10/12/20 New Member

[De Beck]

Hi. My name is De. My 13 yr old male cat named Pepper Was Just diagnosed with diabetes on 10/3/20. At time of diagnosis his glucose level was 500. His First Glucose Curve Appt is 10/15/20. So I don't know yet what his dosages will be. All I know is. They will have him all day to do testing. And they will be using Insulin PZI (Prozinc) U40 10ml VI at $143.15 . I only have at this time a human testing meter that had belonged to my Mom. I do have personal experience with having gestational diabetes myself in the past. At the current time of diagnosis I have been feeding him along with my other cat. Prescription cat food I/D food because Pepper Also has kidney problems. I leave out some dry. But also soak some in water til its soft. Then I add it to canned friskies with Pumpkin puree and some probiotics +fiber. The reason for this is I was noticing blood in some feces along with signs of constipation. Plus lots of excessive urine. So I have spent Over $1,000.00 getting Both Cats Checked Out. And that's how the diabetes diagnosis was found. I'm currently looking for financial help because I'm on disability. And the Non-Profit suggested I get signed up with you. I only have a cell phone to do everything online. So I'm even sure that my request to become a member has gone through. Thanks For Any Help. Recommendations etc you can give.

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Hello and welcome!

First, some practical financial info: you might want to check out an organization called Diabetic Cats in Need (DCIN). They can offer some help (insulin, testing supplies, etc.) for people with demonstrated financial need. They're a great organization, and it never hurts to ask to see if you qualify!

Separate from that, we can offer lots of tips and help to save some money in diabetic cat care. First and foremost: most of us do home-testing of our cat's blood glucose. It's not only the best way to keep your cat safe while injecting insulin, it's a lot cheaper and easier than taking your cat to the vet every time to do a curve (and often vet results are influenced by stress so they are less accurate, anyway!). Most of use use a human meter such as the one you already own.

If home-testing BG sounds like something you would be willing to do, we can help get you set up to do it.

As for food: although the best food for diabetics is low-carb wet food (pates), when there are other health issues requiring a special diet sometimes it's easier to stick with the original diet and "dose around it".

That said: many people here have had cats with both diabetes and kidney disease and have found foods that satisfy both requirements. In addition, I (personally) am generally leery of "prescription" diets because, in many cases, they're not all that much better than non-prescription diets, certainly not better enough to justify the price tag! I can't really offer a lot of specific help here myself because I have never had to deal with kidney disease in any of my cats, but I thought I'd mention it because it might be another area where you could realize some cost savings.

Hope this helps, and welcome again!

 

[Kate MacCorkle]

Hi De (and Pepper)! Welcome to the group. I'm so sorry to hear about Pepper's diagnosis and the huge expense of getting your cats checked out. This is stressful enough without worrying about the cost. The cheapest supplies I am aware of are the Relion brand of blood glucose meter, test strips, and lancets, available at Walmart. It's what I use and it was recommended to me here. Your vet may balk, but you can use a human meter rather than shelling out for a pricey pet-specific meter. You can trust the advice on this forum -- these are the people walking the walk, whereas many vets have never had a diabetic pet of their own.

My cat was on a special dry food for kidney related troubles (a blockage about 6 years ago in his urethra). The food was Royal Canin Urinary SO. After his diabetes diagnosis in August, I took the advice from this forum and started feeding him wet food (specifically, Fancy Feast Pates, also available at Walmart for ~$18 for 30 cans, about $0.60/can). I don't yet know how this is impacting his kidneys, but I felt that dry food was contributing to his high blood sugar since most dry foods are high in carbohydrates. My cat seems to be thriving now. Information about low carb wet food can be found here.

You may have already visited the forum for Prozinc, but if not, that is a good place to start understanding the basics. My vet started us at 1 unit of Lantus (a human insulin) and my cat is about 21 lb. I thought that was good -- it fits with a philosophy called Start low, Go Slow, which means starting with a nice low dose of insulin and gradually increasing to get the blood glucose number down. I hope your vet is similarly cautious. My cat was also above 500 when we caught the diabetes.

I learned a lot just by reading the responses to other new members on this forum, so be sure to check those out if you have the energy. The nice thing about diabetes is that it is a well trodden path, and you can and will help Pepper. My heart goes out to you!

 

[Critter Mom]

My cat was on a special dry food for kidney related troubles (a blockage about 6 years ago in his urethra). The food was Royal Canin Urinary SO. After his diabetes diagnosis in August, I took the advice from this forum and started feeding him wet food [...]. I don't yet know how this is impacting his kidneys, but I felt that dry food was contributing to his high blood sugar since most dry foods are high in carbohydrates. My cat seems to be thriving now.

In case you've not come it before, here is a very helpful resource written by Dr. Lisa Pierson:

catinfo.org - Urinary Tract Page

For info, my Saoirse was put on the RC Urinary s/o dry diet after she developed oxalate uroliths. Following her diabetes Dx I switched her to a wet low-carb diet, added a couple of teaspoons of extra water to each of her mini meals and tested her urine regularly to monitor the pH (Merck Veterinary Manual lists optimum range as 6.0-6.5). Thankfully she stayed urolith-free without the Rx food. Just thought it might be helpful to share our experiences with you.

I've been a member here for 6 years and one thing I've been struck by is the disproportionate number of members who report having fed RC Urinary s/o dry diets (regular or moderate calorie) prior to their cats becoming diabetic.


Mogs
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[jt and trouble (GA)]

WELCOME TO FDMB (sorry for the belated welcome)
You have been given excellent advice so far. We are glad you found us. I hope DCIN will be a resource you can use.
I think maybe you should start here:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
This will give you an idea on how this board works and help US help YOU more efficiently.
WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY

 

[Pookie (GA)]

Hi De. Lola and I are new here, too.

Let me start by saying that I love my vet and I want that clinic to thrive, so in some respects I'm willing to pay the markup on the supplies they sell. That said, they got 1200 of my hard-earned dollars last month. I can't keep that up long.

Lola is also on Prozinc and we were charged ~$145 for a vial. It can be bought online for around $100 at Chewy & Petco. Personally, I'm not entirely comfortable with buying a drug online that has to be refrigerated, but Petco's pharmacy partner is Express Scripts and I'm sure they have tons of experience mailing insulin for human use. I'd love to hear about other's experiences about buying insulin online. I saw at least one post referencing online sources but I didn't follow it. I plan to do so today.

My vet charges $180 for a day-long glucose curve, but I'm NOT doing that again. (My first diabetic cat - 20 years ago - didn't stress at all about going to the vet, probably because the techs absolutely doted on him. Lola is a different story - she freaks and I'm sure that made her BG rocket up. Further, they didn't give her insulin until 9a, when her usual dosing time is 6a. Small wonder her numbers were sky high!) Home testing was fraught with stress for me the first few days as I learned to get blood samples, and but even using the Alphatrak2 meter with strips that cost $1 each I'm still saving a ton of money and getting much more accurate results. To say nothing of peace of mind it gives me seeing in real time what is happening with her, and not having to wait for the vet to fit me in because "my cat just doesn't look right" or a trip to the e-vet when I'm really worried.

My vet charged us $45 for 100 of the proper syringes in a "safe pack" disposal container. That's about double the cost of buying the same thing from Chewy, but if I buy from the vet then I can return the full "safe pack" to the vet for disposal. (You can't just toss them in the garbage. The syringes and lancets are "medical waste" and must be disposed of properly.) I discovered over the weekend that my county offers free medical waste disposal for residents at 2 locations. The county says we can put the used sharps "in a rigid, puncture resistant, plastic container with a screw-on lid. Examples include empty laundry detergent bottles with screw-on lids." You might check into that for your locality. If I go that route, the cost of 100 syringes would be reduced from $45 to $20.

As others have said, welcome to the board. In the 3 days I've been here I've learned so much and am so much more confident and feel so less overwhelmed by circumstances. It's been a lifesaver for me.

E