Blue&Nikkie
Member
Hi every one,
My name is Nienke and I am from the Netherlands. Thanks to Ruby&Baco I learned about this forum and would like to ask all of you for some advice & help. Last year my Norwegian Forest Cat Blue was diagnosed with Diabetes at the age of almost 5 (12-08-2010).
In april 2015 I noticed that Blue had lost a lot of weight, was drinking a lot of water and had been peeing outside the litter box for a while (I have 7 cats, so coming home from work, I never knew who was doing the peeing, but I did not suspect Blue). I took him to the vet. He was diagnosed with diabetes. At that time his blood sugar was around 550!
Within a few days Blue was started on Caninsulin/Vetsulin. First week 1 unit twice a day, that did nothing. When he got 2 units and on the next spot test at the vet’s, his blood sugar range had gone down to 196 (around 11 am). We were pleased and Blue seemed to feel better and was playing again! But a few weeks later he did not seem to be doing well again. He was slow, lethargic, still drinking a lot, peeing in the house again and he refused to eat (which is a rare thing for my cats). I took him to the vet’s again and it turned out he had a urinary infection. He was given antibiotics, but a few days later he did not seem to be doing a whole lot better. So I contacted the vet’s and told him that if Blue wasn’t improving and eating I would like to have him admitted in the clinic.
That said and done, Blue spent a few days at the clinic and came home feeling a lot better after a shot with other antibiotics and an increase of his Caninsulin to 4 units twice a day.
Until that time I had not been given a whole lot of advice on the importance of a strict and consequent diet for Blue, so the vet’s asked me to bring him his own food.
In September 2015 Blue became very sick.
He was just laying on the floor all day, a bit lethargic, so after a few days when things got worse I called the vet in the evening and he told me Blue might be having a hypo and I needed to give him some sugar....which I did.
I can’t remember exactly how Blue reacted to this, but end of story: we ended up admitting him at the vet’s during the weekend and there he was given fluids and potassium, because he was severely dehydrated and his potassium levels were dangerously low (which explained why he wasn’t eating. At that point there wasn’t a lot of life left in him.
After a few days at the vet’s they told me there was not a lot they could do for him and I received the advice to take him to a more specialized veterinarian further away. Blue was admitted there and the first few days they tried balancing his potassium and insulin levels, because one was affecting the other and vice versa.
He spent a total of almost two weeks here and was sent home alive and kicking on 2x 60 grams of Royal Canin Diabetic Dry food and 2x 7 units of Caninsulin a day. At that point they had determined that his lowest point was around 10 hours after his insulin shot.
Blue did well for almost 7 months on this, having a blood suger range of 90, almost every time we checked around 5 p.m at the vets……until recently.
Beginning of May I took all my cat’s to the vet for their shots and Blue’s blood sugar was again around 550. In the week that I took him with me on a holiday in the Netherlands and it became more and more difficult to get him to eat, because he simple refused the Royal Canin Diabetic. In order to make him eat something I started to substitute (parts) of his Royal Canin Diabetic for Cosma nature fish and chicken, which he did want tot eat, and mixed the two together. I adjusted his doses of insulin on a daily based on how much he ate, but I did not really know the exact amount to give because of the difference in food.
After the holiday I started doing the home glucose tests again and every day the situation was different.
The vet’s don’t want to or are unable to advice me unless he is admitted again with very high costs…….and at this point I don’t know what to do!
I would like to have him off the Royal Canin diabetic and I want to give him and all of my other cats food with no or low carbs, since I have read things about this on the Dutch chat groups.
At the moment he does not eat his diet (2x 60 grams RC diabetic), but we get close, so I do give him is 7 units of Caninsulin, because he is/was in the habit of asking for food around the time his blood sugar get’s low. But he is not in his right mood. I can tell he has not been feeling well the last two weeks (he’s very communicative) and the last few days I noticed that his blood sugar levels reach their lowest point a lot sooner during the day, but they don’t drop below 180.
I would like to get some advice from you all what to feed him and what to do to get him back in good shape and on his way to remission…..
My name is Nienke and I am from the Netherlands. Thanks to Ruby&Baco I learned about this forum and would like to ask all of you for some advice & help. Last year my Norwegian Forest Cat Blue was diagnosed with Diabetes at the age of almost 5 (12-08-2010).
In april 2015 I noticed that Blue had lost a lot of weight, was drinking a lot of water and had been peeing outside the litter box for a while (I have 7 cats, so coming home from work, I never knew who was doing the peeing, but I did not suspect Blue). I took him to the vet. He was diagnosed with diabetes. At that time his blood sugar was around 550!
Within a few days Blue was started on Caninsulin/Vetsulin. First week 1 unit twice a day, that did nothing. When he got 2 units and on the next spot test at the vet’s, his blood sugar range had gone down to 196 (around 11 am). We were pleased and Blue seemed to feel better and was playing again! But a few weeks later he did not seem to be doing well again. He was slow, lethargic, still drinking a lot, peeing in the house again and he refused to eat (which is a rare thing for my cats). I took him to the vet’s again and it turned out he had a urinary infection. He was given antibiotics, but a few days later he did not seem to be doing a whole lot better. So I contacted the vet’s and told him that if Blue wasn’t improving and eating I would like to have him admitted in the clinic.
That said and done, Blue spent a few days at the clinic and came home feeling a lot better after a shot with other antibiotics and an increase of his Caninsulin to 4 units twice a day.
Until that time I had not been given a whole lot of advice on the importance of a strict and consequent diet for Blue, so the vet’s asked me to bring him his own food.
In September 2015 Blue became very sick.
He was just laying on the floor all day, a bit lethargic, so after a few days when things got worse I called the vet in the evening and he told me Blue might be having a hypo and I needed to give him some sugar....which I did.
I can’t remember exactly how Blue reacted to this, but end of story: we ended up admitting him at the vet’s during the weekend and there he was given fluids and potassium, because he was severely dehydrated and his potassium levels were dangerously low (which explained why he wasn’t eating. At that point there wasn’t a lot of life left in him.
After a few days at the vet’s they told me there was not a lot they could do for him and I received the advice to take him to a more specialized veterinarian further away. Blue was admitted there and the first few days they tried balancing his potassium and insulin levels, because one was affecting the other and vice versa.
He spent a total of almost two weeks here and was sent home alive and kicking on 2x 60 grams of Royal Canin Diabetic Dry food and 2x 7 units of Caninsulin a day. At that point they had determined that his lowest point was around 10 hours after his insulin shot.
Blue did well for almost 7 months on this, having a blood suger range of 90, almost every time we checked around 5 p.m at the vets……until recently.
Beginning of May I took all my cat’s to the vet for their shots and Blue’s blood sugar was again around 550. In the week that I took him with me on a holiday in the Netherlands and it became more and more difficult to get him to eat, because he simple refused the Royal Canin Diabetic. In order to make him eat something I started to substitute (parts) of his Royal Canin Diabetic for Cosma nature fish and chicken, which he did want tot eat, and mixed the two together. I adjusted his doses of insulin on a daily based on how much he ate, but I did not really know the exact amount to give because of the difference in food.
After the holiday I started doing the home glucose tests again and every day the situation was different.
The vet’s don’t want to or are unable to advice me unless he is admitted again with very high costs…….and at this point I don’t know what to do!
I would like to have him off the Royal Canin diabetic and I want to give him and all of my other cats food with no or low carbs, since I have read things about this on the Dutch chat groups.
At the moment he does not eat his diet (2x 60 grams RC diabetic), but we get close, so I do give him is 7 units of Caninsulin, because he is/was in the habit of asking for food around the time his blood sugar get’s low. But he is not in his right mood. I can tell he has not been feeling well the last two weeks (he’s very communicative) and the last few days I noticed that his blood sugar levels reach their lowest point a lot sooner during the day, but they don’t drop below 180.
I would like to get some advice from you all what to feed him and what to do to get him back in good shape and on his way to remission…..
