Kitty- diganoised with diabetes. last week

11 year old male. This is so stressful to go through especially cause I have 2 cats. Learning how do give shots, watching what he eats-drinks-pee's. I am so glad I found this forum, I am learning a lot. I am currently feeding him hills w/d wet food and 1 unit of Vetsulin insulin twice daily but after reading the article think I will be talking to my vet about changing his food. I want what is best for him. He was 15 pounds but is now 11 pounds.. His breathe was really bad so we took him into the vet and that's when we found out. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. TY

 

Welcome to FDMB.
SAFETY NOTE:
Until you are home testing the blood glucose, please do not make any food changes. The glucose may drop 100-200 mg/dL and the insulin dose may drop 1-2 units with a food change. This could result in hypoglycemia, which can kill quickly.
Pick up an inexpensive human gljucometer such as the Target Up and Up, the WalMart ReliOn Confirm or Confirm Micro, matching test strips, and lancets labelled for alternate site testing (26-28 gauge lancets).

 

I plan on talking with my vet first before I do anything. Ty for letting me know what glucose meter to buy, that helps me alto.

 

Hi and welcome.

It is very stressful and overwhelming in the beginning, we have all been there so please ask any questions you like.

It sounds like you have been reading the stickies which is great. My cat remi was started on vetsulin and the we switched over to lantus after reading he info on here.

Best wishes
Sarah

 

Hello Dawn and welcome to FDMB


A diagnosis of feline diabetes can certainly come as shock; and many of us felt overwhelmed at first.
But you've found a great place to get advice and support.

You may be interested to read through the FDMB 'user guide' for Vetsulin here:
Vetsulin/Caninsulin user guide
It's a useful starting point for understanding the insulin that you're working with.

When you say that "his breath was really bad" what exactly do you mean?
Was it an acetone/peardrops sort of smell? (And did the vet say your kitty had ketones, or ketoacidosis?)
Or does your kitty have dental issues? Infection? And if so, is he on any medication?

And what is your kitty's name?

Eliz

 

His name his kitty, my daughter named him when she was young. Yea it smell like acetone, it made we want to throw up it was so bad. Teeth are pretty good and she did check for that stuff and it was fine. Since she has been on a diet and insulin, the smell is gone.

 

I would make a vet visit pronto. Acetone breath is a symptom of ketoacidosis. Or at least go to the drug store and get urine test strips that test for ketones.

 

He doesn't have bad breath anymore. After we started treating him for diabetes, it went away after a few days.

 

We always recommend that you check ketones regularly even when on insulin as it can still reoccur and you can't always smell ketones. As Larry mentioned you can easily buy ketone pee sticks from pharmacy's or amazon or places like Walmart. You stick them under your kitty when they are peeing and follow the instructions to read the result.

Ketones are classed as a medical emergency and so are best treated at the vet straight away.

 

Let me start with some basics:

There are three key factors to managing diabetes: food/nutrition, home testing and insulin

1) Feline Nutrition: Now, as far as diet - definitely dump the dry food (if you are feeding any) and if the vet recommends purchasing prescription food like DM just say "no thank you". ALL cats, and especially those with diabetes, do best on a species appropriate diet that is high in protein and low in carbs. Dry food DOES NOT fit that bill and DM food, even canned, just really isn't that great as far as quality. Most here on FDMB feed low carb/high protein canned, raw bought from a pet store or they make their own.

Here is a link to a site by a vet "Dr. Lisa DVM" ... who also posts on this board from time to time ... http://www.catinfo.org

If you look on the right side of her site, she has a food comparison chart to help you figure out what food you want to get based on the carb %.



You want to keep the carb % below 10% and around 7% is great. (Personally, I stay between 0-6% carbs.)



While on her site, you can read about in-depth info. on nutrition and how to make raw food, etc.



Here is another link that will give more information about food/nutrition



Nutrition/food info



The good thing with feeding your diabetic cat this way, is that it is ALSO good for any non-diabetic cat too. All your cats can safely eat the same food without worry and it may save you some costs and headaches of having to do separate feedings and keeping track of what they are eating.




2. Home testing: It is impossible to convey the value of testing your cat's BG (blood glucose) level at home. Some vets will "suggest" this, but most won't even mention it. They will send you home with insulin and an amount to shoot and maybe some instructions about hypoglycemia (blood sugar dropping to a dangerously low level).

Well, the thing is, human diabetics don't EVER give themselves insulin without checking there BG to make sure it is safe to do so, so why shouldn't it be the same for our kitties. Here on FDMB it is. You will notice that the vast majority of people here test their cat's BG at least 2x/day (before giving each shot to make sure the level is safe enough) and periodically at other times to see how the cat is responding to the current dose. We use a human glucometer, test strips and lancets - which are all very readily available and easy to use.

Our kitties get lots of love and treats for "putting up" with this and most of them actually come out to be tested on their own 'cause they want those treats . Here is a collection of great links that "Carolyn and Spot" pulled together about home testing. See what you think ... it truly is the best way to not only keep your cat safe but also really get a handle on this disease and help him to live a healthy life with FD (feline diabetes).



Home testing Links



3. Insulin: There are several types of insulin available. The top three we recommend are Lantus, Levimer or Prozinc all are great insulins. They are gentle insulin and given twice (BID) per day in 12 hour increments.


Please read up on the insulins available, here is a link to the Insulin Support Groups:

Insulin Support Groups

However, one caveat and again this shows how these three things are inter-related:

If you are feeding dry food or even a high carb food, BEFORE removing these foods, please make sure of your insulin dose as it will most likely need to be reduced, so as to avoid a possible hypoglycemic situation due to the removal of the dry/high carb foods that will lower the BG’s and reduce the amount of insulin required. Again, another reason why home testing is important.



I know this all seems like a lot, and that is because it is ... there is a learning curve here. But as long as you are determined and keep at it, you will have it down before you know it and you'll be seeing the results in Your cat's overall health and happiness. Ask all the questions you can think of – that is why we are here!

Now, you can do this on a budget. Here is a shopping to get started:

1. Meter ie Walmart Relion Confirm or Micro*

2. Matching strips

3. Lancets - little sticks to poke the ear to get blood . new members usually start with a larger gauge lancet such as 28g or 29g until the ear learns to bleed. Optional - lancing tool.

4. Neosporin or Polysporin ointment with pain relief to heal the wound (can use generic brand)

5. Mini flashlight (optional) - useful to help see the ear veins in dark cats, and to press against

7. Ketone urine test strips ie ketodiastix - Important to check ketones when blood is high

8. Treats for the cat - like freeze dried chicken, even rotisserie chicken, deli chicken, canned tuna will work

9. Karo syrup/table syrup, honey or any sugar product like jam, jelly, etc. if you dont have it at home - for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast -

10. A couple of cans of fancy feast gravy lovers or other high carb gravy food- for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast





• We suggest the Relion meter and matching strips from Walmart, as they are the most economically priced meter and strips. That is assuming you have a Walmart nearby. If not, then you can purchase any human glucometer except for Freestyle with butterfly strips or any meter with TRU in the name. People have had issues in the past with these meters and best to start off with something else.





Here is a link to questions that you can ask any vet:



http://www.indulgedfurries.com/petdiabetes/diabetes_questions.htm

 

That is very good.

 

Ty for all your help. I guess my next question would be how often you check their glucose level? I am taking him to the vet week for a checkup so I plan on talking to her about this stuff and make a plan.

 

You always need to check before each insulin injection (test, then feed, then give insulin) and ideally get a mid-cycle test morning and evening. +2 tests are also very valuable because they can give you a bit of advance warning of a cat maybe going a bit lower than normal in the current cycle, in which case you'll know to test later in the cycle to keep your kitty safe.

 

Also how often do people feed their cats. Mine always seem to get hungry mid day?

 

That is a gem, right there. I asked the vet about that and he said that he wouldnt worry about it. thanks so much for sharing all this info. I would hate it if I had done something to kill my baby through my negligence.

 

It varies with the cat and also with the insulin.

If Kitty is on Vetsulin, then the insulin can drop the blood glucose level fairly hard and fast during the early part of each cycle, so it's important to give a substantial feed before the insulin dose. When Saoirse was on that insulin the vet treating her at the time told me to feed her only twice a day at insulin injection time. Saoirse couldn't tolerate that restriction (with the pancreatitis she started vomiting up white foam if she didn't eat every 3 hours minimum) so I fed her most of her 12-hour food ration just before giving insulin. I then fed her a slighlty smaller portion at about +3 (when the Vetsulin (usually) really has kicked in), a slightly smaller meal at +6, and then a very small snack at +9 to make sure she had something in her tummy to tide her over until the next pre-injection feed. I changed the meal sizes to coincide with how active the Vetsulin was in her system at different points in the cycle.

Feeding can be more flexible with longer acting insulins like Lantus and Levemir. When Saoirse switched to Lantus (which doesn't tend to drop the BG hard and fast in the way Vetsulin does) I was able to feed her mini meals every few hours, which helped enormously with her digestive problems.

 

Just to let everyone know Kitty is doing better, starting to act like his normal self. Feeding him 3 Oz's of off wet food a day, insulin 2 times a day. Will start home testing when the kit gets here. Very thankful i found this forum, who guys have helped me a lot. Ty

 

Delighted to hear about Kitty feeling better. Isn't it magic to see them doing things they used to do! Lots of little victories on the road back to wellness. I have said many a prayer of gratitude for the scientists who made insulin treatment possible.