Zorro

I need advise. My Siamese was diagnosed with feline diabetes in February of this year. The vet put him on Hills Prescription W/D.,and vetsulin. My cat Zorro has went from 1 unit and now is up to 6 units q 12 hours. His glucose levels range from 450 to 5 00 . I asked the vet if I should switch to a canned food and she told me that dry is fine., yet every thing I have read says NO DRY FOOD. Zorro drinks a lot of water and urinates a lot. He also has weakness in the back legs. 2 days ago the vet suggested that I try Science Diet M/D. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

Hi and welcome! Are you home testing? If not then please don't switch to a low carb canned food yet. Often when you make the switch kitty's glucose may drop significantly and if you're not testing you risk a hypo. If you are testing, then definitely switch to a wet food. The hills w/d and m/d dry are both too high in carbs for a diabetic (the canned ones are too). If you aren't testing, we can help you learn how. It's really easy and can help you keep Zorro safe and let you know how well the insulin is working

 

Are you home testing?

Personally I would

1. Learn to home test
2. Ditch the higher carb dry food and go to fancy feast classic and at the same time
3. Lower the dose to 2 units while home testin. Hold for a few days and only raise it by no more than half a unit as needed.

 

Not currently home testing. Need to do. Thank you .

 

It's surprisingly easy to do! Here's some info and @JanetNJ has a great video in her signature. Please check it out and ask any questions you have.

 

Welcome Zorro and his Mum!
Here is the Spreadsheet you can use to log Zorro's BG numbers, just need a google e-mail and if you need help just ask: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Setting up your Signature is very helpful to provide a quick "glance" of Zorro's information and help those of us with bad memories :
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

Lastly, I like to give this to new members and hope you never need it: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

I also agree that if you doing a diet change, make sure you are home testing first to keep Zorro safe! Can't wait to see a picture . Keep asking any questions

 

I can only add to the above suggestions to think about home testing urine for the ketones. You can buy testing strips @ any human pharmacy at around $15.

 

Took Zorro to the vet today...not eating or drinking water, and some vomiting. They gave him fluids and nausea meds, plus antibiotic. Blood glucose just below 500. If no change tomorrow , vet wants to admit him.

 

It's possible that your kitty could be developing a complication of diabetes called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). It can't be treated at home and is very serious. By all means take him back to the vet if there's no improvement.

 

So sorry to hear this. If he's still not eating take him in asap. Ketoacidosis is major and can be life threatening.

 

Kind of surprised they didn't test him for ketones right away at the Vet. Seems to be another thing know widely known by Vets