Hi there.

My wife and I just adopted a diabetic cat. We adopted her from a rescue group in Montana. Her name was Esther, but we renamed her Ember. On the most recent vet records it shows she is 12.5-12.9 pounds and she is between 3-5 years old. She is a sweetheart. We also have 2 other cats, a tortie and a torbie. (God bless us with all the attitude we have in our household) But anyways, we adopted her on 4/9 and today 4/12 she is going to see our vet. She is currently not on insulin and her blood sugar was tested about once a week. She was not getting much exercise due to the fact she was living in a cage. Currently the rescue group gave us food they were feeding her. 1 can on Fancy Feast pate in the morning and the evening and throughout the day she has Young Again dry food to nibble 0n. If I recall, her blood sugar was in the high 200's on her last blood test. (I don't currently have her records in front of me as I am at work) So, today we will find out what our vet recommends. I will post another thread when we get the news about her health. I have never had a diabetic cat before, so this is new to my wife and I. Something was telling me that I needed Ember in my life. I have never met such a loving cat. I know it's definitely a life style change, but we are ready. We are absolute animal lovers, we wish we could save them all. So here we are everyone you will be seeing plenty more posts from us!

 

Welcome.
Fancy feed, if of the low-carb varieties, is good.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/
Young Again if it is the Zero Carb one is OK if you must feed dry.
A BG in the 200's is not bad when not on insulin.

Good insulins are the human Lantus and Levemir and the pet insulins ProZinc and BCP PZI. For those two human insulin it is best to get the 5 pack of 3 ml disposable pens via a 10 ml vial. Although per ml the vial is less expensive most cats will not use up a 10 ml vial before the insulin goes bad/becomes ineffective. The human insulin N/NPH is sometimes prescribed but only lasts 8-10 hours. Same for the pet insulin Vetsulin/Caninisulin.
Most of us here test or cats blood glucose at home using a human meter. We test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
Here is a link to home testing blood sugarshttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

 

Hi Kathryn, welcome to you and Ember. It's wonderful that you've adopted a diabetic cat, so many wouldn't The Fancy Feast and Young Again are both good foods for Ember. We strongly suggest you get a glucose meter and begin testing her glucose levels. Any human meter will do. This is the best way to keep her safe and to to see how the insulin is working. Please do post and let us know what your vet says. If you have any questions post in the health forum.

 

Hi Kathryn!

I think it's wonderful that you and your wife have taken Ember into your home and into your hearts.

It sounds like you're already sharing a wonderful connection with Ember, and it will very likely become even stronger as you help Ember along the path back to wellness: a very powerful bond develops when you have a sugar cat.


Mogs
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Ember had her vet appointment today. We thought she was about 3 because that's what most of her vet records said, but our vet she definitely seems to be about 6. She has a broken tooth, ear mites, and an ear infection in the left ear. Also, a small cyst on her back. Poor baby. The vet said she should be about 7.5-8 pounds and should lose about .2 pounds a week. She weighed 12 pounds today. They prescribed us Hills M/D. So we are going to slowly transition her over. Her gluclose today was 175! How great. But they couldn't get a urine sample so we will have to bring one to them in about a week and they will test it further to give us a definite answer if she is diabetic. So as of right now, no insulin. We got drops today for her ear infection and in a week when we drop off the urine, they will give her a shot for her ear mites. It's only a small crack in her tooth and a very small cyst so we are going to leave those alone for right now unless they get worse. The rescue group said she was peeing a lot and drinking a lot but we don't see it. She is using the litter box and drinking a normal amount. So we will wait for the urine test results and start transitioning her food and get her some exercise!

 

What have you been feeding historically? Hill's m/d is not low carb; it could send Ember backwards.


Mogs
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There are a number of over the counter, canned, low carb foods which are much less costly than the prescription ones, and of no better ingredients. You may want to take a read on Cat Info, and consider options such as the Fancy Feast Classic pates or the Friskies pates.

 

The Fancy Feast and Young Again you were feeding are much lower in carbs than the Hills m/d. Please get a glucose meter and check Embers glucose levels at home. They may be lower at home than they were at the vets because of stress. It will also tell you how she's responding to diet. Check the ear drops too. Some contain steroids which can raise numbers.

 

Diabetic cats need a low carb, canned diet. The only prescription diet that is appropriate for a diabetic cat is Purina DM canned. Hills M/D, both canned and dry, are too high in carbs for diabetics. There is nothing in the diabetic prescription diets that makes them any better than regular cat food. In the case of the Hills, it's worse than many regular cat foods.

At the catinfo.org website that BJM posted up above, there's a food chart the lists the Protein/Fat/Carb content of many canned commercial foods. You can pick any commerical food that is less than 10% carbs, and there's a lot of options! Friskies and Fancy Feast are good grocery store options, but you could also opt for a premium food like Wellness or EVO and you'd still be paying less than what you are for the Hills M/D, and the food would be higher quality than the Hills (which contains cellulose as a filler, aka wood pulp). I would return it to your vet and just say your cat wouldn't eat it.