Comet : First week after Vet with high BG

So, been around the forum researching diabetes for a week. Here is Comet's story based in College Station, TX.

Comet is my husband's male netuered indoor only cat, weighs 13.6 lbs. Vet says he could loose a pound, but not too have this as a goal right now.

When we started dating I was deathly allergic to him. Allergist said get rid of the cat. Friends said get rid of the cat. Could not do that to my husband or Comet. After 7 years of allergy shots, I can now pick Comet up or lay with him on the floor and have no reactions....bring a different cat into the picture and I will sneeze my head off. Comet is special and a blessing.

We took Comet to the vet for the first time in a couple of years. He turned 10 years old in March and seemed to be drinking a ton of water and going through food faster in the last month. Knew something was wrong and likely linked to age and food. Comet has been eating Purine One Indoor Advantage for years. We don't think he has ever been on anything else since he was a kitten.

Got him to the vet on Oct 28th for a checkup and after a struggle, the vet got blood. They were going to try and get a urine sample, but did not attempt to after the struggle for blood. His BG came back 481!

I hoped most of his reading was stress. I was in shock. I was hoping for a little pill solution or time to put him on an old man diet. I am still hoping the lab (and what my home meter has read) is wrong. *denial*

The vet recommended this website and gave us the food chart for low carb. wet food. Told us to get things in order and supplies to start insulin shots. Seems like she gave better info than most receive at the start. She told us to do research too and that we need to determine what makes Comet the happiest kitty.

At the vet, I advised I wanted to switch Comet's diet first before doing insulin shots. If getting blood caused that much stress, I didn't want to cause too many life changes. Might be humanizing the cat too much here.

Went and picked up the "starter kit" for around $50: ReliOn meter, glucose strips, lancets, ketone strips, and kero syrup. Bought wet food with highest protein, moderate fat, and carbs close or under 10%: Wellness Core, Weruva, Fancy Feast, and Purina One Smart Blend.

Comet has always loved wet food, so we went cold turkey off the kibbles. Bowls seem okay. He was soooo happy the first few days. He tried everything I bought, but has only consistently finished Purina One turkey/chicken....the cans with the most fat.....He will "drink" the Weruva but won't attempt to eat the meat. The Weruva looks amazing to me, but glad it didn't make his list since it's $2 a can and would require 2.5 cans a day to meet his calorie requirements. I have his calories needs at 253.6 per day. Someone tell me my math is wrong, so I don't have to feed 3 cans of FF per day.

On the wet diet now for 6 days. His BG hasn't droped as much as I have hoped since we started reading at home. I have not checked out the group's excel sheet but it is on the to do list to get it setup this weekend. We are in the training the human and cat stage, so we average 3 test a day alternating ears. A few of his readings:

28Oct 481 5pm (vet office)
30Oct 272 5:30pm (first home reading, 2nd day wet food)
2Nov 282 5:18pm
3Nov 402 7:15am
3Nov - urine negative for ketones!?!
4Nov 291 12:05pm

So my newbie struggles are the following:

1. His BG is high and seems consistent even with a short term diet switch, but no ketone issues. Do we ask for more test at the vet to insure diabetes is the correct diagnosis?
2. How urgent is it to start insulin when ketones are not being excreted?
3. Comet isn't a picky easter, but looks like he will get burnt out at times. How have yall kept it fun? Have you had to give in and feed some of the old familiar kibbles to insure they ate something for the day? Did you see BG spikes because of giving in with the old?
4. After starting insulin shots, did you see activity levels go up for your cat? Did they seem to have a more consistent appetite?

If you made it this far, thank you for reading! Your post have all ready helped me advance my knowledge of diabetes in cats. I still have more diving into the forum to do and apologize if my questions are repetitive or recently asked. I will also post the above questions in the health forum once I get my excel doc going.

Thank you again!

 

Welcome to FDMB.
Sometimes, insulin helps the pancreas rest and recover enough function to get off insulin, and sometimes its for the life of the cat.
If he's running high, I wouldn't wait on the insulin. Glucose toxicity damages the body. Add in an infection and not eating and diabetic ketoacidosis may happen very quickly.
Insulin will let him use the calories he eats, so he may perk up as you get the dose optimized.
Food changes can be tough.
- Eating is preferable to not eating, so that is step 1.
- Making it low carb is step 2 (Evo Cat and Kitten dry and Young Again 0 Carb are the only 2 low carb dry foods in the US).
- Step 3 is making it a canned or raw diet (there is a recipe at Cat Info if you're so inclined).
We call dry food "kitty crack" and some cats are so sensitive, a few pieces will send the glucose soaring, even the Evo. Wet food is better for the cat, as it maintains hydration.

 

Thank you BJM! I was excited that he let go of the "kitty crack" for the first few days, but then wouldn't eat the wet food. Did not matter the brand, if we added water, add a few kibbles, mixed a few brands. I was about to head to the store and get EVO. Told him he had 5 minutes with the his old kibbles. Picked it up after 5 minutes and shortly afterwards saw him eating his wet food. Hope to avoid the food drama so many have gone through.

I am ready for the insulin, just need the husband to commit, since I will likely not be able to do much until Comet is normalized with the testing and shots. If he bites me, which he never has, there is a chance I would need medical help with my allergies.

 

Hi and welcome Stephanie and Comet. Comet is one lucky cat to have you as his Bean especially in lieu of the allergy fact. You have all ready done such a great job with researching and understanding the importance of a low carb diet under 10% carbs. The food issue is troublesome for a lot of beans whose cats were "crack addicts" but, it looks like Comet might adapt well since he all ready liked wet food. Now you just have to find the flavor and brand that he likes. Some of us buy Florti-flora (Purina makes it, you can get it online) It is a probiotic that helps a lot when kitties have diarrhea but, it also has some of the animal enzymes that the dry food companies put in the dry which makes the cats addicts. You can sprinkle a little bit of it over his wet food and usually they go crazy to eat. If you just can't get him to eat enough of the wet food, there are two companies that their dry food is lower. One is EVO and the other is Young Again, which can be ordered online. It is a bit pricey, but an average 13 lb cat only needs 1/3 a day. I transitioned my cats off the dry with the YA and now they both eat mostly wet and I am giving them each 1 tbs. of YA a day to fill in the calorie blanks.

About the calories, it looks like you are spot on with the calories for him his weight 13.6 times 13.5 plus 70. I know what you mean about the Weruva cost and my cat would need 3 cans a day for his weight, expensive! Have you tried Fancy Feast Classic Chicken Feast or the Fancy Feast Classic Kitten Turkey feast. Both mine cats love it! Once or twice a week I give them Wellness NO GRAIN Salmon and Turkey or Chicken and Herring. I made bold the Classic and No Grains to ensure that you are staying within that line as all the FF and Wellness are not created equally in the carb department and some are much higher in carbs and if you were giving say the Fancy Feast Roasted line, the carbs would be much higher. Just a thought since you aren't seeing the numbers come down. Just double check your labels against this chart and the carb column is 3rd from the left.
foodchart

As BJM said in her post, that since he is running high you shouldn't wait to get him on the insulin. We like to see the cats on a long acting insulin like Lantus, Levemir, or ProZinc.starting at 1 unit and "starting low, going slow" with the increases. Once your vet RX, post and let us know which one and we will can help you with dosing.

Our spreadsheet instructions are here. If you look at the signatures of the members here, you will see a link to their kitty’s spreadsheets. We keep track of all our tests. This is basically a place to collect data and help you to determine patterns, doses, etc. It also aids those that may be helping you to better understand your kitty. If you need assistance setting it up just ask.

 

Welcome Stephanie and Comet. All said above is all good information. BTW, I love your vet. Seems like they are pretty knowledgeable on feline diabetes and I love the fact that they encourage you to do some research first. Holler anytime if you have additional questions.

 

Okay, I thought I was being a "smarty" by going with the FF chunky because it meets the recommended higher protein, low carb...BUT!...I just looked at the back of the can with fresh eyes and saw "wheat gluten" which we are trying to avoid. *Ugg* Fillers are killing us and making diets hard to manage.

So, I have ordered and received FF classics.

 

Pretty soon, you'll have a nice pantry of appropriate foods for Comet. Some other good low carb choices are 9-Lives Pates. Check them out on the food chart I linked in post #4. They are very inexpensive too.