Diabetic-friendly treats in Australia?

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Bron

Bron

Member Since 2017
Hi All,

Just introduced myself on the other forum - our 7 year old Quiz was diagnosed on Friday. I've read a lot of food information on here and am thrilled to see so many of our usual Wellness and Weruva brands are fine for him - our other boy (Billy, leg amputated after accident last week too, it was one of those weeks!) will eventually eat the same foods as Quiz, just need to use them all up on him. Both won't be having dry food any more - Billy is finishing off the last of it.

I loved the Australian food brands page - was so helpful but I notice it hasn't been updated for a while. I'm trying to find some good treats for Quiz so he doesn't miss out.....but all the ones mentioned here including Wellness Shreds appear not to be available in Australia. Too expensive to get shipped from OS. So....has anyone found anything that is ok in Australia? All the calculations I've done at Petbarn mean that Temptations, Greenies etc are too high in carbs. I'm thinking of getting him some freeze dried meat - chicken or fish - thoughts?

Thanks everyone and it's so good to be here!

Bron
 
Additionally, if you're interested in hanging around and we'd love to have you! Let's get your Signature setup with some information about Quiz. It will help give a snapshot of his scenario and helps those of us with bad memories :rolleyes:: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/
If you plan on home testing, here are the Spreadsheet (SS) instructions, just need a Google account: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
Oh and some instructions on how to understand the SS HERE.

Feel free to ask ANY questions :cat:
 
Hi Bron and Quiz! Welcome to the forum.
I see you live in SA. I live in Sydney, and my name is Bron also.....not often I come across another Bron:)

I've never used bought treats so I can't offer any help there, but if you come across any chicken or meat ones with nothing else added they would probably be OK. Just post here with the details and we can check it out for you. I wouldn't use fish ones as it is not good to give fish on a regular basis.

For treats I just used to gently cook some chicken breasts and cut up small and freeze and use as needed.
What type of insulin is Quiz on and what is the dose?
Are you going to home test the blood sugar levels? I would highly recommend you do as it is much safer for Quiz and you will know how the insulin is working. Getting blood sugar curves done at the vet every few weeks is not enough and is expensive and not accurate, as cats get stressed at the vet, which raises their blood sugar levels more than they would if tested at home.. If you decide to test we will help you get started. It is important to get a glucose monitor that has test strips that are not too expensive so post here and we will help you find a suitable one:)

Great you are being proactive about it all.
 
Hi Bron!

Good to 'meet' you - my partner is from Sydney :) Quiz is on Lantis - we've just arrived home from the vet after his monitoring today and his levels are still up, but definitely improved since the weekend. He started off at 1ml over hte weekend but the vet has just raised it to 2ml. I'd love to be able to test him at home - so any information would be very welcome. We have another appointment for next week but after that I'd like to be able to do it at home. And of course given the fact that we have two poorly cats....the hip pocket has taken a beating - we are at hte 5 grand mark now!
Re the treats - as a vegan cooking their food myself is not something I have the first idea about - or want to do - but hopefully the freeze dried ones will be ok.....so glad to have found that so many of our usual brands are ok for him.

Thanks so much for replying!

Bron
 
Bron said:
Hi Bron!

Good to 'meet' you - my partner is from Sydney :) Quiz is on Lantis - we've just arrived home from the vet after his monitoring today and his levels are still up, but definitely improved since the weekend. He started off at 1ml over hte weekend but the vet has just raised it to 2ml. I'd love to be able to test him at home - so any information would be very welcome. We have another appointment for next week but after that I'd like to be able to do it at home. And of course given the fact that we have two poorly cats....the hip pocket has taken a beating - we are at hte 5 grand mark now!
Re the treats - as a vegan cooking their food myself is not something I have the first idea about - or want to do - but hopefully the freeze dried ones will be ok.....so glad to have found that so many of our usual brands are ok for him.

Thanks so much for replying!

Bron
Click to expand...
BTW I just read your sig - so sorry about your Sheba......
 
Hi Bron,
I meant to say I was really sorry about Billy...how awful. I hope he is OK.
Lantus is a great insulin. I am a bit concerned the vet has raised the dose from 1 unit to 2 units. That is doubling the dose. We only raise the dose by 0.25 units at a time as it is much safer.
Has your vet told you about hypos and how to treat them. Here is a link. Make sure you have some honey at home to give if needed.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

I am really pleased you want to test yourself. That is fabulous! And will be much safer for Quiz.
I am in the middle of getting dinner but later I will send you some info about monitors etc.
In the welcome post forum I gave you a link called 'where can I find?'
Have a look at that as it has a huge amount of great information.
You will find you are on a big learning curve for a few weeks but it gets a lot easier.
Will be back later:)
Bron
 
Last edited:
This is the glucose monitor I used and found it reliable and the test strips not too expensive.
https://myfreestyle.com.au/products/freestyle-optium-neo-blood-glucose-ketone-monitoring-system/
You can get this monitor at the local chemist. Not all chemists will stock them so you may need to ring around til you find one. If you decide to get another one, you need to check what the cost of the test strips are going to be, because they are the main ongoing cost, not the monitor.

Don't let the vet talk you into getting an alphatrak 2 monitor. They are animal specific but are not necessary and the strips are extremely expensive. They have only recently been available in Australia and will probably become all the rage with the vets but an ordinary human meter is perfectly adequate and is what vets have all used up until now.

Here is a link to the test strips you will need. Get the first lot of strips from the chemist with the monitor... so you know which ones to get next time......or you may get a deal where you get the monitor , strips and the lancets all together. The strips will cost about 65$ at the chemist but on eBay I used to get them from $25 to $35 per 100 strips. To find them on eBay write in 'abbott freestyle optimum blood glucose test strips 100'
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200-Abbott-...834808?hash=item41cccc98f8:g:zg0AAOSwPRxZdRoK

Here is the link to the lancets you will need to get the blood
https://www.amcal.com.au/abbott-thi...le&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Amcal-ROI-2017

Here is a link to the directions to set up a spreadsheet (SS) to record the blood sugar readings. It is a great SS and helps to show how your kitty is going with the blood sugar levels (BSL)
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

And finally here is a link which shows you how to test the blood sugar levels in a cat. It may look hard but once you get the hang of it, you and Quiz will find it easy.
 
Yong said:
You guys have a meter that does BG and Ketones? :woot: And doesn't break the bank?! :woot::woot::woot:
Click to expand...


Unless prices are cheaper in Australia the strip are still very expensive for the


FreeStyle Optium Neo Blood Glucose and Ketone Monitoring System

https://well.ca/products/freestlye-...1A6rx-E66wddl10uF8FCQ3C9goLhlttYaAkOgEALw_wcB

1ded5f7e6cb05b0df912346038431396_ra,w380,h380_pa,w380,h380.jpg
%25.99 Cdn for 10



The link Bron gave shows that 100 strips on E-bay are
AU $45.00
Approximately US $35.43

Actually worth looking into at that price!!! :eek::eek:

ETA I think that is just for the regular strips not for the glucose/ketone strips
 
Thanks everyone, when the dust settles a bit I'll have a good look. At the moment I don't understand a lot of what monitoring entails!
One question though - how much should I be feeding him? He's a big boy but had lost appetite and a lot of weight just before diagnosis. He's gaining weight now. He used to have one 85g tin of say Wellness at night and half a cup of dry in the morning - with some treats later in the evening. And he loves lactose free cow's milk which the vet says is still ok. He's pretty ravenous but that could be him just bunging it on :)
 
Bron and Sheba said:
@Tuxedo Mom @Yong
The test strips link I gave was for 200 strips for $45 which is pretty good. I used to pay about $30 to $35 per 100 strips. I never used the ketone ones....I know they are more expensive but you don't use as many of those and they come in boxes of 10. And yes the monitor tests both bsl and ketones.

Here is a link to the ketones price
https://www.amcal.com.au/freestyle-...le&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Amcal-ROI-2017
Click to expand...


That is a good price for 200. The nice thing is that it looks like the meter is capable of using the ketone strips if ever needed so that is a good option to have. It looks like the Australia $ and Canadian $ are pretty well par. I pay $61 Cdn for 100 FS Lite strips, with seniors discount and bonus discounts. Most strips in Canada are about the same price at the pharmacies. I have never gotten into buying online...too worried about hackers I guess. :oops: So the link you gave is a great price for 200 strips!!!
 
Hi again everyone - I'm slightly confused by the two Australian food charts on the forum. One is dated 2016 so more up to date, but if I'm right it appears that everything except the dry food that we've been feeding the cats is ok for Quiz.

However - I thought the Wellness Signature Selects, Cats In The Kitchen pouches (not tins) and also the Duos were out because of the gravy in them - but this list tells me the carbs in them is quite low?

Can someone clarify for me please? Many many thanks!

Bron
 
@Tuxedo Mom
I always bought my strips online...so much cheaper. I bought from Oz if I could but did buy some from South America and South Korea.
@Bron
With testing we always suggest testing before giving the shots....AMPS (am preshot) and PMPS (pm preshot).
This will tell you if the bsl is safe to give the insulin shot. And we suggest you test at least once in between the shots, if possible, to see how low the insulin takes Quiz. It is the lowest number ( nadir) that determines the dose, not the preshot number.....hope that makes sense. We understand that if you are working you may not be able to test much during the day but you can do it at night and the weekends.

With the food, we recommend you do NOT feed ANY dry food. It is too high in carbs and does not have much moisture in it at all and cats need moisture. Canned food with carbs 10% or less is recommended for diabetic cats.
The Weruva brand you mentioned 'cats in the kitchen' are all suitable. The pouches in that brand are higher carb but choose a couple of them to have some higher carb food in the house in case Quizz drops low and you need to bring him up higher.
With the amount of food and when.......If you are going to be around I would feed him half his morning calories before you give the insulin and then give him the rest about 3 or 4 (+3 or +4) later. It is fine for Quiz to graze but take up the food for the 2 hours before you give the next dose of insulin so the bsl is not influenced by food. If you have to go to work, then give him the food before you leave. I know you have Billy there...will he eat Quiz's food?

How much does he weigh.? You don't want him to get overweight but if he has lost weight and is hungry I would feed him what he wants at the moment until he becomes more regulated. But try and give the same amount each day.
I would think a can in the morning and a can at night would be fine, maybe more.

IMPORTANT
One thing though to be aware of is that if you have been feeding the dry and that is what he was having when the vet did the curve the other day, he will probably drop a lot lower on just canned food. So if he was having the dry when the vet did the curve, I WOULD NOT STOP THE DRY UNTIL YOU CAN MONITOR HIS BSLs.
Once you are testing you can start the canned only food and test to see how low it takes him.
If he had already swapped to the canned food before the curve then you don't have to worry about the above.

I know this is a lot to take in. It will get a lot easier and you will become an old hand at it!
Ask lots of questions. Knowledge is power!:)
 
Bron said:
Hi again everyone - I'm slightly confused by the two Australian food charts on the forum. One is dated 2016 so more up to date, but if I'm right it appears that everything except the dry food that we've been feeding the cats is ok for Quiz.

However - I thought the Wellness Signature Selects, Cats In The Kitchen pouches (not tins) and also the Duos were out because of the gravy in them - but this list tells me the carbs in them is quite low?

Can someone clarify for me please? Many many thanks!

Bron
Click to expand...
Here is the website for Weruva. You can see that the pouches are all over 10%
http://www.weruva.com/cats-in-the-kitchen.php
I'll have to check on the Wellness
 
Wellness signature select are all high carbs.
This is Dr Piersons charts ...it is for the US but I think the Wellness is the same. Scroll down to Wellness brand.

http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

Fancy feast classic ones are low carb. They are higher in phosphorus but as long as Quiz has no kidney issues they would be fine. A lot of people use them. The classic have a gold band around them. I used the chicken and giblets or turkey and giblets.

Did you see the note I wrote above about stopping the dry food safely? Very important.
 
Quiz could well be hungry and not bunging it on! When a cat has diabetes and is unregulated he is unable to utilise the food properly. So he can be eating a lot but not actually getting the benefit of it. So feeding them more when they are unregulated is fine. Once his numbers settle back down to normal his appetite should go back to normal as he will be able to use all the food properly.
But try and stick to the same amount each day because the food and insulin go hand in hand.
 
Thanks so much Bron!

Yes I stopped his dry food the moment he was diagnosed so he hasn't had any since last Friday - i'm using it up on Billy, but now wondering if I should just chuck it out.....it's the Wellness one. So it sounds like an 85g can in the morning and evening should be ok - he seems happy with that.

I got confused looking at this chart where carbs on those ones I mentioned above are below 10%: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...k5NN-xwH54OsF0NqZZfnrtuI/htmlview?pli=1#gid=0

I'm avoiding anything with gravy, got Cats In The Kitchen tins, not pouches, and also Fancy Feast and Holistic. Plenty to choose from at Petbarn. I will get him some freeze dried treats today too...

Bron
 
Bron said:
Thanks so much Bron!

Yes I stopped his dry food the moment he was diagnosed so he hasn't had any since last Friday - i'm using it up on Billy, but now wondering if I should just chuck it out.....it's the Wellness one. So it sounds like an 85g can in the morning and evening should be ok - he seems happy with that.

I got confused looking at this chart where carbs on those ones I mentioned above are below 10%: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...k5NN-xwH54OsF0NqZZfnrtuI/htmlview?pli=1#gid=0

I'm avoiding anything with gravy, got Cats In The Kitchen tins, not pouches, and also Fancy Feast and Holistic. Plenty to choose from at Petbarn. I will get him some freeze dried treats today too...

Bron
Click to expand...
Yes I would chuck the dry. It's no good for any cats.
I will ask Tara about some of those carbs in that link.
 
Bron, I can see where the confusion is. Tara has listed her carbs as 'as fed' where most of us use the % of carbs. So the 'as fed' amounts are quite a bit smaller than the % amounts.
 
Hi again - sorry haven't been back on for a while, still looking at options, digesting it all, and a big social weekend ! Ok Quiz has improved a lot, putting on weight (still ravenously hungry) - went for his test today, levels still high so vet has upped the insulin dose. Vet is very supportive of us doing testing at home particularly as my work hours are about to decrease (not my choice). Just about to re-read all your info Bron......thanks again!
 
Bron and Sheba said:
This is the glucose monitor I used and found it reliable and the test strips not too expensive.
https://myfreestyle.com.au/products/freestyle-optium-neo-blood-glucose-ketone-monitoring-system/
You can get this monitor at the local chemist. Not all chemists will stock them so you may need to ring around til you find one. If you decide to get another one, you need to check what the cost of the test strips are going to be, because they are the main ongoing cost, not the monitor.

Don't let the vet talk you into getting an alphatrak 2 monitor. They are animal specific but are not necessary and the strips are extremely expensive. They have only recently been available in Australia and will probably become all the rage with the vets but an ordinary human meter is perfectly adequate and is what vets have all used up until now.

Here is a link to the test strips you will need. Get the first lot of strips from the chemist with the monitor... so you know which ones to get next time......or you may get a deal where you get the monitor , strips and the lancets all together. The strips will cost about 65$ at the chemist but on eBay I used to get them from $25 to $35 per 100 strips. To find them on eBay write in 'abbott freestyle optimum blood glucose test strips 100'
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200-Abbott-Freestyle-Optium-Test-Strips-2-Boxes-Of-100-Free-Post/282608834808?hash=item41cccc98f8:g:zg0AAOSwPRxZdRoK

Here is the link to the lancets you will need to get the blood
https://www.amcal.com.au/abbott-thi...le&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Amcal-ROI-2017

Here is a link to the directions to set up a spreadsheet (SS) to record the blood sugar readings. It is a great SS and helps to show how your kitty is going with the blood sugar levels (BSL)
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

And finally here is a link which shows you how to test the blood sugar levels in a cat. It may look hard but once you get the hang of it, you and Quiz will find it easy.
Click to expand...
 
Hey Bron - just wondering if you forgot to pop the last link in which shows you how to test levels in a cat? I've seen a good video on YouTube posted by one of the girls here .....thanks!
 
Thank you Bron! Yes definitely doing the spreadsheet - we are going to test him once a week to start with -every two hours on Mondays. Vet has raised the insulin to 3 units as of tonight....
He's doing so well I was surprised at the level being so high still today....
Bron

PS Have a question about lancing - will start it on another thread....
 
Bron said:
Thank you Bron! Yes definitely doing the spreadsheet - we are going to test him once a week to start with -every two hours on Mondays. Vet has raised the insulin to 3 units as of tonight....
He's doing so well I was surprised at the level being so high still today....
Bron

PS Have a question about lancing - will start it on another thread....
Click to expand...
@Bron
Going up from 2 to 3 units is a lot for a cat. It would be much safer for Quiz to go up by 1/4 unit increments. I know vets ususally go up in one unit increments but it is hazardous for the cat.
Re the testing .....It is great you are going to test!!! :)
Can I suggest it would be much better and safer for Quiz if you tested before every dose of insulin. That is what we recommend here to do. And then try and get a test in between the doses at various times of the day and night to see how low the insulin takes Quiz. It is not hard and you will soon get in a routine and the whole thing will only take a couple of minutes to do. We would be very happy to help every step of the way as we want all our kitties to be safe.
We make the decision on dosing by how low the insulin takes the cat.
If you only test once a week, Quiz could have a hypo on any of the other days and you wouldn't know until he showed symptoms and be that time he would be dangerously low.
And by testing before shots you are making sure it is safe to give the shot.
I don't want to frighten you... just arm you with all the facts. Knowledge is power!:cat:
If you test every preshot and at different times inbetween on different days it is not necessary to do a curve once a week. Because on the spreadsheet (SS) you will see all the parts of the jigsaw and it will tell you how he is going much better than a curve once a week because that Monday could be a day he is running higher and it doesn't tell the whole story.
 
Hi Bron - thanks for the info....yeah I know that the insulin jump is high.....and the advice to test just once a week is different to what most people do here, once all my gear arrives I will probably do it every day in any case. But to be honest, being absolute newbies we want to go with the vet's advice in terms of the insulin for now. I've been talking to two friends with diabetic cats and both of those are completely unregulated! And no diet changes - eep! And both pretty healthy. So that confused me no end....I was glad our vet (also a personal friend) was so supportive of us doing it at home....after some of the comments on here I expected a bit of a fight - he actually suggested it though.
 
Bron said:
Hi Bron - thanks for the info....yeah I know that the insulin jump is high.....and the advice to test just once a week is different to what most people do here, once all my gear arrives I will probably do it every day in any case. But to be honest, being absolute newbies we want to go with the vet's advice in terms of the insulin for now. I've been talking to two friends with diabetic cats and both of those are completely unregulated! And no diet changes - eep! And both pretty healthy. So that confused me no end....I was glad our vet (also a personal friend) was so supportive of us doing it at home....after some of the comments on here I expected a bit of a fight - he actually suggested it though.
Click to expand...
I can understand your confusion and it would be hard if he is a friend of yours. And I think it is great he is so supportive of you testing.
Could you show him some of the information we have online.....my vet said he learnt a lot from me about FD. Some vets are more willing than others to look at the information. Food is such as important part of the treatment.
Could you ask him what he thinks of smaller increments when increasing? I know a lot of vets worry that people won't be able to manage the 1/4 and 1/2 doses and that is why they go up in whole units.
The unregulated cats you speak of may look healthy but if they have glucose spilling out of their kidneys all the time (and it does that once the bsl is over about 12 or 13) then it is very hard on the kidneys and eventually it will damage them.
You might like to start posting over on the Lantus and Levemir page seeing you are giving Lantus.
Here is the page. Everyone is very friendly and supportive. I'll look for you over there:)

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-glargine-levemir-detemir.9/
 
Thanks Bron - yep ringing the vet today for his thoughts - he's a great guy and very open to ideas. Getting my meter today at Amcal - the one you mentioned above on special for $49.95, will get some lancets there too - managed to find some strips on Ebay for $35 - for 100. They should be here tomorrow. Meanwhile we are watching all the vids we can !
I have visited the Lantus page but will go back there today....
 
Just got an email from the vet...he wants us to continue with the weekly monitoring - every two hours - until Quiz is stable and we will send the results to him. Once he is stable he would like us to do twice daily monitoring. He also said that the increase from 2 to 3 IU at this stage of the diagnostic process is normal....
So as we are so early in the process, and very inexperienced, we will go with the vet's advice....hope you understand!

Bron :)
 
Am glad you managed to get a good deal on the monitor and the strips. $35 is what I normally paid on eBay. Sometimes I was able to get them for less.
Re the testing. Of course I understand you want to go with the vets advice ........you have to do what you are comfortable with and what is best for Quiz.
You could always do as the vet wants and test weekly every two hours and then just to make sure Quiz is safe, do the other testing before shots and once inbetween shots. If you feel uncomfortable about telling him you are doing that also.......just don't tell him you are doing the extra. It is not going to hurt Quiz. He won't know you are doing it unless you tell him ......and Quiz is your cat.
I think it is more important to do the extra testing now while he is unregulated and having these big increases in insulin.
However I am only offering you my thoughts:) and you have to decide what you want to do.
Please keep posting. I will look forward to seeing you over on the L and L page!
Quiz is a lucky boy to have a bean that cares for him as you do :)
Bron :bighug:
 
Yes, doing extra wouldn't hurt would it... :) Good practice for us too.....
Other Bron
 
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