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Becca and Vinnie

Becca and Vinnie

Member Since 2015
Hello!

I am new to this forum and I am looking for some answers, suggestions, anything to help with this. My cat Vinnie has has diabetes since Apr of this year. We were first given a prescription for Glargine but his levels were all over the place so our vet switched us to Prozinc. He has been on the Prozinc for about three weeks, his symptoms have gotten really bad, he is crying all the time like he is starving. Recently, we have discovered that he is now marking outside his litter box. All in our basement, behind his box against the wall, and was so bold tonight to urinate in our living room. I am doing everything I can to help him but I can't let him ruin our house. Please, is there anyone else that has had the same problems? Anyone have suggestions for help? I will try everything, please. Thank you.
 
Marking outside the litter box could be indicative of UTI or another medical issue. The excessive hunger is common in unregulated diabetic cats.

I am not clear why your vet switched him from Lantus to Prozinc. What dose of Prozinc is Vinnie on?
 
Right now we are giving him 2 units in the morning and 1 unit at night.

She switched us because we couldn't get a good dosage down and his numbers were all over the place, I would curve check him and his numbers would be really high so we would increase, then another curve check and they were really low.

Thank you for replying I am really confused and upset I just wish I knew what to do to make him better. I am completing another curve check tomorrow and then I am calling the vet about the urinating and hunger. I just wanted to find a place where maybe someone else has seen this or heard of these symptom and knew what to do??
 
You are in the right place by being here at FDMB. Welcome and know there are many wonderful, knowledgeable members with lots of experience here to help guide you.

I am not familiar with Lantus and ProZinc so I can't advise. I am sure other members will check and see your posts soon. Otherwise, my suggestion would be to post on the ProZinc Forum as we have many wonderful members there who can assist you and address your concerns.

I am assuming you are testing Vinnie's glucose #'s at home. If so, which meter do you use? If not, I can give you a link for how to home test.

What kind of food are you feeding Vinnie? A low carb wet/canned food diet is essential for diabetic cats.

It will help us help you if you can update info about Vinnie in your signature line. Go to your Profile and then click on signature and add in date of diagnosis, insulin and dose, meter using, food feeding and any other medical conditions, if applicable.

Also helpful will be creating a spreadsheet so others can help you more quickly:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/

ProZinc Forum: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/
 
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Thank you I see you have a ginger too! I love them so much!

I am testing at home, using the alphatrak meter. I bought it from my vet.
I have been exploring the website and found the ProZinc page and I have been reading some things.

I am feeding him 1/3 of a cup of Royal Canine Diabetic dry food

Thank you for all of your help and suggestions I will get on all of that now.
 
First of all, dump the dry food....it's all too high carb for our sugarcats (no matter what the vet tells you) BUT while you're transitioning, you'll need to make sure to keep testing because dropping down to a low carb wet food can drop the numbers up to 200 points!

Here's a complete list of foods...you want to feed something under 10% carbs (Column C)
 
And oh yeah...Welcome to the FDMB!! The best place you never wanted to be!!

If you want to continue to use the AlphaTrak, that's fine but the vast majority of us use human meters...mostly because of the cost of the strips for the AT!! When you test 4-8 times a day, paying $1 per strip is out of most of our budgets.

If you're near a WalMart, the Relion Confirm or Micro meters are great (about $15) and the strips are only $35.88 per 100 (and they're available at 3am on a Sunday morning if you need them!)

I'm betting your vet just didn't know how to use Lantus...It's a very good insulin but it seems a lot of vets don't understand how to use it correctly. ProZinc is also a good insulin for cats though so since that's what you're using, let's go with that for now.

We also have a really useful spreadsheet we use here that we'd love for you to set up and start using. Any results you already have would be really great in helping us to help you! Here are Instructions on creating the spreadsheet
 
OH WOW! OK I will ask my vet if we can make the change to wet food ASAP! THANK YOU Chris and China!

Also, just a quick question about the chart, is that for me to log Vinnie's BG numbers so others can see them? I write them down in a book now, should I transfer them to this chart??
 
Becca and Vinnie said:
Thank you I see you have a ginger too! I love them so much!

I am testing at home, using the alphatrak meter. I bought it from my vet.
I have been exploring the website and found the ProZinc page and I have been reading some things.

I am feeding him 1/3 of a cup of Royal Canine Diabetic dry food

Thank you for all of your help and suggestions I will get on all of that now.
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Becca and Vinnie said:
OH WOW! OK I will ask my vet if we can make the change to wet food ASAP! THANK YOU Chris and China!

Also, just a quick question about the chart, is that for me to log Vinnie's BG numbers so others can see them? I write them down in a book now, should I transfer them to this chart??
Click to expand...

You don't need vet approval to change to the wet food. Nor do you need Vinnie to be on an expensive prescription diet. A low carb diet can lower BG #'s significantly.

Yes, the link the spreadsheet Chris and I gave you is for other members here to see Vinnie's BG #'s. Please transfer the #'s in your log to the spreadsheet.
 
Yes...the spreadsheets are a very valuable "tool" in the toolchest for controlling diabetes....The people here will want to see it before giving you any advice on dosing

And don't be surprised if your vet says "NO!!"....they get hardly ANY education on nutrition at school and only about 5 hours TOTAL for both dogs and cats on diabetes.....the people here have years of experience in what works and what doesn't...and a low carb food is one of the most important steps

That food chart was made up by a vet who takes a keen interest in feline nutrition in general and diabetes specifically....Here's a lot more information from Dr. Lisa on Feeding Your Cat that explains a lot of reasons why no cat should be eating dry of any kind
 
ok I am inputting all of the information I have recorded for Vinnie in my chart what does "AMPS" and "PMPS" mean? I am assuming that "U" means units? And thank you for the suggestions about the meters, yes any little penny will help HUGE! I have to order the strips off Amazon and they are so expensive!
 
AMPS is the AM Pre-shot....PMPS is the PM Pre-shot

We always test before shooting to make sure they're high enough to give insulin

Yes, the U is for Units

then the + cells are for number of hours after the shot...so +3 is 3 hours after a shot, +5 is 5 hours after, etc.
 
If Vinnie is a kibble addict, the link Chris gave you above, Feeding your Cat, explains how to transition your cat off the dry food.

CJ was on insulin briefly and has been in remission since being on a low-carb canned diet so diet does make a difference!
 
OMG I was never told to start his curve check before his first insulin, I gave him is AM shot and then waited 30 mins to start his curve checks.

I may have to print that chart out about the cat food and study it, so they don't have to be on a specific diabetic vet food, it can be any low card wet food? Dang I feel like I have been doing this all wrong?! :(
 
Hi Becca and Vinnie,

Welcome to the best place you never wanted to be. Here is some info for your vet about the value of wet food for diabetics. The website is written by a vet: www.catinfo.org. Be careful when switching to monitor carefully. When we switched our Oliver from Science Diet dry (about the same high carb as your Royal Canine, he dropped 100 points from his nighttime number to the next day. We immediately dropped his dose. Here is the food chart from that website. It looks like your food is 38% carbs. We suggest staying under 8% carbs. That website has a food chart which gives you the % of carbs.

I'm glad you have looked at the PZI forum. I am guessing you saw the protocol we put together? Everyone there uses or has used ProZinc so they can help. It's good for you to see how they are dealing with things and check out their levels. Feel free to post on the forum when you are ready.

Yes, you can fill in the spreadsheet with your numbers. Amps is the morning test number, before food. U is the number of units given. PMPS is the evening test number. +1 is a number from a test one hour after the shot, +6 is a test number 6 hours after the shot. Having the numbers in the spreadsheet helps you, your vet and us see your kitty's levels and history of dosing.
 
Yeah, the test strips are one of (if not the) highest continuing costs in treating diabetes, so getting rid of the AT and going to a human meter will really help. Also, since most of us do use human meters, we're more experienced with the numbers that come with them

Again, if you ask your vet, don't be surprised if they give you some line about "human meters not working" for cats....there are hundreds of people here using them and we're doing something right!!

If you switch to a human meter, make sure you change the information on your signature line as well as making a "Line" on your spreadsheet that clearly shows you've switched. The numbers on the pet meters are a little different than human meters, but we understand that difference here!

I'd add a line to your spreadsheet now too that says something like "Alpha Trak" so people notice it when they look at it.

What a lot of us feed here is Fancy Feast Classics or Friskie's Pate's...so you can buy that at any store for a lot cheaper than a vets office or specialty food store!!

Are you only shooting once a day?

Don't feel bad!! A lot of people come to this board having trusted what their vet told them only to find out that they didn't necessarily know what they were talking about
 
Becca and Vinnie said:
OMG I was never told to start his curve check before his first insulin, I gave him is AM shot and then waited 30 mins to start his curve checks.

I may have to print that chart out about the cat food and study it, so they don't have to be on a specific diabetic vet food, it can be any low card wet food? Dang I feel like I have been doing this all wrong?! :(
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Yes, as Chris and Sue said, it can be any low carb wet food. If your cat has renal issues, then you'd want to look for a food not only low in carbs but lower in phosphorus. Fancy Feast is high in phosphorus. If Vinnie has no renal issues, Fancy Feast Classics is fine.

You've done the right thing by being here! You're going to end up being smarter than your vet when it comes to Feline Diabetes :)
 
BJM's glucometer guide is very handy. If your vet insists on using a pet-specific meter, show him/her the guide. There is no need to convert numbers.
Many of us use the human meters Chris mentioned, the ReliOn Micro or Confirm from Walmart plus the strips. The savings are great!

You need to home test daily before each shot. It would help to put all the BG #'s on one line for each day.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oI_34_EgqeKdpyttFW0oLoG1mbw16IkATAWHhoQD2JU/pub
 
Cat Ma said:
Yes, as Chris and Sue said, it can be any low carb wet food. If your cat has renal issues, then you'd want to look for a food not only low in carbs but lower in phosphorus. Fancy Feast is high in phosphorus. If Vinnie has no renal issues, Fancy Feast Classics is fine.

You've done the right thing by being here! You're going to end up being smarter than your vet when it comes to Feline Diabetes :)
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I'm not sure if he has renal issues, they have tested him for kidney problems before in the past. They did find crystals in his urine in the past, we cleared those up but I am worried since he is using outside of his litter box again that something is not right again. I do plan on calling my vet in the morning to set up an appointment. I think that is why our vet suggested to stay on his dry food, they prescribed him food with higher salt to induce his thirst so he will urinate more and flush those crystals.
 
That's just silly...make the cat thirsty so it'll drink more instead of just feeding them a food that contains a LOT more water in the first place?? :confused:

The website I linked above about Feeding Your Cat has a lot of great info on urinary tract issues too

We have lots of kitties here that have had crystals in the past and came to us on that "prescription" food.....when they switched to a canned food and increased the water, the crystals weren't a problem

You can even add more water to their diet by mixing in as much water into the canned food as you can get them to tolerate (and still eat)....the "cure" for crystals is water..the more you can get into your kitty, the better
 
Looking at your SS I think Lantus was working much better -

Usually people switch from prozinc TO lantus. With Lantus cat's can "BOUNCE". One day you'll see all greens and for a few days after that #'s will be much worse. This is typically fixed with dose consistency. Prozinc is often much harder on a cat than Lantus.
 
I agree with pevsfreedom about Lantus working better. Vinnie had some very good green #'s with Lantus. He is being poorly regulated on ProZinc. But that could change when you get Vinnie off the dry food and on low carb canned/wet food. You need to test Vinnnie's BG #'s daily each day while he's on insulin--see the ProZinc protocol for when to test.
 
For wet food I use Friskies Pate which is 48 cans for $25 typically, a lot of people use fancy feast classics which is even lower carb %.

First things first you need to get off the dry food. Also you don't need vet approval, and you definitely should not buy the vet's food if he's trying to sell it.

With Lantus you were getting some nice green #'s. Those low green's were making him jump super high the next time you did tests. The dose inconsistency was also a bit of a problem. With the curves you're running you also need to establish a pre-shot blood level so we can see what's really going on :)
 
What is obvious is that your vet didn't understand how to dose Lantus in the first place.....and without more testing on ProZinc, it's impossible to know if he could do better on it or not.

We never do increases in whole units (or even half units unless there are specific reasons for doing so) and Lantus dosing is based on how LOW it takes them, not the pre-shot numbers.

Even ProZinc dosing is based more on how low it takes them, although the Pre-shot numbers are taken into consideration more than on Lantus

The first thing I'd do is get him off the dry....and start testing before every shot and then at least once somewhere mid-cycle on the AM cycle and at least a "before bed" test at night. If you can get more tests in, that's great too! Most cats drop lower at night, so it's important to grab that "before bed" test so you know if you need to set an alarm to get up later in the cycle and get another test (or 2...or 3....) in

Think of the spreadsheet like a puzzle....if you only have a few pieces filled in along the sides, it's impossible to see what the picture is, but if you have puzzle pieces scattered throughout, it's much easier to know what the whole puzzle looks like!
 
pevsfreedom said:
Looking at your SS I think Lantus was working much better -

Usually people switch from prozinc TO lantus. With Lantus cat's can "BOUNCE". One day you'll see all greens and for a few days after that #'s will be much worse. This is typically fixed with dose consistency. Prozinc is often much harder on a cat than Lantus.
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I was really confused about this also, my vet told me if I spot check or curve check and his numbers were under 120 to call her and give him canned cat food with lots of gravey, so I started freaking out when he was on glargine and his numbers were low. But then she made a comment that those numbers were in the normal range and I didn't understand why I was trying to bring his numbers back up with the extra food? She said she was changing my insulin because his numbers were all over the place and we couldn't find just the right dose in the glargine . Should I request to switch back to the glargine??
 
I am just so so grateful I have found this forum, I have so much reading up to do and I am going to make the switch to wet food.

So just out of curiosity, I have always read to never ever change the insulin levels without checking with your vet. So do you all feel comfortable enough to make changes to your cats dosage without consulting your vet?

Another question, do you all recommend checking his BG in his ear? OR is there a better place to prick him??
 
With an alphatrak I believe the 'freak-out gravy number' is more like 68 instead of 120. Sounds like your vet was just being overly cautious in that regard. Instead of super gravy food you might have rather given a TSP of low carb wet food like Friskies Pate or Fancy Feast if you wanted to keep him around 120 and not worry about going lower. Of course under 68 you want to give some gravy lovers.

You have no idea if a dose of Lantus is working really unless you stick with that same dose for a minimum of 3 days. You also need to be testing during these days. Typically you want a AMPS test (before shooting and eating), a test anywhere from +4 to +9(to find the LOW point or NADIR of the levels) and a PMPS test, again before shooting and eating, and then a +2 at night to see what the night cycle might look like.

Many have already stated you should switch from the vet dry food to something wet under 10% carbs. That's the easiest and simply the best thing you can do, right away, without the vets OK. If they disagree they're more then likely wrong, dry food over 5-7% carbs simply isn't good for a diabetic cat.

I would also advise you buy a human meter like what I linked earlier. It will save you a ton. The vet was telling you kind of bad info in telling you to change from 2.5 units to 0, to 2 again. With Lantus you (generally) want to find a dose, stick with it for 6 cycles (3 days), and then adjust by .25 to .5 increments. Those BLACK numbers you got on 7/4/2015 were PROBABLY just 'bounces' from however low Vinnie went on 6/26/2015. When #'s go way lower then what the cat is used to, the liver can basically release stored glucose to 'protect itself' from the insulin because it's not used to it. Whenever you go low and then see HIGH numbers it might just be a bounce and is normal.
 
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Becca and Vinnie said:
I am just so so grateful I have found this forum, I have so much reading up to do and I am going to make the switch to wet food.

So just out of curiosity, I have always read to never ever change the insulin levels without checking with your vet. So do you all feel comfortable enough to make changes to your cats dosage without consulting your vet?

Another question, do you all recommend checking his BG in his ear? OR is there a better place to prick him??
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You're doing a good thing by posting here and setting up Vinnie's spreadsheet. You're definitely the biggest factor in helping Vinnie with his diabetes :) FDMB is a great place and support network. If you have any questions someone will definitely answer them (including my overly long responses! :))

I'd argue nearly everyone on here adjusts their doses without consulting the vet. When I see my vet I tell him what dose I'm giving. I did my homework and most the people here have as well so we're confident in making these decisions - and often we'll have the support of others on the forum who have years of experience with feline diabetes. Most I would argue go against what their vets say in regards to dosing :) In general you want a vet that supports home testing/dosing, though that can be hard to find. I 'use' my vet for testing/prescriptions and that's about it. I think Luna would be dead by now if I stuck with what the vet's have told me in the past.

I test Luna's ear. You can do the paw but.. I'll stick with the ear. In my signature I have a little 'how to' video that I made a few days ago that briefly shows the process and in the description there's a link to a lot more info.
 
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You can use Freestyle Lite strips with your AlphaTrak meter, they work the same. Also, Evo is a really good low carb food, even the dry is only 8.4 carbs, the canned is less than one carb. If you can't find it locally, it can be ordered from chewy.com. It's much cheaper than the stuff from the vet.
 
Mogmom and Goofus said:
You can use Freestyle Lite strips with your AlphaTrak meter, they work the same. Also, Evo is a really good low carb food, even the dry is only 8.4 carbs, the canned is less than one carb. If you can't find it locally, it can be ordered from chewy.com. It's much cheaper than the stuff from the vet.
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Good stuff but expensive as well!
 
China hasn't seen a vet for anything other than dentals and routine bloodwork for over 2 years (except for getting prescriptions for her Lantus) and when she has had to go in, I just tell the vet what dose she's on and show her my spreadsheet

If she makes suggestions, I do the "smile and nod" technique and occasionally say "I'll think about that!"....then I leave and do what the people here who have been dealing with Lantus and sugarcats for many years tell me to do.....they haven't guided me wrong yet!

We have a proven protocol that has been published in a veterinary journal that guides our dose advice...we're not just pulling doses out of the air....LOL

Whether you want to try Lantus again or continue to see how you do with ProZinc is a question we really can't answer. My personal preference is Lantus because we've had such good results from it (if you want to see China's spreadsheet, it's in our signature) but we have people who've had good luck with ProZinc too
 
Becca and Vinnie said:
So just out of curiosity, I have always read to never ever change the insulin levels without checking with your vet. So do you all feel comfortable enough to make changes to your cats dosage without consulting your vet?

Another question, do you all recommend checking his BG in his ear? OR is there a better place to prick him??
Click to expand...

If I had continued listening to my vet, CJ would have ended up in the ER. When CJ went hypo, terrific members here guided me. My vet, as great as he is, was utterly useless for diabetes-related issues.

I poke CJ's ears. Some have luck with poking their cat's paws. Whichever works best for you and your cat is fine.

Pevsfreedom has a video on home testing/poking his cat's ear in his signature line above.

Here's a link to some tips and videos: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/testing-and-shooting-tips.85113/

We suggest, starting out, that you use a 26 or 28 lancet gauge. To get blood to bead up, I use a very tiny amount of ointment such as neosporin or polysporin with a q-tip.
The key is using a very tiny amount. Too much will cause an error message on the meter. Warming up the ear beforehand is crucial. First get Vinnie used to you massaging/touching his ears and reward with a low carb treat or praise.

Home testing will ensure accurate BG readings and more correct insulin dosing and save you money and needless trips to the vet. You can easily do the curve at home, too. Vet BG #'s tend to be much higher, especially with a stressed cat, so you're not getting an accurate picture of Vinnie's true BG #'s. If the vet insists on doing the curve, just show your spreadsheets and the guides we've given you. It's hard to argue against solid evidence :)
 
I like the Relion Micro/Confirm strips because they are smaller and only requires 0.3 sample. The Bayer Contour strips, I believe, require a 0.6 sample, slightly larger. I use the Relion Micro meter because it is simple to use and smaller than the Confirm Meter.
 
Cat Ma said:
I like the Relion Micro/Confirm strips because they are smaller and only requires 0.3 sample. The Bayer Contour strips, I believe, require a 0.6 sample, slightly larger. I use the Relion Micro meter because it is simple to use and smaller than the Confirm Meter.
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They're quite a lot cheaper than Relion if I'm not mistaken (if bought online at least) - either choice is good though! :) I'm a bit of an over-researcher when it comes to saving $ so I've found the best (for the price) and cheapest stuff (which is necessary because I ain't got a lot of money).
 
It's cheaper than the Relion, yes. You get a good deal with the lancets, strips and meter. I like the convenience of running to my nearest Walmart if I am low on strips.
 
Cat Ma said:
It's cheaper than the Relion, yes. You get a good deal with the lancets, strips and meter. I like the convenience of running to my nearest Walmart if I am low on strips.
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I will say when I was starting out I wasted at least 50 strips by not having enough blood! I've learned to massage the ear better for blood :)
 
Chris & China said:
China hasn't seen a vet for anything other than dentals and routine bloodwork for over 2 years (except for getting prescriptions for her Lantus) and when she has had to go in, I just tell the vet what dose she's on and show her my spreadsheet

If she makes suggestions, I do the "smile and nod" technique and occasionally say "I'll think about that!"....then I leave and do what the people here who have been dealing with Lantus and sugarcats for many years tell me to do.....they haven't guided me wrong yet!

We have a proven protocol that has been published in a veterinary journal that guides our dose advice...we're not just pulling doses out of the air....LOL

Whether you want to try Lantus again or continue to see how you do with ProZinc is a question we really can't answer. My personal preference is Lantus because we've had such good results from it (if you want to see China's spreadsheet, it's in our signature) but we have people who've had good luck with ProZinc too
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WOW you check China a lot! I have to travel a lot for work when I'm not traveling I work all day, is it bad that I can't check Vinnie's BG that often?
 
You can only do the best you can do. You just need to find a safe dose that keeps him in a safe range. Chris tests so much because often China is riding the line ride around 50 which is considered very tight control. There's other methods that will be a little safer for you to use without being able to test as much, depending on which insulin you decide to use.

Typically you want at least 4 a day though, or a `minimum of 3. One before eating in the morning, one during the day basically, one again at night, and one before bed. If instead you can't get one during the day you might set an alarm during the night to get one then, but you basically want at minimum 3. In essence you need to know the # BEFORE you shoot, so you know the dose is safe, and try and find at what point the #'s are LOWEST, because that's when things like hypoglyemcia can occur, and also how we decide on changing doses.
 
If you can get 3-4 tests in per day, that's enough to do Tight Regulation using Lantus but it can be done! If you absolutely can't get tests in during the AM cycle, it's just that much more important to get test on the PM cycle and whenever you're home get more during the AM cycle

Here's a thread on "Can you do Tight Regulation with a full time job"? with suggestions on how others here have done it

There are 2 protocols that we use with Lantus though...One is Tight Regulation and it gives your cat the best chance at remission. This is the protocol that's been published and most of us that use Lantus use

The other one is Start Low, Go Slow

The main differences is how often you make dose adjustments and at what levels...On TR, we may change the dose as often as every 6 cycles or if they drop below 50 (on human) or 68 on the AlphaTrak

With SLGS, dose adjustments are only made once a week or if they drop below 90 on a human meter (about 120 on AT)

You will need to make some decisions though...Which insulin are you going to use (and you can change later if you decide to) and if you choose Lantus, which protocol is more comfortable for you (and you can change this too if you decide to later)
 
Becca and Vinnie said:
WOW you check China a lot! I have to travel a lot for work when I'm not traveling I work all day, is it bad that I can't check Vinnie's BG that often?
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Other than for the occasional curve, I tested Goof am and pm, right before feeding. I work all day so testing though out the day wasn't possible. He's in remission now so I test once a week, just keep an eye on things.
 
pevsfreedom said:
Good stuff but expensive as well!
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True, it is more expensive than Friskies, but my cats won't touch that, and the smell of it makes me gag. But, compared to Fancy Feast, it's actually the same price or very slightly cheaper. And they eat so little of the dry, which is about $38 for 15lbs, one bag lasts about 3-4 months.
 
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I am just so grateful for all the information and all the feed back. I seriously have my homework cut out for me! I just want to do whatever it takes to make my lil man feel better, I can tell he isn't. I just want to thank you all again for listening to me and helping me navigate through this website, I've never been apart of a forum so this is all new to me. I know this is going to be the best place to get information and vent and laugh with all of you. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart!

Another question did pop up in my mind. My vet did a formula to determine how much I should be feeding Vinnie, when I make the change to wet food is there a "formula" for how much wet food I should be feeding him? I saw in the "Transitioning Feline Dry Food Addicts to Canned Food Lisa A. Pierson, DVM" article she says 4- 6 ounces in 2 - 3 meals. But it wasn't clear if it was for diabetic cats or normal cats making the switch, any thoughts?
 
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Deep breath- you are doing great :-)
Rudy has been on both lantus and prozinc. Prozinc for about 7 months- didn't regulate him well enough. We went to a better quality food- one that didn't have "meat by-products" on the label- grain free and also switched to lantus. He has been insulin free for two weeks now :-) food plays a big part of these numbers.
We tested him before each shot and then tried to get a curve on the weekend since we both work and have four kids. We do what we can do.
As far as how much food, there are forumulas that are used- not sure where that post is, but my understanding is that they are very hungry when they are un-regulated, so you want to feed what they want to eat. Quality of food matters too. Rudy ate way more when he was on friskies and now eats less of the wellness due to the content of the food itself.
 
Removing high carb food from the diet can reduce the glucose from 100-200 mg/dL (and for really carb-sensitive cat, 300 mg/dL has been reported).

Also see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools, as your cat is more than a glucose number.
 
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SO! Update, I went out and got wet food for Vinnie based on the chart everyone sent me. I mixed half wet and half dry...I don't think I am going to have problem making the switch. Vinnie almost jumped on the counter the second I opened the can! Also, I checked his BG this morning and it was 407!!! It has NEVER started that low, seriously could it be from just half wet food already! I have a really good feeling about this, I think this is going to be his answer for sure! HOW CAN I THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH! Going to vet today to make sure his bladder and kidneys are ok, and hopefully he will stop urinating outside his litter boxes.
 
Welcome, and you are doing great! And yes, taking out half of the dry can make that big of a difference. Just think what taking it all away could do?
I work full time as well, and you can see from Shiloh's spreadsheet, I tested when I could during the week and then tested like a fiend most weekends to get a better idea of how she was doing.
 
pevsfreedom said:
I will say when I was starting out I wasted at least 50 strips by not having enough blood! I've learned to massage the ear better for blood :)
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What gauge lancet are you using? I had trouble too, until BJM said try a larger gauge. I use ReliOn 26 gauge for alternate sites, and now have no problems. I use it on his ear though.
 
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