Newbie

Hi everyone, really glad to have found this forum and have already picked up some good hints and tips, so thank you.

I've just had a diabetes diagnosis for our 14 year old cat, Bob, having suspected since Christmas that things were not right. He'd had a visit to the vet in November and weight loss of over a kilo in a period of about six months was put down to his age and masked by the fact that, as an 8.5 kilo cat back in January last year, we'd had him on a diet.

However last weekend he had a couple of uncontrollable wetting incidents so we whipped him to the vets where a blood test confirmed his diagnosis - and his weight was down to 5.5 kilos!

He has been given Caninsulin, 2 units morning and evening, plus been put on one dose (5 units) of Semintra for his kidneys - although the blood test showed a perfect creatinine clearance reading, the vet insisted his kidneys were "very bad". I'm not fully convinced, as we've had a cat with CKD before and Bob is missing some of the symptoms the previous cat displayed, but until he has his follow up blood test in two weeks will obviously keep him on all medication.

Being in France, the system is such that all medication has to be purchased at the vet, at a hiked up price. Additionally the vet insisted that Bob must be fed strictly and only on the Royal Canin Diabetic biscuits he sold us (some of you might be seeing a theme here) and that our other cat Joe (20 years old and as grumpy as you can get) should not eat them.

Well, you can guess. Bob won't eat the biscuits, while Joe eats them at every given opportunity! I think the problem is that Bob has always been a wet food cat, eating from the biscuits bowl only when his own bowl was empty.

Reading up on this forum and other websites, I can see a trend that suggests dry food is not that good for diabetic cats. As Bob refused the dry food, I bought some tins of Almo Nature, to tide him over until I received a box of Royal Canin sachets ordered online (again, rules in France mean only vets can supply these). He is now eating the Almo Nature and RC sachets with occasionally nibbles at the biscuits.

Due to the ridiculously high price charged for the Almo Nature in our local garden centre, I've now ordered some more of this brand online (as the other cat loves them too), along with some Animonda, which I'm hoping I can feed to Joe too, as the stress of trying to keep them apart is too much.

Please correct me on any of the steps I have taken that might do more harm than good, as I will appreciate any advice.

Thank you.

 

Hey there. Welcome. To get more eyes on your post you can write on the main health forum. If you have a copy of his labs that would help us give advice.

 

Thank you, I will write on the main health forum and put up a copy of his blood test result.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to the forum. We can help with more tips. And you can post other questions on the Main Health sub-forum here:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/#main-feline-health-faqs.35

Another alternative for food is home-cooked. Some people make raw food for their kittehs. I cook chicken for our kittehs sometimes and they think it is the best. Believe me, I'm not that great of a cook, but chicken is easy. It's usually cheaper than the canned foods too. Mostly our cats get Fancy Feast though.

Generally dry food is not good for cats. Did you ever see a cat eat dry food in the wild? Most dry foods have too much cereal, grains, corn, etc. A good diabetic food for cats is low in carbs and high in protein.

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

Thank you for your welcomes!

 

Hi Jeff
I have posted in the health section, including Bob's blood results. Everyone is so helpful, it's much appreciated.
Yes, chicken is a favourite in this household for les chats
Tilou