So your cat's a diabetic...(new diagnosis)

Hi everyone. My name's Heather, 31 y/o living in Sarnia Ontario with my 8.5 y/o male orange tabby named Red who currently weighs 19.0 lbs (down from 23.7 lbs at the beginning of October {changed to a "diet food" but also from the diabetes??}). Red was diagnosed as a diabetic one week ago after being lethargic and anorexic for a couple of days. Ashamed to say I didn't notice his skin was jaundiced. He was also quite dehydrated. According to the vet the jaundice/liver problems are probably, though not necessarily just secondary to the diabetes and will resolve once his blood glucose stabilizes.
He was in the vets for three days on IV fluids, eating on his own but not much. His glucose came down from 25 to below 15 to 11 when I brought him home 3 days ago. I believe they started at 1 unit caninsulin 2x a day but eventually increased to 3 units 2x a day.
Since being home he has barely eaten on his own but is drinking and looking much more vibrant than when I first brought him home.
This evening I brought him back to the vets to test his blood glucose and it was 3.9. The vet thought that was ok but that he needed to eat. He told me 6-10 was ideal.
The food I was given by the vet is medi-cal diabetic dry, some royal canin diabetic morsels in gravy, and purina DM pate (so far he's really only eating the pate). I've been mixing it with water and feeding it to him through a syringe. I've been feeding him (taking roughly 15 min for 1/4 of a can) then going him the injection.
He's also on medication for his liver. I'm giving him one tablet of Zentonil every morning on an empty stomach.
I've gone to school for vet tech but have yet to work as a tech and have no experience and only rudimentary knowledge (aka no real working knowledge) of diabetes in cats so while some of this is not as overwhelming as it might be for others ( injections are a breeze, thankfully!) I'm still very overwhelmed about this new situation and worried for his overall health. The newest worry was today when the vet mentioned something about a possible pancreatic tumor (OK, that came out of nowhere. Are we testing for this??) I was confused for a moment thinking he meant liver and therefore didn't ask what he meant by that and now I think I'll wait until I bring him in again in 4 days to ask the other vet who seems a little easier to talk to.
I realize that may have been a bit much information (or perhaps not enough...) but thank you in advance for any help and support!!

 

Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

We strongly advocate home glucose testing, as the levels may increase 5.5 - 10 mmol (100-180 mg/dL ) from vet stress alone.
You'll want to pick up an inexpensive, human glucometer (the pet meters are pricey and the test strips will ruin your budget!) that doesn't have 'Free' in the name (they seem not to work as well in cats) and use the reference numbers in my signature link Glucometer Notes to help you interpret what they may mean.

We find that low carb, over the counter canned food is perfectly suitable for feeding diabetic cats. See Cat Info for a veterinarian's perspective on what we feed our obligate carnivores.

For insulin, ProZinc and BCP PZI are non-depot insulins which can work well in cats, and Lantus and Levemir are depot insulins which can work very well at controlling the glucose levels due to their slight overlap effects between doses.

 

From the Merck Veterinary Manual " In cats, recent evidence has supported the use of high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets." and " In newly diagnosed cats, insulin glargine is the insulin of choice." and "NPH, lente, or PZI insulins may also be used in cats, with starting dosages ranging from 1 to 3 units, bid. However, these insulins are not associated with high rates of diabetic remission."

AAHA Diabetes Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

 

Hi I'm new too, and learning as I go...can't offer much help but I do know the script diets are crap...and wet food is best, low carb. Good luck

 

Hi Heather and welcome to you and Red.

I'm very sorry to hear what a rough time Red has been having of late. You've found a great place to learn and to get help and support. 3.9mmol/L - presumably measured on a veterinary, pet-calibrated glucometer? - is right at the lowest end of the normal range for a non-diabetic cat. If you're not doing so already, we recommend that you learn to test BG at home. Most of the members here use inexpensive human glucometers and strips and use a pet-specific reference range for monitoring of cats' blood glucose (human meter readings are lower than pet-calibrated meters like the Alphatrak). My cat, Saoirse was on Caninsulin at first, and it can drop numbers very hard and very fast. With Tom's appetite problems at the moment, if he were my cat I'd be looking to monitor his BG at home ASAP. I'm not sure which meters members use in Canada. Relion Micro and Confirm meters are popular in the US (available from Walmart). Some UK members use Accu-Check Aviva meters. (Can someone from Canada please recommend a meter?)

After getting that low reading, did your vet mention anything about possibly adjusting Red's Caninsulin dose? If ever you can't get Red to eat before an injection, I'd recommend contacting your vet before giving the dose if you're not home testing. Caninsulin needs 'up-front' carbs to work on. I strongly recommend that you visit the FDMB Health Links/FAQs board, print out the How to Treat Hypos Guide and also check out the Hypo toolkit thread. If you haven't already got one, I recommend getting a hypo kit together ASAP. All going well, you'll never need it, but it's much better to have the kit on standby so that you've got everything to hand and don't have to go hunting for stuff in the event of an emergency.

I had a look online for Zentonil, and I see that it's a SAM-e supplement for liver support.

WRT to Red's eating difficulties, if the inappetence continues to be a problem longer term there are appetite stimulants that can help, and also anti-nausea meds should they be required (inappetence and nausea can be a problem when pancreatitis is involved - not sure about pancreatic tumors, bot fingers and paws crossed Red won't have either problem). You can learn more about such meds here as well (and obviously discuss them with your vet if such meds might help Red in the future).

Several cats here have pancreas issues so you may get help here for that, too, should you need it. Did the vets perform an ultrasound?

The early days are very overwhelming for all of us. As you learn more and develop a routine that works for you and Red, but it does get better the more you learn. All going well, in a relatively short of time, you'll get into a routine that works for both you and Red. Any time you have questions, or any time it's getting a bit much for you, be sure to post and we'll be here to help.

 

Hi Heather,
A couple of people earlier replied to your thread in the "Intro" forum, and I've copied the posts into this thread so that everything is in one place.

Carl

 

Hi Heather, I realize your post is a year old. I live in Sarnia also and I was wondering if you found a good Getz?

 

Excuse me, a good veterinarian?

 

She hasn't been on the message board since September of 2015 so I doubt if she's going to be able to help you @Tia's Mom