New to this!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Frank's Mom

Frank's Mom

Member Since 2017
Hi all! Newly diagnosed diabetic cat mom here. I had suspected some pre-diabetic symptoms about a month ago, and found this page. Switched the diet to try to prevent a full blown diabetes diagnosis, but Frank took a turn for the worse on Monday, ended up at the vet, and here we are! Sugar was 200, I think, and they found ketones in his urine. Those are gone now (tested today) and he was started ion prozinc (1 U 2x a day), and "prescribed" glycobalance. I'm not impressed with the ingredients in it, though, so am going to try to find some input here on home testing and better food options to help control the diabetes. Thanks in advance for any thing you help me with!
 
Hi Frank's Mom!

Welcome.

If you are looking for information on food (as we like to give 10% are less carbs) you should check out the catinfo.org site. It has some great information and there is a chart all done up with a lot of canned food options with the carb% values already in there. I am currently using a combination of Fancy Feast pate and Wellness. It really is important to get the low carb but you need them to eat. So it can be a bit of dance to find the right combination.

I don't know anything about prozinc as Jones is on lantus but if you go into the Prozinc forum there are sticking note posts with information and is a to start gathering information. Also under the Suggestions, Tech Support & Testing Area is some sticky notes on the spreadsheet that we use here to record our home testing numbers. You will find we are very data driven and the spreadsheet helps with getting advice.

There is also this post http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/updated-tips-for-new-members.173572/ that has some great information to start with.

If you have any specific questions on your insulin, dosage etc, please post in the prozinc forum. There a lot of caring people here that can help you and Frank.
 
Welcome Frank's Mom!

Definitely feel free to ask any insulin questions on the ProZinc forum :). Even some of us newbie's will try to help where we can. A lot of people use a human BG meter, if you are in the states, WalMart's ReliOn Confirm or Micro are popular choices and Friskies and Fancy Feast pate for canned foods. Some kitties are picky so like Tracey said, it can be a little dance to find a balance :cat:
 
Thanks Yong. I was feeding purine one with salmon for dry food, and tried to use the formula for cannew food and came up with friskies pate. I'll move my questions about this to the food thread!
Yong said:
Welcome Frank's Mom!

Definitely feel free to ask any insulin questions on the ProZinc forum :). Even some of us newbie's will try to help where we can. A lot of people use a human BG meter, if you are in the states, WalMart's ReliOn Confirm or Micro are popular choices and Friskies and Fancy Feast pate for canned foods. Some kitties are picky so like Tracey said, it can be a little dance to find a balance :cat:
Click to expand...
 
Kim Ethier said:
Welcome, I am still struggling to understand what ketones are, can someone explain please?
Click to expand...
Ketones are the result of kitty being in "starvation mode" because of insufficient insulin. Insulin's job is to get glucose from the bloodstream into the cells where it's turned into energy for life processes. Diabetic cats not being given any or enough insulin can't get enough glucose into cells to make energy so their body turns to other biochemical pathways involving body fat and muscle to make energy. The byproducts are ketones. When the ketone level gets too high in the blood, they start showing up in the urine. They also disturb the chemical balance of the blood (potentially) leading to a life threatening state called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).

There are things that can happen to a cat that can increase the possibility of ketones being produced:
  • no or too low a dose of insulin so BG is too high for too long
  • kitty not eating or is vomiting
  • dehydration
  • an infection or inflammation somewhere.
Several of these factors can happen together - eg. kitty vomits, won't eat, gets dehydrated and can't be given insulin because of no food.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top