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Basic's Mom

Basic's Mom

Member Since 2023
Hi, I'm Sybil. My 10 yo male cat, Basic (I didn't name him, but I promised the little girl that found him and his littermates abandoned at less than 48 hours, that I would keep the name she gave him. He is anything, but basic.) was diagnosed on Friday, 9/22, with diabetes. He was DK, but not yet DKA. Between 1 regular vet and an ER vet not helping him, I was able to find an ER vet that could. I was presented an estimatarion of between 6-10k for teatment. My niece works there, so I text her to let her know I would probably have to have him put down. She said NO. He wasn't that critical yet. She advised me to tell them to treat him as outpatient and to follow up with her standard vet that she works for the following morning. He was given subq fluids and an appetite stimulant. His new vet is amazing. He currently has a freestyle libre on and is receiving 1 U every 12 hours with his new prescription or diabetic approved food. His follow up via phone is tomorrow. Because this is all very overwhelming, I wanted to join this forum to gather as much knowledge as I can. I'm not happy that purina is the maker of the vet approved diabetic food for them. I'm interested in learning how to make his food myself, but I do want to make sure all of the correct nutrients and protein is in it. I haven't read through all of the post yet. Thought I'd introduce ourselves and go from there. His sugar is still extremely high to me. The lowest I've seen on the libre is 287. It was over 400 when first diagnosed. I had never been away from my cats in their 10 years other than for a night or 2. I went out of town for 5 days. When I returned, he showed interest in eating, but refused. The only other symptom he displayed about a day before I left there was very sticking litter in the box. I had just gotten new litter and assumed it had more clay in it. My cats behavior didn't change other than him not wanting to eat wet food. He was still eating some dry. Him not eating was very out of character. At first, I just thought he was mad at me for leaving. The stress from me being out of town could've made his diabetes worse, but I'm not sure when he became diabetic. I'm not someone that runs to the vet constantly. While he has always been overweight, he's never displayed anything wrong until now. He is neutered. He is an indoor only cat.

Thank you in advance for anyone that can help advice someone new on this path.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
I have to dash out and I will come back later but I wanted to tell you a few things which I will elaborate on later.
Make sure Basic is eating lots of food. It doesn’t matter what the food is at the moment, we just want him to eat food. Offer food ever couple of hours. Even dry food is OK. Any Food trumps everything if there are ketones.
He will probably need an anti nausea medication so ask the vet for some ondansetron or cerenia. I like ondansetron better for nausea.
Don’t skip any doses of insulin.
If he will let you, add some warm water to his food. Just a teaspoon each snack.
Get a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy and test the urine daily for ketones…this is really important.
Think about hometesting the blood glucose. We can help you with that.
He may need some more sub Q fluids tomorrow ….ask the vet.
Sorry I have to run. I will be back later with more details.
Bron
 
Welcome to LLB. By DK but nit DKA are you saying there were some ketones but he did not develop DKA?

Are you currently feeding dry or wet food? If dry it’s very high in carbs. If canned it’s not necessary to feed but it’s at least carbs are not bad.

Which insulin are you giving?
If you can set up a spreadsheet with the week or two of bg that would be helpful last . Has he been on the same dose since diagnosis?
 
Go by why Bron said about the food right now, but just wanted to mention that you don’t need prescription food which is mostly too high in carbs. I believe it’s dietetic not diabetic food you go. If you’re going to make your raw food that is great but any low carb food like fancy feast and Friskies pates are fine.
 
Sybil said:
I'm interested in learning how to make his food myself, but I do want to make sure all of the correct nutrients and protein is in it
Click to expand...
I found a few posts about raw food and will post them until you hear from
@Wendy&Neko
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@tiffmaxee

If you opt for a raw diet, there are some commercially prepared raw or freeze dried options. If you choose to make your own, there are pre-mixes that you add to the raw food to make it nutritionally complete. I use EZComplete from FoodFurLife for my kitties.

You can make your own too, but you can get started with what you can buy in the store. Novel proteins would be things like lamb, rabbit, duck, kangaroo, venison. Some of the brands we can buy here that have those options are Rawz, Nature's Variety Instinct, Koha, Ziwipeak, Feline Naturals. If you do want to make your own, it's easier to start with a premix and just add meat and water. Two premixes I've used are TC Feline (made in BC) and FoodFurLife's EZComplete (from the US).

https://www.foodfurlife.com/ezcomplete-fur-cats-premix-information.html#/
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
I found a few posts about raw food and will post them until you hear from
@Wendy&Neko
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@tiffmaxee

If you opt for a raw diet, there are some commercially prepared raw or freeze dried options. If you choose to make your own, there are pre-mixes that you add to the raw food to make it nutritionally complete. I use EZComplete from FoodFurLife for my kitties.

You can make your own too, but you can get started with what you can buy in the store. Novel proteins would be things like lamb, rabbit, duck, kangaroo, venison. Some of the brands we can buy here that have those options are Rawz, Nature's Variety Instinct, Koha, Ziwipeak, Feline Naturals. If you do want to make your own, it's easier to start with a premix and just add meat and water. Two premixes I've used are TC Feline (made in BC) and FoodFurLife's EZComplete (from the US).

https://www.foodfurlife.com/ezcomplete-fur-cats-premix-information.html#/
Click to expand...
Thank you. As soon as he is more stabilized, I will look into the food prep.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
Welcome, Sybil.
I'm tagging a few raw food people for you.
@Wendy&Neko
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
@tiffmaxee

In the meantime, here is some basic information for newcomers.
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

DKA - it is very important to check for ketones. More information about that here:


Click to expand...
Thank you for the food info. I'm still waiting on the vet to call. I'm not sure the correct terminology yet. This is all very new to me. After I speak with the vet, I will update everyone.
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
Go by why Bron said about the food right now, but just wanted to mention that you don’t need prescription food which is mostly too high in carbs. I believe it’s dietetic not diabetic food you go. If you’re going to make your raw food that is great but any low carb food like fancy feast and Friskies pates are fine.
Click to expand...
He is only eating fancy feast canned right now. I won't be offering dry tho as I know it isn't good for him.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi and welcome to the forum.
I have to dash out and I will come back later but I wanted to tell you a few things which I will elaborate on later.
Make sure Basic is eating lots of food. It doesn’t matter what the food is at the moment, we just want him to eat food. Offer food ever couple of hours. Even dry food is OK. Any Food trumps everything if there are ketones.
He will probably need an anti nausea medication so ask the vet for some ondansetron or cerenia. I like ondansetron better for nausea.
Don’t skip any doses of insulin.
If he will let you, add some warm water to his food. Just a teaspoon each snack.
Get a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy and test the urine daily for ketones…this is really important.
Think about hometesting the blood glucose. We can help you with that.
He may need some more sub Q fluids tomorrow ….ask the vet.
Sorry I have to run. I will be back later with more details.
Bron
Click to expand...
He did receive subq fluids when diagnosed Friday. He was at the vet Monday and has the libre on. I would like to make sure he is eating a lot but his appetite hasn't returned fully yet. Vet said because he isn't puking, doesn't need antinausea. Should I ask for it anyway? I'll ask about additional subq, when she calls. His libre is monitoring his BG. I should be testing aside from that?
 
tiffmaxee said:
Welcome to LLB. By DK but nit DKA are you saying there were some ketones but he did not develop DKA?

Are you currently feeding dry or wet food? If dry it’s very high in carbs. If canned it’s not necessary to feed but it’s at least carbs are not bad.

Which insulin are you giving?
If you can set up a spreadsheet with the week or two of bg that would be helpful last . Has he been on the same dose since diagnosis?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I intend on starting a spreadsheet when I have some extra time. He was diagnosed Friday and libre installed on Monday. I only have information from that time as he was just diagnosed. As soon as his vet calls, I'll be able to answer some of your other questions. He is currently only eating fancy feast.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Just because a cat is not vomiting does not mean he is not nauseated. Cats need an anti nausea medication if they are nauseated. It is very hard to eat I’d nauseated. I would push for some ondansetron or cerenia
Click to expand...
I'm sorry. I posted a new thread with an update because I wasn't sure if my reply with the update would go to everyone commenting. I pick up his anti nausea tomorrow morning. He has eaten better today, but I'm still getting it. I'll take the chance of stressing him with a pill if it means he is back up to his 8-10 oz a day of wet food. Thank you bringing this to my attention. I asked for it during our call because of you mentioning it. I've also given him a few treats today even though I was told not to. If you were one that recommended that, thank you. Seem to lift his spirits.
 
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Definitely let him eat more than just twice a day and certainly give him some low carb treats when you test and at other times. I will link this thread to your new one for continuity
 
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