2 Diabetic Cat Questions *update and photo added*

[Moesha]

I have a diabetic kitty named Morgan. He has been insulin free for 16 months. His diabetes is being controlled by a strictly controlled diet. He's doing great! Morgan was diagnosed 2 years ago. This was just within 6 weeks after another of my kitties, Simone, had to be put to sleep after losing a battle with congestive heart failure. Morgan and Simone were great buddies. I had been looking through previous threads here and noticed someone that said their kitty was diagnosed after a similiar event in his/her life. I was just wondering if there was any kind of proof that tramatic events like that could cause diabetes. I always thought it was a trigger, but I asked at my vet's office and they said no. That stress like going to the vet for checkups can increase the sugar levels, but grief wouldn't cause diabetes. I was just wondering about opinions from here.


My second question regarding this subject involves another cat that showed up at my house over 6 and a half years ago. (We named him Mr. Jennings, my mom loved Peter but this kitty was too sophisticated for just "Peter".) Anyway, after a couple of years, I was able to find Mr. Jennings a home with a friend of mine. She is an elderly lady. Within the last 2 months, he has been diagnosed with diabetes also. We live in a very small town, and as soon as they had tested Mr. Jennings, one of the office workers was calling me to tell me about his situation. She was asking me to help give support to the older lady. I immediately went to the vet's office and was there before she left. I don't know what the vet told her, but I know what he told me. She decided not to go with diabetic cat food and just use insulin. She seemed to think he may be able to come off of the insulin eventually without a change in diet. I've done my best to try to tell her that won't happen. I know the vet didn't tell her it would either. She's just easily confused. She was having trouble getting his amounts of injections regulated. I was supposed to take care of him for a few days last month when she went away. Instead she took him to the vet and they had him and were able to settle on 5 units twice a day. Now she is leaving for 2 weeks this month. She has asked me to take care of him. She has another cat in the house and when she leaves, her son usually brings his cat over also. His cat eats other food. I told her that I wouldn't take care of him there if the son's cat was there and would be very concerned even if it were only her 2 cats. I couldn't be there to monitor the amount of food he ate. The other cat hides while I am there. Mr. Jennings is very friendly and loves to eat. So as a compromise, I offered to have him come stay at my house in a bedroom by himself. This way I can control what he eats and how much he eats. She said she had no idea that it mattered how much he ate. I don't know how many times I explained to her that the food was so important in controlling the diabetes. She said the vet never told her. I know he told me and am sure he told her too. Ok, now after that long explanation, here is my question. Tomorrow I have to go to the vet's office to get Morgan's food. I'm going to ask them about Mr. Jennings since he will be at my house. I am going to discuss my concerns with him and ask him these question also. I just wanted to try to get some more thoughts and perhaps some other things to discuss with them also. Without her changing to the prescription food, would it be better for Mr. Jennings to eat only canned food since it is lower in carbs? He definitely likes canned food. I know there is a website out there with the percentages listed for different cat foods (protein vs carbs). I am not sure which dry food he eats, but I think it is Nine Lives. I know it is something that can be purchased at a grocery store. I know better than to start changing his food without monitoring the sugar levels closely. But since he will be here for an extended time, if he were to change foods, it may be a good time. Once I could get him on a schedule that works and lowers the amounts of insulin needed, I could just tell her what to do. Boy I've typed alot. I'm going to stop now and see what responses I get. If more information is needed, feel free to ask.

[Catty1]

Offer to adopt Mr. Jennings.

I think that dear lady is getting 'forgetful' - and through no fault of her own, Mr. J's health would suffer.

[Moesha]

Sadly, that isn't an option. I can't adopt him. I found him that home. I have 8 cats myself. It is hard enough with the one diabetic kitty keeping him out of Aroara's food and vice versa. There is no way I can have Mr. Jennings here again. He is the only cat that Morgan has ever not liked. I'll know more when I talk to the vet, but according to her Mr. Jennings is doing well with his dosage right now. It is expensive though. I tried to tell her that if she would try the diabetic cat food that in the long run it could be more economical. Especially if she can reduce or eliminate the amount of insulin he gets.

[Freedom]

All I can say is, bless you for caring so much, for your Morgan, and for Mr. Jennings!

Just a thought (and I know NOTHING about diabetic cats): can you only keep the kitty in a separate room at feeding times? I have 8 cats, one is on a prescription food due to severe food allergies. He goes in a bedroom, the door gets closed. Then I put out all the food, going in to put his down as well. I set the timer for 15 minutes. Once the cats finish, I feed the dogs. Pick up all the food. Go in and pick his up last. Bobby now KNOWS when it is feeding time and goes into the sewing room and sits waiting!

You made it sound as though you have food out all the time, as in 'free feeding." So I just was wondering if this would work for your situation.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm sorry to hear this. I don't know much about diabetic cats but I have read articles that say that sometimes if they start eating a very high protein diet that has very few carbs that sometimes it can be reversed. I currently feed my cats Innova Evo which is a grain free very high protein food. It comes in dry and canned food and my cats love it.

The only thing that some cats have a problem with is that since it's low in fiber some may not be able to digest it as well so they either throw it up or have loose stools until they're more used to it. I solved this problem by adding more fiber to their diets. Canned pumpkin, squash, sweet potatos or yams are all very good sources of fiber. I was able to find a canned grain free food that already contains butternut squash in it so this has helped to solve my problem. I also give my cats Vita Kitty chicken Breast treats which are grain free and very high in fiber every couple of days. You can buy these foods and treats at an independent pet store. Good luck.

[smokey the elder]

There are a lot of opinions out there for treating diabetic cats. I'll tell you what I did with my sample size of one (Mobius.)

She was isolated and closely monitored for several months until she was regulated. (I would probably let a cat out sooner, based on what I've learned.)

I let her into the general population; she gets wet food twice a day and free feeds dry. This is contrary to the newer protocols, but Moby is 14 and I don't want to disrupt her schedule too much. In a year and a half her fructosamine, which measures long-term control, has dropped from 480 (fair regulation) to 421 (good regulation) and her weight has gone from 14 to 11.8 lbs in the same time (she was overweight at 14 lbs.) She has also dropped from 3 units 2x/day to 2 units 2x/day.

Every cat is different. If you can do blood testing, and feed mainly wet food, and "tune" his insulin to his BG reading, you can manage a diabetic cat which lives in the general population.

[GILL]

Our Patches was diabetic for almost 16 years. She would get the same food as the rest and her insulin in the morning. We found that with the insulin the food was not as critical. She was checked every week for the first two years then very two weeks for the rest of her life. Her condition came about when I had to leave for a little over 1 month (r/d job project). Our vet told us that the trauma of my leaving upset her beyond the stress limit her system could handle. At this point my boss knows that I will not leave the crew for more than 2 weeks. As Patches predecessor Mitts is attached even more. We say that he read her book and added a few pages. We lost her almost 4 years ago and I still miss her terribly

[smokey the elder]

16 years!? Wow! That's a lot of insulin shots. Was she as good a patient as Moby, I hope?

[Moesha]

Thanks for the responses. I talked to the vet assistant today. She didn't seem to concerned about Mr. J's food since they seem to have him regulated at 4 units twice a day right now. She said that for a cat to come off of insulin completely like Morgan has isn't common. Morgan is on Purina DM. He has 3/4 of a cup of dry food per day, dispensed at intervals not free fed. He also gets a small spoon of wet food in the morning and now in the evening. That was a left over effect from him having the insulin shots twice a day. He would come tell you when it was time for the shot because he knew he would get his wet food afterwards. He had been on a strictly rationed amount of Science Diet Lite cat food for years and gained weight every time I took him in for a checkup. On the DM he has stabablized at 18.5 pounds for almost 2 years. Aroara eats her food in the bathroom. The other 6 cats are outside. I live on several wide open and wooded acres out in the country. Most of them have just shown up here. I've then had them fixed and vaccinated. Morgan is strictly indoors and Aroara goes in and out.

Mr. J will arrive here on Sunday and will stay in one room of the house. Nikki at the vet's office was concerned that the problem they were having regulating him was because he has a lot of hair and they thought that perhaps the lady wasn't getting the insulin into his skin. When they had him at the vet, he regulated rather quickly. They have shaved a spot on his back so it is now easier for her to give him shots. She says that he seems to be doing well. I guess I'll leave well enough alone if she is willing to keep purchasing the insulin and needles.

[Catty1]

Moesha - I didn't remember that you had 8 cats!

My only concern here is that Mr J's owner seemed forgetful and unsure about the insulin. I don't doubt she loves him...is she okay giving him the insulin, and will remember to?

She said she had no idea that it mattered how much he ate. I don't know how many times I explained to her that the food was so important in controlling the diabetes. She said the vet never told her. I know he told me and am sure he told her too.

That's all I am concerned about, really.

If it is too much for her - and I don't know that - there are people who love to help special needs kitties.

Give him a pat for me - and all your other furbabies too!

[Moesha]

Moesha - I didn't remember that you had 8 cats!

I've been meaning to try to get pictures of them on here for you, but I have a new laptop without much photo editing software. So it is hard to resize the pictures here and then most of the kitty pictures are still on the desktop and I've been to lazy to upload them from there. But I will.

My only concern here is that Mr J's owner seemed forgetful and unsure about the insulin. I don't doubt she loves him...is she okay giving him the insulin, and will remember to?

She isn't forgettful, but maybe a little spacy. She remembers the insulin and think that since they shaved him she is much more comfortable doing it.

If it is too much for her - and I don't know that - there are people who love to help special needs kitties.

I will definitely keep that in mind. And I'll pass on the scrubbies to the other furkids too. Thanks.

[smokey the elder]

Not actually injecting the insulin may have some effect on the poor regulation. When I was beginning I sometimes had the end of the needle come out the other side of the skin pinch! Fortunately, Moby is A. short haired and B. a very cooperative girl.

I hope all goes well with the "sugar cat".

[Moesha]

I picked Mr. Jennings up from his home yesterday afternoon and brought him here. The owner told me that he was getting 5 units twice a day. The vet's office told me 4. So I gave him 4 last night and this morning. Better to give not enough than too much. He seems fine with the 4. No excessive drinking or urinating. When I went in to visit him this afternoon and put some food in his dish, he was much more interested in getting pats and scrubbies from me than in eating his food. So far so good. He doesn't make a peep in there by himself. He doesn't scratch at the door or beg to come out. Everytime I go in there he jumps out of the bed that I borrowed from Morgan and put in his room. I took a couple of pictures that I thought I would add here so you can see him for yourselves. These were taken when he first got here. His ears were a bit pinkish from the ride over and I hadn't cleaned out his eye boogers yet. I'll get better pictures another time. He has the prettiest green eyes though. Of course Morgan couldn't resist checking everything out as I was preparing the room.