Kate MacCorkle
Member Since 2020
Hi! I'm Kate. My darling kitty boy, Baker, was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday. If you're interested, I wrote a novella about it!
Baker's History
Baker is a 12 year old Maine Coone mix. He was about 14 lb when we first got him from the shelter, but he was only about a year old. In early days, we fed him frozen meat chunks from the fanciest pet store in Seattle, but he stopped eating it. It was too expensive to keep wasting, so we bought some dry food and he loved it. He quickly gained 5 lb and was 19 lb for a long time. Then over the past couple years his weight increased to 21 lb. We put him on a diet for four months once, but he didn't lose any weight and he was always begging, so we returned to free feeding, telling ourselves he is a naturally big breed.
About six years ago, he suffered from a blocked urethra and had "sludge" but no crystals in his bladder. Had to do an emergency catheter, and then the vet recommended CKD dry food for him (I think it was Hills c/d). Four quiet years passed, and then Baker started vomiting a lot. I took him to a new vet in my new town, and this vet said the vomiting was due to pancreatitis. The vet said pancreatitis has no treatment and was possibly due to him ingesting pesticide on grass. The vet had me change brands of food to Royal Canin, but kept him on a dry formula for CKD. Now that Baker has diabetes, I am looking back at that experience and thinking maybe there was something I could have done sooner had I only put two and two together (pancreas = distressed). It's been between 2 and 3 years since the pancreatitis episode (if that is what it was), and we have yet another new vet.
How We Discovered the Diabetes
Luckily, Baker always preferred to drink lots of water from the tap, so we're acutely aware of his water intake since he has to ask us to turn on the faucet for him. Over the past few months, we noticed he was drinking a ton of water. Then he stopped using his litter box, to our annoyance and concern. But even before that, I noticed he just looked off, and he would often give me a beseeching look. So, I knew something was up. He also started sleeping more, got thin around his hind haunches, and stopped letting me snuggle him in bed. We took him to the vet last Friday after my husband suspected diabetes.
What the Vet Said
Baker's blood sugar was 500. He didn't have ketones in his urine. I was to start Baker on twice daily injections of 1 unit of Lantus and switch him to a high fiber dry food - Hill's W/D. I asked which was better, wet or dry, and was told it didn't matter (I can hear all of you gritting your teeth as you read this part about the food). He didn't mention monitoring Baker's blood sugar, but said in 14 days he would do a curve at the vet's office.
Lantus and Syringes Pricing Adventures
My first task was obtaining Lantus u-100. I called ten pharmacies and asked for the cash price for Lantus u-100 10mL vial. Prices ranged from $357 (Fred Meyer Grocery) at the high end to $314 (Rite Aid Pharmacy). Finally, a tech at Walmart surreptitiously told me to google "prescription savings cards". Using a SingleCare.com coupon, I got a price at CVS of $237. But when I showed up at CVS, there was a manufacturer's coupon which dropped the price to $99, so I guess I got super lucky this month. The pharmacist was very clear that I obey the expiration date, but the vet said don't worry about that and I can store the medication for months past the expiration date. I had to wait ages for them to fill the prescription though because they couldn't find the right size syringes for the low dose of 1 unit, and they couldn't find prices, and at first they couldn't even find Lantus because it was in their computer as "Alantus". I felt confused and a bit dismayed. Later at home, I had a heck of a time figuring out that I needed .3 cc syringes with 1/2" needle. Why isn't this stuff spelled out for newbies?
What I Have Learned From This Site (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)
1. I can and should monitor Baker's blood glucose. I did a lot of web research and finally opted to buy the Relion Premier Classic from Walmart because it was the most affordable option and has decent reviews. I think I first saw the name Relion on this site. Before that I was researching Accu-check, AlphaTrak2, and others. I was very close to buying the AlphaTrak2 out of desperation, despite the expense of strips. I just wanted to cut through the options and confusion and have a simple plan: Buy this monitor, these syringes, these strips, this food.
2. Baker needs a low carb wet food diet. I looked at the food topic on this forum and opted to buy some cans of fancy feast since I know it is readily available at the grocery store. It's been only about 30 hours since his diagnosis and I am reaching for the fastest/best I can do on short notice. I'm open to any food suggestions, though luckily he has really enjoyed the fancy feast meals he has had today.
3. I need to closely watch to make sure he doesn't lose weight too fast (already looking into obtaining a baby scale)
4. I can expect my vet not to trust my BG monitoring efforts, and evidenced by my vet's food recommendations, I'll need to be careful about taking his advice at face value. By the way, we had our first BG test tonight and Baker's blood sugar was 325 on the Relion Premier Classic. I don't know if the human meters are a 1:1 exchange, but I guess his blood sugar needs to be below 170, so his dose of 1 unit isn't likely to cause a hypoglycemic event.
What I Would Love
If I have misunderstood anything, or misinterpreted it, please don't be afraid to tell me. It's life and death here, and I am as new as you can get to this whole world of cat diabetes.
If you have food suggestions, or any other suggestions, feel free to let me know.
Happy to answer questions.
Thank you all, I have already learned so much from reading through the forum and resources you have all contributed to.
Baker's History
Baker is a 12 year old Maine Coone mix. He was about 14 lb when we first got him from the shelter, but he was only about a year old. In early days, we fed him frozen meat chunks from the fanciest pet store in Seattle, but he stopped eating it. It was too expensive to keep wasting, so we bought some dry food and he loved it. He quickly gained 5 lb and was 19 lb for a long time. Then over the past couple years his weight increased to 21 lb. We put him on a diet for four months once, but he didn't lose any weight and he was always begging, so we returned to free feeding, telling ourselves he is a naturally big breed.
About six years ago, he suffered from a blocked urethra and had "sludge" but no crystals in his bladder. Had to do an emergency catheter, and then the vet recommended CKD dry food for him (I think it was Hills c/d). Four quiet years passed, and then Baker started vomiting a lot. I took him to a new vet in my new town, and this vet said the vomiting was due to pancreatitis. The vet said pancreatitis has no treatment and was possibly due to him ingesting pesticide on grass. The vet had me change brands of food to Royal Canin, but kept him on a dry formula for CKD. Now that Baker has diabetes, I am looking back at that experience and thinking maybe there was something I could have done sooner had I only put two and two together (pancreas = distressed). It's been between 2 and 3 years since the pancreatitis episode (if that is what it was), and we have yet another new vet.
How We Discovered the Diabetes
Luckily, Baker always preferred to drink lots of water from the tap, so we're acutely aware of his water intake since he has to ask us to turn on the faucet for him. Over the past few months, we noticed he was drinking a ton of water. Then he stopped using his litter box, to our annoyance and concern. But even before that, I noticed he just looked off, and he would often give me a beseeching look. So, I knew something was up. He also started sleeping more, got thin around his hind haunches, and stopped letting me snuggle him in bed. We took him to the vet last Friday after my husband suspected diabetes.
What the Vet Said
Baker's blood sugar was 500. He didn't have ketones in his urine. I was to start Baker on twice daily injections of 1 unit of Lantus and switch him to a high fiber dry food - Hill's W/D. I asked which was better, wet or dry, and was told it didn't matter (I can hear all of you gritting your teeth as you read this part about the food). He didn't mention monitoring Baker's blood sugar, but said in 14 days he would do a curve at the vet's office.
Lantus and Syringes Pricing Adventures
My first task was obtaining Lantus u-100. I called ten pharmacies and asked for the cash price for Lantus u-100 10mL vial. Prices ranged from $357 (Fred Meyer Grocery) at the high end to $314 (Rite Aid Pharmacy). Finally, a tech at Walmart surreptitiously told me to google "prescription savings cards". Using a SingleCare.com coupon, I got a price at CVS of $237. But when I showed up at CVS, there was a manufacturer's coupon which dropped the price to $99, so I guess I got super lucky this month. The pharmacist was very clear that I obey the expiration date, but the vet said don't worry about that and I can store the medication for months past the expiration date. I had to wait ages for them to fill the prescription though because they couldn't find the right size syringes for the low dose of 1 unit, and they couldn't find prices, and at first they couldn't even find Lantus because it was in their computer as "Alantus". I felt confused and a bit dismayed. Later at home, I had a heck of a time figuring out that I needed .3 cc syringes with 1/2" needle. Why isn't this stuff spelled out for newbies?
What I Have Learned From This Site (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)
1. I can and should monitor Baker's blood glucose. I did a lot of web research and finally opted to buy the Relion Premier Classic from Walmart because it was the most affordable option and has decent reviews. I think I first saw the name Relion on this site. Before that I was researching Accu-check, AlphaTrak2, and others. I was very close to buying the AlphaTrak2 out of desperation, despite the expense of strips. I just wanted to cut through the options and confusion and have a simple plan: Buy this monitor, these syringes, these strips, this food.
2. Baker needs a low carb wet food diet. I looked at the food topic on this forum and opted to buy some cans of fancy feast since I know it is readily available at the grocery store. It's been only about 30 hours since his diagnosis and I am reaching for the fastest/best I can do on short notice. I'm open to any food suggestions, though luckily he has really enjoyed the fancy feast meals he has had today.
3. I need to closely watch to make sure he doesn't lose weight too fast (already looking into obtaining a baby scale)
4. I can expect my vet not to trust my BG monitoring efforts, and evidenced by my vet's food recommendations, I'll need to be careful about taking his advice at face value. By the way, we had our first BG test tonight and Baker's blood sugar was 325 on the Relion Premier Classic. I don't know if the human meters are a 1:1 exchange, but I guess his blood sugar needs to be below 170, so his dose of 1 unit isn't likely to cause a hypoglycemic event.
What I Would Love
If I have misunderstood anything, or misinterpreted it, please don't be afraid to tell me. It's life and death here, and I am as new as you can get to this whole world of cat diabetes.
If you have food suggestions, or any other suggestions, feel free to let me know.
Happy to answer questions.
Thank you all, I have already learned so much from reading through the forum and resources you have all contributed to.
(I shock easy.)
