Feline Diabetes

Free: OneTouch Ultra 2 Meter or Ultra Mini Meter + DVD.

Thu, 08 May 2008 02:35:19 GMT

Free: OneTouch Ultra 2 Meter or Ultra Mini Meter + DVD.

Cancer

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:44:34 GMT

Hello -

My Oscar has diabetes and has had for a couple years now. We've finally managed to get it under control with a fantastic diet of fancy feast and insulin. He's doing pretty good now. :-) (he's the one in my icon)

I just have a really off-topic question that I hope no one gets upset for me asking.

I recently adopted a kitty - whom I was told was 13 months old and when I took her to the vet was told that she's 10 to 12 years old. :-/ What's worse is that she has brain cancer. I was wondering if anyone here happened to know any fantastic resources for feline cancer like there is for feline diabetes.

Thanks!!

Food change?

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:39:34 GMT

Hello! My cat was diabetic for about two years, but with a combo of insulin and Purina DM food, he reverted back to normalcy about two years ago. Our vet. recommended that we keep him on the DM food as it's what helped him come out of diabetes.
Is there other food I could try that's not $40/bag? I've been reading that some owners feed their cats Fancy Feast. Would this make for a good DM food substitue? My cat has always eaten dry food so he wouldn't need a wet diet. Has anyone switched specifically from DM to Fancy Feast (or other food)?
I would like to make this change, but I would feel horrible is it made him slip back into diabetes!

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 21:12:53 GMT

My 12 yrd old romeo was just diagnosed with diabetes a week ago. I have been doing a lot of research on DM, especially the diets available. I have discovered many interesting new studies involving the high protien low carb diets and the wet food only because dry food has too many carbs and grains which cats don't need. Some diets suggested were for diabetics but others were for the general kitty carnivore.
I was just wondering what other people have tried and what they found works best for their little diabetic... Vet's seem to go both ways depending who you talk to and they say its my choice what to try. (obviously within the range of a diabetic.. no crap food of course) just wondering if other people tried something else or if they just went with what the vet prescribed of a "diabetic" labeled food... The diet info also included pets who were able to significantly lower their insulin intake and even get off insulin all together...

Any personal preferances? thanks!

We're doing curves! Kind of!

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 20:52:06 GMT

We did Tux's first 12-hour curve a week ago and took the results to our vet for analysis. She phoned today and gave us the green-light to reduce his dosage (from 2.5 to 1.5 units), which is what I'd kind of suspected. And she said our glucometre readouts nearly match their IDEX machine's, so I was pleased; this will help us do testing more independently. She also gave us a $50 discount on services for doing the curve ourselves. And we got a go-ahead to give him more food, which will make him happy and help him regain some of what the initial ketosis took out of him.

Now, here's my thing; we're to do another mini-curve a week from Sunday to see if the new dosage is a good fit...and Tux hhhhhhhhated the last one. I'm planning to rewatch the magic YouTube video with the cute guy a million times, and reread everything I've encountered on the subject, but if you guys have anything to share re: making kitty comfortable with repeated ear sticks, let me know.

Seeing as, in the next couple months, we're also going to move to the house we just bought, I want to minimize his stressors as much as possible.

Thanks as always.

Insulin determir report

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 23:28:59 GMT

Gandalf has done well in 2 1/2 years as a diabetic. Despite mistakes in the 1st 6 months, he is alive, which is more than I expected while I watched him lose 5 pounds during the spring of 2005.

This summer has been difficult. He developed a urinary tract infection which took nearly a month to overcome. During that time I did some more research online because I felt his insulin was not working as well as it once did. He did not seem to be himself, partly due to the UTI, but even before that his interest in what I was doing or things outside was sliding downhill. Other than the UTI he wasn't really sick, but when you've lived with human or animal for 14 years you know when they are just not themself.

I did not monitor his glucose levels as closely as I should have or I may have realized the fact that his insulin was to blame. After doing a daily series of BG tests, or curve, I discovered he was swinging from the 300s to 80 within 5 hours. And that was after already having dropped his dose. It's like being on a rollercoaster too long - eventually you're gonna wanna get off.

So last week I decided it was time to try something else. With the consent & awesome help of our vet, we got a very new insulin called Detemir, brand name Levemir. It has been approved in the US for 2 years and yes, people use it too. His previous insulin, PZI Idexx, was for cats only. With the help of other Levemir users on Feline Diabetes.com's Insulin Support Groups section, I felt confident enough to try it.

Today has been Day 3 on Levemir and already I know it's the best decision I've made for him. His blood glucose test numbers have been dropping each day to more stable levels. And most importantly, staying level. Today he stayed within 2 points for over 3 hours!

He's feeling better too. He wanted to play last night and instead of going over in a corner to lie down, he comes over and lays by me, like he always used to. He trotted to the patio door yesterday to go outside. He played with a ball last night. Usually he'd just lie there and look at it.

Please note: Every Cat is Different and no one can say how this or any insulin is going to work for your cat. I just wanted to share my excitement. Please don't change anything on your own - speak with your vet first.

Another just-diagnosed introduction

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 22:41:18 GMT

Hey, guys. I just found this community. My name is Erin; my wonder boy Tux was diagnosed this week. Luckily, Tux and I have a lot of support from my husband and our three other cats.

In the days since my incredible vet broke the news, we've done a lot of googling and YouTubeing, and we've (more or less) mastered a total overhaul of cat-feeding and the injection process. However, I'm still really intimidated by the whole home testing thing. Tux is giving every indication that the new setup is working well for him, but despite reassurances from vet techs, I really want to learn my way around that ominous little glucometer. I got an AccuChek Aviva and a buttload of strips, and I just kind of freeze every time I look at it. My intention is to read the info materials until they make sense, but...any concise tips would be super appreciated.

Also, am I a bad person for not having done a curve yet? My husband and I are both in the middle of an ugly, ugly week (a million commitments scheduled, of course, long before the diagnosis) and haven't been able to secure a 24-hour period at home. I read all this stuff about getting my cat "regulated," and I just want to be on top of things. Advice? Tips? Lectures?

Hit me. And thanks in advance. Someday, with a little luck, I can help ANSWER some of the questions on here.

Thank You

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:12:51 GMT

I just found out this morning that my 14 year old kitty, Wilson, has diabetes. I still have to bring in a urine sample so the doctor can confirm it and then she will have me go through diabetes 101. We just lost his brother (they were from the same litter) a few months back, so needless to say I am really freaked out. I don't know what to do or what to expect yet and having this community and felinediabetes.com has already helped a lot.

New to This

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:23:33 GMT

I just found out yesterday that one of our cats (the youngest, at only three and a half years old) is diabetic. She'd been lethargic since Saturday evening and refused to eat or drink on Sunday, so I finally got her to the vet Monday morning since she showed zero improvement. They found high blood sugar and had to keep her a few hours in order to get a urine sample (she'd peed in her carrier on the way there), which turned out to also have high sugar levels. The vet said the ketones weren't too bad though, so he's hopeful that we could keep her down to one shot of insulin a day.

He asked to keep her overnight to make sure she responds well to the dose they've picked, and he'll be teaching my husband and I how to take care of her after work today. Then, assuming she's been responding well, we get to take her home.

I've found some pretty good info on the web, like felinediabetes.com, but I was hoping for some general, "Here's what to expect," sort of advice from people who went through this same transition.

Do any of you have cats who just flat out rebelled against the shots at first? Ali is kind of uppity and I worry that if it hurts her once, she'll freak out and hide any time she suspects she's about to get a shot.

If the vet recommends a dry food for diabetic cats, should I go ahead and ask him for wet instead? I see plenty of information saying wet is best since dry has so much grain, but I don't know if that also applies when talking about diabetic dry cat food or not.

Do you feed your cats special "diabetic" food, regular wet food from the store, or a raw diet?

Has anyone been able to stop insulin shots? The vet said it's common to be able to stop after as little as four months, as long as you feed them a good diet.

Anything else I should keep in mind at this early stage, or anything I should be sure to ask the vet about?

FD website

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:45:03 GMT

Have any of you visited http://www.yourdiabeticcat.com?

I've been reading Dr. Hodgkin's thoughts on feline diabetes, and I have to admit, her Protocol makes sense. The gist of it is: Use PZI insulin, give wet food only, and home test (and give the appropriate amount of insulin, not just a blind amount).

I was just curious if any of you have followed this, and if so, if you've seen any success.

Long distance moves with diabetic cat

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 01:10:06 GMT

I am moving from Chicago to San Francisco at the end of August and am currently debating driving or flying. My cats are both old, 13 and 15, though only the older one has any kind of health issue. She's diabetic and possibly in the early stages of hyperthyroidism, pending blood test result next week. Despite these recently developed issues (within the last 9 months), she seems to be in pretty good health, enjoying the good life and laying around a lot. The other is as healthy as a young cat.

My preference is to drive, as I've never driven cross country and I think it would be a better transition to make my way out there with a friend riding shotgun, easing in gradually, than to get on a plane and four hours later, I live in San Francisco. Or maybe I'm romanticizing the move... Either way, I'd like to drive.

The cats have always done well on previous long drives, I drove them the 13 hours here from Atlanta 5 years ago, and they sat quietly and napped the whole way, in their individual carriers.

But this is going to be a 3.5 day trip, staying in motels every night. And one of them is in compromised health. Is 3.5 days in a car going to be a lot more stressful than the tension and anxiety of getting to the airport, going through security and being in the cabin (no way would I put two senior cats as cargo) of a plane for 4+ hours, then getting off, gathering baggage and getting to the next destination? I'm going to be subleasing a room from a friend when I first arrive, then moving again when I find an apt. So it's going to be pretty stressful for them for a few weeks. I plan to pick up a fresh bottle of Rescue Remedy before I leave. For all three of us.

I do want to drive, but I don't want to stress them out unnecessarily. What if something goes wrong in the middle of Nebraska and I have no idea how to find a vet nearby? I have found lots of anecdotal advice about long distance driving with elderly cats online. My very cautious vet has advised flying, I think I'm going to wait to hear the results of a couple of thyroid test results next week to decide.

Anyone else done long distance moves with old cats?

x-posted to cathealth

Drooling?

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:17:36 GMT

I came home from work this afternoon and was greeted kindly by my one year old kitten as I walked in the door but not by my 9 year old furball. Instead I found him at the top of the stairs - watching me walk in the house, just not greeting me. So I walked up the stairs and asked him what was wrong and noticed a huge thing of drool coming from his mouth. (where else would drool come from? sorry.)

I got up and walked to the bathroom and grabbed a tissue and very gently wiped the drool away, so gentle I barely touched him. He yelled bloody murder at me like I was killing him. This has happened several times since I got home from work.

After the first incident however I grabbed the phone to call the vets who were convientley closed even though their message said their hours are 8 to 7 (which I was aware of which is why I called at 5 in the afternoon, knowing they'd be open). Unfortunatly, I won't be able to get in contact with the vet until tommorow sometime.

I was wondering if anyone else had any information about diabetic kittys and drooling and if there is any cause for concern. I do still plan on calling the vets office, I was just wondering if anyone else had any prior incidences or whatnot similar to this.

Thanks. :-)

Wed, 16 May 2007 22:19:43 GMT

My cat has been on insulin for awhile now. She's generally been fine, but this past day or so she's looking really bad. Not only is she diabetic she's allergic to the fleas in this area so about two days ago I gave her Advantage. I don't think she's ill right now because of the allergic reaction, but that's always a possibility.

Yesterday she barfed quite a few times throughout the day. She's shown no sign of energy whatsoever and she seems weak. She also hasn't ate since yesterday morning, and usually when I break out the food she goes crazy, however right now she wont even move or shows any sign of wanting the food.

I also recently just bought a new bottle of insulin, so there may be a factor in that as well?

I really don't know what's going on. My vet wont be around until Monday, and money is a little tight right now. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

I should also note that she's been drinking water, so she at least isn't lacking motivation to do that.

New Member/Question

Wed, 16 May 2007 15:31:53 GMT

I'm new to this community, and I thought I would introduce my sweet boy, Max.

Max is almost 9, and was diagnosed with FD last November, and we were controlling it through diet. However, lately his urine output and water intake increased dramatically, and on Saturday we discovered that it was no longer being controlled by the prescription food.

So, now we're on the Insulin Express! I'm also attempting home glucose monitoring, because I would like to keep a closer eye on what is happening with his BG levels, rather than waiting until symptoms appear to take him to the vet for adjustments (which of course I would do anyway, but this way I can catch it sooner). We're keeping a log book of his mood, appetite, BG level, etc. that I will share with the vet during visits.

Right now, since we just started this new journey, Max is getting one shot of one unit of insulin a day. I understand that this is just for now until we see how he's doing with the insulin injections, but it does prompt a question about feeding and shot time.

Max has always been a 'grazer', meaning he will eat the majority of his meal in one sitting, but then saves the rest to munch on throughout the day/night. I have been giving him his shot at mealtime in the evening, but I am wondering if I should stop letting him graze, and switch to canned food that I remove after a set amount of time, at least until we figure out if he will be injected a once a day or twice a day. It should be noted that Max has two 'siblings' who do not have FD, so it makes mealtimes a challenge (we just feed them all the prescription diet to avoid Max eating their food), as they are also dainty grazers and I want to make sure they're getting enough to eat.

What do you do about mealtimes when you have a FD cat and other non-FD pets? Does anyone have any similar experiences they would like to share?

Thanks, and I'm glad I found this community!

how to distribute food now?

Thu, 10 May 2007 11:50:22 GMT

Hello,

maybe you can help me answer the following question.

My sweet Tommy's been diagnosed since more than a year now and his bloodsugar tends to be a wee bit erratic especially during day time. So far he got 4 small amounts of tin food spread out over the day to keep his blood sugar at about the same level.

It worked all fine until my boyfriend started to work at a company and not from home again. Now we're both away for most of the day and I'm not sure how to feed him.

First potion of food has to be at least an hour earlier than usual
second: nobody at home
third: about an hour later
fourth: as usual

He always has a bowl of dry food and we don't let him go outside anymore when nobody's at home. So the chance of a hypo is rather small I'd say. Still I'm a bit worried .

Any advice?

pet food recall update

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:29:18 GMT

Hi all. The recall list has been updated, please check your foods..

Nutro products even!
http://www.nutroproducts.com/mfproductlist.asp

Total updated cat food recall list..
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html

dog foods..
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:41:29 GMT

Thank you all for your kind words and support, today my vet called to say Jam wasn't getting any better and we took him to an emergency vet where they gave us some hope. We got home and they called to say he wasn't really able to breathe any longer as was gasping for air, they asked to put him down, and at 7pm tonight he passed away quietly, there wasn't even enough time for me to go and say goodbye.

I am however taking his sister to the vet soon to have her blood tested just in case.

Thank you all again for at least comforting me *hugs*

Hello :)

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:21:28 GMT

Hello,

I thought I introduce my sweety. He's with us for at least 11 years now and a vet suggested that he might be as old as 17. He was diagnosed with diabetes a bit more than a year ago, right on the day we planned to go on holidays and had brought him to a nice hotel - where he suddenly got really sick. I suppose we simply did not notice that he was losing weight and was drinking too much. But everything went so slow. He's much better now again, though he's not making things easy for us. Whenever we went to the vet with him to have his bloodsugar tested these values turned out far too hight, resulting in us giving him far too much insuline. We're doing hometesting now, but not as often as we'd like because he simply doesn't get used to it, getting all panicky when we get too close to his ears or paws *sigh* teach an old cat some new tricks... But at last we now know what to look out for. A new testing session will start tonight (I leave too early in the morning and my bf can't do it alone) and I suppose he'll need a bit more insuline again.

cuddles,
Hexa

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:34:33 GMT

I'm new, my 7 year old cat Jam was just diagnosed with feline diabetes today, he's been losing a lot of weight, about half his normal weight actually. He wasn't eating yesterday so we took him in, by today he was unable to eat or drink and he looked like he was gonna die. We took him back and his test results were in. He's on an IV at the vets over night I'm still really worried about him, I've had him since he was a kitten, my 2 year old son adores him. I just hope he's gonna be ok.

Food Charts - FYI

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 22:23:47 GMT

Just an FYI as it seems many of you are not noticing.

Firstly, there is a link to food charts at the top of this community. It it the result of a lot of hard work and research from many diabetic cat owners. It details all of the important info for many foods and can help you to choose a food that is right for your kitty. It is especially handy if you are on a budget or your kitty won't eat prescription foods. You'll want one low in carbs and high in protein for your diabetics. Check it out.

Also, there are quite a few of us here who are also on felinediabetes.com and that link is also at the top of the page.

Do check out the links up top there as they are very useful!

Hope you continue to find the community helpful and comforting. Thanks :)

Some tips on feeding FD cats and their non FD siblings

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:07:31 GMT

I'm sure some of you know that some FD cats can go into remission with a controlled diet. Remember, you want below 10% in carbs and high protein. I am a frequent poster on http://www.felinediabetes.com and have learned so much from that site and the forums.

First, a little history...
My Madison was diagnosed about a month ago. She was very ill. She's almost 10 years old. She started on Lantus 3u bid but is now on 1 u bid of PZI which works much better for her. The Lantus just pooped out on me and my new and wonderful vet usually gives PZI and I am happy with it. We went about 4-5 days over 600. I Blood glucose test at home and seriously recommend it. My cat also went near hypoglycemic 2 times but each time I caught it with a prick to the ear, drop of blood on my meter. I use freestyle flash but any meter works. I am well-versed on hypo thanks to feline diabetes as well. Reading and learning is my best advice as well as connecting with people who know exactly what you are going through and with many members, someone is always around to help or just talk you through something.

Any way-----

This is what I feed that can be fed to both FD and Civvies and will make your civvie healthier as well. Dry food is pretty bad with the high carbs, low protein and fillers. It's like the taco bell of cat foods. Meow mix was what my civvie was raised on before we got her. She turns her nose up at all canned foods but eats the wellness core really well.

Here's my personal list all checked. Some of the Merrick varieties you'll have to read the carbs on because not all are low enough but the ones that are that my cat has tried, she loves more than any other foods.

Canned - wellness, innova, merrick, and ziwi peak canned foods, Fancy feast in these flavours
The following are Fancy Feast flavors contain NO wheat gluten and are below 10% carbs:

* Tender Beef Feast (brown label color)
* Tender Beef & Liver Feast (magenta)
* Tender Beef & Chicken Feast (red)
* Gourmet Chicken Feast (dark pink...be careful, this looks just like another chicken variety with gluten!)
* Turkey & Giblets Feast (olive green)
* Tender Liver & Chicken Feast (orange)
* Chopped Grill Feast (kelly green)
* Flaked Fish & Shrimp Feast (true blue)
* Savory Salmon Feast (orange)
* Flaked Ocean Fish Feast (pink)
* Tuna and Oceanfish Feast in Aspic (teal label)
(from Janet and Binky's food charts)

Treats - natural jerky treats, boiled or canned chicken, a bit of canned tuna, kitty kissers.

and for kibble that isn't bad
innova evo dry and wellness core dry

We also throw in a raw diet a few times a week of Lamb from Nature's variety. Both benefit eating that as well.

I hope this helps some people with a cat that is also finicky or that just don't know what is ok for an FD diet.

BTW - The prescription foods the vet gives you has higher carbs and less protein than any of these. That has been proven. If possible, stay away from dry but if not, now you have some alternatives that will also save money.

My cat is finicky so I have to buy variety of she won't eat and is under-weight as is.

Dangerously high fructosamine

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 18:55:31 GMT

So my Oscar is too mean and scary when he's at the vets office to undergo a glucose curve and they no longer do just a glucose test on him they do a fructosamine test every three to four months depending on the results.

So on Friday I took him in and he was a month late in getting his test but it was because of financial reasons - we were barely feeding ourselves much less be able to pay 70 dollars for a blood test.

Normally it takes them about a week to get me the results of the test and tell me to keep his insulin the same and to recheck in three to four months. No big deal.

The vets office just called me and the lady sounded so solemn like she was going to tell me my cat had 48 hours to live or something. Apparently his levels are "Dangerously high." and his insulin is getting bumped up to 5 units twice a day and getting rechecked in a month.

I'm not so much worried about him because he's been more active than ever the past few weeks and last night was the first night I've seen him sad/lethargic in a good while. But I do think I know the problem and here is where my question comes in.

We have a 1 year old kitty who eats normal, non prescription wet kitty food. We keep it high enough so that Oscar can't get to it, or so we thought. Recently we've found him creating this puzzle of tiny jumps to get up to where we keep Chase's food and then inhaling Chase's food. Chase then goes downstairs to Oscar's food and inhales his prescription W/D. (we do keep Chase locked up in his room for an hour after serving them their seperate meals, but Chase doesn't eat all his food in that time - he likes to save it for later)

here's my question - instead of finding a different place for Chase's food - because there is none really - What kind of food can I get to feed my Chase that won't be too much of a bother for my Oscar if he eats it?
I plan on calling the vet's as well and checking with them but I was wondering what everyone else thought as well.

thanks bunches!

Hill's Prescription Diet recall

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 23:54:13 GMT

Hill's Prescription Diet m/d feline dry food has been recalled. My vet called me today, and left me a bag of w/d (my diabetic cat has gone with both formulas) because I should immediately stop feeding the m/d.

Here's the official statement

I thought the Menu Foods recall wouldn't affect me since I feed dry prescription food, but now it has (though not b/c of Menu Foods, but because of the same supplier of wheat gluten), and it's probably going to affect a lot of you in this community.

anyone in the los angeles area?

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 02:18:20 GMT

Hi all,

This community has been a great resource for me, and I hope it is for you too. My cat Biscuit was diagnosed with diabetes last June, and through diet changes he's no longer testing as even remotely diabetic. At any rate, I have one brand-new bottle of PZI insulin (never used) and a case of canned Hill's Prescription Diet m/d food that I'd like to sell (at a discount) to someone whose kitty needs it. Is anyone in this community from Los Angeles? I live just north of LAX, and would love to find someone local to sell these supplies to. If you or anyone you know is interested in the insulin, food, or both, leave me a comment. I hope all of your sweet kitties are doing well!

Lisa

Lantus cost

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 01:21:13 GMT

Hello,

I just found this group through google and I'm stoked! A little background: My cat Sacha has had feline diabetes for a few years, and he went on glipizide immediately after the diagnosis. His diabetes was not controlled and it was very difficult to draw blood so he didnt even have a BG curve done last year. They had to sedate him this year to draw blood, at least until he got acclimated to the vet's office. Anyway, his blood sugar has probably been in the 400s and 500s for a year or so because we didn't realize that the glipizide wasn't working. He now has diabetic cataracts.

So, my question... The vet has put Sacha on Lantus insulin, and we'll start using it at home tonight. The problem is that Lantus insulin costs $85 for a 28-day supply. There are many, many more doses in the vial than we can use in 28 days, but as I'm sure you know, the bottle says that the insulin expires 28 days after opening.

Is there any way around this? Can I buy a smaller (cheaper) vial? Is there like a vial share or something, so two households can split the vial? Some cheat I can use? I can't afford $85 a month for insulin, plus syringes on top of that. Is Lantus that much better than another type of insulin? I got the insulin from a human pharmacy, not the vet, so price didn't come up during the office visit. I'm not sure if she's willing to use a different insulin.

Any other advice for a family taking care of an insulin-dependent cat for the first time would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for any advice :)