Buddy

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Carole Dgan

Carole Dgan

Member Since 2015
So, With Buddy, I am weening all 3 of my cats to wet food. I did a BG on Buddy yesterday and it was 471. When he was diagnosed it was 599. I'm gonna call the vet on Monday to get a prescription. I'm not sure if she will tell me what kind to get or not. What is best? I want to ask for ProZinc, but don't know if there's better. Also how long does a 10ml bottle last? I am going on vacation Aug 1,2,3,4. I was gonna start him on Wed when I get back. Would it be better to start now? and then he'd get none for those 4 days??
 
One of these long-lasting insulins: ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir.

Insulin comes as either U-40 or U-100. This refers to the concentration of insulin in 1 milliliter (mL)
U-40 has 40 units of insulin per mL; a 10 mL vial has 400 units in it.
U-100 has 100 units of insulin per mL; a 10 mL vial has 1,000 units in it.

The use you get out of a vial depends on the dose. At 1 unit twice a day, 400 units lasts 200 days and 1,000 units lasts 500 days. You cat may need more that that or not. No way to know up front.

To compare costs, you need to do it by cost per unit.

I would not wait to get him on insulin with those high numbers. It risks diabetic ketoacidosis, which is expensive to treat and can be fatal.

I would set up a pet sitter who would give shots during your vacation, maybe a vet tech who wants to earn a bit of extra money.
 
So, I called my Vet and ordered ProZinc from ValleyVet.com. She said some opposite things than what I have been reading here. She said to use Hills WD, Purina DM, or Royal Canine Diabetic, not FF or Friskies. She said don't use ReliOn. What do you all say?
 
Very few people here feed prescription foods. There is really nothing "prescription" about them, except the cost. A vet has great food info here: www.catinfo.org. She also has a food chart so you can compare the carb counts of different brands. We suggest staying 8% and under.

I feed Fancy Feast and Friskies. It's what I can afford and I figure since cats would be happily eating a mouse in the wild, byproducts are not a big deal.

She probably want you to buy the AlphaTrak. It is a pet meter. There is nothing wrong with it except the cost. Not only is the meter expensive, but the strips are what you need to buy often, and they are very expensive. Human meters do read lower than the pet meter, but since we are looking for trends and patterns, we don't see it as a big deal. The least expensive is the ReliOn from Walmart with the whole set up being around $40.

If you really like your vet, and money is not an issue, you could use the pet meter. As far as the food goes, she isn't there when you feed your kitty. It's your choice. It's usually a balance between doing what is best for your wallet and your cat and keeping your vet. My vet wanted me to feed prescription foods. I took a small bag and started feeding Fancy Feast. When his numbers started to drop, I just told her he wouldn't eat the vet food. She didn't argue as he was doing so well; we decided to agree to disagree.

I do some reading, check how people are doing here with the protocol of wet low carb and decide what you think is best for your cat.

We put together a protocol for ProZinc; it is in blue in my signature.
 
Well, she seems OK. She's new at my office. I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do. FF and Friskies. I also ordered EVO dry food from online. As for the meter. I already bought ReliOn so that's what I'm gonna use. She's all for me doing the curves at home, and just emailing her the results, so that's good.
 
Ff is short for Fancy Feast.

The spreadsheet is a little tricky but a great tool. I have set them up for others and would be happy to do one for you if you want.
 
Can we get you started using our grid to record your glucose tests? It will help us give you better feedback. Instructions are here.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.
 
BJM, I followed the directions for Buddy's Spreadsheet, but when I click on the link and try to enter the date, it won't let me type.
 
Carole Dgan said:
I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do. FF and Friskies. I also ordered EVO dry food from online.
Click to expand...
Hi, Carole - Unless Buddy is a real dry-food addict & refuses to eat canned-only, you might consider not giving him any dry food at all --- & reserving the EVO dry for your non-diabetic kitties only. (Even those dry brands that say "low-carb" are not as low-carb as we'd like to trust they are.)
The reason I suggest this is that you're just now starting with ProZinc, so if you start with all low-carb canned at the get-go, you won't have to deal with with sudden BG drops that can happen when transitioning from dry to wet foods while on insulin. (Just a thought; you do whatever you think will work best with Buddy.)
... And welcome to the FDMB! - Robin
 
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