My Diabetic Kitten

I rescued my first cat (her documents say penny lane, but we just call her cat) this february and it turns out that despite being 10 months old when I brought her home, she is a heavy diabetic. I think her glucose levels were 500+ before we started her on the insulin. I have had her on 2 units of prozinc every morning and 1 unit at night as per my vet's instructions, but the vet's don't seem to have ever seen diabetes in such a young cat. Most of what they're doing seems to be guess work. I looked around the forums and I couldn't find anyone else with such a young diabetic. Has anyone heard of any cases like my Cat's?

 

Welcome to you and your sweet kitty! Bummer on the dx :sad:

I have personally not heard of a cat being diagnosed that young, but it's not impossible. In cats (just like people), there are type 1 (sometimes called juvenile onset) and type 2 diabetes, and type 1 can happen regardless of age, diet, etc.

A couple of questions for you - does your Cat eat wet or dry food? And has she ever had steroids (like prednisone, methylprednisolone, etc)? Steroids are a common cause of diabetes that is often reversible after the drug is discontinued, and dry food is a big contributor as well.

I don't know much about Prozinc (we use Lantus) but I'm sure someone will be along to talk to you about dosing, etc.

Have you considered testing her blood sugar at home? It can be done with a regular human meter from Walmart or wherever (there is a link at the top of this page to get a free meter with supplies - you only pay shipping). It would give you much better information about her levels and help keep her safe - insulin is a powerful hormone and you need to know if the dose is too low or too high. Also it can save you money on vet monitoring! Please let us know if we can help you learn to hometest.

Good luck and glad you found your way here!!

 

I will probably look into home testing soon (once my finals are over).

At the time of her diagnosis I had her on evolve wet food. The vet switched me to dry Hill's prescription m/d low fat diabetic food. No steroids, but she does have upper respiratory problems for which I give her viralys and occasional antihistamines when the sniffles get really bad.

 

http://www.catster.com/cats/267400

this kitties bean used to post on the FDMB. I am not sure if you can find the posts now, being there were board changes. He was diagnosed around 10-11 mos I believe.

It happens.

 

The right diet can greatly help with the diabetes, just like it can for Human diabetics :smile: The prescription dry is the equivalent of potato chips and candy for a diabetic cat. Vets push the food because they don't know about proper nutrition. Canned prescription food is slightly better but still not great.

You can feed your cat a commerical brand of canned food such as Fancy Feast, Wellness, Friskies, etc. Not all brands and varieties of commerical canned food are low enough in carbs for a diabetic cat. Members here recommend sticking to foods under 10% carbs. Use these lists:

Binky's canned food charts
Pet Food Nutritional Values list
Dr. Lynne's Wet Food list
List of low carb gluten free Fancy Feast

On Binky's charts, stick with foods that have a number 10 or less in the carbs colum. On the Pet Food Nutritional Values Chart, look at the %kcal from carbs column and choose foods that have a number 10 or less.

No dry food is good for a cat. There are some low carb dry foods but they can still keep blood glucose levels too high. This member recently stopped feeding low carb Wellness dry food and the cat had not needed any insulin since then is now on his way to remission

BUT.... don't change the diet just yet. Doing so can have a big impact on dropping blood glucose levels and insulin need. Learn how to hometest first and then slowly change the diet.

Morgan was DXd around 9 months. He eats Fancy Feast. I believe Morgan is on ProZinc insulin now, after switching from PZI. Here's his bean's profile on the old FDMB: http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/profile.php?15,2690 Profile here on the new FDMB: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=3236This seems to be the only post here on the new board: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?t=31427

 

I had no idea that the dry food was so bad for them. I also didn't realize home monitoring was so common. I'm working on getting started with that now (vet told me it wasn't necessary. its shocking how little she knows!)

I have also been concerned about whether or not the insulin is actually helping her. When I first started her on it about a month ago she picked up the habit of hiding in the closet flopped on the floor with droopy eyes starting about 2 hours after every time I give her a dose. She usually seems most energetic in the 2-3 hours before the next meal and dose. The last time I took her in for monitoring her levels were still high. The strange part is, though, that it seemed she was much more active before I started her on the Pz. Her thirst and urination also hasn't slowed down much. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

 

It is possible that she is getting too much insulin and that is why She acts strange after the shot. The symptoms you describe are very worrying. Numbers at the vet can be much higher than numbers at home since stress raises bg levels and cats are usually stressed at the vet.

Is she on PZI? What is her dose?

We can teach you how to test; we've taught hundreds of people over the Internet. Then you will know if she is getting too much insulin or too little.

 

Like Sue said, the dose may be too high. It's also uncommon for the vet to have you shoot unequal amounts day and night. It is best to shoot the same amount every shot. Somewhere down the road, it might make sense to use non-equal doses, or to use a scale where you adjust the amount depending on the preshot numbers you see, but it takes a lot of collected data to determine if that makes sense.
Does she act that way after every shot, or do you notice it more during the day cycle or the night cycle?
Also, what is her feeding schedule like (how much and when during the day or night does she eat, or does she just free feed?)

Carl

 

Shes on psi right now with 2 units in the morning and 1 at night. Shes on hills prescription low carb m/d diabetic dry food (1/4 cup every 12 hours). She seems the same regardless of the amount I havejust given her.

 

Can we teach you how to test at home? We have taught hundreds of people over the Internet.

The vet who posts here compares giving insulin without testing like driving down a highway with a bag over your head. It is really scary to shoot blind. You have no idea whether she is getting too much or too little insulin. Both can be deadly.

 

Do you know anything about your kitties mother? In human pregnancy if the mother has gestational diabetes it can affect the baby and make it much more likely to suffer diabetes. The mother cat may have had diabetes or have been an overweight.

 

OK, that's one of the reasons you haven't seen much of an improvement in the numbers. Hill's dry m/d isn't low carb. Well, it's lower carb than a lot of dry foods are, but about twice as high as it needs to be for a diabetic patient to eat it.
It sounds like your vet realizes that low carb food is what it needed. He probably just doesn't realize how high that food is in carbs. We recommend a diet of canned food that is less than 7% calories from carbohydrates. Most vets aren't experts on nutrition. Fortunately, we know one who is, and her site is full of awesome information about what is good for cats, especially for diabetic cats. And she's not a fan of any Hill's prescription food (for good reason if you read her stie):
http://www.catinfo.org

Is she still acting odd after every shot? I think her dose might be too high, and if you can start hometesting, we'll be able to know that for sure once you collect a few days of data.

It's hard at first, but not hard to learn, and it is the #1 safe thing you can do to treat feline diabetes.

Carl