update on my diabetic cat

10 years ago

King had been doing pretty well.
Feeding him only grain free canned food.
I was taking him into the vet every 4 weeks and he told me as long as his numbers stayed below 200 he would agree to no insulin.
Well this week he has not been himself. Acting very loving, but moving like an old man.
So off we went to the vet last night. His blood sugar was 412! I almost started crying.

We started insulin right away and although the Dr said it would take several days to take effect, I swear I could tell he was happier this morning after his shot.
He was even playing with his toys.

Although I am sorry we could not make his diet alone work, I am almost relieved about giving him the shots. It takes a lot of pressure off of me if I am doing the right thing or not.

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Comments (13)

Elmer J Fudd
10 years ago
Of course you're doing the right thing, he's getting nothing but the best loving care.
Chi
10 years ago
Aw cute! He looks like my Mouse. Tabbies are the best!
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I had a cat that was the love of my life he turned 11 in September 2014. I noticed he was drinking and urinating great volumes in February 2014. I brought him to our vet and they took his blood sugar level and it was 480. They sent me home with a script for insulin and told me cats can go into remission and it may be possible if he lost some weweight. They never recommended an at home glucose testing kit and when i asked they said they didn't recommend them to pet owners 2units of insulin wouldn't hurt him and if he seemed sluggish to rubb maple syrup or honey on his gums. Optimistic that my love for this cat would be enough to save him I truly believed he would go into remission. Come end of April went from 17lbs to 14lbs and it seemed he was no longer symptomatic. I brought him back to the vet and they said he went into remremission. I stopped insulin continue him on special md diabetic food the vet told me to give him. September I went away for a week i wish i didnt because when i returned he was skin and bones ketoacidosis i suspect. I brought him back to the vet he weighed 10lbs at this time. they said he was diabetic again and recommended 1unit insulin with meals... November 2014 He had a violent hypoglycemic seizure I ran him to emergency animal hospital paid 3000 to save him. He was in recovery and observation 24hrs. When he came home he continued to have mini seizures or trimmers for 3weeks. Then they stopped and i finally got my stupid vet to give me a glucose monitor everytime i took his blood his sugar was 83 the kit said 100 to 150 was nomal. I thought finally maybe he might be in remission again and he will be better. Dec 2014 He started having anal leakage i thought he had anal gland infection or just fullness. But when i bought him to the vet they said he lost control of his bowels and it was time to put him down he suffered enough. I listened after being left in a room crying for almost 2hrs with my two yr old and my now 7lb cat. Dec 19th 2014 will be a day i regret for the rest of my life as the day i put my best friend to sleep even though he had no organ failure his sugar was normal he stopped seizing and he could have just had diarrhea dehydration or even possible infection. Moral of the story get informed before its to late, get a vet that understands feline diabetes, feed them wet food low carbs, and try to do all you can not to live with regret.
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Thank goodness. I am so happy you were able to find a good home for the kitty girl.
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Get yourself to felinediabetes.com asap - one of the best internet communities EVER.!!! I dont know what I would have done without them when my boy was diagnosed. I cant begin to tell you all the emotional support and info youll find - has carb info for all catfood brands (low carb would actually help all your cats) Also how to test bg, give shots, diet, etc. (btw re low carb diet - about 20% of cats can go off insulin thru diet change alone *(like type 2 diabetes in humans) which is why its worth at least trying, esp if the bg is more on the low end.. Sadly, a lot of vets are just not up on the latest thinking on pet diabetes or may be not on board with you doing your own bg testing or adjusting dose (BTW - , if youve already started insulin and think you do want to change diet and go low carb, you shouldnt do that without testing bg and possibly reducing dose. Or go off insulin, reduce carbs, and run another curve. What may be a good dose for a cat on high carb diet may be fatal to one whose blood sugar is dropping).. I ended up finding another vet who was interested in what I had learned and supportive of what I was doing, said he wished all pet owners were as involved. On the other hand, sadly, a lot of people can't be bothered to even give the shots let alone do the bg testing.- so to be fair, a vet may not have ever come across someone who wanted to be more involved so has not developed a protocol for that. This post was edited by kashka_kat on Thu, Jul 18, 13 at 8:55
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I know I'm late to this discussion, but wanted to add that I also have a now 11 y/o diabetic cat who was dx 3 years ago. My vet of course prescribed Hills Prescription Diet for diabetic cats and this did nothing to help his BG as it is NOT a low carb food. I requested a prescription for Purina DM (another local vet carries Purina Rx foods but not mine), which was a bit better but more than I could afford long term. DM is actually a better prescription food than Hills' (which is HORRIBLE for feline diabetes) as it is lower carb but the vet nutritionist who helped formulate DM recommends Fancy Feast as an alternative. I also tried Wellness and some of the other grain free premium brands and even they still kept my cat's BG too high. My cat has been on Fancy Feast Classic varieties only since 2 months after dx and it didn't take long afterwards for me to regulate his BG. It rarely goes over 130. It is usually in the 75-125 range. He's on Lantus which is an expensive insulin but works well and if you keep it refrigerated and only draw with sterile syringes lasts a long time. ONLY USE STERILE SYRINGES. I use Walgreens brand 30 unit which are around $17 for a box of 100 and are also calibrated in .5 unit increments--helpful for small dosages as we give our cats (my cat is now on .75 unit 2x day which is down from what I was giving him at dx). Make sure to get Classic varieties only. No gravy, shreds, grilled, "florentine," cheese, etc. They all have wheat gluten and other carb sources and frankly are meant to be appealing to the humans who buy them and not the cats who eat them! But almost all the FF Classic varieties are grain and gluten free. In fact, I have to be careful with 1 of the flavors (Cod, Sole and Shrimp) because his BG tends to go too low if I feed it more than 1 or 2 feedings in a row. This is more dangerous short term BTW than high BG. But I can't remember the last time his BG was up over 200. Probably when he got into "contraband" (food for the other kitties). Prior to dx the cats were eating a mix of Wellness wet and CORE dry. As an added bonus, I changed his obese brother's diet at the same time to Fancy Feast and no dry, since they eat at the same time and routinely switch food dishes no matter what I do. At his heaviest he was almost 25 lbs, even when closely watching his calorie intake and feeding only 2x/day (no free feeding)! Prior to changing him to his brother's diabetic diet I was able to get him down to 21-22 lbs. but still far from a healthy weight. He was the one I was afraid would become diabetic, btw. The last time he visited the vet he came in at just under 14 lbs. and she said that he was now a healthy weight. Yes, he is a big cat but no longer obese. Non-fish flavors are the best overall (poultry and beef varieties especially). Unfortunately, my cats are somewhat addicted to the fish flavors plus the 36 can club pack at our local Sam's Club is by far the cheapest I can find them (Walmart 12 can packs next cheapest if I want to get poultry/beef varieties) so I'm aware I'm trading one risk of feeding a fish based diet to my cats for the very real one of losing my cats to either diabetes or other weight complications.
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sylviatexas1
10 years ago
Isn't it amazing what the right tool/treatment/method/ingredient will do?

Its good to hear he's doing well on the insulin!

Tabbies are very handsome/beautiful cats, & I always think they're the most sociable.
Sally Brownlee
Original Author
10 years ago
Yes tabbies are so handsome. So many look alike but I know I could pick my guy out of a crowd. He makes my heart melt when I look at him!

Here he is giving his sister a bath.
socks
10 years ago
So what now, you given him an injection once or twice a day, before meals. How does this work for kitties?

You must have posted earlier about King, but I missed it. How old is he?
lydia1959
10 years ago
All your kitties are so sweet! I had a diabetic cat.. she lived to be over 17 years old. They don't seem to mind the injections (she got two daily).
Lily316
10 years ago
Pretty cats. I have a very large tabby named Henry, and I'm afraid he'll soon be diabetic if he doesn't stop eating. If he was an only cat, he wouldn't be obese. All the many cats I've had , I have never had another fat one. Since he freaks out when I touch him on the neck ,I'd hate to think what giving him shots would be like. The neck thing is from his dread of Frontline. It takes two of us to pin him down to give it.

I hope this works for your sweet cat. It's awful when they don't feel well.
susanjf_gw
10 years ago
have had 3 tabbies I loved dearly! one who lived to 21, moved 5 times to 3 states, was there before the kids, and survived all 4!

glad he's doing well..think a shot is SURE easier to give than a pill!
Sally Brownlee
Original Author
10 years ago
I just gave him his 4th shot. He flinches a little but doesn't try to get away. It may be my inexperience...I'm sure I'll get better!
For now he is getting 3 units of insulin twice a day right after he eats.
He is 10 years old and has one brother (born with 3 legs) and a pretty little sister.
All of my cats are very affectionate, but since King started getting sick several months ago he is almost a constant companion.
Granlan_TX
10 years ago
Beautiful King! Hugs Salgal to you, King and your two others.
Lindsey_CA
10 years ago
King certainly is a handsome boy!

Years ago we had a cat with diabetes. I had to give him an insulin shot twice a day. The vet didn't specify that the shot was to be given after eating -- I just had to make sure the injections were 12 hours apart. So, I'd give the first one in the morning before leaving for work, and the second in the evening.

Those needles are so tiny that the cats don't really even feel it. You and King will be used to it in no time at all.
Tally
10 years ago
Glad to hear things are going so well. We've had several diabetic cats over the years and the insulin injections are so easy - they do get better with practice.

I never worried too much about the timing of when they ate. Same as Lindsey - we were religious about giving the shots at 7 am and 7 pm. When they ate was kind of random, but the insulin was administered every 12 hours regardless.
colleenoz
10 years ago
Our Missy was the same, her insulin shots were 12 hours apart, plus or minus one hour. If we weren't going to be home at the right time, we could re-jig the injection time an hour each day if we had enough notice. Even though she's generally really uncooperative, she didn't mind the injections at all, even from the cat sitter she'd never met before.
Eventually she had an operation to remove her spleen and her diabetes went away, but the vet said that wasn't unusual.

update on my diabetic cat

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Elmer J Fudd

Chi

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update on my diabetic cat

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