New member - Andrea & Mason on Lantus (diagnosed 9/12/2020) - Food & Sensitive Stomach

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AndreaStef

AndreaStef

Member Since 2020
Hello everyone! The past week has been a whirlwind of emotions. Mother of 2 (just had a baby 5 months ago) and recently noticed that the litter box was messier than usual and the cat water fountain had to be filled up more regularly (we came home from a weekend vacation at my in-laws and the large fountain was empty).

I have 2 cats - Oliver 13 and Mason 12 - who have only eaten Hills W/D dry food due to my cat's sensitive stomach. I am just learning after this time how unhealthy it was to feed them only dry food. (Also to mention both of them are 15 lbs each)

I noticed some weight loss in Mason with the other symptoms above, so brought him into the vet for a checkup. His BGL were above 400. He was diagnosed with Diabetes and started on 2 units of Lantus 2 times per day. We immediately switched him to a full wet food diet (Crave - which is pretty $$) for both cats to remove dry food. After a week, the vet checked his BGL and it was 67, so he has been switched to 1 unit 2 times per day.

Unfortunately, we have been having a lot of stress over what kind of cat food to feed. Due to the sensitivity in my cat's diet, I need to find something high in protein, low in carbs that is good for sensitive stomachs (that won't be so expensive). I have been scouring the internet but figured it might be good to get some recommendations if anyone has had similar experiences. We started feeding FF Gourmet Naturals to just try to find something that is less expensive, but I have noticed looser stools within the past few days.

I wanted to reach out to see if anyone has had similar experience with switching to a wet food that is good for sensitive stomach. My husband really wants to make sure that we are feeding them something that does not have a ton of ingredients and is high in protein, and while I am on board with him, it's a bit expensive to have to feed two (LARGE) cats some of these more premium foods. The Crave for example only comes in 2.8 oz packages which are split into two!

Thanks and wish us luck managing Mason through this journey!
 
WELCOME TO FDMB We are glad you reached out and we WILL address your concerns. We are dedicated to helping any and all who find these pages. We can help you too!
Theres a ton of information here with good people to help you navigate it all.
There ARE many here with kitties with multiple issues thats including food!

It MAY take a while so be patient for them to come forward. I will do what I can to help you get answers.
again welcome to the best darn site on this planet for you to learn everything you need to know about feline diabetes and beyond!

WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY:bighug:
jeanne
 
Hello and welcome!

I wish I could help on finding inexpensive food for sensitive stomachs, but it's not really something I've had to deal with so I don't know.

Maybe if you change your thread title to reflect your question, it'll be easier to attract attention from those who do have some knowledge in this area. It's definitely a tricky one, and I know it's been discussed at length, I'm just drawing a blank on specifics :confused:. The only thing I remember is that some people end up making their own food where they can control everything that goes in, but I'm not sure that'd be your first choice with a 5-month old in the house!
 
Thanks everyone for the quick feedback. I have updated the thread to include sensitive stomach as well. I know that unfortunately healthy always comes with a price (same with people food which is so unfair).

I haven't been instructed to test at home by my vet. She said to drop the dose and then bring him back in 1-2 weeks to see if he is doing better. She was optimistic that with the change in diet he may be off the insulin a few weeks, but not to get my hopes up until we get there. Reading the posts on this site though it seems as if most people test at home. I can discuss with my vet and my husband if that is an option. Just with a 2.5 year old and 5 month old plus starting work up again (I am a CPA for a large accounting firm), I can imagine it's another big undertaking and we are already so overwhelmed.

I obviously love my cats and want the best for them, but also want to keep myself sane :(
 
AndreaStef said:
I am somewhat concerned as well
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Yes you DO have a LOT on your plate. You have much to weigh. We are here for you either way. We DO encourage home testing because its really the only way to keep Mason safe on a DAILY basis. But Hey I get it. I KNOW I couldnt juggle all that you will be on my own. So PLEASE keep us in mind should you need help.
We are more than happy to help ANYONE learn to home test.
 
AndreaStef said:
I know! I am somewhat concerned as well. I plan to take him back to the vet within a week (not wait the full 2 weeks). He seems to be ok - any signs I should look for?
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Welcome!:bighug::bighug::bighug:

behavior is not always a good indication and I don’t know any vets that will tell you to home test. It’s just how it is and most don’t even know that much about feline diabetes. Just think if one of your children was diabetic, would ever feel safe giving them insulin without knowing what their bg levels were every day, especially if they couldn’t tell you how they felt? Checkups at the vet will never give you the full picture because it’s a spot check and cats are super stressed at the vet so the number will always be much higher there. The important thing is to test before each shot so you know if it’s safe to give them the insulin. Think about it because we can help with lots of tips. You also don’t need an expensive pet meter. Most of us here use Walmart’s ReliOn which is very reliable and rates high for accuracy every year.
 
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Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
Most of us here use Walmart’s ReliOn which is very reliable and rates high for accuracy every year.
Click to expand...
This site was built around human meters. the alpha track system is a good system but VERY expensive to maintain. (strips are ungodly expensive) We've been using human meters for many many years with tremendous results.
 
Thanks - if we wanted to get started with at home testing what exactly what this include and what would we need to purchase? I am new to all of this and seeing his BG level fall so low made me very concerned. He also seems hungry all day long. We are feeding him 5 oz can in the AM and 5 oz can at night with his insulin injections. Should we also provide him with snacks throughout the day?

Thank you
 
Welcome Andrea to the best place you ever will find, so many members here to help you,
First off can you please fill out a signature, look at mine or any other members here it's under our posts in gray , I will post it below
 
If you could set up you signature that would be great
  • On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature. This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
    • There is a limit of two lines which may include two links; you may separate pieces with commas, dashes, | etc. This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
    • Add any other text, such as
    • Caregiver & kitty's name (optional)
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.


tap on your avatar where it says your name ,then hit profile page ,tap on that ,then go up to the very top, upper right hand side and tap on your name ,it will bring down a drop box, tap on signature, the signature will be under settings, tap on the signature then and you can start to add what I posted above, make sure you hit save ,
Welcome to the best place you could ever be and an awesome group of people
 
Most of us here use the Relion Prime human meter to test, or Relion Premier from Walmart
The Prime is 9 dollars and 17.88 for 100 test strips
You will need to buy 26 or 28 gauge lancets to prick the ear, believe me it doesn't hurt them, the note you test , more capillaries will grow and more blood will come to the top of the ear. We freehand with the lancets rather than buying a pen that you put on his the ear and it makes the hole, it's up yo you.
Most find it easier to freehand

Cotton rounds to put behind the ear so you don't prick your finger, then hold the cotton round on the ESR for about 10 seconds to stop the bleeding.

If the ears look sore you can put a thin layer of Neosporin Ointment with pain relief, make sure it's not the cream
 
Here is a video that one of our members did showing how to test,she uses the Alpha Trak which has to be coded, with the human meter you don't have to do that.
I posted it below
 
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Diane Tyler's Mom said:
If you could set up you signature that would be great
  • On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature. This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
    • There is a limit of two lines which may include two links; you may separate pieces with commas, dashes, | etc. This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
    • Add any other text, such as
    • Caregiver & kitty's name (optional)
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.


tap on your avatar where it says your name ,then hit profile page ,tap on that ,then go up to the very top, upper right hand side and tap on your name ,it will bring down a drop box, tap on signature, the signature will be under settings, tap on the signature then and you can start to add what I posted above, make sure you hit save ,
Welcome to the best place you could ever be and an awesome group of people
Click to expand...


Thanks - I just updated with the information I have
 
Most of us feed the larger meals in the AM after testing and the same with the PM testing. Then smaller meals in between.


As for treats I see some members buy these and they will buy the same one for dogs they are exactly the same just bigger, so break them up, you will get more for your money, check it out on the Chewy site
PureBites Chicken Breast Freeze-Dried Raw Cat Treats


VitalEssentials is also another good freeze dried brand. .One of our members says her cat loves the minnow flavor
 
You should always have a few can of these on hand in case you need to bring Masons BG up and get some honey also


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

A must to have these on hand, it's really only the Gravy that is full of the carbs if you ever need to bring up his BG since you said he will only lick the gravy
 
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Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Are you using the U-100 syringes with half unit markings, it makes it a lot easier if you have to decrease or increase the dose. We decrease or increase by 0.25 units.
Is Mason overweight or is 15 lbs considered ok for him
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I am currently using the regular U-100 syringes and they only have lines for 1 not the half unit markings. I would say he is slightly overweight but he has always been on the bigger side. Ideally I'd say he would be in the 12-13 lb range.
 
AndreaStef said:
I am currently using the regular U-100 syringes and they only have lines for 1 not the half unit markings. I would say he is slightly overweight but he has always been on the bigger side. Ideally I'd say he would be in the 12-13 lb range.
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Is the Purina pro plan true nature you are feeding wet or dry?
How many calories?




A good rule of thumb for daily calorie intake is 20 times ideal weight.
So if you are aiming for 13 lbs
20x13 lbs that would be 260 calories per day.
 
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On an AT2( Pet meter ) the take action number is 68 meaning if Mason drops that low you want to intervene with food to bring his BG up. On human meters, it's 50, so going forward, that's the number you should remember.
That's why it's so important to test at home to avoid a hypo and get more tests in through the 12 hours cycles to see how low the insulin is taking Mason
You can alternate different testing times each day
 
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Take a look at Tyler's spreadsheet to get familiar with how we record numbers , if you ever need any help members can only give advice about dosing by looking at this.
Share you see the numbers above on the spreadsheet such as 2,3 ,4,5 etc that means 2 hours after shooting the insulin and so on
AMPS means AM pre shot
PMPS means PM pre shot
 
JL and Chip said:
@AndreaStef I’m just curious, when you say Mason has a “sensitive stomach,” what exactly does that mean? Does he vomit/regurgitate frequently? Get diarrhea easily? Something else?
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He has historically had looser stool / Diarrhea on food so he was always on the hills w/d. I have noticed that with the FF over the past 2 days the box has been a bit messier but it could also be just the change in diet so I am going to keep my eye out for it.
 
Hi Andrea - my cat was diagnosed just before yours. I know that seeing all this information is overwhelming, especially because it is scattered over so many links and pages. I used to be a vet tech and it took me a few days just to feel like I was getting a better overall picture of the situation.

I have two big cats too, healthy weight probably 14-15lbs, so I totally empathize with the cost factor of feeding all canned food. I would look at the labels and think "What?? I'm going to be feeding three cans a day per cat? $$$$!" It costs me $65 per month to feed my 95lb Lab, but now it will be probably $90 per month per cat if I continue feeding Purina ProPlan Prime Plus 7, which is reasonably priced if I buy a case of 24 cans at a time, compared to lots of other brands. I'll likely go back to at least some amount of FancyFeast, since it's half the cost.

As far as sensitive stomachs go, I can only relate the situation with my current two cats, both of which are prone to soft stools or diarrhea on certain foods. The Prime Plus 7 that I mentioned seems to work well for them. I feed the Turkey and Liver variety. I used to feed Fancy Feast classic pates (because they liked them, not because I had ever even considered the low-carb aspect) and those seemed to work well too. I have tried a wide variety of premium foods, but in general, they caused a good amount of stomach upset. I know lots of people feed Tiki Cat varieties, but those are a big problem for my cats. Right now, I'm using tiny bits as a reward while doing blood glucose testing, but if I give too much, soft stools or full-on diarrhea are the result.
 
AndreaStef said:
It's wet food we've been feeding him 2 cans a day (about 10oz.) per recommendation of my vet and his size.
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Hi Andrea,

Just like people, it’s about calories not amount of food. A good rule of thumb for daily calorie intake is 20 times ideal weight. So if he should be 10 pounds, he should be getting 200 calories a day at least. More if he needs to gain, but it doesn't sound like he does. Diabetic cats lose weight because they can’t process the nutrients in food well so they eat but are still constantly hungry and lose weight. They also burn calories just by peeing since there’s sugar in their urine.

can you tell is what food brand? Most of us feed fancy feast pate because it has less than 10% carbs and that’s what you want for a diabetic cat

Edited to add that it’s easier on the cats pancreas to feed more than just twice a day. Bulk of meals around shot time but a few snacks or smaller meals in between. It also works out well since cats are typically grazers.

S. Boulardii is a probiotic a lot of us mix intro their food to keep a well regulated stool.
 
AndreaStef said:
Hello everyone! The past week has been a whirlwind of emotions. Mother of 2 (just had a baby 5 months ago) and recently noticed that the litter box was messier than usual and the cat water fountain had to be filled up more regularly (we came home from a weekend vacation at my in-laws and the large fountain was empty).

I have 2 cats - Oliver 13 and Mason 12 - who have only eaten Hills W/D dry food due to my cat's sensitive stomach. I am just learning after this time how unhealthy it was to feed them only dry food. (Also to mention both of them are 15 lbs each)

I noticed some weight loss in Mason with the other symptoms above, so brought him into the vet for a checkup. His BGL were above 400. He was diagnosed with Diabetes and started on 2 units of Lantus 2 times per day. We immediately switched him to a full wet food diet (Crave - which is pretty $$) for both cats to remove dry food. After a week, the vet checked his BGL and it was 67, so he has been switched to 1 unit 2 times per day.

Unfortunately, we have been having a lot of stress over what kind of cat food to feed. Due to the sensitivity in my cat's diet, I need to find something high in protein, low in carbs that is good for sensitive stomachs (that won't be so expensive). I have been scouring the internet but figured it might be good to get some recommendations if anyone has had similar experiences. We started feeding FF Gourmet Naturals to just try to find something that is less expensive, but I have noticed looser stools within the past few days.

I wanted to reach out to see if anyone has had similar experience with switching to a wet food that is good for sensitive stomach. My husband really wants to make sure that we are feeding them something that does not have a ton of ingredients and is high in protein, and while I am on board with him, it's a bit expensive to have to feed two (LARGE) cats some of these more premium foods. The Crave for example only comes in 2.8 oz packages which are split into two!

Thanks and wish us luck managing Mason through this journey!
Click to expand...
Oh my God your 2 kitties are adorable, for a minute it looked like 1 cat with 2 heads lol

Looks like they love to be in a smaller bed to be close together
Oh one more thing fellow New Jerseyian lol
When you need to buy more lantus because I know it's super expensive
Don't know what you paid for one pen?
Most of us order from Marks Marine in Canada a big difference in price . I'll post it below for you
 
Many members buy it from Marks Marine Pharmacy in Canada.
This will save you a lot of money. Try to get the U-100 syringes with half unit markings, we increase and decrease by 0.25 units.
These 5 solorstar pens will last you a year or longer depending on the dose you will give
The expiration date is on them , keep in the fridge and they will be good until you start to use them probably has an expiration date of 2022 or 2023



Lantus Solostar CARTRIDGE 5x3ml per box (temp. gauge. ice pack, express-air mail) Brand 100iu/ml 15 ml $159.99 USD




rx.gif
Lantus Solostar PEN CAN (temp. gauge. ice pack, express-air mail) *single pen open box* Brand 100iu/ml one pen 3 ml $49.99 USD

rx.gif
Lantus Solostar PENS 5x3ml per box (temp. gauge. ice pack, express-air mail) Brand 100u/ml 15 ml $164.99 USD

rx.gif
Lantus VIAL Insulin (10ml per vial) (temp. gauge. ice pack, express-air mail) Brand 100u/ml 10 ml $110.99 USD
 
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