Amy and Kirby...New to Feline Diabetes

[Amy Lynn]

Hello Everyone!!!

My name is Amy and my furbaby is Kirby and we are from Mountain Home, Idaho. Kirby was recently diagnosed with feline diabetes and begins his insulin regimen on Thursday. Our vet has elected to start him on Prozinc, although after this first round I believe we will be switching to Lantus based on the overall feedback from members on this forum and FaceBook.

We have already meet several wonderful people and I'm sure we are going to become fast friends with while we begin our journey into getting Kirby healthy again.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Welcome.
ProZinc is a good insulin and I would not consider changing until y find out how it works
Most of us here test or cats blood glucose at home using a human meter. We test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/
What are you feeding? A low-carb canned is best. Not reason for a prescription food. Here is a list of commercial low-carb cannedhttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

Here is a link to home testing blood sugarshttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

 

[Tara & Ivana (GA)]

Hi Amy, welcome! Kirby is just gorgeous This board is full of wonderful people, Kirby is in great hands with your care.

 

[BJM]

Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.