is the food helping?

well as u might know from my other posts i gave vixen a glucotest friday.not good, dark color saturday morning after getting on here i changed her to low carb wet food (thanks to the great food chart!) and already the constant drinking and urination has stopped. is that a good sign!? i hope so. im calling the vet tomorrow to tell him what ive been doing and see whats next. i just wanted to see what the food would do before starting on insulin cause i saw on here it my be dangerous to do both at the same time. she seems tired,but like i said the drinking and constant urination has stopped. i just wanted to know if im on the right track and if thats a good sign? and by the way this site is a godsend! and im so greatful for the advice and the support of people who know how important our pets r in our lives! thank u all soooo much!

 

That is a very good sign. Have you gotten a meter yet?

 

The decrease in drinking and urination is a good sign. I am, however, a little concerned about what you described as tiredness. Are you monitoring for ketones? Ketones are a possible side effect of unregulated diabetes, and lethargy is one of the symptoms. I would urge you to read about ketones here http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Ketones, and also encourage you to pick up some ketostix at your local drugstore so that you can check for ketones at home until Vixen's diabetes is under control.

 

Yes,that is a good sign! I started my cat on the diet change before seeing if she needed insulin too. She was "borderline" diabetic. If I continued with the dry food, she would have needed insulin. It took about two weeks for the urine test to be completey negative, and by that time I hometested (very important) and she never needed the shots. Make sure Vixen is eating, and as JJ said, get some Ketone test stips also - that is VERY, very important. Ketones can come on quickly and be fatal. Please test Vixen for them? You also will worry less if you know she hasn't developed them.
Did you have a Fructosamine test done? (the average BG reading in the last couple of weeks) It could make a difference in the treatment.

 

well i just went to the vet. he gave me some prescription wet food and said to feed her that at the same times everyday 4 a couple weeks then do the glucotest again and see if its any different. if it isnt then he will do the nessisary tests and start her on a low dose of insulin. he didnt seem to keen on home testing though. he said they can be somewhat inacurate in cats. i dont know! he said he could do all those tests to confirm the diagnosis, but he thought it would be more than i can afford, and he would probably recommend the same corse of treatment.

 

What kind of perscription food? Is it on the food list? There are some, many - good low carb foods on the list as good, or better than the perscripton kind. That food is expensive, is it not? I never used it, but I am sure there will be some folks to tell you what is better.
And did you get a BG number? How high was it? Did you know that the bg's can be raised by the stress of the vet trip, so hometesting is a much better way to tell what they really are. And if you DO hometest - then in a couple of weeks, you won't need the extra expense of the "curve" that he will do - you will have those numbers yourself!
And don't worry about him being not keen on hometesting - print out the "Convert a Vet" :
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2509
- Maybe you can teach HIM something!
My original vet laughed at hometesting, said it was better to get blood from the leg, and that I wouldn't be able to hometest...more than once. Well, I knew she was wrong - just LOOK at all the success around here.
Also, if your cat is borderline, or diabetic - you would want to feed her all she wants. I read, or was told, that diabetics do better on small frequent meals. Less up and downs of the blood sugars - more steady. Someone correct me if I'm wrong?
Keep reading in the health links to know all you can - it's important you learn. And don't let the vet talk down on the hometesting - he's wrong.
Vixen may need a low dose of insulin for a little while, or not - if the vet isn't worried about a change in food maybe her level wasn't too high, why not try that - but you really need to do the ketone tests in the meantime.

 

its purina diabetes managment. im so confused! theres so many contradictary things between here and my vet.according to him, we caught this early and he could do all these expensive tests,but it would just lead to where we r right now. he would still want to start out and do the same thing hes doing now. start out with the food, see if in a couple weeks the glucotest changes and take it from there. this is so stressful!

 

It is stressful to try to balance all the information around you isn't it?! I have had a few melt-down moments myself when I try to reconcile all the different sources.

I am very new to this myself, but any vet that says there is no point in home testing loses points with me. The best thing you can do is know what is going on with your kitty as much as possible. It breaks my heart when my girl hides under the bed from me instead of looking for lovin', but if I hadn't started hometesting we'd still be on 3units of Lantus instead on 1 skinny unit and we are dipping low with that and skipping some doses. Puts a sinking feeling in my stomach thinking about what could have happened if we hadn't started monitoring her bgs. My vet did not push home testing, but once she saw I was doing it, she's left the monitoring up to me.

I am not sure of your finances, but to me the cost of the tests means nothing when it comes to treating my cat with meidcation. I'd want it confirmed that we are treating the correct disease correctly before injecting any medications into her. I know that's easier said when money isn't an issue, but I'd at least want enough work don't to know there isn't other issues at play and diabetes is the most likely culprit.

Good luck. These ladies around here are so much help. They help keep the panic at bay on those nail biting days.

eta: we started out on Purina DM and it seemed to help a lot. The problem is that all 3 want nothing to do with DM anymore, they got tired of it. Now we mix it up with LC friskies and fancy feast from the charts here to keep them interested in food and use the DM mainly for free-feeding at night and when we are gone because we know it will last.

 

ok, Katie -
First, breathe - you guys will be ok. You CAN absolutely trust these people here. We have all been thru the fear and felt overwhelmed at first - OK? There are MANY, MANY smart experienced, caring people to help you thru this. It DOES get easier.
Sounds like your vet is NOT worried about ketones or any complications from trying the food change first - that is VERY good. I found the food on the "old canned food list";
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodOld.html
Purina DM - right? That has only 7 carbs - very good!
Here is the link to the food info - new canned food list -
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html
and the main page so you can read more:
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html

You want a low carb food under 9 carbs, the lower the better - if the vet food is very expensive, there are many good ones you can get at the grocery store. Take a look at the list, but the purina DM looks good - if you can afford it and want to stay with it. Unfortunately, the vet's make money off it, so they push it.
I think it's good that your vet wants to try the food first, it really must mean her level is not too high - that's good!
But if you don't get a glucose meter and hometest, ask him for a Fructosamine test next time. (it cost me an extra $100) and it revealed a much lower level of BG's than the stressed out one at the vet. It can be rasied A LOT by the stress - kind of like getting a blood pressure reading from someone that is stressed, rather than relaxed reading, you know what I mean?

Meantime, keep urine testing her. You may just see that color change.
If you can't afford a glucose meter the board can send you one - look in the...list, in the feline diabets forum - "request for a meter"
Just remember - you are not alone, there is support here for whatever you decide to do, and there is no question too dumb to ask - OK?
Now give that kitty a belly rub for me!

 

thank u guys sooooo much! its just so overwhelming. the glucotest at home said that the levels were high,but he just wants to see what the food will do first. im gonna go through this case of food then do the glucotest again to see if the color changes at all. then if it doesnt ill have him do the test u guys were talking about before he puts her on insulin. he said if he did he would start her on the lowest dose first. i think hes trying to do what he can while saving me money at the same time. im on disability and really dont have much but im really watching her and everything she does at this point, and will report to him ( and u guys im sure any changes that might take place. im just praying 4 her.

 

In some cases, the food change can do the trick - I'm rooting for you guys! Paws crossed!
Just make sure she keeps eating. (I hope she likes her new food!)

 

Katie - hello and welcome. I did the same this with my Webber when he was first diagnosed. We were sent home with the prescriptions food. However I quickly switched to all wet food from Janey & Binky's chart. Then I learned to do some spot testing at home and noticed that his glucose levels were not as high (partially thanks to the diet change). But in the end we did end up getting insulin.

All of these changes that you are doing now are putting you way ahead of the game!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Diet and testing are very important at first. If you can get that under your belt, if and when the time comes to start the insulin you won't be AS OVERLOADED and stressed out.

Great job so far!!! :thumbup

 

thank u all! i did have a choice between wet and dry prescription food. i chose the wet. she really likes it and continues to eat shes not very active, but still getting up, walking around, eating and going to the bathroom. so thats good. i guess over the next week or two well see what happens w/ the food.