thank you all!

Hello all, I devoured this forum for a couple of days three weeks ago when my cat was first diagnosed with diabetes. I wanted to let you know how much this forum and all the amazing information helped me (and Tigger too). He was drinking a lot of water, and urinating so much that the kitty litter wouldn't soak it up. I took him to the vet within the week. His blood sugar was over 500. The vet immediately prescribed insulin which she said would run $300 a month. I asked her if I took two weeks to research and change his diet if it would harm him. She said no, so I read everything I could find, especially on this site and catinfo.org.

Wow, so much I didn't know about a cat's diet. Long story short, I found Tiki Cat, a wet cat food with 0 carbs. I took him off of dry cat food and treats immediately. He balked a bit at the food, but he was happy when I hand fed him. He's eating it very well now.

We had his blood sugar rechecked Friday night. Normal. His blood sugar is 140 and his Fructosamine? is 277. The vet was stunned. She said diet works for cats who have a blood sugar 300 or under, but not 500. She didn't seem very interested in the diet though...just said it had made her day and to continue doing whatever I was doing.

I'm sharing this story to thank everyone (and I made a donation), but to also ask if there's anything I should watch for.

I so appreciate this website...it literally saved us $300 a month, and much discomfort for Tigger.

Hope everyone is well and safe!

Best, Kathy

 

CONGRATULATIONS!

I think you just might want to home test Tiggers blood glucose. (Maybe once a week?) I know hes close to normal just from the food but other outside forces can change things in an instant. Much like changing the food did. Probably not what you want to hear but it WILL keep Tigger safer. Keep watching for the obvious signs. GOOD JOB!
Please give Tigger some extra scritches from us.

 

Do you mind me asking how much Tiki Cat can food you give your cat??

My cat was just diagnosed ... first prescribed Hills prescription Glucose food (hard and wet), and my cat refused to eat it. So we went back yesterday, and the vet prescribed Hill Prescription Metabolic and urinary care food (hard and can), but my cat is so so about eating it and mainly eats the liquid and leaves most of the meat part. He is 14 and has always been a grazer when it comes to hard kibble, so to eat it on demand; he is having no part of it. We have always given them as a treat twice a day a spoon of Tiki Cat, Cats in the Kitchen or BFF can food. Which they like and eat, but I am not quite sure how much of the 3oz can should be giving him. The vet wants him to lose weight; he is 13lbs right now, and I do not want to overfeed him.

 

My cat wouldnt eat that stuff either. It cost me 40 bucks for 12 cans! I took it back and got a refund found Fancy Feast pates with 10% or less carbs and he went nuts for it.
Unless your cat is in ckd or has efficiency issues. I dont see anything special about the food vets sell except of course the price. Vets get a "kick back" from the big companies that sell their food.

 

Thanks JT and Trouble! I do have some glucose testing strips, which seem pretty accurate. The first time I tested him the result was 500+. The second time was almost normal (somewhere around 200, i think?), and the third was normal (which was right before I took him to the vet for followup). He thinks I'm creepy for stealing up behind him and holding the tab in his urine stream (he then hides behind the chair and stares at me for a few minutes), but it's a small price to pay. I'll continue with these tabs, and get his blood sugar tested again when we take him in to get the recurring sarcoma taken off his mouth. Thanks again!

Hi Chele22, I'm new to all this, so I may be way off base, but I recommend taking a look the food charts on this website. I found with some surprise that right after the vet told me to put him on low carbs, and take him off of dry food, she handed me Hill's science diet which was not really low in carbs (wet food) and a sample bag of dry food. Tigger doesn't seem to be a big eater, but he hasn't lost any weight. The food is probably higher in calories than regular food, since a lot of the food in the can seems to be very fatty (sometimes it just looks like a whole fish chopped up). I feed him about two cans a day. Hoping when he gets all his energy back, that he'll go up to three cans, which seems about right in calories - about 250 calories or so (again, I'm new to this, and remember reading the caloric intake somewhere, but can't remember it exactly).

 

jt and trouble

No, he does not have any issues like that. He was on prescription hills urinary dry food before as a grazer all because about 4 years ago he had a urinary blockage that cost us a trip to the emergency vet and at that time they put him on the urinary food to keep crystals from forming and to get him to drink more.

I kind of got the feeling yesterday that he may get some type of kickback from the prescription cat food because while the vet tech took time to read the label and look for the calorie content of the food I took in our vet did not even bother to look at it and said well let's try another option before we look at what you have. I was like well if he won't eat this food you are prescribing now and I have to resort back to TikiCat I need to know how much is acceptable to give him in one feeding because I do not want to overfeed him!

 

Thank you I am trying to navigate this new normal the best I can! I appreciate your help!

 

jt and trouble

No, he does not have any issues like that. He was on prescription hills urinary dry food before as a grazer all because about 4 years ago he had a urinary blockage that cost us a trip to the emergency vet and at that time they put him on the urinary food to keep crystals from forming and to get him to drink more.

I kind of got the feeling yesterday that he may get some type of kickback from the prescription cat food because while the vet tech took time to read the label and look for the calorie content of the food I took in our vet did not even bother to look at it and said well let's try another option before we look at what you have. I was like well if he won't eat this food you are prescribing now and I have to resort back to TikiCat I need to know how much is acceptable to give him in one feeding because I do not want to overfeed him!

 

That's wonderful!!!! Just so you know... Esp in case it turns out she needs soon insulin in the future... I'm assuming it was lantus insulin she was going to perscribe. You can get it cheaper having it shipped from Canada. Also the insulin vial lasts about 6 months when kept in the refrigerator, so it's not a new vial every month.

 

Chele you need to start a new thread with your specific needs in the title you will get WAY more help that way.

 

Thanks JanetNJ, that's really good to know. The cost she was giving me was so different than what I saw on-line. Crossing my fingers he stays in remission.

 

Hi again...somewhere on here or catinfo.org is a caloric intake based on weight chart. It was very helpful.

 

The rule of thumb is ABOUT 20 calories per pound of ideal weight. So if his ideal weight is 11 pounds then it would be about 220 calories worth of food a day. You will have to look at the can to see how many calories are inside.

 

Kathy Congratulations I really like hearing stories like this .

 

That’s great news. Thanks for sharing. I would get a follow up test done in a few months to check the BG is still ok. And a yearly BG test I think just to keep a check. .