Acquired a diabetic cat

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DavidsAwesome

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My cat is 10 years old. I had him as a teenager, and as I moved around throughout my life I left him with my father, since it was a more stable living situation. Now I've bought a house and have animals of my own, I asked my father for my cat back. He's adapting quickly, and becoming part of the home.

However, my cat was diagnosed with diabetes when he lived with my father. My dad gave him his insulin until he gained his weight back (He went from 20 pounds to skin and bones). Anyway, upon getting my cat back i noticed he was drinking WAY too much water. It was practically constant. I talked to my dad and he came over with the insulin and syringes. I bought a sharps container, and I'm ready to take care of him.

But, I have 3 other cats, who are all on a dry food diet. My diabetic cat also LOVES dry food. Its becoming difficult to feed them different foods.

I need tips on how to feed the cats separately, without making my other 3 cats feel like they aren't being treated right.... I don't just want to lock them in different rooms. I can't really afford the fancy food for ALL the cats, either. I don't mind with the one though.

Also, what am I looking for in wet food? My dad just told me to buy something with a high Crude Fat content, but after reading a couple posts, I'm finding that it might be deeper than that. I want my cat to live a happy and healthy life.
 
Hi David. Welcome to the forum.

The easiest and most benefit all in the long term for all of your cats is to feed them a wet diet that is low in carbohydrate. This doesn't mean having to buy expensive brands, you just have to be aware of which of the cheaper ones fit the bill.

If you read Dr Pierson's website you will see the many benefits of feeding a wet food and she also has plenty of tips for transitioning a cat over.

http://www.catinfo.org

The website also includes a list of foods that might be suitable- make sure you pick one that has less than 8% of its calories coming from carbs

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Are you in the US. If so most people seems to go for something like fancy feast. You need to be carful transitioning over as as you want to avoid upset tummy's. The advise is to do it slowly just changing no more that 25% per day.

Another word of warning- if you do switch to wet. This could dramatically alter your cats need for insulin and so you need to be monitoring his blood glucose both before you shoot the insulin and then during the 12 hr cycle. Do you do that? We can help you start doing this. It really is the safest thing to do for your cat and can help get him regulated and live a long and happy life.

If you really can't switch to wet then there is a dry food that is low in carbs but I don't know what it is called.

May I ask what insulin you are using and what dose ?
 
A canned food diet would be better for all of your cats than dry. First, it is healthier than dry because it is lower in carbs. By switching all of your cats over to canned, you reduce the chance that any of the other cats will develop feline diabetes. Second, it will help to keep your cat's diabetes under control.

I have 7 cats and they are all fed Friskies canned food. Many of us on this list feed our cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies.

Another thing that will help you manage your cat's diabetes is learning to home test. This means you will use a glucose meter and test a small drop of blood taken from his ear to check his glucose levels. You can use a human glucose meter and if you are here in the US, the Walmart Relion meters are very good and economical. You will test before every shot.
 
He is taking Lantus insulin. 1 unit every 12 hours.

When I buy a meter, and get blood from his ear, what numbers am I looking for? What do I do if it's too high or low?
 
Hi David. While I very new (cat just diagnosed with diabetes one week ago) I will offer one bit of advice for what its worth.

I know that this is not answering your question but...If you are in a position where you can afford to feed all of your cats a good wet food, please do it!

Ask everyone that I know and they will tell you that I'm the biggest cheapskate. I always fed my cat cheap food because I never believed in paying more for "fancy food" that was inconvenient.

I just learned that my boy has developed diabetes and had to be hospitalized for 4 days due to DKA. Believe me, I'm a grown man and this whole series of events has brought me to my knees. It's not pretty dealing with a cat that unexpectedly became sick.

After a bit of reading I'm convinced that a dry high carb diet (perhaps a genetic predisposition) has caused all of this.

I'm not one to preach but if you can afford to buy all of your cats decent food, please do! That's all.

Oh, by the way, the folks around here are very knowledgeable and friendly. I found that out very quickly.
 
Welcome David!

What is your Kitty's name?

To answer your questions:

On a human meter, normal numbers are 50-120 for cats.
There's a saying on this forum; lets see how does it go...high numbers kill slowly, low numbers can kill fast.
That being said, if his numbers go below 50, then rub pancake syrup, corn syrup or honey on his gums. Get him to eat canned wet food with gravy or high carb treat. If his numbers go low, you have to act fast. I don't mean to scare you but it is very dangerous if this happens. There is a link on main board about Hypo's and it says to print and put on refrig,...PRINT it. I did.

Have you ever tested his sugar before? I watched a lot of Youtube videos of how to, which are very good. I must warn you, the videos do make it look easy so don't get too upset if you can't get blood. It takes practice and patience.

If you go to the user control panel and set up your signature, that will help everyone help you. Just look at mine for an example.

If you click on Hanks SS, you can see Hank's numbers each time I test him. This is the spread sheet that we all use here to track our sugar kitty's numbers. It is very important to test before each shot (that is the AMPS and PMPS numbers).

Oh,I forgot to tell you, if ever the pre shot number is 200 or less, you skip the shot or wait 30 min without feeding and test again. After 14 no shots, due to low number, kitty's are considered OTJ, off the juice or in remission.

Yes, you heard me right, cat's can go in remission by sometimes diet and/or insulin care.

I don't mean to overwhelm you but read as much as you can. Your kitty can still live a good life and coming to this forum will help you so much. It has me. I'm a newbie but I'm feeling so much more comfortable with taking care of Hank.

I think it's great that you have your kitty back and I know your kitty is too. :-D

Kimmie
 
We are struggling to get rid of the dry here too. We have 11 cats and some of them won't touch wet. Until we can get there completely, I am converting the whole house to a better dry food, putting out way less of it, and trying to up the wet. The diabetic cat I am feeding smaller more frequent meals in hopes to keep him away from the chow bowl entirely. It isn't ideal yet, but we are working on baby steps in the right direction. I figure any step in the right direction is progress. At least it feels better than doing nothing.

I've been pinning the links that I kept reading when I was in the freak out stage last month. The ones I kept going back to to center myself and get a hold on all of this. Here is the link in case it is helpful: http://www.pinterest.com/itzj/felinediabetes/
 
It can be very difficult to get "rid of the dry" food as member Itzj noted. One trick that I used, was to switch to meal feeding. Once food was not available all the time, you are using your cat's natural hunger drive to help in getting them to try the wet food. I also would put down the wet food first, and then only after 30 minutes or so, would I put down any dry food.

See if that helps you.
 
Another trick that worked for me was removing the dry food completely, but adding about a tablespoon of it on top of their food. It took a while for the last hold out, but I was finally able to convert all 7 of my cats.
 
My Cat's name is Squishie.

(There's a scene in Finding Nemo where Dory says "I will name him Squishie and he will be my Squishie.) He used to be a 19 or 20 pound cat, super playful and friendly. He would follow me around the house, sleep with me.... I was his entire life. I moved away for about 3 years, and he's not as friendly anymore. When he was diagnosed I went to see him, and he couldn't walk. He would lay on the floor and pee. My dad took him to the vet to have him put down, and the vet suggested running tests, as it would be about the same price. I'm so glad the vet talked him out of it.


I'll buy the meter as soon as I have some disposable cash, probably next week or so. Also, I've been giving him insulin twice a day for about 4 days now, and he's still drinking water excessively. This is even more reason for me to buy the meter, but do you guys have any input on this? I can't afford to keep taking him to the vet over and over, so I appreciate all the input.

Here's a pic of my Squishie.https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd...._=1423892963_c0661b16eb36d52fe57cac712be32c74 You can see my blinds are destroyed because my cats LOVE sitting on the window sill.
 
See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some other assessments you can make until you afford the testing supplies.
They'll give you some indirect clues of how your cat is doing.
 
Hello David,
I concur with all the other comments, wet food it really has to be. I am slowly converting my dry food addict by adding more wet food into her dry until now she gets just one teaspoon of dry which will be removed soon. I am upset with myself that the diet I fed my cats on likely contributed to my Silver's diabetes diagnosis. Cats were never meant to eat a diet of carbs. Wet food is more expensive but a lot cheaper than vet bills when the dry diet starts giving them problems.

Try ebay for testing strips - much much cheaper there. Most pharmacies will give you the meter for free if you are buying strips - at least they do here in Canada. The needles - you can get 100 needles for under $50 which will last you a good three months - I know its not recommended but I use the same needle for morning and evening shot. This MAY contaminate the insulin but so far I have not had any issues with that. Lastly you want ketodiastix for testing ketones which again, is not very expensive if you shop amazon or if you're in the US, follow the SHOP links at the top of the forum. If you break it down into small bits, the cost is manageable. Believe me, I am on a tight budget but making it work, even if I eat baked beans on toast every day.

If you haven't already set up a spreadsheet for showing your testing results, it would be a good idea to do that...the link for instructions are here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207

Juliet and Silver
 
I know what you mean about the wobbly walking.

When I first took over care of my grandkitty (was my 26 yr old son's cat), Hank, he was in bad shape too. His coat was dull, drinking and peeing excessively, wobbly walk, jumping and missing target, lethargic and plain didn't feel good. It was so sad to see him that way. Hank is 11years old and now, maybe 12 lbs. He used to be close to 20lbs. But I now know that was from eating dry kibble and also free-feeding.

I immediately started searching the internet on how to care for a diabetic cat. I found catinfo.org and felinediabetes.com. If you haven't already, I recommend reading (I also printed out some) some of the articles on that site. Some very good stuff. I started a folder with printed out articles that I can refer to for Hank.

I have been on this site, felinediabetes.com since Sept 21, 2014. It is a world of information here!! It has helped me to read others posts because I'll see something and write it down that may help me.

Once you get a spreadsheet and signature set up it will help to join one of the Lantus support groups; tight regulation or relaxed. You can check it out by going to the home page here, scroll down till you see insulin support groups, click on that and then click on Lantus, tight or relaxed. The people there are also using Lantus and can help you with any questions that you may have.

Just remember, if ever you have an emergency question, to post it on the main health board. There are more eyes there to help you.

As far as home testing, I strongly recommend it for at least peace of mind as well as safety for Squishie. You'll see, once you get the hang of it, test, feed and shoot can take less than 10 min.

Are you free-feeding, that is leaving food down all the time? That was the first thing I stopped with Hank and my cat, Oscar. I set 2 feeding times a day right before each shot for Hank. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. The I changed the kibble to a low carb kibble that I ordered off the internet, Wysong. Hank likes it. But before it came I had Oscar eating wet food so only Hank eats the dry.

Just this week, Hank has started eating the wet! It has been hard to switch him but I think I won this battle! :-D

My point is, with diet change and insulin regulation, Squishie will start feeling better. I can see a big difference in Hank; he's back to grooming himself, drinking a peeing less, playing toys, coat is looking better, no wobbly walking and even bird watching out the kitchen window.

Any questions, just ask away. We're here to help.

Kimmie
 
I agree with all suggestions to remove the dry from your household because not only is it too high carb but it is bad stuff for the feline digestive system and teeth for all kitties. The appealing powder on the dry food sticks to the digestive tract and can cause chronic UTIs. It also sticks to teeth and can cause gingivitis. So even if your other cats are not diabetic, this food is not a good food choice for them. I would urge you to transition them off it. I was feeding both canned with dry food in between until I "cold-turkied" all dry food options out of my house. My felines survived and are healthier for it. It means more than two feedings per day - that one before bedtime is crucial.

If you want to know why we have such aversions to this kitty crack - read Dr. Pierson's page on this at catinfo.org Here is Dr. Pierson's primer on transitioning - transitioning off dry food

I would suggest reading the home page on catinfo.org which gives a clinical explanation of why dry food is unhealthy for felines - here

I removed all dry food within ten minutes of reading this which is why it is my soapbox.
 
right now I'm free-feeding, with 3 cats its much easier that way. I want to switch to wet food, and only feed twice a day. I'm still struggling with giving him his insulin at the right time. Twice a week I go to school and I'm unable to come home at the right time, so his schedule is off on those days. Another reason I want the meter.
 
You can free feed wet food, a lot of us do. Just add a little water to it to keep it moist. Wet food can be left out up to 12 hours and is fine. But smaller more frequent meals is much better for a diabetic as it makes the pancreas work less to handle the carb load of each meal.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Hi David,

Welcome to the FDMB. Lots of good information and support here. I see that you are planing to get a glucose meter next week. Keep in mind that meters are cheap and sometimes free. The strips, however, can run into money, especially if you buy an expensive meter that requires expensive strips.
Here's a link to an excellent meter that many of us use, the Arkray Glucocard 01 Mini:
http://www.adwdiabetes.com/product/arkray-glucocard-01-mini-blood-glucose-monitoring-kit_4042_1.htm

This is a meter kit and comes with 100 test strips. You can buy more test strips for it at ADW for a reasonable price (make sure you get the same kind of strips: Glucocard 01 Sensor (Arkray makes a lot of different meters and you must use the proper test strips).

This meter has the added advantage that it is also sold by Walmart under their ReLion brand name: ReLion Micro. If you happen to run out of test strips, you can buy the ReLion Micro test strips at Walmart. (But plan ahead and order online from ADW. They have better prices and even a 5 for the price of 4 deal on the Glucocard 01 Sensor test strips.)

Feline Diabetes can be daunting at first, but soon you will acquire knowledge and be much more comfortable in knowing that you can deal with all the challenges.

Best of luck to you and Squishie,

Ella & Rusty
 
Ella & Rusty & Stu(GA) said:
Hi David,

Welcome to the FDMB. Lots of good information and support here. I see that you are planing to get a glucose meter next week. Keep in mind that meters are cheap and sometimes free. The strips, however, can run into money, especially if you buy an expensive meter that requires expensive strips.
Ella & Rusty
Click to expand...

Try ebay for strips...I was lucky and took a look on ebay just as an auction was closing. Got 400 strips and 400 lancets for a quarter of the price I'd pay in a store for them.

Juliet and Silver.
 
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