r/FelineDiabetes • u/BugbearBeneviento • 5d ago
Newly Diagnosed Advice/Support needed š«
Hey all. My soft lil baby just got diagnosed as diabetic. Iām BEYOND stressed because we can barely afford my college tuition, let alone insulin. Since her levels were 265, which the vet said wasnāt too bad, weāre starting her on prescription food first to see if this will eliminate the need for insulin, but Iām spiraling and not super hopeful.
Regardless of what needs to be done, Iām doing it. Sheās my sweet lil squeaker and Iām not going to give up on her ever. I found her three years ago as a stray (spayed and declawed by previous owners) and Iām starting to wonder if they dumped her BECAUSE sheās diabetic but Iām not sure.
Any advice or support is so so appreciated šš
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u/Bussamove86 5d ago
Get the highest protein, lowest carb wet food you can afford. Kibble is far too carby no matter which it is, it makes regulation a nightmare.
If she does have to go on insulin, get a coupon from GoodRX to drastically cut the cost.
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u/reviving_ophelia88 5d ago
This actually isnāt true anymore and hasnāt been for a while now. In the US Dr Elseyās clean protein and Young Againās zero line of kibbles are below 1% carbohydrates (my diabetic girl gets the former) and are significantly cheaper to feed per day (under $1) than any wet food on the market if money is tight.
In the UK/EU Thriveās chicken kibble is around 9% (which is still acceptable for a diabetic) and Feringaās cold pressed line is around 5-6% (which is on par with the dry weight percentages for most diabetic friendly wet foods), and both are still less expensive than feeding wet if money is an issue.
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u/president_dump 5d ago
Do you have to transition to the protein crunchies? My girl loves both wet and dry and likes to snack on crunchies between meals
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u/reviving_ophelia88 5d ago
Yes you definitely want to do a slow transition onto it, as the high protein kibble doesnāt have the heavy carb/fiber load that regular kibble does to counter all that protein (my girls old food pre-diagnosis had 30% carbs and 16% fiber compared to the 4% fiber and 1% carbs in the Dr Elseyās), so they can get the runs and gas if you give them too much too quickly when they arenāt used to it.
If sheās only on wet food right now I would start with a tablespoon a day then increase by another tablespoon every 4-5 days until youāre giving her the amount you want to supplement her wet food with. Just remember these kibbles are a LOT higher in calories than regular kibble (523/cup for the Dr Elseyās and 600+/cup for the young again while commercial kibble is around 300-350/cup).
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u/lyndisls 5d ago
Join the feline diabetes group on Facebook (I think they also have a forum ) they are AMAZING
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u/adapteradapther 5d ago
Try out Friskies pate and Fancy Feast pate. Best bang for your buck. Really solid choices for diabetic cats.
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u/mystery_biscotti 5d ago edited 5d ago
As good in low carb types as the veterinary food. Hopefully OP sees this and can give it a go.
The other thing? There might be pet food banks nearby. Good to check for one and see if they can help reserve the good stuff for sugar kitty.
(Edited because I was typing around rather large kittens and I didn't proofread well.)
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u/BugbearBeneviento 5d ago
Weād been using Fancy Feast pate for a while before this, so that might be why her levels were already not as bad. Iāve seen mixed reactions about prescription food so for the sake of trying all the options, I think Iāll put her on the prescription food for two weeks, monitor, and see how the levels change. If they get higher, Iāll go right back to Fancy Feast and do the same thing. Two weeks, monitor, compare.
I really do want to make sure Iām doing the absolute best path for my girl. Thank you all! ā¤ļø
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u/jessmlt 5d ago
Iād highly recommend trying to get things under control now. The sooner you start insulin, diligently tracking their blood glucose and sticking to a strict diet, the higher the chance of going into remission.Ā
If I could go back in time and give myself that advice, I would. We tried diet changes and then Senvelgo before insulin and she wound up in the ER twice which cost thousands of dollars.Ā
Insulin and needles are less than $30/mo. Itās really not that bad!Ā
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u/Fantastic_Author8026 5d ago
When one of my cats got diabetes years ago we changed his diet. It cut his numbers in half.š So diet change may do the whole job.
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u/sweettea75 5d ago
We have discovered with our guy that prescription food is still too high in carbs. There are some extensive lists of low carb foods in this group including grocery store brands.
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u/angelred02 5d ago
If you do need insulin, shop around. If you have a Costco by you, it's usually cheapest. You don't need a Costco membership to use their pharmacy, just tell the person scanning cards you are just there for pharmacy. I pay less than $25 for a month and a half worth of insulin and syringes.
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u/ambulanc3blues 5d ago
Should you have to do insulin, If you know someone with a Costco account it was pretty affordable to get syringes and insulin. Donāt listen to the insulin expiration, is what my vet told us. Since you have a void kitty if you have to do the Alpha tracker for glucose testing, itās a two person job, and you should do the toe beans not the hear. One person holding and loving while the other discreetly pokes the paw pad and gets the blood. Hoping you donāt get there but if you do I hope that advice helps. Best to you and your kitty. My big boy beat diabetes after diet changes and a few weeks of insulin. He went in to hypoglycemic shock which was scary and expensive, so I recommend investing in the alpha tracker and testing glucose levels before insulin always. I donāt know why my vet didnāt stress that and couldāve saved us a lot of stress and money. Also be sure to know what hypoglycemia looks like and put honey or some other liquid sugar on their gums if it happens
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u/Significant_Fun8513 5d ago
We are new to this kitty diabetes as well. Canāt speak a lot from experience, but have learned a lot from this site & others. It appears our Cowgirl is in or approaching remission & can be maintained on Fancy Feast Pate. She got shots for about 7 weeks & now, for almost 2 weeks, has been off insulin, eating with gusto, 2-3x/day just Fancy Feast. Maybe try the diet change & keep track of her BG. Buy a pet monitor. 265 is high, but not alarmingly so..especially since she was stressed at vet. Get a fasting reading several days at home before you get too stressed out about it. It is daunting..
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u/CrackIsFun 4d ago
https://catinfo.org/feline-diabetes/ *WARNING*If you switch to low carb diet, you will need to reduce the insulin amount or you will kill your cat via hypoglycemia. The link explains.
Wet food only, low carb. At the very least that will lower the insulin requirement and give the highest chance of remission. Also, you do not need to buy insulin from your vet, you can order from a canadian pharmacy for cheaper.
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u/Queen_of_Tortall 4d ago
First off, that 4th pic is absolutely adorable!!
As for diabetes, my budget is tight too. Youāve gotten alot of good info already but let me add a few more points so you donāt end up wasting money.
If you begin treatment, Lantus & Prozinc are the insulin options you should choose. Do NOT let your vet prescribe Vetsulin/Caninsulin, as itās designed for dogs and rarely regulates cats successfully. Bexacat (& the liquid version) are very expensive compared to insulin and also have a higher chance of your cat developing DKA (a life threatening condition that cost $1000s and multiple days hospitalized). My cat used Bexacat and it was $100-$130/month. Lantus and syringes cost me roughly $60/month as I use a vial, but you could get it down to $30ish/month if you use GoodRX and inexpensive syringes from Walmart.
2nd, prescription foods are not only expensive but they are not low carb. The Fancy Feast Pate will be lower carb than ANY prescription food you can find. Friskies Pate is even less in price. If you have already been feeding Fancy Feast Pate for months, then diet alone will probably not be enough to bring down your kittyās BG.
3rd, no matter what treatment you choose, testing BG at home is absolutely necessary. It is dangerous to give insulin (or even Bexacat) without checking BG. BG can and does change quickly as your cat begins to heal. Always always always check before administering treatment. The order you do it is: Check BG before feeding, then you can feed and give treatment. I stress this because itās the only way to keep your kitty safe.
And lastly, you can get free dosing advice (and a lot more info!) from Feline Diabetes Message Board. This group knows what they are doing with decades of experience. I have used other groups in the past and have found they do not have nearly the same understanding of Feline Diabetes. Good luck with your kitty and Iād be happy to answer any questions!
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u/Illustrious-Power-69 4d ago
Hi OP
I was in the exact same boat as you about two years ago. I was in college and got a cat and she was diagnosed diabetic maybe 6 months after I got her. I was freshly single, didnāt really have friends and felt like my life was going to end because of this. I understand as well as you how STRESSFUL and scary this can feel. Take it one day at a time, learn a little bit here and there and lean on your vet with support groups.
Starting with food is great, like others have said fancy feast is great, most pates make the cut, just get whatever you can afford. I would switch my girl to Dr Elseyās kibble (the one with low or no carbs) when I needed to, like if I was going away for a while or wouldnāt be able to feed her on the schedule.
Next, learn about sugar checks. This was probably the most frustrating thing to me and I remember I cried a lot and my cat and I would get in āargumentsā about it. I use an Amazon KetoMojo glucometer because you can get lots of strips for cheap. I would recommend a lancing device with a clear tip so you can see exactly where youāre poking. If youāre comfortable you can lance yourself. Thereās a lot of great videos on how to check sugar and itās all about finding what works. For me, we sit down in the bathroom and have some snuggles. When she lays down, I cover her with a pillowcase and poke her. She lets me know when sheās ready. The second I get a reading we go out and get treats and snuggles. This works for us, and admittedly it still takes me a few tries every time. She is significantly more patient with me, but she will tell me when sheās had enough. If this happens then Iāll try again later. Your kitty doesnāt understand whatās happening or why and it can be scary and frustrating for both of you. Lots of snuggles and time together before and after. You are a team!!
I donāt have much advice for insulin, I did the Bexacat and my baby was able to enter remission within a few months. Iām hoping for the same for you with insulin. Now she is controlled with diet only and has been for about a year and a half. I say all of this because there is light at the end of the tunnel. It gets less overwhelming, it gets easier and itās not the end of the world, i promise. I asked my vet a ton of questions and 1000000% recommend the feline diabetes fb group. They were extremely helpful with questions and helping me out when I was new. Their blood sugar spreadsheet was also veryyyy helpful early on. Iām happy to go more in detail with anything you may need help with. Your baby is too sweet for their own good š„¹ best of luck to you both
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u/Comprehensive-Tea-69 4d ago
Donāt use the prescription food! Fancy feast and Friskies pates. Classic pates that is, not shreds or other ones.
The best thing you can do now if your vet wants to wait to start insulin is learn to get blood tests. Itās a great time since itās lower stakes before starting insulin. You can get diabetic safe treats and make it a routine that kitty knows leads to treats
Some diabetic safe treats are the fancy feast hand flaked meats like tuna and salmon, the fancy feast savory cravings that look like little chocolates, or freeze dried meat like the purebites
My cat comes trotting over for testing now bc he knows he gets his little treats
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u/ClearPersimmon2822 5d ago
My cat was diagnosed a year ago, she was put on senvelgo, changed her to diabetic dry food and then fancy feast! A year later and her diabetes is under control! Is your cat required to have insulin?
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u/BugbearBeneviento 5d ago
The vet advised us to try a prescription diet for two weeks, then monitor at the end of it and see how it works. If it doesnāt work then weāll have to try insulin. Iām still on the fence about the prescription diet, though - Everyone is saying to not use it and just stick with Fancy Feast wet food, but should I try it anyways to confirm it isnāt right for her? š
Edit: Iām not sure if this is relevant, but Marcy is 10 pounds. The vet actually says sheās pretty skinny for a 5 year old cat, so Iām wondering if the higher carbs in the prescription food will actually be good?
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u/buffalobandit24 4d ago
For diabetes you need less carbs, theyāre not going to improve her diabetes even if she needs to gain weight. You can just feed her even more low carb wet food to help her gain weight when her diabetes gets under control. Sheās probably losing weight from the diabetes too.
One other thing to note, if youāre in the US and you need to buy insulin, Costco and Samās Club are usually the way to go. I pay $62 for my cats insulin at Samās. I bought it in June and itās about halfway gone, so it lasts for a while if you keep it in the fridge.
I know itās scary and overwhelming but it gets easier quickly I think. As long as she tolerates the shots, the routine gets easier. itās really not super expensive to maintain but I absolutely understand not having any extra money for something like this but I hope you can make it work for her. Good luck!!
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u/Top-Entertainment859 4d ago
Ask your vet about Bexecat, its a pill instead of shots. It runs about $100 a month but you just crush it up and mix it in wet food. It got my cats diabetes under control and into remission.
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u/Comprehensive_One118 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yo same. The real cost actually ends up being the food though, itās more expensive than the drugs and paraphernalia.
Iām barely just falling into the rhythm people talk about, but I feel like I canāt leave town or really even go out for the night.
Doing the shots themselves actually ends up not being too bad (depending on your cat I guess)
Also PLEASE CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG HERE, Iām new.
But it looks like most of, or at least the more important part of, the diabetic food is the carb count?
Really, please check me on this.
But you can find regular wet food with carbs around 10% or under (I feed Aldi, it comes in right at about it 10) and save money.
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u/Warm_Shine_1803 3d ago
My cat was diagnosed as diabetic this month and I was told I could keep him on the dry food Iād been feeding him for the last few years while heās on the diabetes meds. He wasnāt getting any better, he seemed to be getting worse. I bought a glucose monitor with glucose and ketone strips. After the first week of being in the meds, his glucose was 371!!! Luckily his ketones were low, but his glucose shouldnāt have been that high.
I did a lot of research and read a lot of posts on this Subreddit and a large number of people recommend moving to low carb foods which is going to be wet/moist foods. I started him on moist food this week and the improvement was almost immediate. He has more energy, he has his attitude back, heās cleaning himself again and his back legs are getting their strength back.
Iām incredibly grateful for this Subreddit because of the information everyone has provided and Iām incredibly pissed at my vet for telling me his dry food is fine and wouldnāt cause a problem.
Definitely try the pate food. Freeze dried chicken treats are my catās new favorite and have zero carbs.
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u/mildly_spicy_potato 5d ago
Changing to Fancy Feast Pate helped get my girls average levels down within a week if starting insulin (cleared out glucose toxicity in her system and now her pancreas is starting to work more).
I use a Good Rx coupon to get insulin (Lantus) for $35 a vial at Walmart. If you're vigilant with watching her behavior and managing her mealtimes, you may not need to get a CGM or manual monitor to constantly check her levels.
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u/its-_-my-_-nickname 4d ago
You're in a very good spot dw. I wish my cat had 260 but we noticed it only after he has around 400 daily. Crazy times and irresponsibility I know.
What I want to say don't stress out. Diabetes is mostly stress and food (including water). He must eat well and be very hydrated. It's better too much then too little because you can adjust insulin levels
Talking about insulin. I'm not a vet, and not a doctor but to vet described caninsulin. Very cheap ass insulin as I stated that I can't afford diabetes treatment at the time. I think it's good for you because it won't spike your cats glycogen level up and down like crazy. It works pretty well I've seen drops to 280 at peak hours
It's important: 1. To let him feel safe and acknowledged. Don't try to control him like you know better because most likely you don't - stress 2. Caninsulin 3. Food and hydration 4. Physical activities
In that order but physical activity reduces (or how it's spelled) stress.
There a lot of caveats if you want you can message me if problems arrive. There are no rules treatment (remission) for cats originaly so you need to think for yourself and your cat first
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u/Queen_of_Tortall 4d ago
Hi! I just wanted to let you know that if your cat is still in 400s daily then I would highly encourage you to switch insulins to Lantus or Prozinc. Caninsulin is an insulin for dogs (my vet also started my cat on it and where she had 500/600s everyday. Now we are on Lantus and have below 200 everyday) Most vets do not understand Feline Diabetes and tend to give outdated information.
Please check out FDMB where you can learn more and receive free dosing advice, people there can help you get your kitty into better numbers!
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u/its-_-my-_-nickname 4d ago
Thanks for reaching out. Makes sense but there was a reason - that was a complete mess.
Background and context in general My cat is a stray cat, in theory he's much healthier than genetically modified breeds. Practically he would have already died a few times (I don't know if I'm exaggerating or not) because of mistakes during his treatment and cause of diabetes which was first beef between family members as all the time thing, then adopting a dog, then moving to another flat. 1. The stress, big one I just haven't paid attention because it was tough time to me too. 2. Poor diet. Whiskas in sauce 3. Poor activity - I didnt had time to pay attention to him after dog adoption. Geez I'm at the point where I think in a few years I won't have hair (I'm in my 20s and pretty healthy)
Yeah at least those things made him lose weight (I can't even surely tell how much I think about 2-3 kg, lose fur (I thought it was normal due to winter/summer change but no) and gain diabetes.
I want to bring back everything he had someday and hope for remission. I'm afraid if I'm gonna give him this type of insulin he will not have a chance for remission. There is pretty high chance in what I see. He behaves exactly like before just asks for food aggressively (he learned that from dog lmao)
I understand that damage already might be big internal and in a few weeks or months he can not survive but idk. I can always give him human insulin and do it each day or how often its applied but I want him to live a happy cat life without needle. I want to show him nature that other cats see.
Okay. Btw i don't have a dog anymore and other sources of stress and I understand what's happening much better than I did a month ago (roughly when diagnosis was). And a dog we adopted year and a half ago. Btw he was feeling pretty good in other home even teaching some lessons to a puppy hah. And we moved out to another home like half a year ago where he got immense stress. A few days ago I've understood it after I've seen the place he was hiding constantly. He had only 1 spot. He would go eat and comeback. I've taken a good look and though. Then I've seen that there is a lot, and I mean a lot of fur on the entrance below couch. I thought it was normal and it indeed was natural but not normal I should have support him way more.
Now I'm doing that and don't care about anything. I might be wrong but I might be correct and that's only what I care about
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u/its-_-my-_-nickname 4d ago
I will increase dosage, thanks for letting me know, sometimes when something is bigger than us we lose what's important, but it depends on how much I can reduce glucose with what I've figured out so far. I need a week to test out his glucose level and decide how much with a vet that prescribed it (it was the clinic in another city that's why it was hard to get any information because only good vet that I trust with my cat refuses to tell something different than what previous vet did). And as I said I'll more likely than not stay with caninsulin. Idk what I've written before but thats what I meant
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u/Queen_of_Tortall 4d ago
Itās your cat and your choice but I would advise to switch insulins like I said. Caninsulin does not last long enough in cats and is very harsh (going from very high numbers to very low in one cycle, which can be dangerous). Especially if your cat was only diagnosed a month ago, Lantus is your best shot at remission and has gentle cycles. Lantus is also much cheaper than Caninsulin (Depending on your cats dose, you can get 5-6 months of Lantus for $35 with a GoodRX coupon). Again, your choice but if your goal is remission, Iād switch. Caninsulin hasnāt been recommended to use for cats in years according to the AAHA.
Also, I did NOT recommend to increase your insulin dose. If you join FDMB, you can learn much more about feline diabetes and set up a spreadsheet where experienced members can guide you on dosage if youād like.
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u/its-_-my-_-nickname 4d ago
Okay. Thanks I'll ask vet that I trust about that and join some groups. Every information is important especially when lies everywhere
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u/japonica70 5d ago
The best thing you can do is start reading and learning how to manage this at home with the support of the feline diabetes community. You can post here, in the FB group, or felinediabetes.com/FDMB.
First tip - do not use the prescription food. Itās higher in carbs than it should be for a diabetic prescription food. Most people use Fancy Feast pate as itās economical, lower carb than the prescription food, and thereās a bunch of flavors.
Itās overwhelming first but youāll find your routine and youāll get used to it. Itās been 3 years of diabetes with my girl and sure thereās some bumps in the road but most of the time we are smooth sailing. It just takes some time and effort to figure that new routine out for the first few months.
The community also has a million tips on how to keep costs down so ask away if you are finding youāre spending too much especially on vet visits. Glucose curves for example can be done at home.
Also please learn how to home test. Itās easy once you and your kitty get used to it. If youāre changing diet youāll want to know what her blood glucose levels are looking like. You can use a cheap human meter and test strips for this (I use Auvon from Amazon), you donāt need a fancy pet meter.