How to deal with Diabetes and CRF diet

I have three CRF kitties and one of them diabetic. Maus was in remission on Fancy Feast Classics until I switched him to Natures Organics and then to Wellness Adult Turkey for his CKD. He was on that for March and February. I thought those would be ok for his diabetes but his bg is SUDDENLY in the high 400s and 500s when before it was always below 100. I'm just starting ProZinc insulin yesterday evening and so haven't had a chance to gauge his blood glucose levels on that, yet. I've changed Maus to Royal Canin DS44 but have just found out that it is contraindicated for Kidney Disease and now I'm considering Purina DM Dietetic Management. (A great feline crf site, http://www.felinecrf.org/diabetes.htm#diet, mentions that for diabetic/CRF cats.)

All of my cats are taking all day and all night to finish eating now (they just don't like their food) and so have to remain separated from me, diabetic Maus and my leukemic dog Scout. My other three cats (2 are CKD) are eating Wellness Adult Turkey but they don't like it, (but they like it better than Natures Organics and Evo 95%).

Does anybody have any idea how we can ever be all together? I'm disabled and mostly bedridden so I hardly get to be with any of them but Maus. Is Merricks an alternative for all of them, CKD and diabetic and one who is neither? Is Friskies Special Diet? Anything else? How much do your cats like those foods?

I'm afraid there isn't an easy answer for me either.

I got the following fantastic reply when I posted to a thread from March. does anybody have anything else to add?

 

I immediately got a call from my vet just after I posted. He says Maus does not have kidney disease! I swear he told me that he did. I'm posting his lab values for your opinion. His BUN is high and in my opinion his phosphorus level is high, too, but my vet says since his creatinine is normal that he's ok. I'll repost these values on the CRF group, too:


Alk Phosphatase: 106 (6-102)
Urea Nitrogen: 56 (14-36)
Creatinine 1.6 (.6-2.4))
Phosphorus 4.9 (2.4-8.2)
Glucose: 176 (64-170)
Sodium: 159 (145-158)
Amylase: 2489 (100-1200)
T4 4.3 (0.8-4.0)
Platelet Count: 519 (200-500)

He also has hyperthyroid which is being controlled with medication.

This still leaves me with the problem of keeping all my pets with me on their separate foods.

 

Hi Mouse! Glad you found your way here. What a great response (Julia, I assume) gave you!!!

Here is my response to you on the crf list (so others can see the info you have been given):

Hyperthyroidism, from what I understand can mask kidney disease. It is one issue I never had to deal with, so I am not sure how that works. I am assuming you have looked at Tanyas website for that information:
http://www.felinecrf.org/hyperthyroidism.htm
I think it also may be related or interwined with FD for some cats. Again, I have no experience with that. Hopefully someone else will know, or you could start a separate thread?

The phosphorus looks fine. Even in a cat with kidney issues you typically do not start treating to reduce it until it is around 6.

The BUN is elevated, but not drastically. It could be as simple as your cat being dehydrated, or eating a high protein diet.

The Amylase is quite elevated. Is that something which can be elevated with hyperthyroidism? Sometimes it can be an indication of pancreatitis, but more specific tests would need to be done in order to determine that.

 

I do home test Maus daily and the values went up so rapidly that the vet and I tried to see if his new diet of Royal Canin DS would help lower them. They were in the high 200s and 300s since March 11th. After March 27th they were in the high 300s and they've just been 489 and 578 the days before today. I was only testing him sporadically in December/ February when his numbers were about 93, 75, etc.

He's been given several exams by the vet since February when he had his teeth cleaned so I don't think it's other health or dental issues either.

I was feeding him Wellness Adult Turkey back then so that should have been ok but still his numbers soared. Before that I fed my cats canned Natures Organic Turkey and before that Evo 95% Chicken and Turkey and I also tried Evo 95% Beef. (My cats hated both though I tried that for quite a while.)

I started trying the Royal Canin DS hoping it would be an easy and specific answer. I knew prescription diets weren't the best foods but someone on the Diabetic Cats DM group was absolutely adamant that it was now regarded as the only food that I should consider. She said it would be great for all the cats but now I know that she was wrong and I shouldn't have listened to her. She was the only person that answered me so I didn't get any opposing advice there. Her's was the only voice. Besides the excellent information you've offered I've found out it's contraindicated for kidney disease. (Remember I have 2 other CKD kitties.)

I'll look for Evo, Core and Instinct.

Feeding has indeed become incredibly complicated! Fancy Feast to satisfy everything but my cats changed and so did the food evidently.