Introducing Diane- feeling scared :(

Hi Everyone!

Well, last week my kitty, Diane, was diagnosed with diabetes! She had been drinking lots of water and urinating a lot, so I took her in. The vet didn't seem too concerned, but I insisted on doing a blood test and the results came back her glucose was at 478 mg/dL!!

Needless to say, I'm happy I took her in when I did! The vet says that she isn't clinically diabetic since she has absolutely no symptoms except that she was drinking and urinating a lot. He thinks the diabetes developed in the past month or two, so I'm happy we caught it early.

The weird thing is that a month ago she was perfectly fine, and then I took her in for what I thought were asthma attacks. I couldn't afford the X-rays so he just gave her a shop of depo-medrol (a steroid) and an antibiotic. It worked and she hasn't had any attack since. BUT, after reading online about how steroids can push a cat in diabetes, I'm a little upset that I let them give her that shot. I had no idea.

She hasn't started on insulin yet. The vet wanted me to try changing her diet and come back after two weeks to see if we can manage via food. I bought some Purina DM dry food, but after reading about how cats are more likely to go into remission using low carb wet food I switched her to the purina DM wet with just some sprinkles of dry. She's a picky eater and usually HATES wet food...but she loves this stuff!

I bought a glucometer the night that I found out her diagnosis and tested her. Her levels a few hours after the vet were down from 478 to 365! I was a bit surprised at how big of a difference a few hours made, but I guess the stress of the vet had a lot to do with it.

So far she isn't drinking as much as she was before I switched her foods and she seems perfectly fine. Yesterday her levels got down to 256 in the morning and then slowly progressed back up to 330 by the end of the day. I was kind of disappointed in that but not surprised.

I used to work at a kennel in college and have been around many diabetic animals. I'm used to giving the shots, monitoring the feeding, and know what to look out for. But it's even scarier now that it's happening to my baby. I rescued her while in school after she had been at a shelter for two years. I fostered her and brought her out of her shell, and then couldn't let her go.

I suspect she will need insulin but am hoping so much that once we get her regulated, we can manage using food only. The vet says since we caught it so early that the chances of remission are fairly high. *fingers crossed*

I'm so happy that I found this site though and look forward to talking to all of you! It's nice to know that Diane and I aren't alone in this, as scary as it is!! If anyone has any tips or words of encouragement I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Welcome! I hope you can get diane feeling better asap!

I wanted to tell you, I changed Benny's food to Wellness no grain and his numbers have gone much lower. I'm keeping an eye on him but I haven't had to give him insulin for a few days. Well, technically shouldnt habe and spent sunday trying to keep his sugars from going too low. I think its possible to he'll regulate with low carb diet. I'm praying for that anyway.

And my Benny was a rescue, too! He was so injured and beat up, it broke my heart. He's the most challenging for me health wise bit very much worth it. Diane sounds like darling.

 

Vet stress may increase the glucose 100-180 mg/dL.
Changing to a low carb canned or raw diet may reduce the glucose 100-200 mg/dL and drop the insulin dose 1-2 units. (your mileage may vary).
Pop over to Cat Info for feline nutrition from Dr Pierson; its her specialty. There is a downloadable food list here.

 

Thanks girlboheme! I will think about switching her to Wellness once we get her on insulin. I wanted to try managing her on something like fancy feast, but my vet pretty much laughed at that thought...even though I told him I've seen it work for diabetic cats in the past. Purina DM is way too expensive though, so I will be looking into new low carb food soon. Her levels were at 275 when I got home from work...it's amazing how much the food helps! Also, Benny looks adorable!!

 

Thank you so much for the links! I will be checking that list out in the next few days to get ideas on what to switch her over to. Purina DM is so pricey!

 

Is that Diane in your avatar? She's got gorgeous green eyes!! She has similar coloring to Benny, so pretty! Yes, I call Benny the 'Barry White' of cats. He always looks like a Mac Daddy lol. He now is a skinnier boy than he was in my photo but he's a very low key, sitting back and chillin kind of boy. I love him so much!

BJM's link to Cat Info is invaluable. I personally am very interested in making my own cat food for them because, quite honestly, Wellness is way out of my price range. I'm struggling to pay that much for all four of my cats and they all need a healthy diet. I do make sacrifices but I honestly cannot continue to do so. But, I read Cat Info often, she really is amazing. The cat food list is fantastic. And previously I was feeding all my cats Iams dry weight loss and hairball care, which is seriously horrible for diabetic and obese cats so I was unintentionally causing them major health issues. I really regret that.