? Hi from Spooky, Jinx and Snowy - question of food?

Spooky is a 6 yr old male short hair that I realized lost some weight, plus he seemed to go after his food as though he was starving versus taking his time. I took him to the vet for blood tests which came out high and likely he has diabetes, but the vet had me bring in a urine sample today to make sure in case he was just really stressed when he had the blood tests.

He has the symptoms of being very hungry and thirsty, losing weight and fur on his belly and hind legs.

We're in the period that he's not on insulin so from reading all over I'd like to take the next 3-5 days and radically change his diet. No more dry food which was primary, and get low carb canned. He loves can food so that won't be an issue, I just have to deal with the other cat and the dog. I usually leave dry out all day so that's going bye bye now.

I don't know how much can food he should get each day. He's now 11lbs and active. SInce my other cat will be on the same diet, she's 16lbs and a bit chubby.

How often should they eat and do I need to watch for any signs since he's not yet on insulin?

THANKS!!

 

Hi Spooky and Spooky's Mum. Welcome to the forum.
Being very hungry, thirsty and losing weight are symptoms of untreated Feline Diabetes. He will probably stay hungry until his blood sugar levels (BSL) go back to near normal and he will probably want more than normal for a while....that is OK.
Here is a chart with the carb values on it. You need to get canned food that is 10% or less. A lot of people use fancy feast canned.
http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

Try and get him changed over to all canned food BEFORE you start any insulin because dry food will always raise the BSL and the canned lets it to drop lower because of the less carbs in the food.
Good idea to put your other cat onto canned food as well. Much better for him and it will be easier for you.
With the dogs food, if it is dry you will need to feed him elsewhere.

Once you start insulin you will need to feed before the insulin....it also depends what type of insulin the vet orders. Most of us use Lantus or levemir or Prozinc. Then you can feed every few hours. We don't feed the 2 hours before the next shot as the food will influence the result of the BSL.
Are you going to test Spooky's BSLs .? We do here and it is a wonderful tool. It not only keeps our kitties safe but it tells us if the insulin is the right dose.
Keep asking questions. It is a steep learning curve at the beginning and sometimes a big scary, but we are all here to help and it will soon become very easy for you.

If you have any more questions go over to the main health forum where there are more people to help. Here is the link.
Again welcome!
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

 

Just wanted to add.........Once you have changed Spooky over to all canned low carb food, make sure the vet tests the blood sugar again before ordering the dose of insulin, because it could be a lot lower than it was on the dry.

You asked about watching for other signs........You could buy some Ketostix from the pharmacy...not sure where else in the US as I am not from there.....they are not expensive...and you could test Spooky's urine for ketones. If there is more than a trace you need to go to the vet. Ketones can develop in untreated feline diabetes and also in treated diabetics so it is a good idea to check on those as they can develop into a serious illness.
Like these
http://www.contournextstore.com/en/ketostix-reagent-strips-for-urinalysis-50-ct-package-2

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to you and Spooky! Post any/all questions you have over on the main health forum where they'll be seen by more people.

 

Thanks all -- the info here is helpful. I'm going to ask some newbie question on the forum Bron and Sheba posted. My cat was just diagnoses and has glucose (per the vet) in his urine. I switched to all canned for both my cats with all the wet being less than 10% about 3 days ago. Amazingly he's already gained weight and isn't drinking water every 5 minutes or crying for food.

My next step is to see if I can make some home made food for one or two meals a day (I'm not ready to go all home made yet) without having to resort to buying TCFeline. I'd love to go that route but its very expensive in the US. The markup versus pricing in Canada is almost double. I work with money exchanges internationally and was shocked to see such a high markup/

 

Welcome MrsCLyn and Spooky and Jinx and Snowy!
I'm a bit late to the welcoming party due to an injury