Hiya from NZ

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by LianneP, Apr 14, 2017.

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  1. LianneP

    LianneP New Member

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    Apr 14, 2017
    Thanks for having me. I have joined because one of my cats was diagnosed with diabetes in June last year. She still is uncontrolled and is insulin resistant. We tried the glargine pen first and have recently changed to caninsulin but still no improvement. Im in NZ so diagnostics and treatment for acromegaly (the likely cause of insulin resistance) is limited. She eats like a horse and we do give her Royal Canin diabetic biscuits. Has anyone had much success with diet changes in getting blood sugar down? Do people feed normal cat tinned meat or a special diet? :)
     
  2. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2016
    Getting her off the dry would make A BIG difference.... The prescription dry food is way too high in carbs. Somewhere around 24% carb. Feed a low carb (under 10%) wet only diet and it will help!

    Most of us feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods... Not sure what's available by you.
     
  3. LianneP

    LianneP New Member

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    Apr 14, 2017
    Hiya, thanks for that. We have fancy feast & friskies here and she eats both of those. My bag of Royal Canin says reduced level of carbs but then under ingrediants it says starch 18.8%. We have 3 other cats so generally we offer her the bowl of diabetic biscuits when she comes looking for food. If we aren't around she may eat the normal cat biscuits that are ad lib for the other cats. Gets tricky with only one cat on a special diet!!
     
  4. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2016
    Your best bet is to put them all on the low carb wet then and leave out extra for them to snack on. Is Evo Cat and Kitten in the purple bag available there? That's a dry that is only 8% carb. I believe Orijien makes a dry under 10% too.
     
    Yong & Maury GA likes this.
  5. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2016
    You mentioned on a bit board that she's on a high dose. What is the dose you give? I hope on a high dose you are testing her levels at home. If not we can help you learn to do that.
     
  6. Lisa and Witn (GA)

    Lisa and Witn (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    Also please start hometesting before you remove the dry food since that could drop her glucose levels significantly. Otherwise there is a great risk of hypoglycemia.
     
  7. Sharon14

    Sharon14 Well-Known Member

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    Aug 16, 2015
    Hi Lianne, welcome. Are you home testing? As Janet said, start with a switch to all low carb food as long as you're home testing. My cat has acromegaly. I'm not treating it (way too expensive) just treating the diabetes as best I can. Lantus or Levemir are the best insulins for long lasting BG control. Let us know what kind of BG numbers you're getting and the insulin dose.
     
  8. Yong & Maury GA

    Yong & Maury GA Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2017
    Welcome Lianne!
    Please let us know if you decide to start home testing. It's the best tool in our FD kitty tool belt :). As others have said monitoring her numbers is super important, even more so if you remove dry food while on insulin. If you could post some information in your Signature before going to Main Health Forum, it's a good "at a glance" for your kitty. There are also 2 other high dose kitties, that I am aware of, in addition to Sharon that can help you too :cat:
    Signature instructions: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/
    If you decide to start home testing:
    http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

    We also just got a new member from your neighbouring area in Australia :)
     
  9. Diana&Tom

    Diana&Tom Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2009
    Hi Lianne, found you here after saying hi on Facebook! Do continue to post with any and all queries... we do all understand and want to help!
     
  10. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2016
    Have you had success changing the diet? What are her numbers and dose like now?
     
  11. Wendy&Neko

    Wendy&Neko Senior Member Moderator

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    Feb 28, 2012
    Hello and welcome from another person who was owned by an acrokitty. Neko got low carb raw food, making my own made it cheaper than even a lot of canned foods. We started in Caninsulin, transitioned to Lantus, then eventually Levemir. You will find the L insulins are better than Caninsulin for high dose kitties. Levemir even better at higher doses because the acid base of Lantus can sting some cats at higher doses.
     
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