My cat has just got diabetes

Hi, I am new to this forum upon finding out that my cat has diabetes.

Tinkerbell is a 10 years old indoor cat. She was eating half a pouch of Sheba in the morning (she wouldn't take to any other pouches) and Royal Canin biscuits the rest of the time (which I was under the impression were good for her until I began researching).

She dry heaved a few times so I took her to the vets. He thought it was an allergy as I told him that she had had some new treats. He gave her a steroid and antibiotic. He then said to bring her back two days later. As a precaution he gave her another steroid and antibiotic. After this she became lethargic and wasn't eating or moving much. She went back to the vets where she had another steroid and antibiotic. The next day was a Sunday and my normal vets was closed so I took her to an out of hours emergency vets where she stayed in. They phoned me to say she has ketoacidosis and diabetes. I collected her the next morning and took her back to my normal vet. She has been there since. She is now over the ketoacidosis but they are now stabilising her blood sugar levels, so she is staying there for the moment

I have begun researching online and this is what I have read so far, which you may or may not agree with:
*Cats with diabetes should eat wet food only.
*The wet food should be 7% or lower in carbohydrates.
*Vets will try to push Hills/Royal Canin but these are not good for cats with diabetes.
*If you go for a low carbohydrate diet, you need to be available to home test blood sugar levels.
*Steroids can induce diabetes sometimes. If this is the case, remission is more likely.

Please help me with a few questions I have:
*If I am not going to go along with the food the vet will most likely suggest (Hills/Royal Canin), would I be out of the house for too long to be able to home test? I currently work shifts. It will be anything from 8-4 to 12-8. My boyfriend is home from work around 3.30pm on weekdays so would be available to home test. For example, on my earliest day that I start at 8am, I leave at 7.15am and my boyfriend gets home at 3.20-3.30pm. I only do this shift once per week.
*I have 2 cats. The other cat is 2 years old and is also an indoors cat. Should I be looking to get her onto a low carbohydrate diet too? I read this is healthier but I don't want to risk her health. I should be able to separate them for eating, which would not be a problem.
*Given that they are both indoors cats, would it be worth potentially buying a cat wheel/treadmill for them to go on?
*Would switching to a raw diet be beneficial for a cat with diabetes?
*Which are the best UK brands of cat foods for cats with diabetes?
*Is it worth buying a pet feeder for when I am out, so they can eat little and often? Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to separate the 2 cats for this.
*Is it worth phoning round vets to see if they agree with a non Hills/Royal Canin diet? Are there any that would agree or is it not worth it?

Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome! Please repost all of this on the main health forum so we can address each item. This is the welcome forum so we like to keep answers short.

 

Thanks will do!

 

Hi Fiona, welcome to FDMB and well done for finding us - this really is the very best place to be for all the information, support and advice you could ever need. Well done for being such a caring and responsible owner!

Ah - I've just started to write another para but Kris has posted (above) asking you to pose your questions on the Main forum... there will be more people looking in there to answer your queries. Meanwhile, what I was going to say in my second para is that your research is pretty much spot-on. Wet food is definitely better for diabetics, but yes, if you switch from even some dry to some wet and your cat is being given insulin, you do need to be testing blood glucose to make sure it doesn't drop too low due to reduced carb intake plus exogenous insulin.

At that point I was also going to suggest that you go over to Health where we can answer in more detail.

Best of luck!

Diana (also in the UK)