08/01/22 New member, new diagnosis

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Tobycat

Tobycat

Member Since 2022
Hello all
Im so happy to have discovered this forum!!
My 15 year old cat, Toby was recently diagnosed with diabetes. I have a lot of questions so not sure how much to post here or whether to address them in other threads. Please let me know.
Toby was diagnosed by his symptoms of excess thirst, urinating and weight loss. He was diagnosed by a high blood glucose level and confirmed with a fructosamine test.
He is wearing a libre sensor (one week) and I have yet to use the BG method.
He started at 1 unit and is now on 2 units of Lanus (glargine)
His numbers are very high ranging from 17- 27 mmol ( 306-486 mg?)
Ive been trying different canned and cooked protein foods to see what he likes. I live in BC Canada
so our food choices may be different depending where you are based. I previously gave him Wellness canned and no dry food so it was already fairly low carb but now I give him Wellness Core, in both adult and kitten form, Rawz, and occasional cooked skinless chicken and tuna. (discovered frozen poke tuna cubes with no sauce added) He didn't like the Purina Pro DM which was recommended by my vet. I tried the freezer dried raw chicken which he didn't like either.

Questions:
Any suggestions on where to buy the least expensive Libre monitors and syringes?
Any recommendations for other low carb foods? Is it ok to give kitten food which has less carbs?)
What glucometer do you recommend? (I dont really want to use this but Im not always sure of the accuracy of the Libre monitor)
Toby is a grazer so its hard to keep him at two set meals a day. What's your recommendation ? I'm currently feeding him at a set time in the morning and evening followed by the insulin one hour after each meal, but I also give him little bits throughout the day.
I have other questions but I'll let your response guide me.
Thank-you!
 
Tobycat said:
Hello all
Im so happy to have discovered this forum!!
My 15 year old cat, Toby was recently diagnosed with diabetes. I have a lot of questions so not sure how much to post here or whether to address them in other threads. Please let me know.
Toby was diagnosed by his symptoms of excess thirst, urinating and weight loss. He was diagnosed by a high blood glucose level and confirmed with a fructosamine test.
He is wearing a libre sensor (one week) and I have yet to use the BG method.
He started at 1 unit and is now on 2 units of Lanus (glargine)
His numbers are very high ranging from 17- 27 mmol ( 306-486 mg?)
Ive been trying different canned and cooked protein foods to see what he likes. I live in BC Canada
so our food choices may be different depending where you are based. I previously gave him Wellness canned and no dry food so it was already fairly low carb but now I give him Wellness Core, in both adult and kitten form, Rawz, and occasional cooked skinless chicken and tuna. (discovered frozen poke tuna cubes with no sauce added) He didn't like the Purina Pro DM which was recommended by my vet. I tried the freezer dried raw chicken which he didn't like either.

Questions:
Any suggestions on where to buy the least expensive Libre monitors and syringes?
Any recommendations for other low carb foods? Is it ok to give kitten food which has less carbs?)
What glucometer do you recommend? (I dont really want to use this but Im not always sure of the accuracy of the Libre monitor)
Toby is a grazer so its hard to keep him at two set meals a day. What's your recommendation ? I'm currently feeding him at a set time in the morning and evening followed by the insulin one hour after each meal, but I also give him little bits throughout the day.
I have other questions but I'll let your response guide me.
Thank-you!
Click to expand...
@Wendy&Neko
 
Hello and welcome from the Vancouver area. We have a post for new people that you should read:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

With Lantus, you don't need to feed just two meals a day. Feeding several small meals or letting him graze is fine. Just try to feed most of it in the first six hours after the shot when the insulin effect is strongest. And in the beginning, pull up his food for the 2 hours before his shot time, so his test before shooting is not higher due to food.
Tobycat said:
I'm currently feeding him at a set time in the morning and evening followed by the insulin one hour after each meal, but I also give him little bits throughout the day.
Click to expand...
Your vet is clearly not up to date on Lantus. The instructions for feeding first, then waiting and shooting are for the older style insulins, such as Caninsulin. With Lantus, we generally test (to make sure it's safe to shoot), feed, then shoot insulin. Often you can shoot insulin while their head is in the food bowl.

No clue where to get a cheap Libre, I always tested with a hand held human meter. And the Libre has only been used the last couple years. Back in the day, I could cross border shop with a US post box for a US meter and cheaper strips. The idea is to get a human meter than just needs a small drop of blood. Some people use the Freestyle Lite, but also Accucheck or Contour ones. The Freestyle needs half the size blood drop of the other two. Sometimes London Drugs (or other stores), will give you a free meter when you buy test strips. I actually found the London Drugs pharmacist quite helpful in picking out a meter. I used a Canadian one for backup.

You can often buy test strips cheaper on eBay. I found Safeway pharmacy the cheapest for a lot of diabetic supplies, including insulin, syringes, lancets. Ask around cause prices really vary. I knew someone who found pretty good prices at Costco, and I found Canadian Superstore pharmacy was second best for prices. But that was a while ago, so worth checking various pharmacies for prices now.

For food, there are a couple places to look. You want something under 10% carbs. Many of the ones on this food list are available in Canada. It is a bit out of date though. And there are a few specific to Canada on this list: CANADIAN Food Chart Note, the Rawz are good and some of the Wellness Core. Some are also what we call medium carb foods. Good to have around if you need his numbers to come up. Most cats get tired of DM, if they eat it at all. Kitten food is OK, but higher fat. Which is OK if you want him to gain weight.
 
Thanks Wendy and Neko,
I think my vet meant that you can give insulin anytime up to an hour after feeding, that it's important to have food in his stomach so that his glucose doesn't drop too drastically. My cat has such high glucose, so does it really matter how long after he eats to give the insulin? Im also wondering about the glucose curve. Is it important to give food the same time each day, even if grazing, so that we can see the glucose level in response to food intake?
 
We've be able to help you more regarding food strategies, if you can put together a spreadsheet showing his blood sugar values so far. Details are in that first post I linked for you. If you are technically challenged, we have someone who can help you set it up.

You can feed probably up to 6 hours after insulin, with little side effects. As I said before, we usually test, feed, and shoot all within 15 minutes or so, when giving Lantus. Lantus typically onsets 2-3 hours after giving the shot, so no rush to feed before shooting.
 
Thanks so much. I’ll let you know if I need help with the spreadsheet.
Regarding the libre sensor - maybe there’s a different thread for this - the first one was held on with tissue glue that weakened slightly after a week. The company recommends a bandage ( but with people in mind) to cover it . Any feedback on which is better?
 
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