Hunter

Hi everyone. I am the mom of a recently diagnosed diabetes cat. My name is Vivian and my cat's name is Hunter. He is one of 3 cats and a dog. He has been diagnosed with diabetes as of last week. I am not even sure how to use this board or see any replys. Can anyone help???I am overwhelmed.

vbroderick said:

I am the mom of a recently diagnosed diabetes cat. I am overwhelmed.

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Good morning and welcome! I'm glad you found your way here. A diagnosis of feline diabetes is scary, overwhelming and very stressful; believe me, I can relate: been there, done that. My name is Kat and Gobbles is my 11 year old, neutered male cat. He was diagnosed in November of last year and went into remission this past May.

When my cat was diagnosed, I felt totally helpless, frightened and completely overwhelmed. With the help and guidance of the good people here at FDMB, I learned to manage my cat's feline diabetes, got lots of support and quite an education! There is always someone online here (and most times, many people) to be of assistance and hold your hand

For starters: what is your name and what state do you live in? I assume your cat's name is Hunter; how old is he/she? weight? any other illness/diseases? when was he/she diagnosed? which insulin, how much and how often given? Are you home testing (and if so, which glucometer?) What type/brand of food are you feeding him/her?


Take a deep breath. It will get better.

Welcome to FDMB!

There are 3 things that go into the initial caring for a diabetic cat - diet, home monitoring, and insulin.

So, what are you feeding?
What, if any, home testing are you doing - urine testing? blood testing?
What, if any, insulin is being given and what is the dose?

Ty for answering my postings. My name is Vivian. I live in NJ. Hunter is a 7 year old neutered male cat. He weighs about 15 pounds. He has no other illnesses. He was diagnosed on 8/10/13. He gets 2 units of Lantus 2X's a day. He eats Fancy Feast and dry Royal Canin Indoor light. We also have 2 other cats ages 6 and 11, and a 2 year old Carolina dog. I have not done any home testing as of yet. I do have a Accu-Chek monitor, however, the vet told me they don't work on cats. I have heard they do. So what's up with that????

They do work on cats and we have members who can prove it. The thing is, you have to use reference numbers for cats which were developed on human glucometers. At the low end, a human glucometer will read about 30 mg/d: lower than a pet glucometer or a lab test.

The Accu-Chek should be fine. The cost of test strips is where the meter companies get you. WalMart's ReliOn brand of Confirm, Confirm Micro, or Prime are some of the least expensive, frequently used meters here.

Here are some glucose reference ranges used for decision making using a human glucometer. Numbers in parentheses are for non-US meters.

< 40 mg/dL (2.2)
- Treat as if HYPO if on insulin
- At nadir (lowest point between shots) in a long term diabetic (more than a year), may earn a reduction.

< 50 mg/dL (2.8)
- If before nadir, steer with food, ie, give modest amounts of medium carb food to keep from going below 50.
- At nadir, often indicates dose reduction is earned.

50 - 130 mg/dL (2.8 - 7.2)
- On insulin - great control when following a tight regulation protocol.
- Off insulin - normal numbers. (May even go as low as the upper 30s (1.7); if not on insulin, this can be safe.

> 150 mg/dL (8.3)
- At nadir, indicates a dose increase may be needed when following a tight regulation protocol.

200 mg/dL (11.1)
- no shot level for beginners; may slowly reduce to 150 mg/dL ( 8.3) for long-acting insulins (Lantus, Levemir, and ProZinc) as data collection shows it is safe

180 - 280 mg/dL (10 - 15.6)
- Any time - The renal threshold (depending on data source and cat's renal function) where glucose spills into the urine.
- Test for ketones, glucose is too high.

>= 280 mg/dL (15.6), if for most of the cycle between shots
- Uncontrolled diabetes and thus at risk for diabetic ketoacidosis and hepatic lipidosis
- Follow your insulin protocol for dose adjustments
- Test for ketones; if more than a trace level of ketones, go to vet ASAP.

vbroderick said:

Ty for answering my postings. My name is Vivian. I live in NJ. Hunter is a 7 year old neutered male cat. He weighs about 15 pounds. He has no other illnesses. He was diagnosed on 8/10/13. He gets 2 units of Lantus 2X's a day. He eats Fancy Feast and dry Royal Canin Indoor light. We also have 2 other cats ages 6 and 11, and a 2 year old Carolina dog. I have not done any home testing as of yet. I do have a Accu-Chek monitor, however, the vet told me they don't work on cats. I have heard they do. So what's up with that????

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As BJM said, human glucometers work on cats--most of the members here use a human glucometer, not a pet/vet glucometer. The pet glucometer's are expensive and the strips are outrageous in price.Are you willing to give hometesting a try today? It is very important to test Hunter before each shot. Lantus is an excellent insulin, by the way. Which variety of Fancy Feast does he eat?

BTW--I LOVE his name!!!!

Ty all for the info. My friend had a diabetic cat and she is a nurse. She told me she will help me give him the test. However, the vet never said I had to check him yet. we have an appointment on the 23rd. I check the imgredients on the Fancy Feast first. He eats the beef, chicken, turkey, salmon but I steer clear of the grilled. Of course that was his fav. LOL

vbroderick said:

Ty all for the info. My friend had a diabetic cat and she is a nurse. She told me she will help me give him the test. However, the vet never said I had to check him yet. we have an appointment on the 23rd. I check the imgredients on the Fancy Feast first. He eats the beef, chicken, turkey, salmon but I steer clear of the grilled. Of course that was his fav. LOL

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It's great to read that you have a friend who not only had a diabetic cat but is also a nurse--she'll have you testing in a jiffy! From experience, I can tell you that a lot of vets do not support hometesting; probably because a lot of caregivers wouldn't do it, I suppose.

It is really very, very important to start hometesting Hunter before each shot, for starters. We recommend a test before each shot a mid-day test and a "before bed" test, if you are able We also recommend, for newbies, to NOT give insulin if you get a BG reading of 200 or less; you do not want to put your cat in danger by shooting a number that is too low, and of course you won't know what his level is if you are not checking. Shooting a cat too low, or a cat going too low during their cycle (with Lantus, there are two 12-hour cycles per day) can result in a hypoglycemic situation: this can cause irreversible damage to your cat, or even worse. Consider it this way: if you have a human child who requires insulin, would you give that child an insulin shot (or pill) without knowing what their blood glucose level was? Of course not. So you need to do the same thing for your cat.

As for food: it's great that he eats wet food! Are the flavors you named the pate, classic versions? They are fine. Also, the chunky chicken and chunky turkey are fine as well.

Hi Vivian and sugardude Hunter and welcome to the FDMB! Lot's of experience here with managing a diabetic cat. We live diabetes 24/7.

Avoid the Fancy Feast foods that have gravy or sauce or broth in the name. Those are too high carb.

vbroderick said:

...He eats Fancy Feast and dry Royal Canin Indoor light...

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Once you are home testing, we suggest you move entirely to canned or raw low carbohydrate food. There is a lot of good information supporting that recommendation from Lisa Pierson DVM at her web site Cat Info. The printable food chart there lists most common US foods
along with the percent of calories from protein, fat, and carbohydrate. We suggest choices with under 10% calories from carbohydrates for regular feeding. Have a few cans of high carb gravied food on hand for times if the glucose goes too low.

You want the classic pates Fancy feasts and stop the dry. However before you do this you will want to start home testing. Great that you have a good meter already!

heres some testing tips! https://docs.google.com/document/d/13c_CPZVKz27fD_6aVbsguadJKvjSrSAkD7flgPPhEag/pub

Let us know how you get on - some cats are easier than others to test and get blood from!

Wendy

Good Morning Vivian! How is Hunter doing? We use a "scale", I use the term loosely, as to how a cat's daily condition is. The scale is called the "5 P's". Below is a copy & past from BJM's Secondary Monitoring Tools to explain said scale:

The 5 Ps

Purring - is the cat exhibiting customary signs of contentment or happiness?
Playing - will the cat play and interact with others?
Preening - is the cat maintaining its fur and cleanliness?
Peeing - occurs, and is a normal volume?
Poohing - fecal material is formed and passable?

Constipation may happen with a food change; adding a tablespoon or so of water may help, plus ensures the cat is hydrated properly.


Have you tried hometesting him yet? If so, what number did you get?

Have a lovely weekend and hang in there

How are things going? Has your friend showed you home testing yet?

Hi all. It's Hunter's mom Viv. Just wanted you to all know, Hunter is off insilin after only two weeks. I believe he may have been diagnosed too quickly. I must admit, he was on a very high carb, treat diet, and I think that, plus the stress of going to the vets drove his number so high. After being on insilin for just one week, his numbers dropped 300 points. The vet said she never saw a drop that fast ever!!! We still continued with the insilin. The following week, my girlfriend came over to test him about 2 hours before we had another vet appt. His number was 62. I opted to not give him the insilin until after the vet appt. At the vet's he was 78. She told me to continue the insilin at a lower dose, but if the numbers fell under 100 to call. Sure enough, 1 1/2 days later his numbers were under 100. I called and they told me not to give to insilin. So his last shot was at 5 AM on 9/1. He has been doing great. His number once was 102 and once 105, all the rest have been under 100 but no lower than 73. The vet agreed to stop the insilin and keep tabs 2x's a week on his numbers. Hopefully, he will continue alongthis path. I am giving him a low carb diet, with about 1/4 cup dry food a day. It seems to be working, an and he is back to being my Hunter. I noticed on the insilin he was not himself, and my girlfriend thought for sure he was getting too much insilin. TY all for you concerns and help. Good luck to you and all of you kitties.

Viv

Could have been a misdiagnosis. they happen.

Glad to hear Hunter is doing well.

Tips to stay OTJ

1. Never feed dry - not even treats. If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission.
3. Measure blood once a week, indefinitely. You want to catch a relapse quickly. Some people only do checks every 2 weeks to a month.
4. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check.
5. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission.

You may want to see if you can wean Hunter off that last bit of dry food. To keep him in remission.

just curious - where in NJ are you located? As you can see I too am in NJ. curious who your vet is too.

We live in Momouth County. Go to Oakhurst Vet. Hosp. in Ocean.
Ty for all the tips. I'll try to get him off the dry completwly, but will have to so it slowly. He actually stands by the door where I keep it and screams. LOL

We aren't far from each other. Glad that he doesn't need insulin and yes, it can be a challenge to wean them off the kibbles. In the long run, it will be much better for him, but you may go through some anxiety while doing it.

It would be the same if someone told you no more potato chips or baked potatoes, ever! You'd cry too.

;-)

Hi all. Hope you are all having a wonderful new year. Here in NJ we have had nothing but snow, snow, snow. I am so tired of the snow, can't wait for spring. Just wanted to give you an update on Hunter. He is doing fabulously. He has not had a shot since 9/1/13 and his numbers are great. Took it today and it was 98. He had eaten about 2-2 1/2 hours before. His numbers have always been well within the range of a nondiabetic cat and we both couldn't be happier. Thank you again or all of you welcoming comments and advice.
Vivian

Welcome back, Vivian! Glad to hear everything is going well with you two. That is fantastic news to hear! I'm in SoCal so I can't ever complain about the weather, even on the rare occasion we get some much-needed rain. :lol:

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: CONGRATULATIONS!

Tips to stay OTJ

We say a cat is in remission if the cat can maintain BG levels for 14 days between 40-120 with most of that spent under 100. However, please keep in mind that once a diabetic always a diabetic.

1. Never feed dry - not even treats. If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission.
3. Measure blood once a week, indefinitely. You want to catch a relapse quickly.
4. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check.
5. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission.
6. Regular vet checks for infection such as dental , ear or UTI. And get them treated quick!

If he does fall out of remission you need to be more aggressive and resolve issues/ back on insulin as soon as possible as the window for a second remission is tight if any.

Keep that party time at the falls going Hunter! 6 months and counting. Hope you stay OTJ a long, long time.