Hi all! I'm new to the forum and the world of diabetic cats. I work as an adoption counselor, so wound up with this elderly diabetic as a permanent foster after she sat in the shelter for over a year. Sadly for me, that means a lot of back and forth with the often unavailable shelter vet regarding care. I'm hoping to get more opinions on here from people with more experience in diabetic cats! Thanks!
My first diabetic cat
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Kris & Teasel
Member Since 2016
Good for you for giving this senior diabetic kitty a permanent home! The people here have loads of experience and will definitely be able to help with everything from how to save money caring for a diabetic cat to how to use various insulins and do home blood glucose testing to track his/her progress. If you could give us some basic info first it'll be easier to get up and running on FDMB:
1. your kitty's name (nice to know) and approximate age;
2. what he/she eats;
3. what insulin is currently being given and in what dose;
4. whether you do blood glucose testing at home and, if so, what is your routine and what glucose meter do you use;
5. what advice you've received from the shelter vet, if any.
Meanwhile, if you go to the forum main page, there's an info Sticky at the top on how to use the forum. There's a variety of other Stickies on the separate insulin pages that give a ton of information as well. Start with the basics, don't try to absorb too much at once because it's overwhelming and then post any/all questions you have. We're here to help!
1. your kitty's name (nice to know) and approximate age;
2. what he/she eats;
3. what insulin is currently being given and in what dose;
4. whether you do blood glucose testing at home and, if so, what is your routine and what glucose meter do you use;
5. what advice you've received from the shelter vet, if any.
Meanwhile, if you go to the forum main page, there's an info Sticky at the top on how to use the forum. There's a variety of other Stickies on the separate insulin pages that give a ton of information as well. Start with the basics, don't try to absorb too much at once because it's overwhelming and then post any/all questions you have. We're here to help!
Thank you Kris & Teasel for the prompt welcome! I also just posted in the Lantus thread since vet had us switch from PZI...
1. your kitty's name (nice to know) and approximate age; Lady, approximately 15 years old
2. what he/she eats; Was eating Fancy Feast Classic Pate and DM dry food. I began switching her to Dave's Naturals, the varieties with less than 5% carb. I had stopped feeding the DM since dry is bad...but shelter said I should be leaving dry out during the day for her..sigh
3. what insulin is currently being given and in what dose; She was on PZI 1.5 units twice daily for the past year with no BG monitoring. As of this week she crashed, and shelter vet just started her yesterday on Lantus 1 unit twice daily
4. whether you do blood glucose testing at home and, if so, what is your routine and what glucose meter do you use; Per the shelter, I was not testing BG at all after taking her home. They said she was fine and "coasting" after a trial and error and BG curve they obtained a year ago. As of this past week, I am testing using the AlphaTrak2 at least 2x day sometimes more since I'm paranoid now (she crashed on Sunday and had to rush her to ER)
5. what advice you've received from the shelter vet, if any. They have been very hands off until she crashed last weekend after being home with me for 3 months. The shelter vet had told me to increase her night dose of PZI after I informed her of excessive drinking and urination the past month. I did 2 units PZI Saturday night, and Sunday at 2PM she had crashed with BG24. She spent the day/night in the ER. Brought her home on Monday, and per shelter vet with held all insulin while trying to get her eating again and BG up. Wednesday night I started Lantus 1 unit to see if that will help keep her BG more steady. So far so good, but last night I gave her DM dry back again per the shelter, and as of this morning even with the 1 unit Lantus, her BG shot back up to 450+
1. your kitty's name (nice to know) and approximate age; Lady, approximately 15 years old
2. what he/she eats; Was eating Fancy Feast Classic Pate and DM dry food. I began switching her to Dave's Naturals, the varieties with less than 5% carb. I had stopped feeding the DM since dry is bad...but shelter said I should be leaving dry out during the day for her..sigh
3. what insulin is currently being given and in what dose; She was on PZI 1.5 units twice daily for the past year with no BG monitoring. As of this week she crashed, and shelter vet just started her yesterday on Lantus 1 unit twice daily
4. whether you do blood glucose testing at home and, if so, what is your routine and what glucose meter do you use; Per the shelter, I was not testing BG at all after taking her home. They said she was fine and "coasting" after a trial and error and BG curve they obtained a year ago. As of this past week, I am testing using the AlphaTrak2 at least 2x day sometimes more since I'm paranoid now (she crashed on Sunday and had to rush her to ER)
5. what advice you've received from the shelter vet, if any. They have been very hands off until she crashed last weekend after being home with me for 3 months. The shelter vet had told me to increase her night dose of PZI after I informed her of excessive drinking and urination the past month. I did 2 units PZI Saturday night, and Sunday at 2PM she had crashed with BG24. She spent the day/night in the ER. Brought her home on Monday, and per shelter vet with held all insulin while trying to get her eating again and BG up. Wednesday night I started Lantus 1 unit to see if that will help keep her BG more steady. So far so good, but last night I gave her DM dry back again per the shelter, and as of this morning even with the 1 unit Lantus, her BG shot back up to 450+
Kris & Teasel
Member Since 2016
1. Welcome to you and Lady. If you give us your first name we can personalize our responses a bit.
2. You are controlling her feeding if she now lives with you. We would advise NO dry of any type. There is an expensive very low carb dry that can be ordered online called "Young Again Zero". Some people feed it to kitties that are totally resistant to wet food. I don't know where you live but I believe it's only available in the US. (I'm in Canada).
3. 20/20 hindsight but she might have been fine on PZI if a more hands on, careful dosing approach had been used. Water under the bridge ... there are many experienced Lantus users on FDMB who can guide you. Teasel is a ProZinc boy.
4. Home BG testing is the key tool we promote for knowing what's going on with Lady, assessing insulin dose effect and making dose adjustments. We also ask you to set up a Google docs spreadsheet that is viewable by all members. That's how you get advice from other experienced people. Spreadsheet instructions are on a forum Sticky and there are techies here who can help you if necessary. The AlphaTrak pet meter is the one preferred by vets because it agrees best with their in hospital BG test values. The test strips are very $$$$$ though. Many people on FDMB use a human meter and there's a spreadsheet template that takes that into account. Human meters tend to read lower than the AlphaTrak, depending how high or low the BG number is.
5. We definitely encourage a good working relationship with a vet but sometimes people have restricted access or have a vet who takes a dim view of owners being very hands on. Do you have ownership of this kitty now? If so, you might want a different vet's advice. The increase in BG you saw this morning might be the result of eating dry DM but it's hard to know right now.
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Callie & Patches
Member Since 2016
If youare using the AT meter,you can save lots of money by using FreeStyle light strips They are made by the same company that makes AT. They work the same and cost about $35 at Walmart. Many people here use human meters. They cost less but use a different number system. It's just what you and your budget feel comfortable with. The important thing is to test before feeding and giving the shot. This keeps cats safe from going hypo.
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