LittleOne

Hi guys ..

LittleOne is my furbaby he is 11 years and 7 months old .He has a sister Lilly who I also have both are indoor cats. He has been diagnosed with diabeties 2 years ago. Prior to this he had very bad urine crystals so has to have Hills CD urinary Food.
Now the complicated part.
Whilst on Holiday 2 years ago our neighbour who was feeding them noticed he was not his normal self .. very tired not eating much and hiding.
We came back from a 2 week vacation and he seemed to perk up so we started uping his food. Slowly he got some of his weight back but I noticed bith his back legs gave way and he started to walk on his haunches like a rabbit.
Now this I knew was bad.
To the vets we went and had various tests but we waited for the results.. The vet did warn us ..it could be his kidneys . thyroid. diabeties..cancer..
4 days later . he called us back in ..Diabeties with a reading of 500+ ..it should be about 5.
With a lot of patience and trips to the vets ( Marvellous Mat ) The neuropathy had gone Mat couldn't belive it. It took over 3 to 4 months ... but it was fine .
It righted itself on Prozinc .
We started on a low dodes then upped it too about 6 units twice a day then back down to about .5 .
Then eventually he went 2 whole months juice free after about 1 year.
When we took him back for his blood check it was quite high again and was loosing weight too.. But the neuopathy has stayed away.
Mat changed his diet to Hills cd reduced calorie. Like befire no extras no tit bits.no pre packed treats.
Juat a bit of cooked chicken or fish ..
So we began the whole process again from .5 units up ti 5 units twice a day .
This is where we are now.
Went to vets yesterday He has gained weight nearly back to his normal self of 7.1kilos.
He is Half Norwegian forest half Burmese.
His blood was 3.9 a bit low but a lot better than before 6.2
Little is still on Hills urinary cd dry reduced calorie. Both cats are eating the food as i cannot seperate it as indoor cats.. They are fed 2 times a day .
Vet said he is going to send bloods away for a fructose test.
We will then either up or drop down his insulin accordinly.
Then I will start home testing on my Alphatrak 2 and keep the vet update via email...
I know it's the most expensive but I can get the strips quite cheaply.
Starting with a curve .. so we can see how he reacts at home...
The food I cannot change cos of his urinary crystals.
He did not have diabeties when he was checked for the crystals as I asked the vet as soon as he was diagnosed as it never showed in his blood work .
Both cats are fed the same.

Sorry it's a long one xx

 

Get off the dry food!!! Read dr lisa piersons advice. Best way to decrease urine cyrstals is wet food. Try fancy feast , nine lives or friskies low carb pates. You can change the food! Vets push the prescription food but it's junk. Cats need a diet of meat only. The chicken and fish are good , just add low carb wet food and home test every 12hrs. Prozinc is good, the usual dose is 1 unit per 12hrs but this is dependent on his blood glucose readings. Skip the fructosamine test and test every 12hrs. The stress and cost of dragging your guy to the vet is not worth it. Read some of the post here , good folks on here. Your vet may argue with you but remember, your the only one who can really care for your guy. Key points: no more dry food!!! Test every 12hrs, low carb pates and muscle meat only, read dmv lisa piersons website and try not to worry, good luck with little one

 

How can we help?

 

Hi Dawn and Little One, and welcome back! It looks like you joined here a couple of years ago? Do you already have a spreadsheet for when you start testing? Here is the link just in case: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

As Kris said, let us know what questions you have or how we can help.

 

Hi Dawn! I think I remember you from before. Sounds like you've got a good plan worked out to get Little One feeling better...what questions do you have for us? We're happy to help or even just be here to cheer you on and help you through tough days!

 

Hi Guys ..
Update from Matt the vet ...
Littleone’s fructosamine is very good this time (195 umol/L). Values below 350 umol/L are consistent with excellent control of hyperglycaemia. However, at this level he may become hypoglycaemic and require some honey, glucose syrup or the like if this does happen. In which case we can reduce to insulin dose to 4.5 units.

 

Hi Rachel.
Thankyou.
Firstly. I don't want to change his food.
He has to have this for the bad crystals in his urine. We have changed to the low calorie one though.
Going forward.. feeling a little anxious about the Alphatrak testing.. getting the blood our of Littles ear. let's see how it goes on sunday.
But I think he's doing very well.
Akso his weight has increased. .

 

Hi Kris thankyou .
i haven't started on a spreadsheet yet but i will start on sunday.xx