Cat Diagnosed With Diabetes, Plan To Reverse Diabetes?

Athenaglaukopis · Feb 15, 2019

hello there,
I have a kitty that was diagnosed with diabetes today.
The vet will be calling me to set up a a time to teach me how to go about the insulin, injections, life style changes etc. cost and time investment is not a problem, my pets deserve the best care. Now with that I would love to know if anyone has reversed their kitty diabetes diagnose, how, and how to create a life long management plan that will allow her to live the rest of her years as a happy, healthy and hopefully insulin free kitty.
She is a 10 year old line point Siamese with just a few little teeth and the most sweet personality. Please help me help her. In the mean time I will continue researching.
She currently is on transfer factor.

Willowy · Feb 15, 2019

Is she overweight? What does she eat? Many people find that diabetes can be managed without insulin if you feed a low-carb, high-protein canned food.

Cornell is a very reliable source of kitty health iformation: Feline Diabetes

LTS3 · Feb 15, 2019

Diabetes can go into remission but it can not be reversed. There's always a chance that a cat goes out of remission due to stress or illness. Some cats never go into remission despite the proper diet and insulin but that's ok

While remission is the goal for most newbies, having a happy otherwise healthy diabetic cat is more important :agree:

I recommend that you join the FelineDiabetes.com message board to get more help on how to manage your diabetic cat. Diabetes is not discussed in depth here on TCS but you are still welcome here

The best way to achieve remission is to put the cat on the right diet and then start giving insulin at no more than 1 unit twice a day and learn how to test blood glucose levels at home. Better to start very low and increase as needed than to start too high and risk hypoglycemia. Low carb canned food is best. No dry food of any kind if at all possible because that can keep blood glucose levels too high. There are various insulins that can be used. Some are better than others. The FDMB board has more info on each the insulins and their dosing protocols.

Furballsmom · Feb 15, 2019

I was going to mention, about exercise this might help;
7 Proven Ways To Get Your Cat To Be More Active

Athenaglaukopis · Feb 15, 2019

Willowy said:
Is she overweight? What does she eat? Many people find that diabetes can be managed without insulin if you feed a low-carb, high-protein canned food.

Cornell is a very reliable source of kitty health iformation: Feline Diabetes

Hi there! Yes she is overweight,
In the 2 hours that I’ve know she is diabetic I’ve started researching and found that big protein low carb canned food helps her condition.
I was wondering what recommendations other ppl have.
My plan is to feed her in the morning with hills w/d which is the food the vet prescribed. Then a snack of that in the afternoon, and another meal at night. Before bed, leave about 1/4 cup of dry w/d hills food so she won’t go too hungry. No more free feeding, and no more canned food with grain. What are your thoughts?

Furballsmom · Feb 15, 2019

Here's why I mentioned activity levels above, because you don't want to decrease her calorie intake too fast.
See if you can determine how much she was eating, and then slowly decrease the amount.
If you can gently increase her activity levels that will help her health overall

Kflowers · Feb 15, 2019

When we had a cat with diabeties the vet said to let her start eating her meal and give her her insulin then. Bad move - she ran wouldn't eat her meal. So I scruffed her and gave her the shot - it's tiny and she gave a tiny hiss. Then I let her eat. She finished her meal. We did the same thing the second time. The third time she jumped up on the counter to wait for her shot. I think the effect must be almost immediate otherwise she wouldn't have made the connection and stood and waited for me to give it to her.

She always gave a little hiss when I did the injection except once. One time she didn't and I found the little bead of insulin in her fur. I gave her the shot, she made the little hiss and moved to her bowl.

The key thing is to keep the needle level parallel to kit so you won't hit a rib. It's a tiny needle, tiny syringe.

Willowy · Feb 15, 2019

1/4 cup of dry food usually has about 100 calories. So that might be too much for her! A tablespoon may be more appropriate. (OK, I looked it up and a 1/4 cup of w/d dry has 70 calories. That still may be too much).

Weight loss daily calories for most cats is around 15 calories per pound of ideal body weight. So if she should weigh 10 pounds, she should be getting about 150 calories a day. 1 can of w/d has 130 calories. So she'd only need 20 more calories after that.

I don't want to diss the prescription foods---sometimes they're the only thing that works---but w/d is not especially high-protein and isn't quite grain-free (well, it has cornstarch and soybean oil, which are grain-based. And I'm not sure what category powdered cellulose is in). I suppose you should probably start with it, but you could probably find something more suitable for a diabetic cat than that, and most likely in the same price range. The diabetic cat groups should be able to help with that, and tell you whether w/d worked for their cats or not

.

Kflowers · Feb 15, 2019

My cat who developed diabetes was eating Friskies and Science diet w/d. She was at her optimum weight, but she got the diabetes from a cortisone shot per her vet. Her sudden weight loss was how they decided she had diabetes. So maybe the kind caused by the cortisone shot is different? The vet treated it the same.

LTS3 · Feb 15, 2019

Athenaglaukopis said:
In the 2 hours that I’ve know she is diabetic I’ve started researching and found that big protein low carb canned food helps her condition.
I was wondering what recommendations other ppl have.
My plan is to feed her in the morning with hills w/d which is the food the vet prescribed.

Hills W/D is pure junk and will only make the diabetes harder to control. You do not have to feed the prescription food despite what the vet says. Most vets know very little about nutrition. It's ok to disagree with the vet about food. Most members on the FDMB have disagreed with their vet about food in the beginning.

W/D dry is 37% carbs. The canned version isn't much better at 25% carbs. This would be similar to greasy junky and starchy, sugar laden foods for a Human diabetic. The ideal food for diabetic cats is under 10% carbs. No dry food meets this criteria although Young Again's zero carb dry food is questionable and has been debated on the FDMB many times.

Diabetic cats are always hungry because their bodies can't utilize the nutrients in food properly because the pancreas is not working. A few meals throughout the day is best for most diabetic cats.

Fancy Feast Classic / Gourmet pates are low carb: Wheat gluten free, low carbohydrate Wet Food

There are more brands. Use this chart: http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf Whatever has under 10% carbs and fits into your budget and your cat will eat is the "best" one.

I would ditch the W/D junk now before your cat goes on insulin. Feed a low carb canned food. Maybe a week or so of the low carb diet, do a blood glucose curve to see if your cat's levels are still in the diabetic range or not. Sometimes a simple change from high carb food to low carb food is enough to achieve remission. If levels are still high, then start insulin.

Have you joined the FDMB or at least browsed around there?

Athenaglaukopis · Feb 16, 2019

LTS3 said:
Hills W/D is pure junk and will only make the diabetes harder to control. You do not have to feed the prescription food despite what the vet says. Most vets know very little about nutrition. It's ok to disagree with the vet about food. Most members on the FDMB have disagreed with their vet about food in the beginning.

W/D dry is 37% carbs. The canned version isn't much better at 25% carbs. This would be similar to greasy junky and starchy, sugar laden foods for a Human diabetic. The ideal food for diabetic cats is under 10% carbs. No dry food meets this criteria although Young Again's zero carb dry food is questionable and has been debated on the FDMB many times.

Diabetic cats are always hungry because their bodies can't utilize the nutrients in food properly because the pancreas is not working. A few meals throughout the day is best for most diabetic cats.

Fancy Feast Classic / Gourmet pates are low carb: Wheat gluten free, low carbohydrate Wet Food

There are more brands. Use this chart: http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf Whatever has under 10% carbs and fits into your budget and your cat will eat is the "best" one.

I would ditch the W/D junk now before your cat goes on insulin. Feed a low carb canned food. Maybe a week or so of the low carb diet, do a blood glucose curve to see if your cat's levels are still in the diabetic range or not. Sometimes a simple change from high carb food to low carb food is enough to achieve remission. If levels are still high, then start insulin.

Have you joined the FDMB or at least browsed around there?

Thank you so much! I have been reading a lot about it, she was diagnosed less than 12 hours ago.
She is def a dry cat food eater, so bear with me and please let me know what you think of the following plan, ( I’ve read all the tricks on how to pass a dry cat food cat to wet).
No more dry food out, except for at night when I’m sleeping, I will leave out a very small amount of dry, and I’m thinking to switch her by slowly mixing her regular food to young again zero carb.
She will eat about 150 calls total, and in the morning , afternoon and night she will get her wet food. I am def going to follow the suggestions for fancy feast. In the meantime I’m getting into her to walk a bit more and play with me.
There is yet no date set with th e vet for the insulting and all the teaching they’ll have to do so I can do it on my own, but I know that I can do something right now to improve her well being.
What are your thoughts?

LTS3 · Feb 16, 2019

Maybe instead of dry you can offer freeze dried raw or air dried raw instead. Both are healthier options and fairly low in carbs. Independent pet stores sometimes have free samples to give out.

Canned food can be left out in a timed feeder. Many people on the FDMB use such a feeder so their cats can have food during the day or night.

Treats are ok just make sure they are low carb. Freeze dried 100% meat treats like PureBites are great. So are pieces of chicken, raw or poached.

How much does your cat weigh? You mentioned she is overweight. 150 calories daily is more for a cat that weighs around 7 lbs. Obesity affects the diabetes so shedding those extra pounds safely will help.

EmersonandEvie · Feb 16, 2019

Another very good dry cat food that is low carb...only 4%... is Dr. Elsey's CleanProtein cat food (I only feed it at night, as a snack). Their canned food is also really good but pricey. These are also only available in the US, so it depends on where you are located.

I have found that my cats prefer the Chewy brand Tiny Tiger over Fancy Feast, and it's slightly cheaper per can. Chewy has it buy one, get one free right now, so if you want to try it, now is a great time! If she doesn't like it, contact Chewy and they will likely refund your order.

Athenaglaukopis · Feb 16, 2019

LTS3 said:
Maybe instead of dry you can offer freeze dried raw or air dried raw instead. Both are healthier options and fairly low in carbs. Independent pet stores sometimes have free samples to give out.

Canned food can be left out in a timed feeder. Many people on the FDMB use such a feeder so their cats can have food during the day or night.

Treats are ok just make sure they are low carb. Freeze dried 100% meat treats like PureBites are great. So are pieces of chicken, raw or poached.

How much does your cat weigh? You mentioned she is overweight. 150 calories daily is more for a cat that weighs around 7 lbs. Obesity affects the diabetes so shedding those extra pounds safely will help.

She doesn’t eat freeze dried food, tried at least 15 times in the past 2 years. She is a 10 year old cat, she weights 12, vet wants her at 10.
I have a kitten that would eat everything in sight, I have my diabetic cat that is 10 years old, and another mature cat of 11.feeding sessions so I can give each what they eat are much safer than a timed feeder.

pipperoo · Feb 16, 2019

I had a cat that went from insulin-dependent diabetes to normal blood sugars and no more need for insulin.

She was a little overweight and I was free-feeding dry food. I switched to wet food (low carb) and as a treat, low carb dry (Orijen). The switch was difficult because she turned her nose up at so many foods. I found that Fancy Feast pates were the most-enjoyed.

I initially freaked out at the diagnosis and was crazy worried about her. I have to say that some of the discussion boards about cat diabetes freaked me out (and some of the posters were pretty aggressive with their scarey tales) My vet was really relaxed about it and got me to calm down.

I had a really hard time testing her blood, but finally got a method down that she loved. I put some uncooked rice in a silky sock, tied it off, then would warm it for a few seconds in the microwave. When she saw the sock, she came running because it felt so good to have that warm sock rubbed over her face and ear. Then I used (and this was key) one of those auto lancing devices. She never even noticed the prick!

She didn't love getting insulin, but I think that was more my nervous technique than anything. Anyway, I finally calmed down when she started to eat the lowcarb wet food more consistently and I got the blood testing and insulin giving under control. Within 4 months she was off insulin for the rest of her life.
Good luck - try not to be too nervous. You and your cat will bond more over this and the two of you will master this diabetes thing!!!!

Athenaglaukopis · Feb 16, 2019

pipperoo said:
I had a cat that went from insulin-dependent diabetes to normal blood sugars and no more need for insulin.

She was a little overweight and I was free-feeding dry food. I switched to wet food (low carb) and as a treat, low carb dry (Orijen). The switch was difficult because she turned her nose up at so many foods. I found that Fancy Feast pates were the most-enjoyed.

I initially freaked out at the diagnosis and was crazy worried about her. I have to say that some of the discussion boards about cat diabetes freaked me out (and some of the posters were pretty aggressive with their scarey tales) My vet was really relaxed about it and got me to calm down.

I had a really hard time testing her blood, but finally got a method down that she loved. I put some uncooked rice in a silky sock, tied it off, then would warm it for a few seconds in the microwave. When she saw the sock, she came running because it felt so good to have that warm sock rubbed over her face and ear. Then I used (and this was key) one of those auto lancing devices. She never even noticed the prick!

She didn't love getting insulin, but I think that was more my nervous technique than anything. Anyway, I finally calmed down when she started to eat the lowcarb wet food more consistently and I got the blood testing and insulin giving under control. Within 4 months she was off insulin for the rest of her life.
Good luck - try not to be too nervous. You and your cat will bond more over this and the two of you will master this diabetes thing!!!!

Thank you so much for your comment. I was shocked, then terrified and I have been anxious about it since last night your post gave me renewed hope and a sense that I can take it a bit easier

def needed that I cannot thank you enough! I’ve managed to get her to eat some fancy food and I got some instinct pure protein, which is close to 10 % carb or so, so she doesn’t love it, but since she will eat it I’m going to mix it 50-50 with her old food and will fully transition her to it in about a week. I’m thinking to get all the kitties into this diet as it will make it sooo much easier, but I also have one kitten, do you think that this diet would be suitable for a 6-8 mo kitten?
Thank you again so so so much for some needed peace of mind.

Athenaglaukopis · Feb 16, 2019

EmersonandEvie said:
Another very good dry cat food that is low carb...only 4%... is Dr. Elsey's CleanProtein cat food (I only feed it at night, as a snack). Their canned food is also really good but pricey. These are also only available in the US, so it depends on where you are located.

I have found that my cats prefer the Chewy brand Tiny Tiger over Fancy Feast, and it's slightly cheaper per can. Chewy has it buy one, get one free right now, so if you want to try it, now is a great time! If she doesn't like it, contact Chewy and they will likely refund your order.

Thank you so much for the suggestion! I’m going to check out the nutritional info at chewy. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

EmersonandEvie · Feb 16, 2019

Athenaglaukopis said:
Thank you so much for the suggestion! I’m going to check out the nutritional info at chewy. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Chewy has a live chat feature and they should be able to answer any and all questions you may have, especially pertaining to any of their house brands (Frisco, Tiny Tiger, Mikos, American Journey, etc.). Of course you already know this, but be sure to go over everything with your vet so you're both on the same page. Good luck with your baby!

pipperoo · Feb 16, 2019

Athenaglaukopis said:
Thank you again so so so much for some needed peace of mind.

You're welcome - true confession time: I was so worried that I cut short a vacation in Europe to get back home to my cat! I over-reacted........

Remember, your cat did not become diabetic overnight, so there was a period of time that she was "untreated" and she didn't become deathly ill (I'm assuming) If you don't master the art of caring for a diabetic cat overnight, don't worry. You are already taking the steps necessary for your cat to get back on track. Deep breaths, you and your cat will get through this! it will become so routine so quickly that you'll laugh at yourself in a couple of months.

If you have trouble testing blood, try the keto stix (buy at your pharmacy) to get an "idea" of sugar levels. Its not perfect, but its better than nothing and helps you feel a bit in control of things. Just hold it under her rear while she pees to activate!

For more food ideas, visit catinfo.org. Very informative although her food list is several years old, its really helpful, as is her other info on diet. She pushes a raw diet but that's not possible or practical for everyone, however she does provide useful info on buying commercial.

I don't think low carb is bad for kittens (ask your vet)---the most important thing for kittens is a lot of calories so feed it however much it wants to eat!

You can do this!!

Kflowers · Feb 16, 2019

This is important ask your vet what is the worst that will happen if ==
if I miss her insulin? You wouldn't do this on purpose but stuff happens. She won't die. Try not to miss or delay the time of the insulin, it's better if you don't.

What if I'm late giving her her insulin?

What if the power goes off? how long will the insulin stay good?

if she suddenly needs less insulin or doesn't eat enough for her dose and she's already gotten it -- not nearly as scary as you think. The vet told me to keep some kayo syrup just in case.

If I come home and she's unconscious what should I do?

What does it mean if she's suddenly wobbly and having trouble walking? (That happened to mine. Took her in. We decided to not give her the next insulin injection. The wobbling stopped. She had gone into remission. The alternative diagnose for wobbling would be that she needed to up her insulin dose. Had we done that, according to my vet, she would have passed out. Kayo syrup on her gums would have brought her back around. My information is from the mid-90s Things are probably different now. Do what your vet tells you. Medicine gets better in leaps and bounds. I'm posting this because you need to ask.

The answers are actually comforting.

Cat Diagnosed With Diabetes, Plan To Reverse Diabetes?

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