - and much easier - as you learn more; and you've found a great place to do just that. :cat:


Mogs
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Wow, thanks so much for all of the advice and information! I have definitely been given more to think about and consider. Don't know why she was off her food, just happens sometimes where she doesn't seem interested. Strangely, We had her annual check up about a week before we started noticing the symptoms of the diabetes, drinking a lot and eating more, and she was ok with her teeth etc. She is actually our first ever cat, so definitely have no previous experiences of any of these problems in which to compare it to!


I will definitely be having a discussion about home testing with the vet when we go on Wednesday. Strange it hasn't been mentioned before as it does sound essential and can give up to date info when you need it. Perhaps the vet didn't bring it up yet, because we have had to go every week for the last two and a third time coming up Wednesday? Obviously she has tested her there each time so far. Plus, monitoring at home maybe could help cut out visits there. Not because of costs, but Sally doesn't travel well, and unfortunately, despite following all advice from the vets, she always poops on the way in her carrier and gets very traumatised by the whole thing and just isn't comfortable for her. It's also very upsetting to see her in such a mess. We were told stress can even lead to higher glucose levels, so that won't be helping.

I am also going to look out for those ketones test strips. Perhaps if I can do those things, it will make me feel more confident. More control over what's happening so I can help her even more.

Plus I guess it sounds like we will be needing to check about that Felix food too. We have had problems in the past with other foods. The Felix As Good as it looks range was the fourth food we had to transition to. Can't remember what the first was, but Whiskers had been tried and was a big fail. She either brings it back up immediately, or only licks the jelly or gravy off and doesn't actually eat the meat! This was a long while before the diabetes though. Problem is, we only seem to see the Felix or Whiskers kitten food in shops here. If it turns out the Felix isn't doing her any good, not sure what we would give her.

Thanks also for all the links. I will have a good read of those today. We hadn't been told about the low carb foods. Literally, we were told higher protein kitten food. Though I guess, at the same time we have to learn more, the vet has more to go through, so should come together eventually.

And basically thanks f or the welcome to the forum, it really is so nice of you all to post such detailed and helpful replies :-)
 
Hi Emma, just another welcome from another UKer (I'm in Surrey, near Elizabeth). I can't add anything to whas has already been said - all excellent advice - so this is just to encourage you to post here as often as you need to about anythung, however small. We have all been where you are now and rather overwhelmed by what seems a huge amount to take on board, but take heart - it is all common sense and when you start understanding the principles and applying them, it becomes quite straightforward.
There aren't many of us from the UK on the board these days but it doesn't matter, as you will get just as much solid advice from our friends in the US and elsewhere. It's just on the issues of food (different countries, different brands etc) that we in the UK are best placed to help each other.
Wishing you the best of luck

Diana
 
Morning.
I've dropped by looking for help on pancreatiits and got some great info.
I just wanted to say hi from the UK.
i managed my old cats diabetes with home testing twelve years ago. my first UK vet was dismissive of home testing. my second was accepting if not proactive! but I did get to the stage where all her regards diabetes checks / curves were done at home. I'll confess I didn't home test every pre shot once I got her stable.
Alley ate felix in jelly and this successfully lowered her BG compared to dry food. haven't tried 'as good as it looks'.

anyway, just wanted to say, hi. hang in there. being in the UK shouldn't stop you managing this with confidence and home testing is the only thing that will give you that confidence as you'll know exactly what's going on.

The guys on here gave Alley four good quality years she wouldn't have otherwise had.

BW
 
Hello from another UKer. I have two diabetics, one eats Felix As Good As It Looks, the other eats Felix Fish selection in jelly. Both are low carb, but they can't swap foods as it spikes their BG too much. It might just be a case of trial and error between the different Felix foods.
 
Another hello from the UK!
I don't have any medical advice... Just wanted to say that we all feel overwhelmed at first... But it will get easier! You have all the information you'll ever need here and there is always someone online to help. I also think that hometesting is important. particularly if you have a kitty with fussy appetite, like my Sushi was. I also used the Alphatrak 2 meter that I still keep ( we never know...). I also have a Human meter that tests for bg and ketones.
I don't know about Felix food because I always buy online. But I actually read good things about the as good as it looks line. There are a lots of rules when talking about cat food (catinfo.org), but If I can buy foods within our budget (up to £5/ kg), I always try to avoid the vegetable protein extracts and the added sugars (One of my paranoias...among others...This week I am freaking out because I ordered half the foods with some fish on it! Argh!). I use zooplus.co.uk for some of the foods of the list, even though my only cat now is not diabetic (he always eats by the same rules). He loves Granatapet in all flavours, Feringa and Catz Finefood. As a treat I give him some of the pricier ones, like lily's kitchen or thrive or some boiled chicken or white fish fillets. I have to say that Sushi's favourite food was lily's kitchen. There is no right or wrong food, as long as it is low carb and works for you (and possible sugar momma paranoias...) and for your sugar bean.
Just by being here you are already one of the best owners in the World!

Let us know if you need any help! Even if it is something technical like poking and testing...as long as you are close, I am available to help.

Sara
:bighug:
 
Caveat about Lily's Kitchen foods: some varieties in their range contain carrageenan (the tray varieties definitely do). Carrageenan can cause inflammation. (Found this out the hard way. :( )


Mogs
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Critter Mom said:
Caveat about Lily's Kitchen foods: some varieties in their range contain carrageenan (the tray varieties definitely do). Carrageenan can cause inflammation. (Found this out the hard way. :( )


Mogs
.
Click to expand...

Yes, they do (Another one of my kitty food paranoias)...All the tray varieties. Sushi only liked those...unfortunately... I now only feed them
To Leonidas once a week because They were on offer on waitrose last month and I stocked up for Sushi... They are so expensive that they have to be eaten... :rolleyes:
 
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