Newly diagnosed 1st week on insulin

Hi, my cat Sooty aged 13 is newly diagnosed diabetic. I'm from the UK and her blood sugar levels were around 25 before insulin and didn't come down on prescription diabetic food. So we've started insulin MSD Caninsulin 2 units twice daily. I'm worried that she is just not eating enough (her weight loss has been dramatic which is how she first got diagnosed and she is eating less and less each day). I have been halving her insulin to 1 unit in the mornings as I cannot get her to eat and she goes back to the vet in the morning to check her blood sugar levels with the aim of gradually increasing her insulin units if needed. Has anyone any tips of how to get her to eat? I should add that all other blood tests were normal, her kidney function is fine. The prescription diets we have been told to try are Hill's W/D 1st choice or Hill's M/D 2nd choice tinned or dry. I've read that I should try and avoid dry food in diabetic cats. Am I ok to feed fish/tuna/chicken in small amounts mixed in with the prescription food to try and get her to eat. Apart from not eating, she seems ok - still drinking and weeing a lot but purring and livelier in herself. If I could just get her to eat, I would stop worrying so much! Any advice gratefully received!

 

Welcome!

Neither Hills W/D or Hill's M/D is appropriate for a diabetic cat. You want to feed something that is less than 10% carbs, and W/D is 25% carbs and M/D is 14% carbs. There's a list of diabetic safe canned foods in the UK floating around somewhere, so hopefully one of our UK members can provide that for you.

We also strongly recommend home testing your cat rather than taking her to the vet for testing. Vet testing is inaccurate because cat's blood sugar levels rise when they are stressed, and it is not frequent enough to safely determine the correct dose for your cat. Caninsulin is not a good insulin for cats (but unfortunately, I believe vets in the UK have to prescribe it before you can switch to a better insulin), and it causes some very harsh drops in blood sugar levels, so it's very important to home test with Caninsulin. If you do not see good results with the diet change and Caninsulin after 4-6 weeks, I would ask the vet for a script for a recommended insulin for cats that is safer and more effective (Lantus or Levemir).

Please come over and post on the Health board if you have any more questions!

 

Thank you for the info. I'm learning more all the time!

 

I am not clear if you're feeding dry or wet? If you are feeding dry please start home testing because your kitty can drop the BG 100 points just changing to low carb wet.

 

Thanks. I was feeding a mixture of both dry and wet. I know I shouldn't feed dry but just trying to get cat to eat. I'll ask the vet about home testing tomorrow when I go.

 

Just be on alert there are vets who really discourage home testing. There was a kitty who didn't make it just a couple of weeks ago and the owner was discouraged to home test. If she hadn't have been discouraged to test, the kitty may have survived. It doesn't matter if your vet approves or not, this is your kitty and you're ultimately responsible for her health. You're with your sugarcat 24/7 as to where the vet isn't. Also, BG can read 100 points higher at the vets because of the stress, so if the dose is being given on those numbers at the vet it could be too much.

If you are taking the high carb dry away without home testing you could be putting your kitty at risk of hypo. Home test is not difficult and it'll give you a piece of mind knowing the BG level before you shoot the insulin. We wouldn't give our human kids insulin without testing, so we shouldn't shoot our kitties without home testing . We can help you get started!

Let us know what we can help you with.

 

Thank you. I won't take the high carb diet away until I'm set up to home test. I'm sure I'll be asking questions when I start. It's great having this support network!

 

Im fairly new to the group also. My cat as diagnosed in January. These folks are so helpful and the advice they give is solid and spot on. I have been feeding my kitty Trooper a wet food only, high protein diet. It has helped so much! Some days, he doe snot even have to have any insulin! There is an internet site called Binky's page that lists wet cat foods that are available here in the US that are low card/high protein. I have used the foods on that list. Not sure if you are able to get these same foods in the UK, but its worth a look. I wish you and your cat the best of luck. I recently found out my other cat has hyperthyroidism and so now he is on meds. I have a 16 year old who has epilepsy, and two more kitties who are FIV positive. I work full time w long hours and have an hour commute each way, but am getting it done somehow. If anyone knows of any other wet cat foods that are high protein/low carb, (other than the ones on Binkey's page.com) please share this info w me. My cats seem to be getting tired of the same old same old. Try to give them as much variety as possible. I am not out here often due to my crazy schedule, but will keep checking in from time to time. So thankful for this group!

 

@Janelle - It might be a good idea to start a new thread on Feline Health asking for food variety suggestions in the title. The FH board gets more traffic and you'll probably get more replies there.


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