Thread: OT: obese, diabetic cat, high protein, v. low carb results

"Susan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> The continuing saga of Freddy the Freeloader, permanent house guest of the
> feline persuasion.
>
> Started out grossly obese at 22 lbs (he's not otherwise a large cat),
> diabetic with a constantly heady shedding thick, dense, faded coat and
> weepy, inflamed eyes and flakey dander all over the place.
>
> On 2 u of insulin with 1/2 can twice daily of very high protein, very low
> carb grain free food, no more dry overnight, he's losing steadily. Down to
> 19.7 today. Even before this loss, his coat is no longer shedding much at
> all, no more flaking skin, no more drippineess, crud under his eyes, and
> his coat has a nice, smooth texture instead of being all dry, faded with
> gobs of his hair everywhere. He's more energetic, alert, affectionate,
> playful and still way too fat. This is going to take a while, because he
> needs to lose like another 4 lbs or so.
>
> Will recheck him with a day at the animal hospital at the end of the month
> or early November to see if he's in remission and can come off of insulin
> as expected, since we got him under control in record time, according to
> the vet.

I hope you have heard of http://www.felinediabetes.com/
which is one of the great support groups on the internet.
Ferguson and I were there in the early '90s, and learned
all we needed to know about the whole diabetes nightmare.
In fact, I found out that I was becoming diabetic by sticking
myself instead of her (very easy to do) and taking readings
on my blood just for the hell of it. Yeah.

That sounds like a wonderful set of results so far. Best luck.

pavane

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On 10/3/2012 4:07 PM, pavane wrote:

> I hope you have heard of http://www.felinediabetes.com/
> which is one of the great support groups on the internet.

I haven't. But so far, so good.

> Ferguson and I were there in the early '90s, and learned
> all we needed to know about the whole diabetes nightmare.
> In fact, I found out that I was becoming diabetic by sticking
> myself instead of her (very easy to do) and taking readings
> on my blood just for the hell of it. Yeah.
>
> That sounds like a wonderful set of results so far. Best luck.

Thank you.

How did you test your cat? I was told it's done on the ear, but have
not been successful.

Susan

"Susan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> On 10/3/2012 4:07 PM, pavane wrote:
>
>> I hope you have heard of http://www.felinediabetes.com/
>> which is one of the great support groups on the internet.
>
> I haven't. But so far, so good.
>
>> Ferguson and I were there in the early '90s, and learned
>> all we needed to know about the whole diabetes nightmare.
>> In fact, I found out that I was becoming diabetic by sticking
>> myself instead of her (very easy to do) and taking readings
>> on my blood just for the hell of it. Yeah.
>>
>> That sounds like a wonderful set of results so far. Best luck.
>
> Thank you.
>
> How did you test your cat? I was told it's done on the ear, but have not
> been successful.

On the ear, trying to pierce that tiny little vein that runs the
circumfrence. I ended up with my left finger behind the vein
and trying to poke it *very gently* with the lancette in my
right hand. Delicate work. I was fortunate in that Ferguson
decided to tolerate the entire procedure, rarely rebelled
at the piercing and then the injecting indignities. It is not
funny to see your cat running away from you with a lancette
in her ear. Well, it is funny, but you can't show it.

If you take a little flashlight and hold it behind Freddy's ear
you should be able to see the vein. That is step 1. I did a lot
of rubbing and cuddling Ferguson's ear which seemed to
let her tolerate its being touched somewhat better. That is
step 2.

I would really urge you to look at the feline diabetes website.
It is well-run and has a very active forum on all of the complexities
of treating and dealing with the poor little animals. And it goes
all the way from first signs of diabetes through (sigh) the Rainbow
Bridge. Ferguson's picture is there somewhere.

Thanks for the memories, my eyes are teary right now. Ask more
if you wish, I can go on for hours. You are entering quite an
experience.

pavane

x-no-archive: yes

On 10/3/2012 4:51 PM, pavane wrote:

> Thanks for the memories, my eyes are teary right now. Ask more
> if you wish, I can go on for hours. You are entering quite an
> experience.
>

I still miss my Maurice, and he's been gone almost 14 years! This cat
isn't even mine, but he's very mellow and lets me try to test on his
ear. I know the vein and it's pretty visible, I just didn't get a big
enough drop. He's going to be due for another day at the vet for
feeding and hourly testing in order to see if he's in remission yet, so
I may leave it at that. Once I found the shoulder blade area for
injections, it became a breeze, especially when this chubby chow hound
is eating.

Susan

"Susan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> The continuing saga of Freddy the Freeloader, permanent house guest of the
> feline persuasion.
>
> Started out grossly obese at 22 lbs (he's not otherwise a large cat),
> diabetic with a constantly heady shedding thick, dense, faded coat and
> weepy, inflamed eyes and flakey dander all over the place.
>
> On 2 u of insulin with 1/2 can twice daily of very high protein, very low
> carb grain free food, no more dry overnight, he's losing steadily. Down to
> 19.7 today. Even before this loss, his coat is no longer shedding much at
> all, no more flaking skin, no more drippineess, crud under his eyes, and
> his coat has a nice, smooth texture instead of being all dry, faded with
> gobs of his hair everywhere. He's more energetic, alert, affectionate,
> playful and still way too fat. This is going to take a while, because he
> needs to lose like another 4 lbs or so.
>
> Will recheck him with a day at the animal hospital at the end of the month
> or early November to see if he's in remission and can come off of insulin
> as expected, since we got him under control in record time, according to
> the vet.
>
> Susan


That's great news Susan, kudos to you for your care of Freddie. I know he'll
beglad to come off the insulin too. :-)

Cheri

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On 10/3/2012 7:13 PM, Cheri wrote:

> That's great news Susan, kudos to you for your care of Freddie. I know
> he'll beglad to come off the insulin too. :-)
>
>
He no longer notices it, hardly anyway.

I'm kind of hoping he'll lose weight better off of it, and maybe be less
hungry. You should hear him eating.

Susan

"Susan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> On 10/3/2012 7:13 PM, Cheri wrote:
>
>> That's great news Susan, kudos to you for your care of Freddie. I know
>> he'll beglad to come off the insulin too. :-)
>>
>>
> He no longer notices it, hardly anyway.
>
> I'm kind of hoping he'll lose weight better off of it, and maybe be less
> hungry. You should hear him eating.
>
> Susan


Speaking for myself, I was constantly starving when I was on Lantus for the
couple of months that I used it. I would think it would matter for Freddie's
appetite too.

Cheri

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On 10/4/2012 1:26 AM, Cheri wrote:

> Speaking for myself, I was constantly starving when I was on Lantus for
> the couple of months that I used it. I would think it would matter for
> Freddy's appetite too.

His appetite was insane before this, though, he could NOT stop eating!
He's on a tiny dose (2 units) and I know the vet says Lantus or
glargine were inferior and we get pork insulin for Freddy, long acting
compounded. I understand from some diabetics that the old beef and pork
insulins worked better for humans, too.

But I'm sure you're right that it's contributing, though his food is
always going to need to be portioned out, no more days of grazing at a
bowl of dry food.

You should see if your doc would give you an rx for porcine/zinc
insulin, too. :-)

Susan

Susan wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> The continuing saga of Freddy the Freeloader, permanent house guest of
> the feline persuasion.
>
> Started out grossly obese at 22 lbs (he's not otherwise a large cat),
> diabetic with a constantly heady shedding thick, dense, faded coat and
> weepy, inflamed eyes and flakey dander all over the place.
>
> On 2 u of insulin with 1/2 can twice daily of very high protein, very
> low carb grain free food, no more dry overnight, he's losing steadily.
> Down to 19.7 today. Even before this loss, his coat is no longer
> shedding much at all, no more flaking skin, no more drippineess, crud
> under his eyes, and his coat has a nice, smooth texture instead of being
> all dry, faded with gobs of his hair everywhere. He's more energetic,
> alert, affectionate, playful and still way too fat. This is going to
> take a while, because he needs to lose like another 4 lbs or so.
>
> Will recheck him with a day at the animal hospital at the end of the
> month or early November to see if he's in remission and can come off of
> insulin as expected, since we got him under control in record time,
> according to the vet.
>
> Susan
>
Woohoo! Great!

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