Six Month Post-Diagnosis and Frustrated

Hi everyone - I've been reading your board for several months since our cat, Nathan, was diagnosed in July. I finally decided to join today. Nathan is 12 years old and diagnosed after sudden weight loss and a dehydration episode that nearly killed him. He has been to a specialist and his ultrasound showed evidence of pancreatitis, inflammation of his gallbladder and cysts on his liver. Bloodwork is otherwise normal. The doctor's first directive to us was to get the diabetes under control. He has held his own the last few months, but is now up to 3 units, 2x per day. He eats Purina Pro Plan DM food. He has ebbed and flowed, but this morning he had what seemed like a hypoglycemic episode. I feel like the more his insulin has increased, the worse his symptoms have become. Our vet wants us to feed him twice a day only, but there is no way we can get him to 2x per day. I know these kitties have ups and downs, but I'm beginning to lose hope. Our vet tests Nathan's fructosamine regularly. Does anyone have advice on other foods to consider? I don't like the idea of our vet only recommending a food that they sell. Any other advice is appreciated.

 

Welcome! Don't lose hope. We can help you. The main health forum is a better place to ask your questions since this is just a welcome area. It would be helpful if you could first set up a signature to give us basic info like date of diagnosis and type of insulin being given: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/ Otherwise, you'll have to tell us that stuff over and over every time you post.

The two most important things I can tell you are 1) Low-carb wet food is the way to go. If you are feeding the DM dry food, it is too high in carbs. The wet food is not terrible though there are better options available. You can check out catinfo.org for feline nutrition info. The vet who created it also created a cat food list (link in my signature) to help you find appropriate foods to feed. 2) Home glucose testing is very important. It not only helps keep your cat safe, but it gives you a better picture of the impact the insulin dose is having so that more appropriate dosing decisions can be made. Fructosamine tests give an average over a 2 to 3 week period. They are great to use at diagnosis, but they do not give the full picture like home glucose testing. If you are willing to test at home, you will not have to keep going to the vet (and paying) for those tests. (You want to be testing before making a food change since going to lower carb food can cause a significant drop in glucose.)