Vets recs in Dallas?

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Katelyn

Member Since 2015
Hi everyone. I am new to this board. Does anyone have any vet recommendations in the Dallas area? I am looking for a second opinion.

My cat was diagnosed with diabetes back in January. Since then I have switched him to a wet food diet, put him on Vetsulin (2 units 2x a day) and he has lost a significant amount of weight (about 20-25% of body weight). Something seems off to me - his numbers today on the curve were actually worse than when he was initially diagnosed. His behavior is also extremely abnormal for him; he's acting stressed, anxious, cannot get enough water, etc.

Has anyone had a similar problem?
 
I'm not in the Dallas area, so can't help with a recommendation, but I can welcome you to the FDMB and give you a little information!

First, I'm happy to hear you've switched to a wet food diet. Do you know if it's also low carb? We like them eating foods that are less than 10% carbs. Here's a Food Chart that has a lot of the foods available in the US....look in column C for the carb percentage

Next, Vetsulin is really not a good choice for cats...it works much better in dogs but since most vets see a lot more diabetic dogs, they use what they're comfortable using. There are 3 insulins that work well in cats...Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc, so what you might want to do is just call around and "interview" some vets over the phone on what type of insulin they prefer using. As long as you're willing to let them call you back when they have time, most vets will be happy to do it (and if they won't, that's a good indication you might not want them anyway in my opinion)

Vetsulin is a harsh insulin in cats...it goes to work fast, can drop them too low and then wear off before the next shot is due.....Also, if it's dropping him too low, it can trigger what we call a "bounce"....where their body has become used to living at higher numbers, so either going too low, going down quickly or even just going lower than they're used to can cause the liver to release stored sugar and hormones to bring them back up quickly....so it's totally possible for a cat to start in the 400's, drop down into the 40's a few hours later, and be back in the 400's by the next shot time.

One of the other things we're strong proponents for is home testing. Numbers done under stress (like at the vets office) can be effected by stress and be up to 200 points higher than they are at home, so getting a human glucometer and learning how to home test your kitty will be one of the best things you can do for him. Not only will it help keep him safe, but it'll help you to see what's really going on inside his body so you can make changes to dosage as needed.

The people here can help guide you on pretty much everything....but I hope you can find a vet that is willing to give you a prescription for one of the better insulins. Most of us don't see our vets for the diabetes anymore....Only for routine vaccinations and to diagnose other problems.

Do you have any other questions we can help you with?
 
Thank you so much for your reply!

I feed them Wellness Core - that looks to be <10% carbs on the chart if I am looking at it correctly. I had no idea there were different types of insulin until looking at this board. I am going to call a few vets in the area as you suggested and ask them about the insulin that they use and recommend. Also, I will definitely look into home testing. That seems like a much better route to go.

Does the weight loss seem worrisome at all? He was around 19 lbs and today weighed in at 14.4 lbs. It seems like too much weight for a cat to lose in only a few months.
 
That's pretty normal for diabetes....the weight loss

No matter how much they eat, without insulin, the cells can't get the glucose into them to use as energy. Think of insulin as the "key" that opens the lock at the door of the cells...there's all kinds of glucose flowing around in the bloodstream, but until the insulin "unlocks" that door, it can't get in....that's why the blood glucose numbers rise and you'll find sugar in their urine....there's plenty of glucose...it just can't be used without insulin
 
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