New to this..

Hi,

My 12 yr old cat Jones was just diagnosed with diabetes. This has been a long road. He had a severe case of pancreatic issues with IBS. He dropped weight from 5.75 Kg to 4.2 which is quite scary. He was drinking and peeing a lot but thought it was due to the steroids. Our vet was good and checked for diabetes and he kept dropping in and out but now he definitely is. We are hoping if we switch the medication he is currently (predisone) to Lutran (?) that we can get him reverted back to normal blood sugars but we are not sure on with the severity of the infection he had in his pancreas. Long road. My husband is just ready to put him down since he looks so bad and has lost a lot of muscle. It took 3 months to get so we could get the nutrients from the food into his system and now we are faced with a wall of from the blood into the cells. His first does was Friday. Still learning on during the prick for the blood check - got it down to 1 poke this morning. His #'s are very high - 25.8 in the morning to 21.9 in the evening before his second dose. Anyway, will be looking through the board for help and suggestions. Still worried on the diet, was going to check in with the vet. He is on a wet DM diet and a ID prescription diet. It is hard to determine what is best for him and to ensure he gets his calorie intake (very picky eater since this all started).

 

Welcome. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask in the Health forum.
When you do please identify the insulin and dose. Also identify your general location (country) since that will aid in identifying possible foods to feed.
Also a Google search for "Lutran" did not show any meds by that name.

 

Of course, didn't think of supplying that information. I will have to look that name up. He is on such a list of them right now.

 

Hi Tracey. A warm welcome to you and Jones.

I know first-hand how very, very hard pancreatitis can be for both person and kitty. I feel for you.

I understand how deeply upsetting it is to see one's kitty underweight and poorly-looking but but try not to lose heart; now Jones has started his insulin treatment he should start to regain weight and muscle mass plus his overall condition (hair coat, etc.) should start to show some signs of improvement fairly quickly. I was astounded at the difference in my Saoirse not too long after she started treatment; our vet thought she looked like she had been drinking from the Fountain of Youth! (@Chris & China - any chance you might post China's before-and-after pics so Tracey and her hubby might see her wonderful transformation, please?)

It's great to hear you're already home testing blood glucose! The more you test, the easier it becomes to get a blood sample because extra capillaries develop at the test sites. Be sure to get the ear well-warmed before doing the poke, especially in the early days of testing.

I see that you're getting the preshot tests in. Next step is to start getting regular checks between doses to see how low the current insulin dose is taking Jones' BG levels while it is active in his system. If you let us know which insulin you're using we can give you a rough guide as to a good time to test between doses.

Is the first food you mention Purina DM canned? Is the Hill's i/d canned, pouch or dry?

Based on my experience I would suggest to you that it's advisable for now not to mess around with diet. While the ideal is to feed a feline diabetic a diet with less than 10% of calories coming from carbs sometimes it's the case that the right food is the one that a kitty can actually eat. It can be so hard to find something which agrees with a kitty who has pancreatitis and/or IBD issues - and it may be safer and easier for now to work on an 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' basis food-wise and work the insulin to what Jones is able to eat comfortably and reliably.

As has been recommended above, a good place to start asking questions and getting help is on the main Feline Health board; it gets more traffic than the Welcome section and you'll get answers to your posts faster over there.

We'll do all we can to help you.


Mogs
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Welcome Tracey and Jones!!

Our sugarcats really can come a long way back once they're on insulin......Here's a picture of China when she was first diagnosed
Click on picture to expand....at this point she weighed less than 8lbs (3.6kg)

This was her about 4 months later.....about 13lbs (5.9kg)


Now she's actually "too fluffy" and we're trying to take weight off of her!!

 

Thank you so much for your pictures. Jones scares me he is so thin. My husband was amazed at the change.

 

I totally understand!! China wasn't more than a walking skeleton when she was diagnosed, but as you can see, she has done great! We're going on 4 years of the sugardance!

 

@Chris & China - Thank you!


Mogs
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The medication could perhaps be Imuran (azathioprine), often used to treat Inflammatory Bowel issues. Like the others, I encourage you to stay the course and don't give up on Jones. Diabetes is totally treatable and he will regain his former healthy body with a little time and TLC.