here we go again...

Hi! I posted briefly in 2010 with my Maine coon cat, Murphy. He did well for about 2 years. He took to the wet food diet and was able to go off the insulin. But, age and renal and liver failure caught up with him and I had to make the decision to let him go. He was truly a "heart" cat and not a day goes by but what I look around for him when it is dinner time.

Fast forward and I've had 2 more hyperthyroid cats who have undergone radioactive iodine. Now, a month ago, one of them (Tom, a tuxedo cat, 12-14 y/o, from a rescue) was diagnosed with DM. Fortunately, I recognized the signs and he was started on insulin almost right away. Unfortunately, he (and my 6 others) really don't want to give up their kibble...they all like the wet food but want kibble available too. 7 demanding/pleading cats can wear down my best intentions. Also, he has NO intention of letting me test his BG. I'm taking things slowly but worry as the doc has increased him to 3 units NPH q12hours. He goes back to the doc in 2 weeks for another glucose curve.

So, I'm back, reading avidly and looking for support and ideas on how to manage my stubborn Tom.

 

Support I can give, ideas I will have to leave to those more experienced

I just wanted to pop in to give my condolences on Murphy. Dealing with old age issues is tough, and we are walking that tightrope with our 5 seniors. Our first diabetic, Brady (GA), was my heart kitty, and I know all to well how much and long your heart just aches to be back to the way it was before they were gone.

But how fantastic that Murphy how he paid you back by letting you see DM in Tom. Maybe that was Murphy's way of visiting you, and a blessing to Tom.

I am sure others will stop in to give specific advice as the East Coast is waking up. Best of luck to you and Tom.

[ETA: I just saw that you are in NC -- me too! If you are around RDU and there is anything I can do, just say so!]

Best,
Sandi.

 

There are 2 low carb kibbles in the US
- Evo Cat and Kitten available at specialty pet stores and online
- Young Again available online
We really suggest, however, getting them converted to low carb canned food, as it will make feeding easier and some cats still spike on any dry food.
Cat Info has a lot of suggestions on how to transition, as well as a downloadable food chart.

See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some additional assessments you may find helpful while you work on blood testing. Water drunk (with multiple cats, the overall volume should begin to decrease as you get the glucose controlled for him), hunger, urination volume (if you can catch him doing that!), dehydration checks, and urine ketone and glucose checks (again, if you can catch him urinating!) may be what you have to go on for the moment

 

Thanks for your kind words. I'm in Jacksonville on the coast...home of the Camp LeJeune marines

 

I'll keep working at getting them into all wet food. I certainly know it's benefits by how it helped my Murphy. And thanks for the other monitoring ideas.

 

Hi Ann,
Welcome back. Although I know you'd rather you didn't have to be here....

Please don't reduce the dry food until you are able to test Tom's blood glucose at home. Reducing the carb content of the diet could reduce his blood glucose quite a bit, and the insulin dose could then be too much....

What sort of problems are you having when you try to test Tom? Maybe we can help...?

Eliz

 

HI! I don't post often but I do read so many of the threads...
Had Tom in for his glucose curve and fructosamine today and such bad news. I had thought he was doing better. Eating better and looking better in general. Well he is the same weight as 2 months ago--10 lb. But his BS 1 1/2 hr after 3 units of NPH was 600 and it took the vet all day to get him down to 295. He also has a bad UTI. So he got abx and I've removed all the dry kibble (which he enjoys) and it is strictly wet food now. I'm familiar with the acceptable foods from Murphy's DM. The vet wanted to go up to 4 units BID but I going to hold back till I see how he does on the totally wet food diet. I feel so bad since I chose to leave the kibble out for all the cats to free feed on. Well no more of that. We go back to the vet in 2 weeks to do another curve. Tom absolutely will not tolerate my pricking his ear so I can't do my own curves. Any other ideas for us?

 

Also, the vet did a full senior panel of bloodwork and everything but the glucose looked good-- kidneys and liver ok, thyroid ok (he had radioactive iodine a few years ago) and no signs of dehydration or starvation. And physical exam ok except for arthritis in his back hips.

 

A UTI can raise glucose levels quite a bit in some cats. I have a non-diabetic cat that had a UTI and I had blood work done at the same time I took her in. Her glucose was 260 and they said she was diabetic. Three days after starting the antibiotics her levels were around 70 and have been in that range for the last year. It was the UTI that raised her glucose levels.

Also if you are removing all dry food, that should be done be before doing an increase since some kitties can drop quite a lot with a diet change to all wet food. There have even been a few kitties on here who were able to go off insulin just with a diet change to low carb wet food.

Stress can also affect glucose numbers. Some cats are more prone to stress and can show higher glucose readings at the vet. It would really be great if you could start home testing. NO kitty likes it in the start, but most will learn to accept it as they become accustomed to the pattern of testing.

 

Paw testing is an alternative to ear testing. Also, it may be very crude but you could use urine dipsticks to monitor whether Tom is spilling glucose into his urine. It's only a guide to whether over the last few hours Tom's BG has been over the renal threshold. It won't give you any idea of whether there may be times when the dose of insulin might take him too low, nor will it give you any indication of just how high he may be going. Tracking daily water consumption is another secondary monitoring technique but again it's crude. Having a multi-cat household will make using secondary monitoring methods much, much trickier.

As Mary Ann suggests above, if you could invest time in using desensitizing techniques to make home blood testing more acceptable to Tom it would be your best bet to improve his regulation and keep him safe on insulin.


Mogs
.

 

Here are some posts on home testing that may be helpful:


http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/


This one has a good picture of where to be "poking" on the ear:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/testing-and-shooting-tips.85113/#post-1377750


When I first started home testing it was a disaster. I was so nervous and stressed and I am sure my kitty picked up on it. I was wrestling him, he was howling and I was in tears and figured it would NEVER work. First I had to settle myself down so that I didn't stress my kitty. I established a regular spot for the testing..which for me anyway was a mat on the floor near a table and bright light. Then I took time to take my guy there, just rub his ears and talk and pat him. After I would give a small low carb treat (my guy loves baked chicken). Soon he associate the "test mat" with cuddles and food (he is VERY food motivated) and there were no more problems. Now when I tell him it is "pokey time" he walks to the mat, sits and waits for me to do the test. I NEVER would have thought that in the start. Some kitties love their treats, some love their cuddle time, some love both..so you find what works with Murphy.

It CAN be done

 

PS - Ask your vet about whether d-mannose might help with the UTI. This thread has info and links about it:.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/suggestions-on-urinary-health-cat-foods.146240/

D-mannose is supposed to help specifically with e. coli infection but Saoirse had a UTI after her recent operation. In spite of being on antibiotics she had traces of blood in her urine for a couple of weeks. After running the treatment plan past our vet, I gave her the acute dose of d-mannose and it really helped her. She started urinating normally within 24 hours and within 48 hours there was no more blood in her urine. I'm keeping her on the lower maintenance dose for the time being and things are going OK with that thus far (anti-jinx). It doesn't adversely affect her blood glucose levels (commentary on this in discussion at link above).


Mogs
.