Milo newly diagnosed

After 2 weeks of increased and very noticeable water consumption and litter "bricks", I took Milo to the vet Friday.
His glucose came in at 549, the vet prescribed Prozinc, 3 units twice daily and gave me a bag of dry Hills w/d food. Milo is only 5 and in otherwise good health, the vet told me 2 years was the most we could look at with a diabetic cat.
After crying half the day, I began research and immediately found this site which has already been a wealth of comfort and information.
We're already home testing thanks to the education here. We ditched the dry food the vet gave us, and per reading Prozinc protocol, are only giving him 1 unit twice daily. My first question, he weighs 13 lbs, how much wet food should I allow him daily? I work all day, his feeding/shots will be 6am/6pm.
Vet also mentioned meds can cause pancreatitus and gave a month of antibiotics? Should I give them to him? So far, I'm not impressed with the vets diabetic feline knowledge, the dry food/wet food seemed such basic knowledge......
Thanks in advance.

 

Our nutrition bible is Cat Info which is a terrific downloadable/printable food chart which you can use to select foods. Anything with under 10% calories from carbohydrates is fine. I feed all my cats Friskies pates, except Mixed Grill which is about 11% calories from carbohydrates. You'll find the weight will come off feeding canned food, as the water content dilutes the calories. Try giving half of a 5.5 - 6 ounce morning and night. And it is OK to split it into mini-meals so he doesn't get too hungry. Freezing part to be eaten as it thaws works, or you might invest in a timed feeder such as the Pet Safe 5.

Your cat can live a lot longer than that measly 2 years the vet gave you; he's never worked with a committed owner who is willing to do the dietary and medical management of a beloved companion.

 

Good for you in getting started home testing. Can we get you started using our grid to record your glucose tests? It will help us give you better feedback. Instructions are here.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.

 

Welcome. The two-year life with diabetes is a myth. I had two cats that lived for over ten years with diabetes.

 

I had started my own handwritten chart so
I'll be more than happy to use the one here so I can get input. Thanks for all the jargon explanations.

Thank you for your real life experiences and hope beyond 2 years.

 

Hi Melly and welcome.

Just thought I'd add that our main treating vet has a diabetic kitty. She was diagnosed in 2003!