Changing Diet

Hi There!! I am so happy to have found this group! My 17-19 year old cat was diagnosed in March 2016. After a lot of testing at the vet and insulin dosage increases, I have found that my vet has not offered the best advise as far as the cat's diet - I am planning on switching to an all wet/low carb canned food very soon. The cat currently has some wet food in the AM and again at night for the insulin injection, however there is always dry food out all day as I have 4 cats - I admit I haven't been able to afford a good quality food for them, but am hoping to get them all on the same diet/feeding schedule. Currently, Snowball (the cat with diabetes) is on 4 units of ProZinc 2 times per day. Before I change his diet, am I to stop the insulin all together and start all over to adjust the dosage again? Thank you for any assistance!

 

Hi Welcome to you and Snowball. Are you home testing Snowballs blood glucose? Before you switch to an all low carb food it is essential that you are, because a change in food can cause a lowering of BG's and you would need to reduce your insulin to prevent a hypo.

 

Hi! Thank you for your reply - I am not home testing yet, but will be - I just want to know everything I should be doing before I start...

 

Here's some info to get you started
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
Read it and watch the videos, then come over to the Health Forum and ask any questions you have.

 

THANKS !!

 

That dose of ProZinc is pretty high. You may find that if you switch to low carb canned food that the glucose can drop 100-200 mg/dL and the required insulin can drop by 1-2 units. That's why we strongly encourage the home testing before making any diet changes.
Just in case, here are guidelines on How To Handle A Hypo.

Two of the things you'll discover with home testing are:
onset - how long before the insulin starts to lower the glucose (roughly 2 hours for Lantus, for example)
nadir - approximately when the insulin drops the glucose the lowest and how dose adjustments are made)

 

I found, that when Shorty was in vet care for a few nights, that they tended to up the dose rather quickly and carelessly, based off of Pre-shot tests. They didn't take into consideration how low the sugar dropped at the Nadir, and the food that was being offered.

 

Thank you all so much for your help.. So, when I do get the home testing supplies and am ready to switch the diet, would you recommend stopping all insulin the day prior the diet change? Or perhaps the day of?... and test the BG throughout that first day of the diet change and start with 1 until dosages twice a day until regulated again? I really hate the 4 unit twice per day dose he is on now

 

Transition slowly, I did it over a week, gradually adding more of the new food to the old until after a week she was just eating the new food. Keep checking the blood glucose and take down the insulin dose as and when the glucose level starts to drop. You can get specific advice on dosing in the Prozinc forum. Make sure you are confident in home testing before you start the diet change and do a curve which helps assess how your kitty responds to the insulin and will identify the timing of the nadir (lowest glucose level).

If you can start a spreadsheet to record your numbers that will help the advice givers. You should do pre-shot and some mid cycle testing if you can in each cycle - not always possible as life gets in the way but always get the pre-shot levels.

Can you also add a signature with some details so people don't keep asking the same questions.

I appreciate this is all new so if you need help at any stage just ask.

 

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback. You are limited to 2 hard returns, so separate pieces by | or -.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as your name | cat's name | date of Dx (diagnosis) | insulin | meter general location (city and state/province) any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.

Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.