Go ahead with glucose curve/insulin or wait until cat is eating regularaly?

Hello,

All of Aria (Orange tabby's) tests have been completed and we believe she has diabetes. I attempted to transition Aria to an appropriate diet for a diabetic feline. Aria is eating some soft food but it is not even appropriate for diabetes. She will only happily eat some of Hills Prescription T/D Dental kibble. She is not taking in what she needs each day and I have to coach her and re-direct her daily to eat. I have tried 10 different cans of food and tried every trick of the trade.

Her BG rises when she eats the T/D as it is full of carbs. She is very fussy and will not eat an appropriate canned soft food diet. Her fructosamine levels even prior to starting insulin were 429. Reference range is between 191 and 349 umol/l. She was considered in the fair range. Since she started eating T/D (as this is the only thing she will eat), her BG has actually increased.

I am wondering if I should go head with the glucose curves/insulin or wait until she is readily eating an appropriate diet. I am not sure how I will manage the insulin if she is not eating regularly.

Taylor and Aria

 

What happens if you crush a very small bit of her fave T/D and sprinkle it on top of the canned food? Might that help encourage her to eat the soft food? There are also a couple of lower carb dry foods -Evo and Young Again Zero Carb- that you could try if her issue is a textural one.

Edit: By the way, welcome to FDMB!

 

Hi Taylor,

The food issue does make insulin treatment trickier but ... if Aria's numbers are high then she needs to start insulin treatment now. If she doesn't get insulin not only will her body continue to be starved of proper nutrition but she will also be at greater risk of developing ketones. That, in turn, could put Aria at risk of developing diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which is potentially life-threatening and really needs hospitalisation to treat.

If there is only one food a cat can eat then it's the right food for right now. When Saoirse first started on insulin the vet at the time prescribed Hill's w/d Dry for her - the carb level is so high it's like kitty cornflakes. It wasn't ideal but she was able to start her insulin treatment and we worked on the low carb food transition later. (NB: It is vital to be home testing in order to do the low carb transition safely when a cat is receiving insulin!).

Does Aria eat the wet T/D reliably?


Mogs
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Hi Mogs,

Aria is on the dry format of T/D. She still is not eating the required daily amount for her weight. but will eat this food. I started taking the BG levels at home. Aria is not losing any noticeable weight. Is this normal for a true feline diabetic? You really provided me with goof advice. Her BG ranges from 275.4 to 487.8 umol/L.

Taylor and Aria

 

The amounts cats need to eat vary greatly....and the amounts that the labels tell us to feed is usually a lot more than they need

If Aria is not losing weight, then she's probably eating enough for her, but you might want to consider buying a baby scale and weighing her once a week to keep track of her weight. This Homeimage baby scale is a popular one around here