Oscar - newly diagnosed kitty

My big boy is freshly diagnosed with diabetes as of yesterday. The vet is running some 'extra' tests, which I will find out about tomorrow. Hopefully that means they are running a fructosamine test. This site has already proven to be a wealth of information, and I am so thankful that I stumbled upon it!

Some history on Oscar:
I found him as a stray in 2004 at our local landfill as an almost fully grown kitten. He is about 7 years old, is an Abyssinian/Tabby mix, and someone probably ditched him once his stripes started to show up. He has always eaten a lot, and I always chocked it up to him living on his own for so long. He always pee-d a lot, and I asked the vet about it, and they thought nothing of it. As of 3-4 years ago, he bloomed to 16 pounds. When I moved to Indiana 2 years ago, he was down to 15 pounds. I took him in to the local vet in November because he was having a bad bout with his asthma, so they gave him a cortisone shot. He also weighed in at 14.7 pounds. He went in for a teeth cleaning in mid December, and I believe they gave him another small dose of cortisone to counteract the inflammation. It was after this that I started to notice him losing weight. I was hoping it was due to his teeth finally being clean (they had horrible tartar build up), but he kept losing weight despite a normal appetite. I did not notice any more drinking or pee-ing than what was normal for him. I felt he was getting too skinny and took him to the vet yesterday. He weighed in at 10.3 pounds! Looking back at pictures from years ago, his fur is less fluffy and less healthy looking now. The preliminary tests show that he is diabetic. For the past 4 years he has been on Friskies Special Diet Salmon wet food (5% carbs) with only a sprinkling of dry food for hairball control (which will be done away with now!).

From what I am reading, it is likely that he has been border-line diabetic for years and the cortisone shots probably pushed him over the edge. I have already purchased a ReliOn Confirm meter, lancets, and test strips for home testing. I did some base line testing this evening to learn how to use the meter, and to provide the vet with some at-home numbers for our meeting tomorrow. At 4:30 bg was 269; at 6:30 it was 321 (and was given food); at 8:30 it was 337.

Here is the list I have compiled to discuss tomorrow with the vet: (suggestions are welcome!)
* Which insulin? Humulin/caninsulin/vetsulin are less desired; levimir/lantus seem to have a good track record
* Best injection site? side of the belly/tummy area?
* Our goal BG should be between 100-200 at any given time
* we should start out insulin doses at 1 unit twice a day preferably
* ask if T4 or kidney function was checked
* getting syringes to match the type of insulin (U-40 vs U-100)
* If Lantus is prescribed - pens/cartridges vs. vials (10mil or 3mil)

I know I over plan things, and want to control everything, but I can't help it! He's my baby!

 

Wow! look at you go!! Great job already and all your questions/notes for the vet are fantastic!!

I don't have much to add for you at this point 'cause you are so on top of this already so I'll be looking forward to an update from you after talking to the vet :smile:

 

You are reaaly on top of it all! This is an amazing site and you will have so much support. I can relate to so much of your story and my husband also said that as he thinks back we could have seen the signs. We too think Junior has been battling this longer than just a few months. Your Oscar is in wonderful hands. I am looking forward to hear your report back after seeing the vet. I sure I can learn from your post. I ordered food for Junior today and picking it up tomorrow. We are trying W/D and hoping he likes it. My vet has a wonderful price on the food so here's to hoping we can prove his condition with our first stab at diet changes. Still holding off insulin until next month if possible due to a planned vacation that will take us away for two weeks but my mom will be monitoring while we are gone so that is a blessing. Nice to *meet* you and Oscar. We are all in the right place with lots of support.

 

Well aren't you on the ball..(and don't the rest of us feel a little slow for not becoming magically this prepared in 1 day haha)..

You did forget one very important thing.. pick up a treat for yourself.. a bottle of wine, favourite kind of chocolates, etc.. something to treat yourself.. because I have it on good authority that having a loved kitty diagnosed with feline diabetes makes you immune to calories for the next 3 days.

 

Hi everyone, and thanks for the warm welcome! I just got off the phone with my vet. They did run a fructosamine test. His initial BG reading at the office was 492, which is obviously very high. His fructosamine reading was 480 (I think), which I was told is just outside of the acceptable threshold. It was suggested that we try M/D food for a month and try to diet regulate it, and the vet recommended the dry food because she doesn't want him used to a 'champagne' diet haha! Regardless, he has been on a mostly wet food diet for a while now with a low carb content, and I told the vet this. She said it is more about high protein and quality ingredients than low carb (?). So either way, we are going to do this food for 30 days, and I will keep testing every other day or so with the BG meter. She was so happy to hear that I had done so much research because it made her life easier. Oscar's reading last night at 10:30 before we went to bed was 255. His other levels relatively were: high cholesterol, low magnesium, and both liver enzymes were slightly elevated. Kidney function tested perfectly fine.

I know his numbers are lower than most of y'all on this board, but they are still higher than they should be. My question is this: does what the vet told me sound right? Are we going in the right direction? I don't plan on switching him to dry food at all, I just don't see this as a good idea.

 

Your vet is pretty much right. However, I would not fed any dry. I would feed just low carb (<10% carbs) canned food. For almost all cases, a low carb food is a high protein food. Dry is typically high in carbs.

 

I agree with your vet that food selection is about quality protein and quality ingredients. But I disagree with her conclusion that M/D meets those criteria. When selecting a WET food (never dry for a diabetic!), look for brands that use muscle meat, not meat byproducts. Look for ingredients that have names you recognize as food rather than chemical names. Then check the ones that fall within your budget and are available in your community against Janet & Binky's food lists to find the lowest carb.

Good luck--very few if any cats, during the 5 years I have been on this board, have been able to go into remission without insulin. I wouldn't let this experiment go for more than 1-2 weeks before I demanded insulin.

 

This is what I am worried about. I just booked a plane ticket 2 days ago to Raleigh to visit my parents for my birthday, and I was hoping to have him mostly regulated by that time. I looked up the numbers for m/d wet and dry and they both are at 13-14% carbs, which isn't too bad I guess. They are, however, in the 47-50% protein range. I will take a look at the label when I drive over there today to pick some up to appease the vet

 

Look at that beautiful big boy Oscar!! He sure is a cutie!

Now that you are hometesting, you need to set up a spreadsheet. If you need help, go to the tech forum.

I'm no expert, but in my opinion it sounds like Oscar MAY need insulin. Even if it turns out to be for a short while.

As far as the M/D...we don't usually buy into the vet food. Your Friskies Special Diet is ok. Look at the Janet and Binky food list and make sure the carbs are below 10%. There are several Fancy Feast flavors too. I know its hard to not do exactly what the vet says...but I tell ya, there are a lot of people on here with a LOT of experience with this disease.

You are doing great by reading and gathering as much info as you can. Keep up the good work!

 

Wish I was as on the ball when I started!

A couple of points ...

1 md dry has crappy ingredients and is low in moisture so stick with canned despite what your vet says

2 a non diabetic is 100-120 but when starting on insulin those aren't the numbers you aim for...see section 6 of the faq for various ranges to aim for ..

Jen

 

Another question: I have searched in the terminology database on this site, but can't find an answer. What does OTJ mean?

 

Hi Kelly,
I think you came to a great board especially if you end up having to use insulin. Many say that regulating with food is rare but so far I have had an exceptional experience with Harley and the change truly took just a complete and total change from dry to wet food and BG testing.
If you look at his chart he went from 431 to the 90's and the total wet food change was only around 2 weeks ago.

Of course I will always continue to monitor him and test but I am thrilled with what we were able to acheive without insulin.

Edited to add: I realize that all can't be so lucky, but I am glad we tried regulation first.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AruslrPluJSLdDEzbGtHT080VFRrejdyTFNpMFZBOWc&hl=en

 

Off the juice (remission, diet controlled)

 

Great job with doing your research. IMO, it sounds like you have a great vet that is willing to give the diet change a chance to work first. It worked for my cat, (no dry food at all and the lowest carb food on the list - Walmart tuna & shrimp - 1 carb!) and other cats (two this month alone!) - Sweety had almost the same Fructosamine readings as Oscar. It took two weeks, she was otherwise healthy and the diet change spared us from having to give insulin. It can work - and the vet is even behind it! - that's GREAT!

 

Your situation is SO similiar to ours...even down to Oscar's numbers-Junior had BG of 491 at the vet--vet didn't do fructosimine test, he said rather than charge us to run the test now that we have a home BG meter we can continue to test to run an average ourselves. As far as you upcoming trip and that being a concern, we are taking a trip as well--goign to be gone 2 weeks and the new diganosis right before our trip has me worried too. BUT I think this might work for both of us, try our best to regulate with diet until our trip is over and then get the Rx for insulin if we haven't been able to lower the BG enough for our little boys health. I am here for you at least for emotional support ANY time you need it, since you and I are concerning ourselves with the very same thing, being away from our little ones during a very scary time for us all. Hang in there, I am happy to follow Oscar's progress and in fact learn right along with you.

Has Oscar tried the M/D? My vet has an order waiting for me to pick up today of the Rx food, but not sure if that is the way to go or not?

 

You also need to discuss switching him to inhaled meds for his asthma instead of steroid shots.

See more info at www.fritzthebrave.com.

 

He has had only 2 cortisone shots in his life time for asthma. Once in 2005, and once back this November. From here on out, I know to request an inhaled steroid instead of an injected one. Thanks for the extra info site!

 

I just got off the phone with my mom and she talked about a friend that had a diabetic kitty, but found out later that he also had lung cancer. This has me worried! Could cancer cause diabetes? The vet palpitated Oscar's tummy and said everything was ok and he wasn't worried about cancer, but I am worried about what can't be found by doing that. Would cancer have shown up on any of the tests that were conducted? (I believe he had creatin (?), cholesterol, magnesium, kidney function, and thyroid function checked at the very least). He's only 7 :sad:

 

cancer often eats glucose (aka: lowers the glucose levels) so personally i wouldn't be worried about cancer at this point if there's no other reason to suspect it.

 

Thank You! That puts my mind at ease. dancing_cat

I knew that he fits all the signs for diabetes, but my mind got running and I got scared again.

 

No, the inhaled meds are not given at the vet. It's a daily treatment that you give at home.

Please read the website that I gave you. You're under treating his asthma if all he has had is 2 cortisone shots since the asthma diagnosis.

 

No, the inhaled meds are not given at the vet. It's a daily treatment that you give at home.

Please read the website that I gave you. You're under treating his asthma if all he has had is 2 cortisone shots since the asthma diagnosis.

 

None of the vets have recommended a daily treatment since his coughing is so infrequent. His last cortisone shot for this was in 2006, and I was told it was seasonal allergies. He doesn't cough every day, but it varies. Sometimes is is every other day, sometimes it is once a month. He has always tended to mouth breathe though. We have never had an official asthma diagnosis, but I have always known that is what it is, and the current vet believes that is what it is as well. Since his last episode was in November, and the vet said his lungs sounded clear and much better this week, what are the chances that I will be able to convince my vet to give him a daily inhaled treatment? The vet said nothing about the cortisone shots pushing him into the diabetic state, so I don't know if they understand the danger with it. I counted his breathing rate and it is at 40 bpm right now.