Need help fast with diabetic cat I just took in ~~ I'm lost...

[Cindy Z]

Good morning! I have a story to tell and I need advice...

I have experience with a diabetic cat in the past -- 20 years ago I gave human insulin to Sasha for 4 years before she went into remission. Back then, there was no "at home testing", and the only time I ever had a problem was when I shot and she went into a seizure a few hours later (the start of her remission). I never want that to happen again!!

Fast forward to now... Last week my husband's friend passed away suddenly ~~ no one in his family wanted his cats, so we inherited them exactly one week ago today. Alex is approx 4 yrs old, and Spike, the diabetic one is approx 13 yrs old. I have no idea how long this cat has been diabetic, I have no idea who his vet is, I have no idea what type food he is used to eating (his dad kept it in a plastic container so no food bag around to indicate the brand). All I know is the cat is on Vetsulin which we took from his fridge.

These cats are still traumatized ~ by the loss of their dad, and by being in new surroundings with new humans. I have them in a back room in my house since I have 5 other cats ~~ I wanted to give them time to decompress before introducing them to the rest of the family.

I have been giving Spike 1.5 units of Vetsulin twice a day since Monday. He takes his shots well. But he is still rather skittish and I'm still terrified to start testing at this point.

I can regulate his food right now, but when we let him out in the our home there is always dry food out. So testing is going to be very hard and very unreliable since he won't be "fasting" before his shots.

In addition, my husband told me his litterbox was full of little clumps of pee this morning ~~ way more than any day this entire week. Which indicates, to me, that his dosage is not high enough.

What is my next move? (1) take him to a vet for glucose testing (2) increase his dose of Vetsulin to 2 or (3) leave things alone until he is more comfortable with me and our family before starting to try testing at home.

 

[JanetNJ]

I have no idea who his vet is, I have no idea what type food he is used to eating (his dad kept it in a plastic container so no food bag around to indicate the brand). All I know is the cat is on Vetsulin which we took from his fridge.

I'm really glad you came to this forum. I've been following your story on fb. . You are amazing for taking these cats in. It sounds like he was feeding dry food.... Skip that and pick up some fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. I think I read on fb you did eventually figure out who Spike's vet is, correct? So glad you thought to take the insulin out of his fridge to bring with you.

I have been giving Spike 1.5 units of Vetsulin twice a day since Monday. He takes his shots well. But he is still rather skittish and I'm still terrified to start testing at this point.

Give it a week or so to continue to get used to you. Let him get used to having his ears touched and build a bond. Try not to far testing, it will actually take so much stress away because you won't be guessing or wondering if a dose is ok. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home. She's so used to it or doesn't bother her a bit. She purrs right through it. Takes about 45 seconds to do once you get the hang of it.

I can regulate his food right now, but when we let him out in the our home there is always dry food out. So testing is going to be very hard and very unreliable since he won't be "fasting" before his shots.

I suggest you get all the cats on the same wet food so he can't get to naughty food. It will minimize the risk of your other kitties becoming diabetic as well. My cats graze on it throughout the day but after about 3 hours they rarely eat the old food. I do have a timed feeder though so I could have it close up two hours prior to the preshot. (I have six cats).

What is my next move? (1) take him to a vet for glucose testing (2) increase his dose of Vetsulin to 2 or (3) leave things alone until he is more comfortable with me and our family before starting to try testing at home.

1) probably wouldn't hurt to get him a checkup. Testing at home is more accurate as far as bg numbers go because at the vet they are stressed.
2)i wouldn't increase until you get an idea of what his numbers are like.
3) as I said, I'd give him a few days to get used to you and used to having his ears touched. But do remove any dry food from his reach. Most of the dry is 35-45% carb, and they need to have under 10. In the meantime you can get the supplies you need ready and learn what to do. Here's what you need.... Head over to Walmart and get

1. Relion meter or other meter that takes 0.3-0.5 size sample. The smaller the better.
2. Box of 100 extra test strips
3. Box of 100 26 to 28 gauge lancets
4. Cotton cosmetic rounds
5. Neosporin ointment with pain relief
6. A treat for you because you deserve it and you are an awesome cat mom.

 

[Cindy Z]

I'm really glad you came to this forum. I've been following your story on fb. . You are amazing for taking these cats in. It sounds like he was feeding dry food.... Skip that and pick up some fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. I think I read on fb you did eventually figure out who Spike's vet is, correct? So glad you thought to take the insulin out of his fridge to bring with you.

Give it a week or so to continue to get used to you. Let him get used to having his ears touched and build a bond. Try not to far testing, it will actually take so much stress away because you won't be guessing or wondering if a dose is ok. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home. She's so used to it or doesn't bother her a bit. She purrs right through it. Takes about 45 seconds to do once you get the hang of it.


I suggest you get all the cats on the same wet food so he can't get to naughty food. It will minimize the risk of your other kitties becoming diabetic as well. My cats graze on it throughout the day but after about 3 hours they rarely eat the old food. I do have a timed feeder though so I could have it close up two hours prior to the preshot. (I have six cats).



1) probably wouldn't hurt to get him a checkup. Testing at home is more accurate as far as bg numbers go because at the vet they are stressed.
2)i wouldn't increase until you get an idea of what his numbers are like.
3) as I said, I'd give him a few days to get used to you and used to having his ears touched. But do remove any dry food from his reach. Most of the dry is 35-45% carb, and they need to have under 10. In the meantime you can get the supplies you need ready and learn what to do. Here's what you need.... He's over to Walmart and get

1. Relion meter or other meter that takes 0.3-0.5 size sample. The smaller the better.
2. Box of 100 extra test strips
3. Box of 100 26 to 28 gauge lancets
4. Cotton cosmetic rounds
5. Neosporin ointment with pain relief
6. A treat for you because you deserve it and you are an awesome cat mom.

I'm really glad you came to this forum. I've been following your story on fb. . You are amazing for taking these cats in. It sounds like he was feeding dry food.... Skip that and pick up some fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. I think I read on fb you did eventually figure out who Spike's vet is, correct? So glad you thought to take the insulin out of his fridge to bring with you.

Give it a week or so to continue to get used to you. Let him get used to having his ears touched and build a bond. Try not to far testing, it will actually take so much stress away because you won't be guessing or wondering if a dose is ok. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home. She's so used to it or doesn't bother her a bit. She purrs right through it. Takes about 45 seconds to do once you get the hang of it.


I suggest you get all the cats on the same wet food so he can't get to naughty food. It will minimize the risk of your other kitties becoming diabetic as well. My cats graze on it throughout the day but after about 3 hours they rarely eat the old food. I do have a timed feeder though so I could have it close up two hours prior to the preshot. (I have six cats).



1) probably wouldn't hurt to get him a checkup. Testing at home is more accurate as far as bg numbers go because at the vet they are stressed.
2)i wouldn't increase until you get an idea of what his numbers are like.
3) as I said, I'd give him a few days to get used to you and used to having his ears touched. But do remove any dry food from his reach. Most of the dry is 35-45% carb, and they need to have under 10. In the meantime you can get the supplies you need ready and learn what to do. Here's what you need.... He's over to Walmart and get

1. Relion meter or other meter that takes 0.3-0.5 size sample. The smaller the better.
2. Box of 100 extra test strips
3. Box of 100 26 to 28 gauge lancets
4. Cotton cosmetic rounds
5. Neosporin ointment with pain relief
6. A treat for you because you deserve it and you are an awesome cat mom.

We are going to walmart right after work tonight -- I sure hope they have those things in stock (say a prayer).

So I'm on the right track but how do I test when I work 10 hour days? I can do it in the morning pre-shot, and when I get home pre-shot, and before bed post shot, but so many important hours in the day I won't ever be able to get a reading on. I have also read many times that Vetsulin is not long acting, and is really not a good insulin to use, so perhaps my vet, when we get to that stage, will change it. (I plan to use my regular vet, and I have a call into her today).

Yes, the food is dry food that came with the boys, but I have another cat that was recently diagnosed pre-diabetic, so I have been feeding Spike and Alex the same as Lucy -- Purina DM. I just googled the nutrition label on it, and it has 18% carbs, so still too high. This was really upsetting to me because it was recommended by my vet and its over $50 for 8 lbs, which won't last long with 3 cats eating it.

My husband isn't going to go the wet food route for all 7 cats.... the dry food that we have out all the time is Natural Balance Limited Ingredients Green Pea & Duck Formula, and I can't find the carb content on that anywhere

I am also going to look into the timer for dry food -- that sounds like a fantastic idea so I am not starving my other babies that are "entitled" and think they should be able to eat all day and night

My husband wants to let them out of the back room this weekend. I think this is a bad idea. When I go into the back room they are still nervous until I get on the floor and stick around awhile. I want them at the point where they are so comfortable with me that they greet me at the door before I make anymore major changes in their life ~~ meeting five new cats will surely be mind blowing to them.

Thank you ~~ I have been so busy all week but today I actually have some down time at the office ~~ I intended to post on this forum but haven't found the time until now.

I appreciate your advice -- more than you will ever know~

 

[JanetNJ]

So I'm on the right track but how do I test when I work 10 hour days? I can do it in the morning pre-shot, and when I get home pre-shot, and before bed post shot, but so many important hours in the day I won't ever be able to get a reading on.

Don't stress over it. Usually I'm working (home for COVID now the summer cuz I'm a teacher). When I'm working we usually do preshot at 530 am. Sometimes ill take a reading at 7:30 before I leave, if I get a chance or she was lower than usual. (Of she's low and dropping I leave out medium carb food). Then I get the preshot test at 5:30 pm when I get home, and a before bed test some time between 9-10:30. On the weekend or days off I can get a mid cycle day test or two.

I have also read many times that Vetsulin is not long acting, and is really not a good insulin to use, so perhaps my vet, when we get to that stage, will change it.

I used vetsulin for quite a while and my cat did well on it. Even went into remission after 4 months. She stayed in remission for a year but then needed high doses.... She was diagnosed acromegaly which is a tumor in the pituitary gland. We switched to ProZinc because vetsulin stung at high doses. Some cats do well on vetsulin like my cc, but many find they don't get a long duration. Since you have it you might as well see how he does on it. If you see is not lasting long enough, ProZinc is cheap on chewy.com ($105 vial will usually last 4-6 months) or you can order lantus from Canada (under $200 for about a years supply).

My husband isn't going to go the wet food route for all 7 cats.... the dry food that we have out all the time is Natural Balance Limited Ingredients Green Pea & Duck Formula, and I can't find the carb content on that anywhere

The carb content on that one is approximately 35%. The peas are carb. I feed my six wet food twice a day (they can have as much as they want) and leave some dry epigen 90 dry out. Epigen 90 (not the regular epigen) is 5-6% carb. It's high calorie so they don't need much so the 5 lb bag lasts about 2 weeks with 5 of the cats eating it in addition to wet. Friskies pate foods is low carb and not very expensive. We actually feed 4 ferals in addition to our six inside cats. My inside ones mostly eat fancy feast, and the outside ones get Friskies.

Two other dry foods under 10 carb are young again zero carb (only available at Youngagainpetfood.com) is 0-1% carb and Dr elsley's clean protein chicken flavor i think it's around 6%

 

[Cindy Z]

Don't stress over it. Usually I'm working (home for COVID now the summer cuz I'm a teacher). When I'm working we usually do preshot at 530 am. Sometimes ill take a reading at 7:30 before I leave, if I get a chance or she was lower than usual. (Of she's low and dropping I leave out medium carb food). Then I get the preshot test at 5:30 pm when I get home, and a before bed test some time between 9-10:30. On the weekend or days off I can get a mid cycle day test or two.


I used vetsulin for quite a while and my cat did well on it. Even went into remission after 4 months. She stayed in remission for a year but then needed high doses.... She was diagnosed acromegaly which is a tumor in the pituitary gland. We switched to ProZinc because vetsulin stung at high doses. Some cats do well on vetsulin like my cc, but many find they don't get a long duration. Since you have it you might as well see how he does on it. If you see is not lasting long enough, ProZinc is cheap on chewy.com ($105 vial will usually last 4-6 months) or you can order lantus from Canada (under $200 for about a years supply).


The carb content on that one is approximately 35%. The peas are carb. I feed my six wet food twice a day (they can have as much as they want) and leave some dry epigen 90 dry out. Epigen 90 (not the regular epigen) is 5-6% carb. It's high calorie so they don't need much so the 5 lb bag lasts about 2 weeks with 5 of the cats eating it in addition to wet. Friskies pate foods is low carb and not very expensive. We actually feed for ferals in addition to our six inside cats. My inside ones mostly eat fancy feast, and the outside ones get Friskies.

Two other dry foods under 10 carb are young again zero carb (only available at Youngagainpetfood.com) is 0-1% carb and Dr elsley's clean protein chicken flavor i t



Again, thank you!! I found a list of low carb cat foods online as well as the flavors of Fancy Feast that are low carb ~~ we are shopping tonight.

35% carb -- holy smokes!!! That is no longer going to be served in my house to ANY of my cats.

 

[JanetNJ]

Happy to help.

 

[Cindy Z]

So.. hubby emailed Natural Balance and they responded that their carb values in that particular food is a whopping 37.04%... I am just feeling awful that we thought we were feeding clean and healthy, and we have actually been feeding garbage
Now we are shopping for new foods for all 7 of our babies.
All because you reached out to me.....

 

[JanetNJ]

So.. hubby emailed Natural Balance and they responded that their carb values in that particular food is a whopping 37.04%... I am just feeling awful that we thought we were feeding clean and healthy, and we have actually been feeding garbage
Now we are shopping for new foods for all 7 of our babies.
All because you reached out to me.....

You really are awesome. Your cats are so lucky to have you guys.