Meet Zoe and Human Braden

My name is Braden my my newly diagnosed kitty’s name is Zoe. She’s about 8 ½ -9 years old. I noticed about a month ago my cat was drinking lots of water and peeing lots. Got worried and took her to the Vet and found out she diabetic. I don’t know the Level of glucose she’s sitting at but tomorrow morning is the big day that she goes to stay at the vet over night as they get her on insulin. I spent a healthy chunk of the past few days browsing this website and learning lots. I had a few questions for some of you experts. Zoe for the first 8 years has had Zero problems, ever. Never to do her business outside of the litter box, and rarely ever pukes. For years I’ve had her on an Iams dry adult cat food and at night I would give her half a tuna can sized Whiskers chicken Pate cat food. Back in January she woke me up in the middle of the night howling. She would try to go to the bathroom and nothing would happen. I had a cat before named Floyd who’s dry food only diet crystalized in his urine and after several hospital visits got it fixed and had him on a urinary cat food. So having flashbacks to him and his problems I quickly rushed Zoe to the pet hospital and she was very constipated. We got it cleared up with an over night stay and ex lax to take home. I was told that she needed to go on a High Fiber Diet. They didn’t diagnose her with anything, nothing life changing. So as of January Ive been feeding her Hill Science Diet Perfect weight dry cat food, about ½ a cup in the morning. At night I continued to give her half a can of whiskers wet cat food. Shes maybe only been a little constipated a few times since. When she has been I would sprinkle a little bit of exlax on to her food and it would soften her stools. Fast forward to today Im reading lots on this site about getting her on a wet food only diet. I see lots talking about Fancy Feast Classic. I found out Canada doesn’t have Fancy Feast Classic but instead the changed the name to Fancy Feast Pate. So over the past 24 hours Ive been feeding her 2 cans a day, and she seems to like it. Now my concern is my vet said I might have to keep her on the Hills Dry food as well? Is this a good idea or should I try Fancy feast wet food “pate” only? I don’t want her to have constipation issues again? Like I said when she was constipated but they didn’t diagnose her with anything or stressed that this was a life changing event. If she does have issues is ex lax ok to give a diabetic cat? The brand I give her is Miralax? She isn’t a fat cat, she has a little bit of a ponch. Im really hoping I caught her diabetes early. The only signs she’s been showing is drinking and peeing lots, and maybe a little bit of lethargicness but no weak legs or throwing up. Im very nervous about this new diagnoses. The 12 hour insulin is going to be a little tough. She’s a sweet cat but she hasn’t been socialized very well. My apartment has always been my fortress of solitude and when people are over on the rare occasion shes in hiding. Other people freak her out. She twitches at every odd noises that happens in my apartment. Can stress spike her glucose levels as well? Ive been looking at a shelter that would take her for a couple nights when im out of town but im afraid that would really stress her out. I appreciate everyone’s help and looking forward to everyone’s advice as we go forwards

 

Welcome! The Fancy Feast and miralax is fine, also be sure to add some extra water to her food as the miralax works by drawing water into the bowel. There are other things to help with constipation as well. Many of us add plain canned pumpkin or psyllium husk powder to their food for added fiber. Come over to the Main health Forum where more folks will see your questions and give you plenty more ideas. In the meantime here’s a great site to check out
http://www.felineconstipation.org/

 

Good morning and welcome Braden and Zoe. This is a great place to learn about Feline Diabetes and treatment. In brief answer to some of your concerns, FDMB does not recommend feeding any dry food, the "prescription food from the vet is not a good choice, and the Fancy Feast pates with no sauces or gravies is a good choice. For most pets, going to the vet is very stressful and does raise blood sugar levels. As Zoe is very sensitive, I think her BG (blood glucose) levels will be much higher, and may result in a higher dose than Zoe actually needs.
Home testing is something you are going to want to learn to do, especially if Zoe is going to get insulin support. Home testing before injecting ensures that it is safe to do so, and testing at other times lets you know how the insulin is working. We can help with all aspects of home testing, how to, the meter and supplies, when, etc. We can also help with how to inject insulin, proper storage and supplies, as well as suggestions for feeding. There is a lot to learn at first, it is a steep learning curve, but you have Zoe's best interests at heart, so do we.
I suggest you start a new thread in the Main Health forum, so that more members can meet you and begin addressing your concerns. This Intro forum is primarily just to say "hello" and not used to address health issues. If you like, you can copy and paste your intro message here, with a new title specifically asking for help with this new diabetic diagnosis. Here is a link to the Main forum: MAIN
You said you have been doing some reading here, and that's great. I do suggest, if you have not already done so, go back to the Home Page and read the "Getting Started" and the "Education" sections. There is a great deal of other information in the different forums, and you will get to those, but the Home Page info is a very good starting point.
Wishing you and Zoe the best.