? How much food needs to be eaten before insulin
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Chris & China (GA)
Member Since 2013
What type of insulin?
Also, GA means "Gone Ahead" or "Guardian Angel". It's what we use when one of our kitty's passes. A lot of people think it means General Advice though. You'll also see it in a lot of our names...like my China passed on Dec 24th, 2018 so my sign on name is Chris & China (GA)
When I first joined, I saw a lot of GA's in people's names and thought there were sure a lot of people from Georgia here!!
Also, GA means "Gone Ahead" or "Guardian Angel". It's what we use when one of our kitty's passes. A lot of people think it means General Advice though. You'll also see it in a lot of our names...like my China passed on Dec 24th, 2018 so my sign on name is Chris & China (GA)
When I first joined, I saw a lot of GA's in people's names and thought there were sure a lot of people from Georgia here!!
Hammy93
Member Since 2021
She’s on Vetslin
Hammy93
Member Since 2021
Chris & China (GA)
Member Since 2013
OK with Vetsulin, since it's a harsher insulin no longer recommended for cats, it's important that she eat a pretty normal sized meal and then wait for 30 minutes before shooting.
There needs to be food on board before the insulin "kicks in".
How much does she usually eat? What food is she eating? Are you home testing?
There needs to be food on board before the insulin "kicks in".
How much does she usually eat? What food is she eating? Are you home testing?
Hammy93
Member Since 2021
She eats 1/3 cup of science diet metabolic and I put out another 1/3 cup of canned prescription she’s getting tired of that bland diet. I don’t home test, she goes in 30-60 days, her blood glucose usually runs around the 100 no more than 120
Chris & China (GA)
Member Since 2013
If she's getting blood glucoses in the 100-120 range while eating those foods, she may be in remission! Those are both higher in carbs than we recommend. There's absolutely nothing special about "prescription" foods that make them require a script or even actually treat disease! The whole "prescription" food scam is nothing more than a clever marketing tool thought up by the pet food manufacturers. You're paying a premium price for foods that have inferior grade ingredients but with a well advertised name.
Most of us feed our own diabetic cats canned foods that are less than 10% carbs. Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies pates and 9-Lives ground are all under 10%, easy to find and affordable. There are lots of other commonly found foods that are under 10% too. Here's a FOOD CHART that lists lots of foods and their nutritional breakdown.
No cat should be eating kibble, but especially a diabetic.
I would strongly urge you to start home testing. Testing done at the vet's office is unreliable because cat's react to the stress of being at the vet by releasing stress hormones which drives their blood glucose up. It's not hard and just takes a little time to learn. There are lots of video's on YouTube and we have lots of tips and tricks to help you too.
If you live in the US, you can get everything you need from WalMart for about $40. A Relion Prime meter is $9, 100 strips for the meter are $17.88 and a box of lancets runs between about $2-$12 depending on brand. If you want a lancet device, that's about $5 but most of us just freehand it.
Now this is very important. Do not change your cat's food until you are able to home test. Reducing the carbs in the diet can drastically reduce the need for insulin. A lot of cats go into remission just from changing their diet!
I really mean this....if your cat has been running in the low 100's while eating that higher carb food, she may very well be in remission already and the only thing keeping her from dropping into hypoglycemia is the food you're feeding. By changing her food, she may not need insulin at all!
Most of us feed our own diabetic cats canned foods that are less than 10% carbs. Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies pates and 9-Lives ground are all under 10%, easy to find and affordable. There are lots of other commonly found foods that are under 10% too. Here's a FOOD CHART that lists lots of foods and their nutritional breakdown.
No cat should be eating kibble, but especially a diabetic.
I would strongly urge you to start home testing. Testing done at the vet's office is unreliable because cat's react to the stress of being at the vet by releasing stress hormones which drives their blood glucose up. It's not hard and just takes a little time to learn. There are lots of video's on YouTube and we have lots of tips and tricks to help you too.
If you live in the US, you can get everything you need from WalMart for about $40. A Relion Prime meter is $9, 100 strips for the meter are $17.88 and a box of lancets runs between about $2-$12 depending on brand. If you want a lancet device, that's about $5 but most of us just freehand it.
Now this is very important. Do not change your cat's food until you are able to home test. Reducing the carbs in the diet can drastically reduce the need for insulin. A lot of cats go into remission just from changing their diet!
I really mean this....if your cat has been running in the low 100's while eating that higher carb food, she may very well be in remission already and the only thing keeping her from dropping into hypoglycemia is the food you're feeding. By changing her food, she may not need insulin at all!
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