Lady

Hello all,

My 10-year-old cat, Lady, has not been officially diagnosed with diabetes, but this is what I'm expecting when I take her back to the vet on Saturday.

Our first trip in, about two weeks ago, was due to a urinary tract infection. It was the first health issue we've ever dealt with. I left the vet somewhat relieved thinking all Lady needed was a round of antibiotics. Later that evening, however, the vet called to tell me that Lady showed high levels of glucose in her urine and that I should bring a sample from home just to be sure. I dropped off a sample earlier this week and lo and behold, it also pointed to the possibility of diabetes.

I'm not quite sure how far the disease might have progressed, and this is what has me most frightened at the moment. I worry about the damage it may have already done to her body. In retrospect I can say that I started noticing some of the early signs (particularly excessive thirst and massive amounts of urine in the litter box) about 4-5 months ago after Lady, Little Man (my other cat), and I moved cross country, but I never thought of these early signs in context of illness, let alone diabetes. Recently, I've also noticed that Lady has trouble jumping despite having lost weight, which also kind of snuck past me. It was only during our recent trip to the vet that I realized she had lost 2-3 pounds (going from about 15 to about 12). I had to look through old pictures to trace the progression of her weight loss, which I think began in December.

Since the vet first raised the possibility of diabetes, I've cut all dry food from Lady's diet and have basically been feeding her boiled chicken thighs, about 200 calories a day split into several small meals. I already see a reduction in her water consumption and urine output, but I won't know for sure where she stands health wise until they run a blood panel on Saturday.

Thank you all in advance for this great resource.

- Rodrigo

 

Great idea getting her off dry food, esp. before starting insulin, however just serving boiled chicken is not a balanced diet. Also cats that have uncontrolled diabetes tend to need MORE calories, not less, because their bodies can not properly utilize the nutrients in their food. Most of us on here feed low carb wet food such as Fancy Feast Classic (NOOOO GRAVY) or Friskies Pate. No need for the perscription foods the vet may try to get you to buy. All the FF classic and Friskies pate are under 10% carb. It's also good you are feeding several small meals. Some vets suggest only feeding morning and night at shot time, but that's an old fashioned idea... most now feed as you are, several small meals a day.

Once you get your official diagnosis and get on insulin, we are happy to help with any questions you might have.

 

Glad to hear you have seen minor improvements just by changing her diet, but like Janet said it's not a nutritionally balanced diet. If it is confirmed diabetes, most of the damage can sort of reverse itself. I suspect my boy may have had diabetes (looking back now) for about 3 - 4 months before I took him to a Vet. Noticed him walking more on his hocks and made a Vet appointment. We just started month 4 of insulin therapy and the neuropathy is showing signs of improvement! Cats also have the unique ability for their pancreas to heal.

You are in a great place, if it is diabetes, for tons of support and information

 

Thank you for the heads up and words of encouragement to you both! I will check back in after Saturday once Lady receives her official diagnosis.

 

So Lady received her diagnosis yesterday. The vet did a BG curve. Lady started at 495 and her numbers dropped throughout the day. Her last reading for the day was 295.

I got a reading from a home test this morning (about 20 minutes after feeding and giving insulin - I tried to get a pre-feeding reading but did not give myself enough time to get acquainted with the devices) of 286. My question is: how do I make sense of this 286? Is this still pretty close to what her baseline would have been? Or does the food intake the insulin get to work right away?

 

Also, I tried to post this to the general health forum, but kept getting an error message (also for this reason I kept this brief).

 

It's not unusual for the numbers to be higher at the vet because of stress.

The number preshot was probably even lower than the 286 because the food raised it. If you can grab a number 4-5 hours after her shot.

Can you add your meter type in your signature?
2 units is a high starting dose, so keep a close eye on her. Usually a starting dose of 1 unit is recommended and doses raised by half a unit after several days of needed.
Also when you get a chance set up a spreadsheet

 

Just added my meter type. And I'll get on the spreadsheet ASAP. Thank you!

Also, the vet wants to do another BG curve next week and then again in a month, but I'm a little concerned about the costs. Is it normal to spend several hundred on a BG curve at the vet?

 

You don't have to get curves done at the vet clinic. It's far too expensive and the stress of being there often raises kitty's BG. Practice testing at home and do your own curves so you can share the data with your vet.

 

As long as you can do curves at home it shouldn't be necessary. After I started home testing I just sent the link to my spreadsheet every other week or so.

 

The fact that your meter is a human meter accounts for some of the difference from his vet numbers too. They most likely used a pet meter. Human meters run significantly lower in those higher ranges.

 

Many thanks! I managed to get another reading just now of 451, which seems a bit worrisome. It's been almost 7 hours since her shot this morning. I tried to get one at hour 5 but she was not having it.

One thing I did change today was dry food The vet sent home Hills prescription MD, and I used it to bribe Lady for the readings. Prior to this she hadn't had dry food in weeks.

 

Grats on starting testing . Vetsulin usually only lasts about 8-10 hours in most cats, that's why Janet suggested trying to get +4 or +5. You really don't need the prescription diet. It's expensive and too high in carbs for diabetic kitties. Does Lady miss the dry food? There are two better options: Young Again Zero (online only) and EVO Cat and Kitten (purple bag). Would definitely ask your Vet if they are ok with you doing curves at home because they are more accurate

 

Thanks! I'm going to try to get a reading today during the +4/+5 hour window. I barely slept last night because Lady slept next to her water bowl and I kept waking up to check on her. Her stools have also been pretty soft and her appetite has decreased a bit (I would say she's no longer ravenous). I spent some time reading through these forums and saw that others have also seen a change in stool from switching to a wet food diet. Lady does miss her dry food. I can tell because she'll sit at the foot of my dresser and look up - I still feed my other cat dry food and keep his bowl on my dresser because he can basically jump like a goat. But Lady's not a fan of the prescription dry food the vet sent home.

After having spent more time reading about insulin, I'm thinking I did not administer properly yesterday. I don't think I rolled the vial in my hands long enough. This morning I held it up to a light just to be sure.

 

Ask for a free sample of the Young Again Zero carb dry food at Youngagainpetfood.com. It's great stuff and my kibble lover is happy she can still eat kibble.