12-22-20 New Member - Buddy

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Jessica5Cats

Jessica5Cats

Member Since 2020
:cat: Hi there!

I am mom to Buddy the cat (approx 8-9 years old) who was diagnosed just last week with diabetes. He had his 1 week check up today where the vet did a blood glucose curve. His numbers were still too high, so I have to increase his insulin to 2 units 2X a day. His next appt will be in 14 days. I will be ordering a glucometer and the vet will show me how to use it at his next appt. I already bought some Karo corn syrup for my emergency kit!

Buddy is a sweet and gentle boy. He doesn't seem to even notice the shots most of the time!

I stopped feeding him dry food (except one or two treats). He's having Friskies pate. He is still losing weight, so the vet said to increase the amount of wet food to 2-3 cans a day! (He is currently having 1/5 a can 2X a day and 1/5 a small Fancy Feast can 1X a day.)

I look forward to joining this community and educating myself with the resources here so I can help my Buddy live a happy and healthy life!
 
Hello and welcome to you and Buddy!

What kind of insulin are you using? Going from 1 to 2U is a big jump for a cat's little body. We usually do only 0.25U at a time, to be sure we don't skip the perfect dose. It's great that you're going to start home-testing blood glucose-- that's really the best way to figure out the right dose, and keep him safe while doing it. :cat:

When did you remove the dry from his diet completely? Often, that change alone can decrease insulin needs greatly, so that's another reason it's lucky you are going to be testing BG.

Let us know if you have any questions about any of this! FD can be a little overwhelming at first, but it sounds like both you and Buddy are taking it all in stride :).

Welcome again!
 
Hi and thanks for your welcome and questions!

The insulin is ProZinc 40 units per mL. I hope that answers your question because this is all new to me.

Oh dear, I am scared to make the increase as I don't yet have the glucometer or know how to use it, or what his levels should be.

I stopped his dry food a week ago. I've still been giving him a few sprinkles a day though, like maybe 10 kibbles. Maybe that's why his levels are still high?

I can tell he misses the dry food. And he's been hungrier since I stopped giving it as I used to. Plus he's still losing weight. I started increasing the wet food today, and no more dry food at all now!
 
Even a few pieces of dry food can increase glucose levels. Right now, his body does not process food properly and that is why he is hungry. You will need to increase the amount of canned food and may want to feed multiple times during the day. Once his glucose levels stabilize, you should see a decrease in his begging.

Also, if you have multiple cats, if any others are still eating dry, you want to convert them over to canned food also. This will decrease the risk of any of the others developing FD and keep Buddy from sneaking into their food.
 
There's no reason. you can't get a glucometer. Most of us use a human meter. The meter that has the least expensive strips is Walmart's Relion brand. We also have lots of information on home testing. This is something you can learn to do on your own if you really want to.

In most cases, we increase the insulin dose by 0.25u. A full unit increase could cause you to inadvertently zoom past what could be a good dose for your cat. There is information on dosing with Prozinc in the Prozinc forum.

There are a few things you can do that will help us to help you. There is information in this link about how to set up your signature so there's basic information about your cat, the insulin you're using, any other medical issues, etc. There's also information on how to set up a spreadsheet and link it to your signature so you can track Clara's progress and so we can see what's going on and offer feedback or other suggestions.
 
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