Newly Dx - Intro & ??s

Hello all! First I’d like to thank everyone for their help to date. I have posted this question in the feline diabetes group on Facebook AND on the Message boards so i Apologize if you see in duplicate. The more input the better IMO.

My 18lb male Nimbus was Dx DM on 4/19 with a glucose of 359 (not sure how much of this could’ve been stress induced due to his being fractious) and positive ketones in his dipstick at the vet. His symptoms included frequent malodorous urination, increased thirst, and increased grazing on his kibble. He also just looked “off” in his eyes... a mother knows lol.
Being a RN for the human Population, I recognized these symptoms and scheduled a vet visit. My poor guy is a maniac and fractious at the vet. We tried 300mg gabapentin previsit with no effect. The second he smelled that fresh vet smell the hisses and batting started. Long story short, they used a reversible sedation in office to examine him. In addition to the DM Dx he was noted to have bacteria in his urine and started on 125mg clavamox twice a day x 7 days.
Nimbus has been getting 1/4 can wet friskies in gravy AM and PM and free range on his kibble which I have since started weaning Him off of.
He was started on 1U prozinc Every 12 hours. (He’s 18lbs if it matters). I haven’t gotten my meter yet to start checking his sugars. It arrives mid next week and I am
Hoping he will allow it because I completely think it is necessary to have a pre shot value to avoid a hypo event. When I asked about this at the vet they sort of shooed it off as unnecessary. That felt weird because as someone on this board asked me... would you give insulin to a patient not knowing their baseline? And the answer is absolutely friggen not. I never ever would. So why should it be any different with my fur child? sorry... I am really upset that I wasn’t properly educated at the vet and my
Stress about the entire situation didn’t have me challenge what they were saying. The whole visit was less than typical due to the current Covid situation In nyc. No humans are permitted to go in for the visits. All of our chats and transactions took place outside of the office and the only folks I chatted with were techs. Now as a nurse, I’m ok with that cuz I know you don’t have to have a dvm to be educated enough to speak with a patient but I really feel like they dropped the ball! I am
So thankful for this forum and all of the research I have done. Yesterday I spent 6 hours on these message boards Studying all the necessary info to successfully help my little boy and I can’t thank you all enough for making your knowledge available.

That said, I’d like to ask opinions on attempting a diet change first prior to implementing insulin. Now, I have already started his insulin because I panicked and didn’t think this through but I know in the human population you can start and stop with diet changes etc. I’d like to wean him off of the kibble totally, start him on his low carb pate wet meals, and see what effect it has on his sugars without the insulin. My plan was to attempt this for a full week after
I get the glucometer. Of course if I don’t see a reduction overall in his numbers I’d then add in the insulin and take it from there.
Please weigh in with any thoughts, advice or info based on experience if possible.
Again thank you so much for all of you being so generous with your time and advice. I feel like this board and its members deserve the hundreds of dollars I paid the stupid vet a lot more than they do. You’re all so appreciated. ❤️

 

Dont feel too bad thats a reoccurring theme here. Vets are schooled for a few hours about FD.

 

Absolutely! Same with me. I was told the exact same thing. No need for home testing.
Welcome and btw, what a super uber adorable pic!!!

 

BTW...WELCOME TO FDMB!

I changed over to wet cold turkey. It was easy cause my Trouble only knew dry food when he came to live with us. Most people add a bit of kibble to the can then decrease it every one or two days. The can food with gravy has more cabs than diabetics need. We fed strictly Fancy Feast pates "classics" Friskies has varieties also, Weruva(sp)
AT the top of the health page there a yellow sticky Dr Lisa's Food List. Check that out while you are waiting for more responses.
Again WELCOME to the best site to help you help your Nimbus
jeanne

 

Hello, welcome to FDMB! You said you already started insulin? How long ago did you start?

It's wonderful you've already started doing your research! The next thing you want to do is set up a signature and a spreadsheet. The signature is like mine - cat's age, diagnose date, insulin type, stuff like that. The spreadsheet will be where you can fill out the blood sugar information for everyone to see and help you with the dosage adjustments.

Make Your Signature
Make Your Spreadsheet

And if you need someone to set your spreadsheet up for you, let us know and we'll ping a mod to do it.

 

Welcome!

You can change the food over after starting insulin, but only when you are testing BG consistently. For some cats, the food change can have a really dramatic effect on their insulin needs, so you need to keep a close eye on how it goes.

 

Very true Nan. We took the dry away and his numbers plummeted. Lucky for him we were already here!

 

Would you tell us which insulin please?

 

I think she said prozinc:

He was started on 1U prozinc Every 12 hours. (He’s 18lbs if it matters). I haven’t gotten my meter yet to start checking his sugars. It arrivesmid next week

 

Since he already is used to canned I might just skip the kibble right away and just give canned. You could always reduce the dose to half a unit until the meter arrives and feed the canned food lowering his carbs. Since he was throwing some ketones I wouldn't stop giving insulin all together. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.