Waiting for results

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Angelsmommy

Member Since 2012
What should I be doing while I wait for results? My two boys had their comprehensive exams yesterday and the vet called last night to tell me that Angel has a blood sugar of 425, so it looks like he has diabetes. Today we took him back for the fructosamine test and a urinalysis. The good news is that it looks like we got this pretty early. He's not showing any symptoms of diabetes and doing fairly well, although at 16.5 pounds he is overweight. The UA did test positive for glucose, but only after the normal 60 second time period had already elapsed, so they think he is definitely diabetic but that it might be borderline between subclinical and clinical diabetes. He also had some white blood cells and bacteria present in his urine, so we are starting him on antibiotics tonight. Of course as soon as I got the phone call I started doing my research (after I stopped sobbing; it was really a shock) and discovered the problems with dry food, so we are working on switching both cats over to wet food beginning tonight. I've also contacted the moderator of this site about a testing kit; I am an RN so I will probably be doing the testing myself for the sugar curve if we need to do it. What else can we be doing while we are waiting for the fructosamine results? I don't want to go overboard while we are waiting but I also don't want to be wasting time either. Also, they want me to put him on the Hill's Prescription Diet M/D. Is this stuff any good? Any help or advice you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated. Angel is the first animal I got when I moved out on my own so he is very special to me.
Thanks!
 
We don't like the Hills products. We think grocery/pet store food are better and definitely, less expensive. Most of us feed Fancy Feast, Friskies, Wellness or Merrick. Better ingredients, lower carb and not overpriced.

Both dry and wet MD run in the 14% carb range. We try to stay around 8% carbs. A vet explains why wet low carb food is best on this website: www.catinfo.org
 
Welcome to FDMB! Switching to the lower carb cat food will definitely make an impact. You will want to be sure to be hometesting so you can monitor the changes. Be sure to check on him before you start on the insulin - it's possible for him to drop down to lower/acceptable levels with a diet change alone. Also, kitties tend to stress out at the vet which causes their numbers to read higher than what you might see at home.

Keep researching and ask any question that pops up! You will find this to be a very caring community with a wealth of knowledge. We have all been where you are - tears and all. You're not alone!
 
We like to say FDMB is the best place you never wanted to be. But don't worry - everyone felt stressed and scared in the beginning. Take a few deep breaths and remind yourself everything is going to be OK - as a RN you know that diabetes is 100% manageable and not a death sentence!

You would be best off not starting insulin until your testing kit gets there. By the way - what insulin was your vet planning to give you? Here we recommend Lantus, Levemir, and Prozinc. You do not want Caninsulin or Humulin N - these are harsh, short acting insulins that are OK for dogs but not for cats.

m/d is too high in carbs, both the canned and the dry are about 14% and are made of crappy ingredients - pork byproducts, liver, corn starch, and wood pulp (cellulose). It's also very expensive for how low quality it is. There are a lot of options out there for low carb, affordable foods. Here is a food chart compiled by feline vet Dr. Lisa Pierson (her website is www.CatInfo.org and it contains TONS of invaluable advice on diet, general health, and disease, including diabetes - please do give it a read). You are looking for a food that is less than 8% in the "C" (P=protein, F=fat, C=carbs) column. You will see there are quite a lot of them - just pick one your cat likes and you can afford.I personally feed Wellness - while it SEEMS more expensive per can, it is actually very calorie dense so you get more out of less food - one 12.5oz can split between my 2 cats is more than enough for them daily so it ends up being just as cheap as buying Fancy Feast.

While you're waiting for your test results/kit/insulin, you can go ahead and start on the diet change. Lots of cat drop 150+ points on the diet change alone - it's easier to do this BEFORE you start insulin so you're not scrambling to reduce the dose when your cat's numbers drop. Some cats can even go into remission on the diet change alone, and if you gave insulin you could be facing a hypo situation, so it's easier to get the diet change out of the way now and THEN start insulin and testing.
 
Hello and welcome to FDMB!

We all know how stressful this is at first. I cried like a baby when my cat was diagnosed. :cry: But things soon got a whole lot better! :smile:

Yes, it would be great to phase out the dry food now before your boy starts on insulin. He may well need a lower dose after the dry food is gone.

And it's great news that you're getting a hometesting kit. There is no substitute for knowing how your cat is responding to insulin....

FDMB is a nice bunch of people and I'm sure you'll soon feel like you're part of the group. Do ask any questions that you want to, or feel free to post even if you're just in need of a bit of reassurance.

PS. What's your name?
 
Welcome. As a nurse you know that stress can raise BG levels as can infection. That is why the fructosamine test is so important. It's sort of like a A1C for people - it gives an average BG. It is possible the high bg is due to whatever is causing the bacteria and white blood cells and the antibiotic will resolve the problem.

In the meantime, changing food and being prepared with a test kit is a great idea.
 
Thanks for all of the encouragement, everyone. We're doing half dry and half wet with both cats right now. They are adapting to the food pretty well, but not to the separate food dishes. They've always shared one before, so right now I am having to closely supervise mealtimes so they don't steal from each other. It's looking like it is going to be a long process. As for insulin types, we haven't discussed that yet. The vet said they wanted to wait for the test results before we set up a plan. I'm glad for that now because, thanks to you guys, I will be better informed and know what to ask for. I'll post again when I know more. Thanks again for all the support. I am so glad I found this group.
(And my name is Jen).
 
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