It happened again

Hi guys,

I just joined! My 10 year old cat was just diagnosed. He was loosing a bit of weight and drinking all the time. So I was worried it might be his thyroid. He was at the vet 6 months ago for a teeth cleaning where I used to work. We did blood work, sugar was fine but thyroid elevated. I decided to keep an eye on him because he didn't show any symptoms of hyperthyroid really. He just gets really stressed at the vet (he will pee and poop in the first minute and then get grouchy).

In the last few weeks I noticed a little weight loss and a much greater increase in thirst and urine. His coat was looking mat instead of shiny and soft. And, I noticed ever so slightly his back legs dragging like he was walking on a slippery surface. It seemed to all happen in just a few days! I took him to my vet and blood and urine showed elevated glucose. Thyroid is fine. He is going back to the vet saturday for a glucose curve.

The funny thing is, he got diabetes at exactly the same age as my last girl. They were both orange color and I read that makes them more prone? I had him on a grain free diet thinking this would decrease the chance he would diabetes. He was on Taste of the Wild, which I just learned was not the best because of the fruits. He also got canned food in the morning, different brands. He is a little chubby too, a few pounds.

So I'm wondering if I should switch him (and my other cat) to zero carb cans? They both love cans but mostly the saucy kind, not good. However, they will eat pate. Or should I start with low carb? How and when should I monitor insulin with the new food? I don't want any hypoglycemia! I'm hoping to manage it with food eventully. How much canned food to give? He is around 14 pounds, a little overweight. How long can he go in between meals? Is morning and evening sufficient? Thank you

 

Welcome to the message board, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.

 

Hi Kathy and welcome. Are you home testing? If not than we strongly recommend that you start before you change your kitty's food. You should test him before each shot and mid-cycle when possible. If you post your questions on the health forum you may get a better response. Include what kind and how much insulin you're giving, what food you're feeding and, if you're home testing, which meter you're using. Hope to see you there!