When to Start Low Carb Diet After Insulin Starts?

[Cat Ma]

I start my cat on insulin tomorrow. I asked my vet about putting my cat on a diabetic/low carb diet and the vet said not to change my kitty's diet. Is this true? Do I keep giving her what I've been feeding her, change her diet now or do I have to wait a certain length of time while my cat is on insulin before making any changes?

 

[Larry and Kitties]

No reason to wait but the insulin does will likely decrease with a low-carb diet

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hi,

If your cat isn't yet on insulin (and doesn't have any history of ketones) then you could transition to low carb wet food now.
But for cats that are already on insulin we recommend that the caregiver only switches to low carb food if/when they have learned to test the cat's blood glucose at home (way easier than it sounds!). That's because lowering the carb content of the diet can lower the blood glucose quite a bit in some cats; and an insulin dose that may previously have been OK could be too much once the diet is changed.

Which part of the world are you in? (That will affect your food options.)

And are you willing to have a go at hometesting your cat's blood glucose?
In a nutshell it involves pricking the outer edge of the cat's ear to get a teensy blood droplet; putting that droplet onto a test strip in a glucose meter; waiting for the meter to count down and give the result; and rewarding said cat with a cuddle or a treat.
Testing shouldn't hurt the cat because there are very few nerve endings in the edge of the ear. And many cats come to look forward to test times if they are rewarded with treats.
Here is the link to the FDMB page of hometesting info, tips and tricks, and example videos:
Hometesting Links and Tips

Eliz

 

[BJM]

You might want to read over Cat Info to see what Dr Pierson suggests. In our experience, switching to a low carb, over the counter, canned or raw food may drop the glucose levels 100-200 mg/dL and can drop the insulin dose 1-2 units.
If you're already giving insulin, focus on home testing first, so that the food transition can be done safely.

Note: if your cat has positive ketones, or has been treated for diabetic ketoacidosis, your first priority is getting insulin in him and stabilizing him on anything he will eat. Once stable, you can begin diet adjustments more safely.

 

[Erinia]

Yes! You definitely want to start a low carb diet (I feed Young Again dry, and Grreat Choice wet). If you haven't started the insulin, now would be a great time to start. If you have started, make sure you are testing. Maahes went from 7 units twice a day to 3 units twice a day. I wasn't checking as regularly as I should have and it turned out that he was having some wicked spikes. He's much more stable at the 3 units. He might even dip lower since starting the Young Again, so I'm starting to curve him regularly to monitor. (I use the Relion Prime meter because the strips are cheap).

 

[Louellen]

I would agree with BJM. I started off with transitioning to a lower carb diet first, then started the insulin. I found that there was a drop just from the food change. (Took about a week to 2 weeks to see the difference). Then, when I saw a "levelling off" of her glucose levels from diet alone...the vet titrated what he thought should be a starting dose for her. We went even lower on dosage than his original thoughts as even he re-thought that number.

But, if you're going to be going onto the insulin with a day or two....I'd stick with the regular diet and learn home monitoring first. Remember that your vet is likely dosing, according to the numbers he's seeing right now...based on the food your kitty is eating, right now so, an adjustment in foods would likely bring that number down further and *may* be too much of a reduction/dangerous. Remember that higher numbers are the lesser of the evils at first because too low numbers kill quickly.

So, either start the low carb diet for a week or so first...without insulin and learn home testing methods....or...go with the regular diet and what your vet has prescribed in dosing and see where the numbers go on insulin alone then, revisit with your vet before starting low carb. Remember that doing both at the same time can be dangerous...especially, if you're not doing home testing.

That's just my 2 cent's worth.