Diabetic diet, my cat is always hungry

Hi everyone,

My cat Jack is 9 years old and very recently been diagnosed with diabetes.
We’re in the UK and so far he’s had 1 blood test to confirm his diabetes and then a glucose curve done at the vet, he was then put on ProZinc insulin. 3 weeks later we then had another blood test at the vet to check his glucose levels, it was still high so they upped his dose (now on 2IU 2 times a day)

We are now waiting to get a glucometer from the vet (I've asked them to order it) so we can do his glucose at home. How often do you need to do this? And do we always do a glucose curve or just one off readings?

For his diet he has 2.5 pouches of wet food and around 30g of senior biscuits (the recommended amount for a 5kg cat) but he is always hungry, he begs for food, jumps up and tries to steal food from us, constantly meows for food when I am in the kitchen, he never used to be like this and it’s really hard to listen to him cry for food.
I end up giving him a few more biscuits because I just feel so sorry for him that he’s so hungry. But then I think this might be bad for his diabetes because his glucose will just go higher.

We are still ‘stabilising’ so his dose of insulin might still need to be adjusted, we are going back to the vet in 2 weeks for another blood test.

Any advice for his diet and hunger will be most appreciated

 

Hi and welcome Emily and Jack. I am so glad you have found us. This is a very supportive community where you will get lots of help and support.

It is very normal for newly diagnosed unregulated cats to be starving hungry. This is because they are unable to fully utilise the nutrients in the food because they are not producing enough insulin. This will settle down once the blood glucose levels get under control. In the meantime, unless Jack is overweight, feed him extra because he is genuinely hungry.

The best food for diabetic cats is low carb wet/canned food. Dry food is high in carbs which just sends the blood glucose up high.
At the bottom of this thread I will send you a link about what is available in the U.K.

It is great you are going to home test the blood glucose levels!
That is one of the most important things you can do for Jack and certainly the thing that will keep him safe.
Once you are home testing you do not need to go to the vet to have Jack tested.
Cats can get very stressed when they go to the vet and the blood glucose levels taken at the vet are often not true readings, but higher than at home. This can be risky if the insulin dose is raised because of high levels at the vet, when they are lower at home.
Here is a link to how to home test. Sounds scary but it will be amazing how quickly both you and Jack learn to accept it as a normal routine.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

We do have UK members and I will tag a few as they will be able to help you with UK things
@Elizabeth and Bertie @Diana&Tom
Also @MrWorfMen's Mom as she uses Prozinc.

With the food I would recommend once you are home testing, you swap over to a fully canned /wet low carb diet. You will have a much greater chance of getting Jack into normal numbers if you do.
However a note of caution.....DO NOT swap over or change the diet until you are testing the blood glucose, because by swapping over to a low carb diet can drop the blood glucose level by up to 100 points. And if you are not testing and adjusting the insulin Jack could have a hypo.

Make sure you have some honey at home in case of a hypo and get some canned gravy foods which are high carb in case of low numbers. Fancy Feast gravy Lovers are high carb..

Keep asking lots of questions. There is a lot to learn in the beginning but then it becomes a routine.
Here are some useful links.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216680/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-vit-b12-and-other-need-to-know-stuff.137376/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...prozinc-pzi-insulin-for-diabetic-cats.164995/

Bron

 

Hi Emily, welcome to the board - we'll give you lots of support so keep asking questions!

Bron has given you some great advice above. If you have specific queries about treatment, supplies etc in the UK we have several newish UK members who will be up to date on these things @Georgiana & Perlutz @Kate & Toby are both very understanding and helpful. And @Elizabeth and Bertie is a long-standing member with loads of experience who knows practically everything there is to know about FD!

Best of luck

 

Thanks for your reply, that is very helpful, i'll be sure to read through the information on the pages you have provided.

I have swapped Jack to a better quality biscuit (James Wellbeloved senior) since diagnosed, it is higher in protein and doesn't contain the cereal usually used to bulk out the biscuits or any sugars used as colourant. We will look into the diet further to see if we can swap to full wet food.

Thank you all

 

Hi Emily and Jack!
You've certainly come to the right place, if you stick around and let the experienced members help and guide you I have no doubt that jack will be feeling better very soon.
With regards to the food, Toby was the same, always hungry, crying for more, I feed him lots of little meals now, of wet food, he really likes the Sheba fine flakes and they are one of the lowest carb foods widely available which is helpful. He probably has around 5 pouches a day spread out into lots of little meals of half a pouch at a time. He was also a complete biscuit junkie,but now he just has a few a day, the beat one in the UK is "Thrive" it's a white and yellow bag and is available from amazon, haven't found it in a pet store yet although pets at home has the wet food, pets at home is generally a great shop and has lots of low carb options including treats for testing time.
Do you know what meter your vet has ordered you? I would take a guess it's an alpha Trak, if so whilst it's a great meter, I will warn you the testing strips are mega pricey, I spend about £100 a month on strips. Georgina tagged above, uses another brand of strips so she might be able to advise if cost is an issue.
Please do ask lots of questions, never a silly question, we've all been there and everyone is lovely and happy to help. Toby is also on prozinc and I like it, so fingers crossed it will help Jack.

 

Generally canned goods that are in a pate form are less carbs than anything with gravy. I am not sure if these brands are available to you but many people feed their cats Fancy Feast or Friskies. Once you start testing you can begin to start reducing the dry food. When the glucose levels start to become under control you should also start to see the appetite even out also

 

Kate & Toby,
Thanks for your advice we already feed Jack on the sheeba fine flakes so I’m glad to hear it’s a good choice for him.
I’ve been to pets at home and that’s where I swapped his biscuits to James Wellbeloved senior as it contains higher protein and no cereal.
Yes it is the alpha track, do you know if I’ll have to test everyday? The vet hasn’t said yet. I’m abit concerned at the price, but if that’s what it takes I’ll have to adjust & make allowances for the extra monthly cost.
He’s certainly better than he was 1 month ago when he was first diagnosed. I’m hoping his glucose will stabilise now it’s been upped to 2z 2IU.

Thanks again for all your help And advice

 

Yes you should test before every dose. You will test before he eats. The reasons you test is first to determine if it is safe to give the dose. Second, it will let you know how well the dose is working and adjust it if needed.

 

Hey Emily, the alpha trak is a good pet meter, I buy the strips from animed and pet drugs online depending who is the cheapest, I dont pay more than £46 per vial, I've also made some adjustments to cover the costs, all in the name of love of our boys hey!
With regards to testing, to begin with the more tests you can do the better. But as a minimum before each dose of insulin is a must to ensure the level is high enough that you wont put Jack in danger when you give him insulin. Getting some tests at +2, +3,+4, +5 after your give insulin will help to give you and your vet a really good idea about how Jack processes the insulin and will guide you to the right dose. These tests throughout the insulin processing are what we call a blood glucose curve. If you are doing this at home then this means that Jack wont need to go to the vets to have this done, so hopefully less money and of course less stressful for your gorgeous boy.
Is he insured at all? I got my insurance company to pay 50% of my home testing supplies, worth a try!
Re the food, it's absolutely as important as the medication, many cats can manage without insulin if their diet is low carb and managed. So if you can get him off the dry food entirely that would be brilliant, just he careful to do it slowly as you dont want him to drop too low, without testing we dont know what effect the dry food is having on his blood glucose. If you go out to work then an auto feeder can be a great help, I set mine for when input at work. And i have a web cam to see what Toby is up to! (Stalker cat mummy alert!).
Keep asking questions, your gorgeous boy is lucky to have you x