One of the more difficult things when treating feline diabetes is well meaning friends and family that don't understand the energy, effort and expense that goes into treating this disease.
I recently turned off comments on this blog because of some hurtful and mean comments.
Kitty has not been easy to regulate. We aren't even close. But we are trying to give our guy the best care possible and the best quality of life possible. We made that commitment to him when we got him 14.5 years ago and that commitment has only gotten stronger.
Dealing with special needs pets is stressful, time consuming and expensive. I wish we didn't have to deal with this. Every day, my nerves get a little more frayed, the edges get a little more ragged. My dear husband summed it up: "If we weren't here to care for him, who would be?", so we persevere.
Someone made a comment about it being stupid to spend money on a pet that was only $20 to begin with.
My response is well, if you look at it that way, children are FREE. It doesn't cost anything to "make" a child and almost anyone can do it.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not comparing pets to children, I realize it is a totally different thing. I am just trying to say that the value of something is often very much more than what you paid for it.
Diet Controlled Diabetic Cats and Remission
Cats are unusual creatures as anyone that has one can attest. There is a phenomenon with feline diabetes where a cat might go into remission. It seems that their pancreas perks up and suddenly decides to work again. Often insulin treatment can be greatly reduced or even eliminated.
Another (auspicious) turn of events is when a cats diabetes can be corralled through change in diet. Often a cat fed a low carbohydrate-high protein diet will find its insulin so greatly reduced that they do not need insulin injections anymore.
The two scenarios are similar, except I believe that the first one applies more to Kitty when he went into remission. He was eating the same Science Diet Senior Dry cat food that he had eaten for years and yet his sugar numbers suddenly became normal without insulin. We did nothing special with his diet.
Many websites exist on proper foods to feed your cat. I found this good explanation of why to feed your cat wet, low carbohydrate food.
That being said, it is a big struggle to get Kitty to eat wet food, so we are just giving it occasionally. Ideally, I would like him to be on an all wet diet, but first and foremost is that he eat regular meals so that we can give him his insulin without interruption.
Another (auspicious) turn of events is when a cats diabetes can be corralled through change in diet. Often a cat fed a low carbohydrate-high protein diet will find its insulin so greatly reduced that they do not need insulin injections anymore.
The two scenarios are similar, except I believe that the first one applies more to Kitty when he went into remission. He was eating the same Science Diet Senior Dry cat food that he had eaten for years and yet his sugar numbers suddenly became normal without insulin. We did nothing special with his diet.
Many websites exist on proper foods to feed your cat. I found this good explanation of why to feed your cat wet, low carbohydrate food.
That being said, it is a big struggle to get Kitty to eat wet food, so we are just giving it occasionally. Ideally, I would like him to be on an all wet diet, but first and foremost is that he eat regular meals so that we can give him his insulin without interruption.
Home testing and the glucose curve
An invaluable tool for the monitoring of feline diabetes is the glucometer. This is a device designed so that human diabetics can test their own blood. It is very useful for cats as well. Many people question the use of them as they are designed for human blood, but in reality, the devices cannot read DNA and tell that it is a cats blood :). Glucose is glucose.
The technique involves pricking the cats ear and getting a blood droplet. This goes onto a test strip that gets drawn into a glucometer. There are many types of glucometers on the market. We are using the Accucheck Advantage. If you are considering a glucometer, I would recommend one that has sipping strips (although I don't know if you can even get the other type anymore).
The ability to home test your cat's blood means that you will be able to do glucose curves at home. A glucose curve is when you give your cat his insulin and then check every 2-3 hours to see what the insulin is doing. The lowest number readings are the "nadir" and this is when the insulin is considered to "peak". Below is a glucose curve that we have done on Kitty (note the preshot is at the end of the previous 12 hour cycle)
| Time after shot | mmoL/dl |
| Preshot | 23 |
| 3.5 | 11 |
| 6 | 7.5 |
| 8 | 8.2 |
| 12 | 15.6 |
In this instance, we are getting some overlap where the beginning of the next cycle is lower than the previous. Overlap can be very good where you get some time before the next insulin shot kicks in and the old one wears off. It can also be very bad, if it is too much and you can't schedule shots due to their unpredictability.
The glucose is important because it can also tell you how low your cat is going. Most veterinarians consider a cat regulated if their numbers range from 18-8 or so. Therefore, if your cat drops very low very quickly, you will need to take some action. Conversely, if your cat doesn't drop at all, you may need to consider whether they need more insulin or are perhaps experiencing somogyi.
One of the best benefits of doing curves at home is that your cat will not be subject to "vet stress" which can increase glucose levels artificially.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)