Marvie and Tugger
Very Active Member
Venita and I have been working with a lady here in Va Bch who has a diabetic kitty, Song. Song's mom is needle phobic so the vet put Song on glipizide. We have been working with Ann to get Song on an appropriate diet, which does seem to be helping a bit. Her first fructosimine was in the 500's (I think that's what she said on the phone.) She has been feeding DM wet and dry (I believe the dry is most of the problem) along with a bit of beef FF and some Beechnut Beef baby food, since Song is willing to eat Beef FF I suggested she dump the DM completely and feed the FF. She says Song seems much perkier when she eats the FF Beef, more than when she eats the DM. This leads me to think dumping the hc crap might help. Oh, she puts the pill in with the food, a bit of baby food with the FF all mixed up and Song eats it fine. Ann is very willing to dump the dry and canned DM and feed Song LC FF.
She recently removed chicken from Song's diet because whenever she feed it Song gets liqui-poo but says the beef does not do that. Also suggested dumping chicken and sticking with beef if that makes Song happy and keeps her eating low carb. She says Song does sometimes get picky and will refuse to eat unless there is kibble on it. I suggested Evo and Wellness and Ann said that she's tried Evo and it was a failure. I suggested she try Wellness Core and use it only as a last resort and will show her freeze dried treats as an alternative if it's just that Song needs to have her interest stirred to get the eating started, maybe that would do it. It does for Bella, but sometimes I still have to put a few pieces of kibble on her food and then she gobbles it all down and licks the bowl clean ohmygod_smile
Ann said the vet told her not to give two pills but he also told her to feed DM dry ohmygod_smile so.... I know nothing at all about this pill or how to dose it or if that would need be adjusted up at all at some point but if the food change works and her numbers come down... how will we adjust to prevent hypo other than skipping a dose? 1/2 a pill? 3/4? I'm not sure the pill's dosage but can call Ann later today to find out if need be. I don't know if this pill is dosed based on weight of the cat or based on numbers. Song is not overweight that I know of. Other than seeing to be sensitive to chicken she is healthy overall, again as far as I know. No other health problems have been mentioned.
Ann is NOT currently home testing. The only numbers we have are fructosimine numbers. I will be showing her how to test on Monday. I am hoping we can work around her needle phobia at least for this by using the lancet device. We will try anyway =) Ann and her sister will be coming over to my house on Monday afternoon, I'll use Tugger as a test subject and maybe pick on Bella if we need to work with a fractious kitty (Ann doesn't think Song will tolerate testing well)
I plan to print a copy of J&B's food list for Ann to take home with her (forgot to mention Ann is not computer savvy) Any suggestions for other things I can print off for her to take home? Other than, you know, everything. :lol: Someone really needs to write a book. Seriously.
Does anyone know the carb content of the DM wet and dry? I know it's higher than the beef FF (3%) but I would like to give Ann accurate info and I am not seeing it on the list?
Below is the most recent email from Ann. She is very worried that she will not be able to handle insulin shots because of her needle fears so we are trying diet for now. She's afraid she will have to give Song up if it comes down to shots. I am hoping that dumping the dry and home testing will get this under some sort of control. If anyone has any other ideas or suggestions, I'm all ears!
She recently removed chicken from Song's diet because whenever she feed it Song gets liqui-poo but says the beef does not do that. Also suggested dumping chicken and sticking with beef if that makes Song happy and keeps her eating low carb. She says Song does sometimes get picky and will refuse to eat unless there is kibble on it. I suggested Evo and Wellness and Ann said that she's tried Evo and it was a failure. I suggested she try Wellness Core and use it only as a last resort and will show her freeze dried treats as an alternative if it's just that Song needs to have her interest stirred to get the eating started, maybe that would do it. It does for Bella, but sometimes I still have to put a few pieces of kibble on her food and then she gobbles it all down and licks the bowl clean ohmygod_smile
Ann said the vet told her not to give two pills but he also told her to feed DM dry ohmygod_smile so.... I know nothing at all about this pill or how to dose it or if that would need be adjusted up at all at some point but if the food change works and her numbers come down... how will we adjust to prevent hypo other than skipping a dose? 1/2 a pill? 3/4? I'm not sure the pill's dosage but can call Ann later today to find out if need be. I don't know if this pill is dosed based on weight of the cat or based on numbers. Song is not overweight that I know of. Other than seeing to be sensitive to chicken she is healthy overall, again as far as I know. No other health problems have been mentioned.
Ann is NOT currently home testing. The only numbers we have are fructosimine numbers. I will be showing her how to test on Monday. I am hoping we can work around her needle phobia at least for this by using the lancet device. We will try anyway =) Ann and her sister will be coming over to my house on Monday afternoon, I'll use Tugger as a test subject and maybe pick on Bella if we need to work with a fractious kitty (Ann doesn't think Song will tolerate testing well)
I plan to print a copy of J&B's food list for Ann to take home with her (forgot to mention Ann is not computer savvy) Any suggestions for other things I can print off for her to take home? Other than, you know, everything. :lol: Someone really needs to write a book. Seriously.
Does anyone know the carb content of the DM wet and dry? I know it's higher than the beef FF (3%) but I would like to give Ann accurate info and I am not seeing it on the list?
Below is the most recent email from Ann. She is very worried that she will not be able to handle insulin shots because of her needle fears so we are trying diet for now. She's afraid she will have to give Song up if it comes down to shots. I am hoping that dumping the dry and home testing will get this under some sort of control. If anyone has any other ideas or suggestions, I'm all ears!
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Yes, I admit that I start getting a bit sweaty (hence stress), and I just try and calm down. Cats are extremely sensitive to our moods, and "feel" what we're going through. So, the sooner you can tamp down those fears, the better you and your cat will be, and the smoother the medicine times will become, as well.