Very frustrated

My Cinder kitty was diagnosed with diabetes in July just 2 1/2 weeks after I had to have my 14 yr old arthritic dog put down. She had high maintenance issues also. I went to a vet I don't normally go to but mine did not have any "soon" appointments open. The new vet said wet food 2x's a day with shots after eating. She had to eat at least half a can in order to give her the shot. To maintain her weight [she is/was not overweight] they told me 300 calories a day which is 1 & 1/4 can 2x's a day. I can't even get her to eat a whole can at a time so far & it is almost 2 months now. She is losing weight & still has glucose #s 450 plus. They wanted me to test her once a day about 6 hrs after shot & do a curve once a week after increasing insulin. There curve was test about every 2 hrs for at least 5 tests. I called them last week about the weight loss concerns & her glucose #s not changing at all & if I should be putting my cat through all this. I was concerned about how she felt with the consistently high #s. They didn't call me back. So I called my regular vet & they were able to get me in that day. She has a totally different approach. Go back to free feeding my cat EVO dry food & do a 3 test stripe curve 1 week later. Was told don't need to test other than curve. I was excited to learn I could go back to free feeding. Starting slow but now my cat does not like the dry food. I'm very concerned about what to do with so many different opinions on how to do this. Very frustrated at this point & not sure what to do.

 

Ok. Your first vet was right that wet food is better, but she was wrong that you have to only feed twice a day. Yes you want to feed before shot times, but she doesn't need to gobble everything down immediately. Most of us feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate several times a day. My cat eats maybe 1-2 ounces of food at shot time and then walks away. She's always been a grazer. All 6 of my cats are grazers.
You just Want no food two hours before the preshot test. Evo isn't bad to leave out in between meals, but it's 8-12% carb. There are a few lower in carb. I leave out young again zero 1% carb. There's another one called dr elseys clean protein chicken that's 5%.
What wet food are you feeding?


Now testing.... So glad you are testing at home.

You want to ALWAYS get a preshot test. Heaven forbid she's lower then expected and you shoot a full amount you could have a problem.... Then you want to get at least one mid cycle readings when you can. Not a bad idea to do curves occasionally as well.

You may want to repost your concerns in the main health forum where more eyes will see it as this is ment to be a quick introduction spot.


BTW, welcome.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I am feeding her BFF wet food. It has 2.3% carbs in the one I feed her. I use Lantus insulin. I did [I think] copied & posted this in the main forum. Thanks for the welcome & advice!!

 

Welcome! AAHA Guidelines say that feeding 4 times a day is ideal and free-feeding is okay if the cat is underweight. They also say to give the lowest carb food the cat will eat. There is a great cat food database that is very helpful when you are looking for appropriate food choices. It does not have any dry food info since the Dr. who created it is very much against feeding dry food. You can read all the reasons why at catinfo.org. As long as Cinder eats a few bites before the shot, it should be fine. You will want to take up any food two hours before your pre-shot test so the results are not impacted by the food. As Janet said, you always want to test pre-shot. Also, testing mid-cycle helps you get the full picture of what the insulin's impact is. (Always testing at +6 and only +6 may not provide the needed information. It sounds like the vet is assuming the lowest reading (nadir) will always occur right at that point in the cycle, and that is doubtful. Things are not so black-and-white with diabetes/insulin.) When you do a curve, there should be a test every two hours for 12 to 24 hours.

Unfortunately, many of us found out very quickly that we had to educate ourselves and be very involved in our cat's treatment. There are not a lot of vets out there who are truly knowledgeable about feline diabetes or even feline nutrition. If you can find one who does have some knowledge and experience with diabetes and who is willing to let you be involved in the treatment decisions, you have found a keeper.