Newly Diagnosed - SOS

Hi Everyone,

I am brand new to this site and unfortunately, brand new to having a cat with diabetes, as well!!! Three weeks ago, my sweet cat, Lincoln, a 10 year old male Pixie-Bob Breed, was diagnosed with feline diabetes. He is a indoor cat, and presented symptoms very quickly, in a matter of 3-5 days his drinking and urinating increased two fold, I suspected diabetes immediately, took him to his vet within 3-5 days of these changes, and she confirmed. His blood sugar level was at 32 and she said the sugar in his urine was off the charts, but fortunately, because I caught it early, he didn't even have a UTI. She sent me home with Caninsulin (Porcine Insulin Zinc) and U-40 Syringes, with instructions to give him injections twice daily of 1 unit each time and to call with an update 10 days later. Well 10 days later, none of his symptoms changed, still urinating 4-5 times a day (normally only twice a day), drinking 1 1/2 cups of water (normally only 3/4 - 1 cup/day). So she told me to increase the insulin shots to two units twice a day (doubling up from original), and as of today, another week later after being given 2 units X 2 daily, still no change at all. I am heart broken!!!

I am suppose to call the vet with another update today...not sure what she will instruct this time...I am reaching out in the hopes that someone might be able share with me a success story that could help me in treating my precious Lincoln... I am not ready to give up on him...with regards to any other changes, except for his excessive amount of drinking and urinating, nothing has changed, he is still just as active and no vomiting or other signs/symptoms related to diabetes.

I have no human children.... he is my baby and I want to desperately help him, but not to a point where I am causing him stress or an unhappy life...please give me any feedback you can to help me!!!

Thanks so much
Coralene

 

Hi Coralene, welcome to FDMB!

The good news is that feline diabetes is a very treatable disease! The not-quite-as-good news is that it can take a while, and some fine-tuning, to find just the right combination of amount of insulin and diet. But it is eminently do-able!

First of all, what are you feeding Lincoln? Diabetic cats need a diet of canned/wet food that has only 10% or less carbohydrates. One of our members, @Elizabeth and Bertie, has drawn up two lists that are both very helpful with finding the correct food(s). The links to these are in her signature but I will give them to you here, as well:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-including-link-to-low-carb-food-list.137376/

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1J5JpMe6TDXrHq_aTl9hUtHy6Gs9oRBqlz4nPGKxtySA/pubhtml

Did your vet speak to you at all about home testing Lincoln's blood glucose? Some vets don't seem to think it's necessary for caregivers to do, but they couldn't be more wrong! It is relatively easy to do and, really, pretty vital to keeping your kitty healthy and safe while administering insulin. There are some expensive veterinary meters out there, but most of us just use an inexpensive human meter. Please check out the forum Health Links/FAQ's about Feline Diabetes, and look for Hometesting Links and Tips. There is a lot of good, helpful material there. Once you are home testing you can monitor Link's progress yourself!

There is one caveat - please do not make any significant diet changes unless you are home testing. Diet changes must be done slowly, over a period of time, and you must be home testing because kitty's BG can drop to dangerously low levels when carbs are removed from the diet, necessitating a dose reduction(s). Your kitty must be closely monitored during the transition to avoid any potential hypoglycemic incidents!

Please do not feel that you may have to give up on your sweet baby! This is such a treatable disease, it just takes a little time and patience to find what works best for each cat. Please post with any other questions you may have, or if you need help. There is always a friendly face here ready to lend a hand!

 

Squalliesmom...Thanks sooooo much for your info and encouraging words. Lincoln has had complications ever since we got him delivered from the Breeder (in another Prov.), he came to us with Chlamydia, and has been treated for these symptoms when they arise periodically. When he was about 3-4 years old he urinary track kidney stones, treated for that and that's when the Vet suggested changing his diet to only vet approved food (CD and Urinary So, both dry food), so I switched him to the expensive proper diet food for the problem and he has not had any trouble in that area since. However, he never would eat wet food, I tried him with every kind available including the vet approved, but it would dry up and he just wouldn't eat at all. So his diet consist of dry vet approved special formula diet, but since diagnosed with FD, the vet said to keep him on what he is on now and she would order in a more special kind that is good for cats with both issues (diabetes & UT). I also asked her to order in some wet in the same formula to try him again, but it only came in today so I will not get it until next week ( I work daily and the vet is over 200 km away so I won't get it until early next week), I am hoping that by gradually changing his diet will also aid in regulating his BG levels. I most definitely would start home testing, once we get him straightened out, the vet said the first thing we need to do is to get him regulated on the amount of insulin required to keep his symptoms of excessive drinking and urinating under control, because she said that when I start seeing the amount of drinking and urinating decrease, it means the insulin is starting to do it's job. Wondering if he is actually on the best type of insulin....any suggestions??? Should I not have seen some change in the amount of drinking and urinating with 3 weeks of insulin injection??? I will check the 2 link you provided for the diabetic food..thank you.

 

Coralene, Welcome to the forum. Diabetics is treatable and manageable. Just like a human baby you would treat it. It overwhelming at first, but you will figure out a routine that works for both of you.

There are people here that work full time, ones who travel with their kitty, people in school, some who are home full time, some disabled or battling their own health issues, some who lost jobs etc. We get it. You are not alone and neither is Lincoln.

You are not hurting Lincoln you are helping him. In time he will associate the home testing to a tasty treat when it's done.

There is so much info here your vet (if open minded) would be impressed. I just had my guy into the ER (not diabetic related) and when they asked how much insulin he was getting I said 1.75u. She said impossible, you can only do whole units. You can't possibly measure 1.75. I told her yes you can using 1/2 u mark syringes and calipers. Then I told her I tested for ketones, and showed her the spreadsheet. She decided to leave the diabetes issue to me and moved on to why I was really there.

Yes, you can do it. You are not hurting Lincoln. You will need to keep very organized records of dose, times given, what and when you feed. We can advice, offer suggestions and all. The best thing is to home test even if vet says no and keep logging in here for support.

One thing I will say is that now you are up to 2u. Be cautious raising dose in whole units now. Vets like to do that. Lincoln could possibly need it but you don't want to give to much and miss the optimal dose.

Looking forward to how you progress.

 

Thanks Woodsywife...I am starting to feel a little better about this now that I see so many other people have cats with same issue and knowing that even though he is on insulin it may not provide an immediate result, much tweaking may be necessary, and I am quite willing to do whatever I can to get him where he needs to be to be the healthy happy cat he should be!

 

Everyone here has or had a kitty with diabetes. Some have multiple cats with it (although 1 is enough for me). Many of us have also dealt with other medical conditions at the same time.

If you look at the bottom of a post (called Signature here) you see what people are dealing with. Not everyone puts the info in but a lot of us do.

One other thing. A good vet check should be done. Make sure their is no infection, teeth have been cleaned and checked. Any steroids, given? Dry food diet. These can all cause glucose increases and once issue is addressed the glucose can go back to normal. Knowing the reason why can help with treatment plan.

 

You have the right attitude and that's going to serve you well! You can do this and we can help. You'll need patience for sure but you'll be surprised how quickly you pick up the necessary skills, the ability to interpret blood glucose values and your understanding of FD will grow by leaps and bounds.

 

Yes I agree...he has his regular vet check ups and when he was in 3 wks ago, she did a full blood work up ($500) etc... no infection, good teeth not on steroids etc..., he got a clean bill of health otherwise except for the FD...which I am grateful.

 

Thanks for your encouraging words and offer to help...I am sure to need it.

 

Squalliesmom...Thanks sooooo much for your info and encouraging words. Lincoln has had complications ever since we got him delivered from the Breeder (in another Prov.), he came to us with Chlamydia, and has been treated for these symptoms when they arise periodically. When he was about 3-4 years old he urinary track kidney stones, treated for that and that's when the Vet suggested changing his diet to only vet approved food (CD and Urinary So, both dry food), so I switched him to the expensive proper diet food for the problem and he has not had any trouble in that area since. However, he never would eat wet food, I tried him with every kind available including the vet approved, but it would dry up and he just wouldn't eat at all. So his diet consist of dry vet approved special formula diet, but since diagnosed with FD, the vet said to keep him on what he is on now and she would order in a more special kind that is good for cats with both issues (diabetes & UT). I also asked her to order in some wet in the same formula to try him again, but it only came in today so I will not get it until next week ( I work daily and the vet is over 200 km away so I won't get it until early next week), I am hoping that by gradually changing his diet will also aid in regulating his BG levels. I most definitely would start home testing, once we get him straightened out, the vet said the first thing we need to do is to get him regulated on the amount of insulin required to keep his symptoms of excessive drinking and urinating under control, because she said that when I start seeing the amount of drinking and urinating decrease, it means the insulin is starting to do it's job. Wondering if he is actually on the best type of insulin....any suggestions??? Should I not have seen some change in the amount of drinking and urinating with 3 weeks of insulin injection??? I will check the 2 link you provided for the diabetic food..thank you.

 

I see that you're now following us - we're flattered! Just so you know: Teasel is very complicated and unpredictable so his thread/SS might look overwhelming. It's early days for you so a lot of it won't make sense. What might help down the line is that I generally try to explain what I've done and why so that those who help me out have more to go on. It might also prove useful to you so you see how one of us thinks through "problems". Teasel is on an insulin called ProZinc but it shares some characteristics with Caninsulin such as being an "in and out" insulin (lasts a certain amount of time - ideally 12 hours - then is gone), more forgiving of changing timing of doses, and the ability to change dose more frequently. No need for you to worry about any of this now.

 

Hi Coralene and Lincoln. Just wanted to say welcome and let you know you have come to the right place for all the assistance and support you need. It seems you caught the diabetes early which is great but it's probably been brewing for awhile before you saw any symptoms. So like the symptoms taking awhile to be obvious to us, it takes awhile to find the right treatment that will get Lincoln regulated.

I noticed in one of your posts you mentioned Lincoln coming from another province so I am assuming you are in Canada rather than the UK in which case you will need the Canadian food list. I don't want to muddy the waters with more links if my assumption is incorrect so please confirm your location and we'll provide the right listing for you.

You mentioned the vet being 200 km away. That is quite the trek and I'm sure you don't want to be making that trip anymore frequently than absolutely necessary. As others have mentioned, home testing is a great tool. It can keep vet costs down as well as keep Lincoln safe and give you the information you need to get him regulated. We can help you learn how to test so there is no need to wait for the vet if you'd like to get started now.

 

Yes...good sleuthing...I am from Canada (Province - Newfoundland & Labrador)...Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out and make sure that I get the best and proper info required...this means so much to me...I appreciate it!

 

I am willing to take all the advice I can get...thanks))

 

Thanks, Linda! My bad! When she said "Caninsulin" I just automatically thought "UK".

 

Hi Coralene & Lincoln,

Griffin and I (Moe) are from Ontario and we are new here too. Although Griffin's diagnosis was a year ago, I feel like we are brand new due to the lack of information I had prior to coming here.

Griffin is also on caninuslin and I would be lost with out the help of the wonderful people on this board.

You are in good supportive hands!

Moe

 

Coralene, the links I gave you for canned cat foods won't help you, I thought you were in the UK rather than Canada, my bad! I know Linda is looking for a list of Canadian foods for you, and I will, too. I'm sure some of the members here who have had kitties with kidney stones can help you find an appropriate canned food, if the one from your vet proves too high in carbs. It is my understanding that dry food contributes to kidney problems. Here is an excerpt taken from The Feline Nutrition Foundation:

"With regard to overall kidney and bladder health, I cannot stress strongly enough how important water, water, water is in both the prevention and treatment of diseases involving this organ system.
When a cat is on a diet of water-depleted dry food, they produce a more highly concentrated urine, with higher urine specific gravity, and they produce a lower volume of urine which means that a higher concentration of crystals will be present in the urine. This increases the chance of these crystals forming life-threatening stones. The concentrated urine and the lack of volume production can also be very irritating to the lining of the bladder wall predisposing them to painful cystitis."

Read more at http://feline-nutrition.org/health/feline-cystitis-and-bladderkidney-stones

Unfortunately, I only know of two dry foods that are supposed to be low in carbs, Evo Cat and Kitten and Young Again Zero Carb. YAZC is lower in carbs than Evo. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve good diabetic regulation if your cat is eating a diet higher than 10% carbs.

This article is an excellent guide to feeding your cat, written by a veterinarian:

http://www.catinfo.org/

In it she explains the food choices and why some work and some don't, and encompasses diabetes and other health issues, including urinary tract problems, as well. It is a very enlightening article!

 

Easily done. We Canucks share a lot of British heritage, names and culture. My two clues were the BG of 32 and the mention that Lincoln came from another province.

Coralene, I'm not sure what you have access to in the way of pet stores, supermarkets or Walmart as it sounds like you are perhaps somewhat rural and options differ by province. Many folks here feed their cats Fancy Feast Pate (known as "Classics" on many of the food lists). The other Fancy Feast brands and those with gravy are Ok if you need a higher carb food to raise glucose levels once in a while but not for every day use. The only problem there is that Fancy Feast is high in phosphorus which is not good for kidney disease but I'm not sure if it that would preclude it as an option because of kidney stones. Perhaps something to ask the vet. If you do need low phosphorus, THIS listing should help although I don't think some of these are available in Canada. Otherwise, there is a list THIS POST with a good variety of foods we have access to that are under 8% carbs.

Not sure if you have access to a Loblaws, No Frills or Loblaw Superstore but they have a house brand that is very economical and low carb. Details for it are HERE . We have access to many of the same foods as the US but many of them are sold in PetSmart, Pet Valu, and Global Pets here which might mean ordering online if there is nothing close to you.

Unfortunately, EVO Cat & Kitten is not available here and the Young Again is only available online from the US, it's very expensive and I am not even sure if we can still get it at this point. We do not have any dry foods suitable for a diabetic here. If you do have to resort to dry food (I have a very stubborn kibble addict myself ), I can provide you with the lowest carb varieties available here but none are below 15% carbs which makes things a little more challenging.

Last but not least, I wouldn't change Lincoln's diet until you can home test as switching to low carb canned food can have a dramatic effect on BG numbers and almost certainly mean his dose of insulin would have to be lowered.

 

Hi Coralene, my cat Uncle and I are new here too. Just wanted say hi and give you encouragement. Everyone here is my lifeline, I'm learning so much.
I just started BG testing and I'm getting a lot of support and great opinions as well when I'm not able to make sense of things. Sending lots of hugs your way!

 

Hello from another Canuck.

Since you are so far from a vet, home testing is very important. As is a hypo tool box. Please read the following stickies.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/jojo-and-bunnys-hypo-tool-box.2354/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

There are great people here that can help with any questions or problems.

 

That's what clued me in, just a little too late, lol!

 

Welcome Coralene! I'm glad you found us! I'm relatively new here myself but I'm learning so much from the very knowledgeable members here.

I noticed this in your post and I wanted to comment on it:

When you start reading other peoples' threads around here you'll quickly learn that it's impossible to know how the insulin is affecting him without home testing. I was skeptical at first too. I thought testing twice a day was excessive. I figured I would do a test or two once a week just to see how she was doing. Now I realize how foolish that was! Even on days when I can take her BG 3 or 4 times a day, sometimes I still can't tell what's going on. It will be especially important for you to do testing at home being so far from the vet's office. Cats are usually stressed at the vet's office anyway, and I'm sure Lincoln is going to be even more stressed after that long drive. This will give him artificially high numbers when the vet takes his blood, and you don't want to be making dosing decisions based on that data.

It seems really overwhelming at first, but you'll get the hang of it quickly and you're in the best possible place to get the support you need.

 

My Callie doesn't mind testing at all. I have a card table in the family room that I use for giving her the insulin and testing. I started out giving her treats, brushing and playing with her. After a while, I would find her sitting on the table when it was time for her test or shot. They soon learn that they feel better after the shots.

 

As squalliesmom mentioned, Young Again Zero Carb food is A no CARB dry.... Very unique as even the prescription diabetic dry food are higher than 10%.... Commercial dry is over 20%. They do ship to Canada but you would have to find out the shipping costs. (800-311-6646). ... i actually credit this food with leading my cat (also on canisilun/vetsulin) into remission just weeks after starting to feed it to her.

Home testing is so important. My cat was diagnosed in May but I didn't home test until July and I feel like those were two wasted moths where she could have had so much better treatment and felt better sooner.

 

@Coralene

How is it going? It's been awhile since you posted.