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My cat, Cookie, was diagnosed last week with Diabetes. She was immediately put on a strict diet of Hill's m/d (both canned and dry food) which is high in fiber and supposed designed for diabetic cats. She has taken to the new food and is eating well. She continues to drink a lot of water and urinates frequently, but she does not appear to be "ill" or not feeling well. The vet wishes for her to be stabilized on the new diet for another week and then be re-tested (both blood and urine) and then, if necessary (and it looks very likely), we will have to begin the daily insulin injections.

My question is this: Is there anything else that I might do or discuss with my vet that would be helpful to Cookie's well-being? I am very open to doing whatever it is to prolong Cookie's life and to make sure her medical condition is under control. I am very anxious and nervous about the procedure to test Cookie's blood and to give the injections, but I know that I can do it given the proper instructions.

I do trust my veterinarian. I have been going to him with all of my cats for about 15 years now and we have a good relationship.

Thank you for any advice and/or suggestions that you may give me. Julie

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Pepper (one, fine, little dood)

Hi Julie,

I am so sorry that Cookie has been diagnosed with diabetes. The good news is that with the right treatment diabetic cats tend to do very well.

If possible, it would be good to feed Cookie canned food only, or at least mostly canned food. I realize that dry MD is recommended for diabetic cats, but the more protein, the better, and the canned variety contains more protein. Dry food always contains carbs also which can affect blood sugar adversely. I have heard of a few cases where diabetic cats have been able to go off insulin after they were switched to a canned food diet.

I recommend that you learn to test Cookie's blood glucose at home. All you need is a drop of blood from an ear and a regular human glucometer and strips to run the test. It is much less stressful than taking the cat to the hospital every time you want to check the blood.

This is an excellent site on feline diabetes:
www.felinediabetes.com
Please check it out. You may come up with some questions you would want to ask your vet.

It's wonderful that you have a vet that you trust. I believe that is the first step towards successfully treating any chronically ill cat.

Take care, and please keep us updated.

Regards,
AshleyElla

Dear AshleyElla,

Thank you so very, very much for the suggestions! I so appreciate what you wrote. I shall keep you posted on Cookie's treatment and the progress that we both make in dealing with this health crisis. I am optimistic and confident that I can do whatever is necessary to ensure that Cookie is with me for several more years and has a good quality of life. Thanks again. Julie
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Pepper (one, fine, little dood)

Hi Julie,

You are very welcome

AshleyElla

Hi Julie...
I am very sorry to hear about Cookie's diagnosis. As a people with diabetes I have to totally agree with the advice AshelyElla gave you about feeding a food that is higher in protein (meat) and lower in cerial type foods (carbs).

In a diabetic (and i assume this pertains to cats as well as humans) protein, fat, and fiber tends to digest slower then carbs...thus helping to stabilize blood sugar. The goal of treating diabetes is to avoid big swings in blood sugar. So for people eating a balance of protein, fat, fiber along with their carbs is VERY important. That way when you eat carbs along with the others you are taking the carbs into your system much slower. Actually this is good for any person...not just a diabetic...it makes you feel better, less afternoon fatigue, often less moody....because these things are caused by blood sugar swings in a persons blood...even in the non-diabetic.

Another thing (and speak to you vet about this before making any move) if Cookie is overweight loosing some weight may benefit her hugely. Very often diabetes is caused by obesity....the simple explanation (and you can find TONS of info on this subject online...type in insulin resistance and/or diabetes {type 2}) is a person becomes insulin resistant .....meaning they cannot correctly use the insulin their pancreas produces because of excess body fat...that causes their blood sugar to be higher, so their pancreas puts out even more insulin, which can make you hungry, you eat, and your blood sugar goes even higher....it's a nasty circle to get caught in. If it goes on for too long it can actually cause the pancreas to wear out and stop producing any insulin at all...in that case the person would become a insulin dependent type 2 diabetic.
The way the circle broken is if the pancreas is still producing insulin, to balance the diet with a good amount of protein, good fats, and fiber...and to NEVER eat just carbs alone. So a cat food that is higher in protein, fat and maybe fiber would help stabilize Cookie's blood sugar better if a cat's digestive system works the same as a persons....again.....ask you vet!

I don't know much about cat diabetes...but I do know a whole lot about people diabetes (actually our metabolisms are a fascinating topic once you really get into it!)....but unless Cookie is elderly and especially if she is overweight I strongly suspect some of what I have just told you will help.

Good luck with her and let us know how she does!!!!!!
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Deb
owned by Booger and Tiny Dancer and the mom of the late, great Kakel

Thank you, Deb, for your information. You were very helpful and almost all of what you told me was validated by my veterinarian. I am happy to report that my cat, Cookie, is doing much, much better. She is now on twice-daily insulin injections and this marks the second week exactly that I have been giving her the shots. She is on Hill's m/d diet which is nicknamed "Catkins Diet" as it is for diabetic cats in that is high protein/high fiber/low carb cat food. She likes it moderately well and eats both the canned and dry m/d. She is eating well, though, as I give her boiled chicken breast occasionally. She is doing fine.

The insulin shots were very easy to master and I am having no problems whatsoever with that. The needles are ultra-fine and only about an inch in length. They are about the width of a human hair and you use a new needle each time you give an injection. I truly believe that Cookie does not even feel the injection as she does not flinch nor cry out nor give any negative reaction to the shot. I feed her right after her shot and she likes that.

I write down on a special calendar the time of day (both at 7:30 a.m. and p.m.), the amount of insulin (just 2 units each injection), and how well she ate after each shot. It is a Cookie Diabetes Journal. I also note any other unusual behavior of which there have not been many. Just to record anything that might pertain to her medical situation later on.

She goes back to the vet for re-evaluation and re-testing of her blood and urine in one more week. I will keep you posted.

To answer a couple of your questions: Cookie is not considered elderly. She is 8 years old. Yes, she was/is over-weight and the vet has been on me about this for some time. She weighed 14# about three months ago and then dropped to 11# over the course of about two/three months which is what mainly alerted me to the fact that she was ill and something was very wrong. I do feel a certain amount of guilt about not putting her on a lite diet a few years ago. But, we are getting back on track now; better late than never.

I will continue to follow the instructions and advice of my veterinarian and there is no reason to believe that Cookie will not have a long and healthy life if we can just get this diabetes under our control.

I thank you for your support, encouragement and advice. I appreciate it very much. Julie
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Pepper (one, fine, little dood)

Julie said....
>Thank you, Deb, for your information. You were very helpful and almost all of what you told me was validated by my veterinarian. I am happy to report that my cat, Cookie, is doing much, much better. She is now on twice-daily insulin injections and this marks the second week exactly that I have been giving her the shots. She is on Hill's m/d diet which is nicknamed "Catkins Diet" as it is for diabetic cats in that is high protein/high fiber/low carb cat food. She likes it moderately well and eats both the canned and dry m/d. She is eating well, though, as I give her boiled chicken breast occasionally. She is doing fine.

I'm glad you found the info helpful. Diabetes can be a kinda overwhelming disease when you are first faced with it...I can't imagine having to deal with it with a cat where you cannot test her sugar all the time like a person can.
I have a friend who had a diabetic cat...she did quite well for a long time...finally died of old age.

>The needles are ultra-fine and only about an inch in length. They are about the width of a human hair and you use a new needle each time you give an injection. I truly believe that Cookie does not even feel the injection as she does not flinch nor cry out nor give any negative reaction to the shot. I feed her right after her shot and she likes that.

I can guarantee you it does not hurt Cookie at all. My Husband is on insulin and the needles he uses are a 30 gauge...they sound alot like you describe. A person injects insulin into their tummy...a much more sensitive place then the scruff of a cat and he said he almost never even feels it. So that should be the least of your worries.
It's funny...I was at the endo's office with him last week and the doc was telling us how people resist insulin so much because of the needle factor..and it really is such a small issue once you get used to it.

>I will keep you posted.

please do...I'm interested...poor baby! I know how she feels!

>To answer a couple of your questions: Cookie is not considered elderly. She is 8 years old. Yes, she was/is over-weight and the vet has been on me about this for some time. She weighed 14# about three months ago and then dropped to 11# over the course of about two/three months which is what mainly alerted me to the fact that she was ill and something was very wrong. I do feel a certain amount of guilt about not putting her on a lite diet a few years ago. But, we are getting back on track now; better late than never.

Oh yes..that big weight drop was a BIG signal. I'll bet she was in the water bowl and litter box constantly too.

You understand it better now and are learning how to deal with it...that is what is important for Cookie.

>I will continue to follow the instructions and advice of my veterinarian and there is no reason to believe that Cookie will not have a long and healthy life if we can just get this diabetes under our control.

that's right.

Good luck with her!!!!!
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Deb
owned by Booger and Tiny Dancer and the mom of the late, great Kakel

It's me again!! Just wanted to say that my cat, Cookie, is thriving like a little weed! She is doing great. She likes the Hill's Science Diet m/d food ~ both canned and dry ~ (nicknamed "Catkins Diet" because of being high protein/low carb cat food) just fine and the twice-daily insulin injections are no problem whatsoever. She actually purrs the whole time as she knows that mealtime follows each shot. She is noticeably healthier and happier and I fully expect her to live a long, long life. There is no cure for Diabetes and she will have to be on insulin for the rest of her life, but it is nothing to dread as I did at the beginning. We are doing fine and just wanted to let everyone know that this turned out to be such a minor problem compared to many other health issues that we might have been faced with. I consider Cookie and myself lucky. Her dosage remains low (only 2 units twice a day) and she need not go back to the vet to be retested for six months. She has been on insulin now for about 9 weeks.

Julie
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Pepper (one, fine, little dood)

Julie....
I am so glad to hear Cookie is doing so well!!!!!!! Your dread of diabetes and how you will deal wiht it and how she will react is totaly normal...even when people are diagnosed. And the way you have come to realize you can deal with it is a pretty much normal reaction also. I knew if you could get Cookie stabalized you would get here. And I am not surprised she doesn't mind the injections...she really doens't feel them very much.

BTW...could you please tell me more about the catkins diet? My 11 m/o kitten, Tiny...the one with eosnophilic granuloma complex...is starting to gain alot of weight from being on steriods. We're not sure yet if we will be able to get her off of the steriods or not yet. Dr. Tobin had suggested putting her on a diet of canned to reduce the carbs but she just will not eat the canned. If Hills has a high protein/low carb diet in dry maybe that would help control her weight better???? She likes chicken....do they have a chicken formula? And do you have to get this at the vet or do pet stores carry it?
thanks for your help!
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Deb
owned by Booger and Tiny Dancer and the mom of the late, great Kakel

If Hills has a high protein/low carb diet in dry maybe that would help control her weight better???? She likes chicken....do they have a chicken formula? And do you have to get this at the vet or do pet stores carry it?

Deb,

My vet put Cookie on Hill's Science Diet m/d which comes in both canned form and dry food. To my knowledge, it can only be purchased in a veternarian's office, though. For example, PetsMart carries many varieties of Science Diet cat food but not the m/d which is nicknamed "Catkins" because it is specifically designed for diabetic cats needing high protein/high fiber/low carb diet.

It does not have chicken flavor specifically either; just one type called 'm/d'. Cookie likes the dry m/d food much better than the canned m/d and I sometimes have to mix in a tiny bit of other cat food to get her to eat it. But, she's doing okay. She has not gained back a lot of the weight that she lost initially which is a good thing. It was her overweight problem that led us to the problem of diabetes in the first place and we did not want her to become obese yet again. Her weight has stabilized and we are happy about that.

Overall she is seemingly in very good health right now and while she continues to drink a lot of water and urinate more frequently than my other cats, the vet says that she is improving with the diabetic condition and not to worry.

I wish you well with your cat and the steroid treatments. Keep us all posted on what your concerns are and together we can help and encourage each other on our separate issues.

Thanks for listening and for all that you've done to be of support to me and Cookie. Sincerely, Julie

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Pepper (one, fine, little dood)