Overwhelmed Newbie w/ Questions

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KB's Mom

KB's Mom

Member Since 2021
Hi, my cat, KittyBaby, was just diagnosed in September (she is 12 and very healthy otherwise). I immediately changed her diet to all wet, low-carb food. It helped, but she still had glucose in her urine. I went back to vet today to learn about giving insulin shots. For the record, my cat is VERY fearful and difficult.....the vet can't even touch her, so taking her to the vet for testing is pretty impossible. I also live alone, so don't have anyone else to help 'hold her' if necessary (like for BG testing).
The vet wanted to start her on 2 units of Prozinc-- but after reading on this site, I thought that was too high. I talked her down to 1 unit. Does this sound ok for starting out?
I am very nervous about trying to do BG home testing, but will eventually try. The plan was to start the shots tomorrow and get used to doing it for a week and then try to see if KB will let me start getting her BG as well.
I'm overwhelmed and have a thousand questions, but here's just a few:

*do urine dipsticks work? I've seen mixed reviews. do you have to try and get the urine right away I assume? the vet said to just lay some in her litter box, but that doesn't seem like the way to do it!

*i've been feeding her wet food multiple times a day (she's obviously still in the ravenous stage since insulin hasn't started yet)....do i need to wait a certain amount of time to give her food again after i give her a shot? i don't understand everything yet, and obviously haven't done a curve yet (nor know if she'll let me), so don't know all the ins and outs of timing of giving food/shots, other than making sure she has food in her before giving a shot (I am planning on trying to give shot while she eats so she's distracted).

*i'm planning on buying a human meter.....i know the numbers are a little lower w/ human meters, so how do i know the correct number system?

thanks for the help! this is stressful!!
 
Hi and welcome to the forum!
It is overwhelming in the beginning but you have come to the best place for advice and support and we don’t mind how many questions you ask.

Many cats get stressed at the vet. I’m very glad you have decided to hometest the blood glucose. You will have a much better idea what is happening and it is the best way to keep KittyBaby safe. Buying a human meter is a good choice.

Urine dip sticks work in the way they can tell you if there is glucose in the urine, but they are not an up to date measurement like a blood test is. The urine could have been in the bladder for up to 12 hours and during that time the blood glucose (BG) could have been very high and very low, and you would probably get a reading of maybe a small or medium amount of glucose on the urine which is only an average of the last 12 hours.
KB's Mom said:
it!

*i've been feeding her wet food multiple times a day (she's obviously still in the ravenous stage since insulin hasn't started yet)....do i need to wait a certain amount of time to give her food again after i give her a shot? i don't understand everything yet, and obviously haven't done a curve yet (nor know if she'll let me), so don't know all the ins and outs of timing of giving food/shots, other than making sure she has food in her before giving a shot (I am planning on trying to give shot while she eats so she's distracted).
Click to expand...

With Prozinc you test/feed/ then give the shot of insulin in that order. You can feed her as you give the dose as long as you know she will eat for you. Then it is a very good idea to give several snacks during both cycles. For example you could feed +2 +4 and +6. Just don’t feed for the 2 hours before the preshot BG as we don’t want it to be food influenced.

KB's Mom said:
The vet wanted to start her on 2 units of Prozinc-- but after reading on this site, I thought that was too high. I talked her down to 1 unit. Does this sound ok for starting out?
I am very nervous about trying to do BG home testing, but will eventually try. The plan was to start the shots tomorrow and get used to doing it for a week and then try to see if KB will let me start getting her BG as well.
Click to expand...

1 unit of Prozinc is a good starting dose for most cats. Then if needed you increase the dose in 1/4 unit increments.
I am going to attach some information about Prozinc for you below.

We were all nervous about hometesting when we started, but I would encourage you to start doing it when you start the insulin to be safe.

HERE is a link to information about home testing

HERE and HERE are two links to information about Prozinc usage and dosing methods.

And finally HERE is a link about how you can help us help you. In it you will find links to the hypo box (make sure you get that set up now), how you set up your signature….very easy, and how to set up your spreadsheet so we can help you. If you have any trouble with it let me know and I will get someone to help you.

One other thing I would do is go out and buy some Ketostix or Walmart or a pharmacy so you can test KBs urine for ketones. This is important, as any traces of ketones needs to be dealt with straight away. Diabetic cats who have not started insulin are at risk of getting ketones so it’s good to eliminate them
Keep asking questions. And again welcome
Bron



 
Welcome to FDMB!

Bron has provided links to most of the basics so I'll try to not be repetitive. One thing I would add is related to home testing. Treats are an important part of the process. Most cats are not thrilled with the process of having their ear (or paw pad) poked. You want to help them associate blood glucose (BG) testing with something positive -- treats! Most of the people here use freeze dried chicken (or other protein) as a treat. You can use anything -- cooked chicken, we had a member who would give her cat shrimp, brushing, etc. You start by just placing your cat in your testing "spot" and giving a reward. Scratch your cat's ears, give a treat. Hold your cat's ear like you are going to test -- give a treat. Once you start testing, give a treat regardless of whether the test was successful.

If you are already doing urine testing, you may have picked up Ketodiastix. These test for both glucose in the urine and for ketones.

Just to double check on food, what are you feeding your kitty? May vets will tell their clients to feed their cat a diabetes specific food and most of those foods are not low carb.

There is no "correct" number system for meters. Our dosing methods were developed prior to the widespread availability of pet-specific meters and are based on human meters. There's no way to translate the results from a human meter to a pet meter and vice versa since the meters are calibrated differently. The differences between the numbers are much smaller at low numbers and the differences are far greater when numbers are in a higher range.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Welcome to FDMB!

Bron has provided links to most of the basics so I'll try to not be repetitive. One thing I would add is related to home testing. Treats are an important part of the process. Most cats are not thrilled with the process of having their ear (or paw pad) poked. You want to help them associate blood glucose (BG) testing with something positive -- treats! Most of the people here use freeze dried chicken (or other protein) as a treat. You can use anything -- cooked chicken, we had a member who would give her cat shrimp, brushing, etc. You start by just placing your cat in your testing "spot" and giving a reward. Scratch your cat's ears, give a treat. Hold your cat's ear like you are going to test -- give a treat. Once you start testing, give a treat regardless of whether the test was successful.

If you are already doing urine testing, you may have picked up Ketodiastix. These test for both glucose in the urine and for ketones.

Just to double check on food, what are you feeding your kitty? May vets will tell their clients to feed their cat a diabetes specific food and most of those foods are not low carb.

There is no "correct" number system for meters. Our dosing methods were developed prior to the widespread availability of pet-specific meters and are based on human meters. There's no way to translate the results from a human meter to a pet meter and vice versa since the meters are calibrated differently. The differences between the numbers are much smaller at low numbers and the differences are far greater when numbers are in a higher range.
Click to expand...


thank you! so if the meter registered under 200, does that mean i should hold off on giving insulin? i just need to know the ranges in general, so i know if i proceed or not proceed with a shot. i think someone on here said 60-120 is normal range on meter?
as far as food, i'm giving her mostly Fussy Cat wet (tuna varieties) and Fancy Feast wet. only low carb. vet tried to give me food but i took it back after researching.
also, what's the best way to use the ketodiastix?
 
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Hi and welcome
Normal range with a human meter is 50 -120
You don't want to be feeding a lot of fish flavors everyday because of the mercury in it. Once and awhile is ok
Does KittyBaby like any of the Fancy Feast Pates flavors?

Here is a link all about ketones and testing
I know that some people will try to catch the urine in a ladle while the cat is going

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...and-diabetic-cats-a-primer-on-ketones.239971/

If you need help setting up your spreadsheet just ask, we have a member here that will set it up for you.

Here is the link anyway, it also explains how the spreadsheet works
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
 
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not This is the link to more info on home testing. There's another video of a member, Bonnie, who is testing Junior a rather fractious kitty. (I met Junior since they lived a couple of blocks from me. Junior was a bit of a terror when it came to testing.) @Wendy&Neko has the link.

What I would suggest is that if you get a reading under 200, you post and ask for help. The important consideration is not to feed your cat if you have a lower than expected number at pre-shot time. You have three options:
  • Stall. You will want to retest every 15 - 20 min. If your numbers are rising and close to or above 200, shoot.
  • Shoot a reduced dose.
  • Skip
The 200 reading is one we use when you are still new to this process. Over time, you should be able to shoot progressively lower numbers. If your cat's diabetes is improving, ideally, the entire range of numbers will be improving so you should see fewer high pre-shot numbers.

Ketodiastix are strips that test urine for glucose and ketones. You can either slide the strip into your cat's urine stream or use a spoon, ladle, or other sort of container to get a urine sample and dip the strip into the urine. You compare the readings to the color coding on the Ketodiastix container.

Diane provided a separate link for your spreadsheet. The link that Bron previously provided (post #2 above) about helping us to help you contains the spreadsheet information plus a lot more all in one place. I find that link to be more helpful.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Hi and welcome
Normal range with a human meter is 50 -120
You don't want to be feeding a lot of fish flavors everyday because of the mercury in it. Once and awhile is ok
Does KittyBaby like any of the Fancy Feast Pates flavors?

Here is a link all about ketones and testing
I know that some people will try to catch the urine in a ladle while the cat is going

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...and-diabetic-cats-a-primer-on-ketones.239971/

If you need help setting up your spreadsheet just ask, we have a member here that will set it up for you.

Here is the link anyway, it also explains how the spreadsheet works
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
Click to expand...
Regarding fish flavors, my cat will not eat meat flavored foods. The closest is FF Chicken and Tuna Flaked.
 
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