Tater Tot newly diagnosed

My 7 year old female cat, Tater Tot was diagnosed with diabetes on Monday. Currently the vet wants us to try to bring her sugar down with a diet change. (No insulin) I believe her level the day of testing was 311 and no ketones present. The vet said we caught it early.
I have three cats and before this I would leave dry food out for them at all times and that now has to change. I am currently feeding them fancy feast pate and I want to introduce the Young Again zero mature fry food to them because my one cat will really only eat dry food.
Tater tot seems very irritable and has been hiding a lot in the last day or So. her behavior before going to the vet was normal, she was just drinking a lot of water and peeing more for a couple days which was a red flag and the reason for our vet visit. I’m wondering if maybe this diet change has caused her to feel more sick? Any advice on how to navigate this would be appreciated

 

Welcome!

I’m sorry Tater Tot is not feeling well. A diet change is great as diabetic cats need low carb foods and dry food is high carb, but we don’t recommend waiting to start on insulin. Diabetic cats need insulin and I personally wouldn’t wait to get her started on it. That could be the issue. Was the diagnosis done with a fructosamine test or just a spot check at the vet?

Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help.

 

The diagnoses was based on a urine sample I brought in, that had glucose in the urine and I believe a standard blood test. They did not do the test that pulls the average over weeks time, but they wanted me to switch her diet for a month and take her back after one month to test over the last weeks to see if the diet change helped. The vet advised I could test her levels at home, but I have not yet done that. Honestly, all of this has been quite overwhelming

 

That’s completely understandable. We’ve all been where you are now. I know I was completely overwhelmed. Take a deep breath and baby steps is my best advice. Home testing is the best way to keep your cat safe and we can help you through it when you’re ready. You don’t need an expensive pet meter. Most of us use Walmart’s ReliOn which has the most affordable test strips.

Anyway, let’s see what other members will say but I wouldn’t wait a month to start on insulin

 

Just wanted to add this is the best most supportive place on earth and these guys got me through it and really saved Minnie’s life more than once so you’re in the best hands

 

I see in your signature you have Relion , did you purchase it already?
I would start testing her beginning now.
When starting insulin
You need to withhold feeding 2 hours prior to testing , so the BG is not food influenced, after that you can feed her any snacks , such as 2 teaspoons of the Fancy Feast Pate you have . When it comes to giving her the insulin 12 hours after you gave the AM dose you would do the same thing I said withhold food 2 hours prior to testing ,etc

I would start to get some tests in now at different times of the day

 

You can pick up from Walmart The Relion Premier Classic meter and test strips

https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-CLASSIC-Blood-Glucose-Monitoring-System/552134103. 9 dollars

https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-Blood-Glucose-Test-Strips-100-Count/575088197. 17.88 for 100



Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that's the side you want to poke with

A video one of our members posted, she is using a pet meter ,strips too expensive plus you have to code it
A human meter is just fine, most of us use human meters ,that's what our numbers are based on
When you get your meter can you add the name of it to your signature and spreadsheet


VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

Here is another link to read
This is a link to one of our posts on home testing.

 

Lots of info so take your time digesting it and ask as many questions as you need to!

 

Hi and welcome to the forum.

If you are not going to be starting insulin just yet but are trying a diet change first would really recommend you test the urine for ketones, especially if your kitty is not eating well. To do this you will need to buy a bottle of ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy and collect a urine sample and test the urine as per the instructions on the bottle. Read the result exactly 15 seconds after dipping the strip into the urine and compare the reading against the colours on the side of the bottle. There should be no ketones.
It’s really important that a diabetic cat eats well. If you think she might be nauseated, I would ask the vet for an ant nausea medication.
You may need to do the changeover more slowly ….however I would not leave it too long before starting insulin if that is needed. Testing the urine for ketones will give you more time to do the change over more slowly. you might like to try another food apart from the pate if you think she is not liking that.
FOOD CHART look for foods that are 10% carbs and under