New diagnosis today - questions

Hi, I won't be too long, but had my 12+ year old cat diagnosed with diabetes today. All the signs where there for a few months now but like what I have read in other messages, it was attributed to him just getting older and it was slow changes in weight, increased thirst, etc... nothing sudden or abrupt. I took him to vet today after he showed signs of some distress on Saturday over weekend, but he improved significantly on Sunday and again this morning with appetite, alertness, etc...

After blood work the vet calls and says he has diabetes and recommended treatment begin immediately to stabilize him. Vet says it may take a week of hospitalization to stabilize, and informed me his (whatever they call it) number was like 500 which he said was way high. I authorized the treatment to begin tonight before I knew more about this and reading the cat info site about the low carb dietary route and now have some questions and would appreciate any guidance that can be given.

Since treatment just started and my cat likely only has had one or perhaps 2 doses of insulin, would it be advisable to stop the insulin treatment and try the low carb diet, and perhaps just have him frequently tested??

How quickly would the cats blood glucose levels come to a normal and safe level once the initial treatment is started? I presume initial treatment is just a low dose of insulin at time of feeding, then test, and repeat over and over until insulin dose size is determined, hence vet telling me it could take several days to stabilize the cat? Would a vet be giving a low carb diet at their facility?

I want to give the cat a chance, but am a realist and know he is older and has had a good life... the cost of hospitalization and then subsequent daily insulin is factor that has to be considered if it's not going to significantly improve the cats quality of life. Moving him to all can food diet would be easy as he has been on that mostly anyhow, but I now know it was higher in carbs, like 25+ based on the charts I looked at...

I have read the advice given on the cat info site, but I didn't see anything about the questions I have...

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be! You have very valid questions and I recommend that you copy the post you made here on the Welcome forum, start a new thread in the Main Forum and paste the post under a new title, asking for help. Here's a link to that forum: MAIN
The later it gets the fewer people are online to see and respond. I would like you to get as much information tonight as possible.
Kitty's BG (blood glucose) or blood sugar level is high, and I cannot say that it is wrong to be hospitalized. However, I do know that being at the vet's is stressful and does raise BG levels. You are going to have to get more information from the vet about what kind of insulin, what dosage and what kind of food kitty will get. You are your cat's advocate and you will be the home caretaker. Not just all canned food, but low carb food is recommended, below 10% carbs. Fancy Feast classics and Friskies pates no sauces or gravies. We have a food chart at the top of the Main forum.
There is a lot to learn at first about feline diabetes, but there is a whole library of info here and and incredibly supportive community.

 

Hi there & welcome.
You haven't written what treatment the vet clinic is doing. Are they just monitoring and administering insulin 2 daily? I'm a little surprised he needs to be hospitalised for a week. That alone will adversely effect his blood glucose levels.

Yes. A combination of low carb wet food and an appropriate regular insulin dose will greatly improve his well-being & quality of life. This is something you can do at home. Likewise testing his blood glucose levels . Changing his diet should be done slowly and the insulin dose adjusted accordingly. By this I do not mean daily .

At 12+ years I would consider him to be mature but not super senior geriatric.

With regard to how much insulin, that depends on which insulin it is. No idea what food your clinic might give him. Most vets favour dry kibble which isn't so good really for any cat.

Anyway, welcome to the FDMB. you have come to the right place.

Perhaps think to re-do your opening post onto the main health forum where more people pass through and so will see it.

 

I am not sure what the "treatment" is exactly - the vet basically said he wanted to stabilize him and that would take multiple days in hospital - he said he could possibly do it as out patient but that wasn't the preferred way because it would require multiple trips to and from vets while trying to stabilize...

My biggest questions are really around the levels that are considered immediately dangerous for the cat - and how fast they will elevate and drop... I understand it is after they eat, etc... but my first thought after reading things on the cat info site that a low carb diet is a significant way to keep the blood glucose levels normal in a cat that may have been diagnosed with diabetes and results of the low carb diet can be quickly recognized. The cat has not been on insulin, and if has had a dose today it would be one or two at the most by tomorrow morning and I am trying to evaluate if stopping insulin now, bring him home where he is not stressed and trying low carb diet would be the way to go - with some sort regular testing initially just to make sure the diet is having intended results. (ugh)

 

Hi and welcome to FDMB.

The short response to your questions is that it is doubtful your vet will be able to "stabilize" your cat's BG in hospital because most cats suffer from elevated BG at the vet's office and most cats cannot be "stabilized" in such a short period of time. This treatment method often leads to kitty coming home on too high a dose of insulin just prolonging the time it takes to get kitty "stabilized".

Changing to an appropriate low carb diet will in most cases lower BG and in some cases can bring BG down to normal levels so ideally one would try a diet change before starting insulin. That said, with levels in the 500 range (which is likely elevated to some degree due to vet stress), waiting to start insulin may not be the best way to go for your cat.

As long as your kitty does not have any ketones, you could bring your cat home but you will need to learn to home test kitty's BG so you can monitor your cat's response to any diet adjustments and insulin given. It is also advisable to home test for ketones.We can help you learn how to test both BG and ketones and assist you to keep kitty safe while working to get BG levels down to more normal range.

If you decide to bring your cat home, or just have more questions, please post over on the Health board with any and all questions and we will be delighted to help you get started at learning the steps to the "sugar dance". This area of the forum is our welcome mat and has less traffic than the Health Forum and individual Insulin Forums. This board is peer reviewed to ensure you get the best information for your kitty so we cannot get into specific health topics here in the welcome area.