Joining the Sugarcats.com crew

Hello,

After living the life with a Sugar cat for the last year and a half, my vet recommended I bouce ideas, questions and theories off the wonderful people on Sugarcats.com.

When I arrived here I noticed that the site is less active then I had once assumed or it had once been. Im excited to offer any advice I may have, or even a ear to listen as this site has given me a boat load of new advice on how to deal with my own lil monster.

I hope to learn more about you folks, and hope I can give something back to the community.

"Tip Toes" and I look forward to hearing from you!

Hello, Justin! We're happy to have you join us. Many of the humans here (like me) joined originally as you did, because we were caring for diabetic cats at the time. My B.J. was a sugarcat from 2000 to 2003, when he died (at age 15, not from the diabetes). Others here have similar stories, including humans who treated their sugarcats successfully for ten years or longer.

But most of us are no longer active caregivers for diabetic cats, because cats just don't live as long, on average, as humans do. There are other websites for the current caregivers of diabetics (and some of the folks here with more recent experience than mine will get you some links, no doubt), but don't go away from here--we are eager to know more about you and Tip Toes (is that the "civilian" name that humans know, or is it a "secret agent" name?).

There are two discussion forums here that the cats themselves use to post their own news, and humans don't know that those exist. But others will be along soon, I think, to orient Tip Toes to the mission of all cats, including sugarcats--the training and supervision of humans to create a better world for cats.

Welcome, Justin Mo!

Sharon (mom bean of "The Beedge")

Michigan, U.S.A.

Hullo from Hastings UK

We love meeting new people, and hearing new stories.

If you have any questions, do ask, someone is bound to know the answer (or we will jolly well find out for you)

I joined when Jazz Cat became a diabetic. When he died of cancer at the age of 20, we said "no more cats" but six months later we adopted Katy, who went into remission, buut died from age related organ failure (old age)

Within a fortnight of loosing her we were asked to take Bushey Boy. He was a sad little scrap but was a little love when re accepted that it was his house as well as ours (he had to be encouraged to go on the furniture!)

He developed a heart murmer, and that was what took him.

We have now DEFINATELY retired......... I am disabled and Derek is 80 so we have to say we are too old,

But we are always here for others

Except this weekend when we will be away at a family wedding

Mary(UK)

Welcome Justin!

I'll add Tip Toes to your profile this weekend, that way he can participate in the cat-only boards that technically I know nothing about. I keep promising to add that feature to the site, and every time I get close, I get pulled my work life.

Anyway.

I am one of the original members of the site, which was started in 1998 when our Pouncer was diagnosed. He died of heart related issues at the age of 16. He is the cat in the site logo. He was our only diabetic cat (so far), but we've had a number of other cats over the years.

Please ask all of the questions, and we will do our best to answer them. I can honestly say that this is one of the friendliest and most knowledgeable groups of people around.

Michael, Nancy, Pouncer(GA), Arly(GA), Abigail(GA), Madison and Mia

Welcome Justin. I'm Jerri & live in Texas. I came here when Opie was dx w/diabetes & he is also no longer w/me. We lost him in 2004 (also not due to diabetes.)

Hello all,

I would first off love to say thanks for all the welcome greetings within my first day on this site. Its truly nice to see a group of people who not only understand the time and money I put into this cat, but also the compassion for an animal (most of my friends just tell me to put him down).

Tip Toes (Real Name) AKA Tippy or Tip (for short) is a exceptionally well behaved male cat with a nice laundry list of medical issues. Over a year and a half ago he was diagnosed with diabetes and shortly there after his hind legs started to develop neuropathy in his hind legs. It was actually SugarCats.com that recommended the Methal-B12 that helped reverse the symptoms.

None the less, I guess its just nice to see a group of people that I can ask questions to, ideas, and whatnot. Being a younger guy, its frustrating to need to be home at specific times every day and I still feel like I am learning so much.

I thank you all for your time, and advice and information.

Sincerely,

Justin & Tip

So very happy your here we look forward to getting to know you. What part of the world do you & Tip Toes live in?

Tip Toes and I live in Connecticut, USA. What about you folks?

I'm in Texas, just north of Dallas.

I'm in Texas, just north of Houston.

Hi Justin! Welcome to Sugarcats again! I live in Eugene, Oregon.

We will give you and Tip Toes lots of support. Oliver(GA) and I came here in 1999 and I've stayed even after losing Oliver in 2001. Cats with diabetes live longer than when they did back then because of diet and new insulins.

If you want the up-to-date info, felinediabetes.com has it and maybe other sites, which I am not aware of. I no longer know anyone on the board, but if my cats ever developed diabetes, I would go there for the latest information.....and stay with Sugarcats for support!

Judy, Oliver (GA) and The Tribe of Mischief

Judy you know Karen bean and Jerri bean - they both still post on FDMB - Karen is pretty much a goddess over there these days.

Welcome Justin from Nova Scotia Canada. My sugarcat - the one and only Sir Pico went to the Bridge this past Spring after living with diabetes for 11 years - cancer finally took him from me. But I assure you Pico stories will live on for many years to come, he was quite the cat. Glad to have you and Tip Toes here.

Shirley

I think one of my first questions from people is how do you learn to deal with the 12 hour gap in feeding. He is on 1/3 cup of Science Diet WD food and 2 units of PZI twice a day. Being 25 years old and fully supporting myself i'm finding it harder and harder to find jobs that allow for that period of time for me to give such shots.

Are there any tips of the trade, or ideas, or is this still just part of having a sugarcat?

Hope to learn more from you folks also, will check out felinediabetes.com soon.

Justin

The quick answer is that you can't always do things twelve hours apart and you need to improvise. Tight regulate is ideal, but not always possible, so you do the best you can. Sometimes there is a neighbor you trust who can help out when you can't be there.

When Pouncer was diagnosed, I was working downtown, which was an hour commute on a good day, and Nancy was working mostly evenings. So many times, Pouncer got his shot an hour or two late in the evenings. And for a while, he was on once a day shots.

Tell us a little more about Tip Toes. How old is he and is he overweight? When was he diagnosed? What kind of PZI is Tip Toes on? Do you know if it is U100 or U40?

Generally speaking, the best food for a diabetic cat, and cats in general, is wet food. Wet food is lower in carbohydrates than dry food. For instance, a serving of wet W/D has about 2/3 the number of carbs as the dry food. Check out Janet and Binky's Dry Food Chart and Canned Food Chart.

The point is that on a good diet, you might be able to regulate Tip Toes on diet alone, depending on his age, weight and general overall health. Please notice that I used the word "might". It doesn't happen for everyone. Pouncer was eight years old when he was diagnosed and was on insulin every day until two days before he died. But it is worth a conversation with your vet.

Keep us posted.

Michael, Nancy, Pouncer(GA), Arly(GA), Abigail(GA), Madison and Mia

Welcome Justin!

I do strongly back up Michael's comments. Science Diet WD is not an appropriate food for diabetic cats... well, for any cat, actually. The carb content is very high, and you may well be able to decrease the insulin by decreasing the carbohydrates.

The insulin needs can drop drastically when the carbs are reduced. Are you hometesting his blood glucose levels? If not, be very careful in reducing the carb content of the food, lest you accidentally overdose him with insulin.

Check the ingredient list on the bag. Remember that cats are obligate carnivores and need only fat and protein in their diets. Their bodies can barely digest carbohydrates. Your average dry food is filled with corn, other grains, starches, veggies, and "meals". It does not meet their protein needs at all. (Most of the protein in dry food is plant protein, not animal protein.) Real meat is generally missing.

This may be the most important reason of all to switch all cats to canned or raw food: a cat's most vulnerable organ is their kidneys - kidney failure is the leading cause of death (by disease) in cats. Moisture intake is VITAL for good kidney health. Dry food is... well... dry. And cats have very low thirst drives, so never get enough water by drinking. The moisture has to be in their food. A cat at a water bowl is already dehydrated.

Here's my favourite website by a vet who has specialized in feline nutrition : http://catinfo.org/

Dr. Lisa was originally a dry food proponent, and believed all the myths, until she had a cat with diabetes. It started her researching, and now, years later, she is one of the leading experts in feline nutrition. It was her research, as well as that of Dr. Zoran, Dr. Greco, Dr. Hodgkins, etc., who convinced me... and now my vet.... to use dry food as an occasional treat or supplement only- much like the occasional candy for your child, versus a constant diet of them.

In particular, pay attention to this section: http://catinfo.org/#Cats_Need_Plenty_of_Water_With_Their_Food

It addresses the vital need of high water intake in cats with urinary tract problems.

I hope this makes sense ....

Karen

Hi, Justin-

I feel your frustration with the timing. I'm self-employed and work mostly from home, but when I work on-site, my days are very long, sometimes as long as 16 hours if you include the commute for the worst-case scenario.

My dear Eddie passed away last summer after 6 years as a sugarcat, and I would race home to check on him. My vets (I had to switch for reasons unrelated to diabetes care) both said that it was preferable to under-dose.

And I'll have to agree with what people said about dry food versus canned. Eddie went from 6 units 2X day to 1 unit 2X day after I changed his diet.

Take care,

Elizabeth

Yes to all the above. What convinced me was being told that a mouse is the ideal food for a cat, and is less than 4% carbs!some dry has 50% carbs

And then my thought

"Have you ever seen a cat chase, kill and eat an ear of corn?"

By trial and error we found that the best UK food was tinned in Jelly, and in our three any meat off our plates!

Hope all this helps.

Keep the questions coming

Mary

Hastings (UK)

Tip Toes is 10-11 years old now. He was overweight but is now a healthy 12 Lbs for his size and the vet says that this is an adequate weight for him.

He was originally put on WD food after he developed bladder stone blockages over and over again and had to have whats called a P/U Surgery. This basically takes his internal pluming (along with the external) and re routs it into a very much more direct system. This also makes him very prone to UTI's (even before the Sugarcat situation). The WD is our safety food... its always prevented the stones from coming back. We have tried twice to switch to non-prescription food and have failed both times.

I have known for a while I need to adjust to the most food, especially because he does seem to only need 2 units anyway. He is home tested, but mostly only for Glucose curves and not on a daily basis.

I guess the little guy needs to try some moist food in his life. See how he feels about that.

Im off to go brine a turkey now... thanks a lot for all your advice!!!

Just mix a little wet food into the dry, till his body gets used to it.

When Bushey came to us he was on dry only and had a b/g of 35 (over 500) We changed him to tinned food and to PZI and within days got the numbers down to the twenties which was more manageable.

By the way with PZI we only needed to inject once a day and that could happen when his diet is under control

Mary (UK)

If you are nervous about going non-Rx, why not slowly switch him to the canned w/d food (using Mary's suggestions)? Same food, only much much better for him.

A human with bladder or kidney stones is told to take in as much fluids as possible, to keep the system flushed. Eating dry food keeps the system dehydrated, and increases the risk of stones, infections, etc. Switching Tip Toes to a canned version of the same food gives him all the w/d benefits PLUS the added bonus of more moisture. Water intake is absolutely vital in preventing kidney and bladder issues, and this would satisfy all the criteria.

Karen