New to Forum: Introducing Jack

Hey everyone,
so glad to have found this forum, we've been recently diagnosed with Diabetes for our cat Jack (and of course, within a couple of weeks our other cat, Sawyer got diagnosed with kidney failure and cancer--it's been a fun month at our home), and are trying to get things under control.
Jack was diagnosed about a month ago, when we noticed he was urinating much more frequently and drinking a lot more water. The vet diagnosed him fairly quickly and easily, and we've had him on glargine insulin. He's otherwise asymptomatic as far as we can notice. We haven't yet started doing our own blood glucose testing, but I'm eager to get started—I'm very into managing health on your own and not just counting on your doctor. Fortunately, our vet is happy to let us apply our own learning and knowledge as long as the cat keeps doing well.
It's usually going to be me (Jose) posting, but sometimes my husband (Yoshi) might be checking in as well. Looking forward to getting to know you all over the course of our time here.

 

Welcome! This is the best place for you and your cat to learn how to properly manage your kitty's diabetes. Just a few questions and/or suggestions for you!

1. 5u is a lot! How did you guys arrive at this dose? With such a high dose, it is REALLY important that you start hometesting now!

2. Hills MD dry is actually higher in carbs than you think and is not a good food for a diabetic kitty. If you could do a mixture of low carb wet food with the raw medallions you are giving, that would be optimal. BUT..... don't switch to only low carb wet food until you are hometesting! Lowering the carb content of his diet can cause his numbers to drop a fair amount overall and could cause a hypo situation with that 5u dose! You can find a low carb (less than 10%) food that works for you on Janet and Binky's food charts. There should be a link in the diet section on the main felinediabetes.com page.


Ask any and all questions you want! We are all here to help and are here for the kitties!

 

Wow! You already have a spreadsheet. Fantastic. Welcome to the club.

Hometesting. Here is a website and a video: http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/bgtest.htm Great site for beginning hometesters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn the video on youtube

Diet. Hills dry is not the best. We try to feed wet, lo carb (8-10% carbs). Check out this website by a vet: http://www.catinfo.org
But don't change the diet until you are hometesting. When we changed from dry to wet, Oliver's blood glucose levels went down 100 points overnight.

Glargine is a great insulin. We usually call it Lantus. Check out the Insulin Support group for Lantus. They have great information on the stickies at the top of the page, and will be able to answer any of your insulin questions. viewforum.php?f=9

There is a lot to learn but many people here will be glad to help.

 

Welcome Jose and Yoshi. And of course Jack.

I'm sorry to hear about your other fur baby, Sawyer.

Boy, it sounds like you are really on top of managing the diabetes. I'm a newbie..Curry was dx July 30th...So I typically don't give advice.

This message board has been extremely helpful. Its wonderful learning from the experts here. Lots and lots to learn.

Evidently, the folks here really like humor and of course sweets....if you have a chance to read some of the posts here....Crazy, fun group of folks who are very supportive.

So glad you found us and looking forward to hear how Sawyer is doing.

 

So, we did our first spot check a few minutes ago, and seem to have it under control now. Way easier with 2 people than with 1! Fortunately, Jack is a super laid back cat.

re: 1 - our vet gave us that dose, having started at 3u bid. We had a curve done and have done one spot check at the vet and one fructosamine test. We will be home testing him regularly from here on out.

re: 2 - I am not at all happy about having him on the dry food. My first cat had had IBD for years that responded to nothing which went away over night when I switched him to raw. Jack had previously been eating raw, until Sawyer came in. Trying to manage both cat's diets with a new & frightened cat wasn't realistic with the raw, so we switched to EVO. Shortly thereafter Jack became symptomatic. The vet told us to start with the M/D. It is a goal to switch him to the low-carb raw, but not so fast that we make him hypo. sigh. We'll be moving slowly and checking his BG often.

 

Hello and welcome!

I am a newbie too. Missy was diagnosed on August 17th. I was a frantic, nervous wreck when I first found this board. I had a cat die last year due to complications from diabetes, so I was sure this was a death sentence. But everyone here is very kind and helpful. The advice and support I've received has made me much more confident in taking care of Missy. Hometesting is the first step in taking control of this condition, so congratulations on that. It's great that your vet is supportive. Good luck with everything, and be sure to ask lots of questions. Everyone is here to help!

 

Hi and welcome to FDMB,

Wanted to assure you that experienced peeps visit too... my first diabetic cat, Norton, passed away 2 years ago from cancer, and since then hubby and I have adopted two diabetic cats.

5u is a lot and the dry food is "protecting" your kitty on that dose. When you transition to lower carbohydrate food, you will need to reduce the dose A LOT!

Norton had a special condition called Acromegaly -- his diabetes was caused by a brain tumor -- when he changed his food from high carb dry to low carb, his dose decreased by 5u BID.

My current diabetics, Rusty and Tiggy are both eating low carb canned Wellness and are well regulated with a tiny dose of Levemir - usually 0.25u BID.

SO -- be aware that as you change the diet, you will need to reduce the dose a lot and rapidly to prevent HYPOglycemia or low blood sugar.

 

Hi and welcome. I wanted to say how sorry I am for the bad month your family has had. I hope that Sawyer stays comfortable and you can keep him well and happy for a long time. I'm looking forward to hearing more about Jack in the future. There really isn't anything I can add to the excellent advice you've already received, so I just wanted to stop in and say hi.

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice re: the possibility for a rapid decrease in the insulin that he'll be needing. For the time being, we're barely reducing the dry food, don't want to introduce too many variables and find ourselves in a very uncomfortable situation.

One thing that we've noticed as Jack's blood sugar has been creeping down is that he is not always finishing his food. He usually eats most of it, but is leaving some behind. He's always been voracious. Have other people noticed similar trends?

 

Yes. Unregulated diabetics don't process their food efficiently, so they can be literally starving. As they become more regulated, they require less food.