Anyone with young kitten?

I have just found this site and it is going to help me out a lot iam sure. My kitten has been diagnosed with diabetes. The vet suspects it is a congenital defect of her pancras. We suspected it since she was about 6 months but seem to have confirmed it now that she is a year old. We are desperately trying to get her onto a high protien low carb diet and as of yet the vet has not recommended insulin although that may come later.

I am wonderin if there are others out there who have young kitties too. The vet tells me her condition is rare and it would be so nice to have someone else to comisserate with about all her up comming and ongoing issuses.

confused_cat confused_cat confused_cat

Thanks JustPJ

 

Hi and welcome to FDMB :mrgreen:

Your vet is indeed right. Diabetes is rare in very young cats.
The question you need to find out is whether she has type2 with a chance of remission (diet controlled) or whether it is a lifelong condition.

There is a list of commercially available low carb foods -Janet and Binky's foodcharts.
The general recommendation is to feed under 10% carbs. I myself prefer under 5% as this is what a cats normal carb intake would be from it's natural food source-mice.

If you consider hometesting, you will be able to see what her levels are like and whether her pancreas can help to bring her bg'sdown.
For some cats, swapping to low carb is all that is required. Others need a small amount of insulin for a short time (this does the work of the Pancreas and gives it time to heal) and then come off. Then you have those that will always be diabetic and need insulin, either a moderate amount or large amounts (cats with conditions such as Acromegaly or IAA.If your vet is holding off insulin I would say for now these are not for you to think about)

You can pick up a Walmarts (think that's the one) own glucometer and test strips relatively cheaply. Lots of help here in doing hometesting as well as other support, advice and info.

You've posted in the best place to grab others attention. I can't think of anyone off the top of my head at mo.

Good Luck :mrgreen:

 

There is a lady here in Connecticut with a young diabetic. Maybe others can help me remember her name. Morgan??? Pirate??? Her kitten was from Puerto Rico, had to have an eye removed for some reason other than FD. Maybe Gato? I'll think of it.

In any event, she's a fantastic lady and I'm sure we can get a hold of her. She used to sell beautiful hand made kitty beds, I picked up a few up from her.

 

Thanks all ...from myself and Pasha for all the support and encouragement.
I looked at the binky dry cat food page but didnt see the one we are trying ...Taste of the wild dry food and suplimenting it with EVO canned which Pasha wont eat. I am trying to get something that all 3 of my kitties will eat and wont break the bank in the process. Pasha and her 2 brothers seem to like the Taste of the Wild food but the 95% EVO canned is not a big hit here.

This site is such a Godsend right now....a real wealth of information.

 

This may be the kitten I'm thinking of, photo taken before her eye was removed. Morgan the Pirate Gato.

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Case:Morgan

 

Hi and welcome to the board.
I am not familar with a kitten having diabetes but I can try and help out with the food.
You really want to feed Pasha wet food, not dry which is very high in carbs.

A lot of people use fancy feast, the classic flavours which are less than 10%, friskies, sophisticat. I do not know where you are located but Walmart is now selling Fancy feast at .30/can and this food is fine for your 3 kitties. That is what I do in my house here.
Try a few cans and see what works.

 

Morgan the Pirate Gato is the rare young feline diabetic who does not have Cushing's disease. Have your vet test for both Cushing's and acromegaly.

 

Hi there,

I adopted Sorianna who was diagnosed at 6.5 years old. Her sibling, Sindbad, was diagnosed at 1.5 years old. We think some kind of genetic thing. Sindbad is now 8 and still doing well. So there is hope. It is treatable and really controllable. Did you get a glucometer yet?

Try moving all your guys to a wet food they all like - Friskies, 9-Lives, Fancy Feast or Wellness. They all have no gravy, low carb varieties. You can mix the Evo with any of the others to get some quality protein into them. They will actually need to eat less. The carbs in the dry food don't fill them up, so they just keep eating and eating.

Good luck,

Claudia

 

Thanks Claudia That kinda thing is just what i need to hear now! I dont have a meter to test yet. The vet dosent think i need to just yet. After reading on here I am wondering tho.

 

Been doing some food searching today for my Pasha and my 2 other kitties too. Checked out some of the reccomended fancy feast varieties and picked up a few to try but the protien levels dont seem as high as the vet said I should be giving her.

Is there no cat food manufucturer that makes something specific to a diabetic kitty??? and if not, for heavens sake why not....seems to me there are thousands of elderly cats out there who could benefit from it, and of course the more rare suition like my Pasha.

Any one got any ideas? I keep looking at my pasha's precious little face and wonder how do people do this......ok i admit iam new to this and way frustrated but it all seems so complicated. And she isnt even taking insulin yet....I just have the upmost admiration for all you who are having to deal with that. Ok I think I am done ranting no LOL

 

You don't need a specialty product, you need a canned or raw food diet that is low in carbs, and moderate in protein and fat. Make sure you are using Janet and Binky's charts, and look for foods in the 5-7% of calories from carbs range....do not go to zero as this would entail a fish-only diet which is not healthy for cats (despite cartoons that say otherwise).