My kitty was diagnosed two weeks ago and I took her in for her second BG test (her first was before she was on insulin). Her first BG test was at 327. The Vet put her on 1 unit of ProZinc, but when I took her in today her BG was 482. I've changed Mei Li's diet to low carb canned food twice a day so her BG should be going down. My vet says everything is fine and the raise is normal and is insisting she stay on the Purina DM kibble. I know the rise is bad because my mom has diabetes and if her blood sugar was that high I'd be rushing her to the doctor, but my Vet is acting like everything is ok. She won't even really talk to me about BG testing at home accept to say don't do it, and never even warned me about the possibility of hypoglycemia much less what to watch for or how to treat it. So needless to say my Vet is useless and is just draining my bank instead of helping my cat and I don't know what to believe from her or not. Does anyone know if the spike in BG is normal or what might be causing it, and if there's other insulin that works like ProZinc that isn't as expensive (it's $120 for 40 units), and if there's a good vet in Aurora, CO that knows how to treat this better then mine.
BG it Keeps going up instead of down.
- Thread starter Ray_MeiLi
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Alix
Member Since 2012
Hi and welcome to the forum
You will get scads of information here and it is overwhelming. But you will get there.
It is vital to home test - how do you know if your kitten needs the insulin and there is the chance you may give her to much. Ask your mom if she would give herself insulin without testing!!
There are some cats who after switching from dry food to wet become diet regulated and do not need insulin anymore - with luck your kitten could be one of these lucky cats.
Your mom may even have a spare BG meter and there are lots of videos to teach you how to test.
IMO, I think you need a new vet that has experience with feline diabetes!!
Good luck and welcome,
Alix & Scamp
You will get scads of information here and it is overwhelming. But you will get there.
It is vital to home test - how do you know if your kitten needs the insulin and there is the chance you may give her to much. Ask your mom if she would give herself insulin without testing!!
There are some cats who after switching from dry food to wet become diet regulated and do not need insulin anymore - with luck your kitten could be one of these lucky cats.
Your mom may even have a spare BG meter and there are lots of videos to teach you how to test.
IMO, I think you need a new vet that has experience with feline diabetes!!
Good luck and welcome,
Alix & Scamp
Wendy&Tiggy(GA)
Member Since 2011
Welcome to the forum, you made a great decision coming here and I hope we can help you!
Firstly, you need to be aware the just the act of being at a vets will spike the cats blood sugar, so 482 may not be anything near her BG when she is home. That's where home testing is very useful.This forum offers free kits but your mum may have an old one you can use since human ones work just as well. If not, pop to Walmart and pick up a cheap and reliable Relion.
Changing to low carb food is great but you should home test because her BG may drop without the constant rising due to the kibble . But she may be bouncing up and down, but with home testing you will be able to set up a spreadsheet and track that to get a better idea of what's going on.There are links in the forum on how to home test. Let me know if you can't find them.
The prozinc does sound expensive. We generally recommend lantus or levemir. They can be around $150 for a 10ml vial but that's 1000 units! Plus they are the best insulins for getting a cat into remission which is even better!
Let me know if you need more information or gave questions.
Firstly, you need to be aware the just the act of being at a vets will spike the cats blood sugar, so 482 may not be anything near her BG when she is home. That's where home testing is very useful.This forum offers free kits but your mum may have an old one you can use since human ones work just as well. If not, pop to Walmart and pick up a cheap and reliable Relion.
Changing to low carb food is great but you should home test because her BG may drop without the constant rising due to the kibble . But she may be bouncing up and down, but with home testing you will be able to set up a spreadsheet and track that to get a better idea of what's going on.There are links in the forum on how to home test. Let me know if you can't find them.
The prozinc does sound expensive. We generally recommend lantus or levemir. They can be around $150 for a 10ml vial but that's 1000 units! Plus they are the best insulins for getting a cat into remission which is even better!
Let me know if you need more information or gave questions.
Sue and Oliver (GA)
Member Since 2009
Welcome from another Coloradoan. Yes, we do have people in Denver, so I will send out some messages to see if we had get some vet suggestions.
proZinc is a good mild insulin that works for many cats. Once you start testing at home (we figure we wouldn't give our two legged children insulin without testing first; we do the same for our four legged ones. You do not need your vet's permission to hometest) you will be able to see how the dose is working - whether the number stays flat during the cycle and the dose needs to be raised or whether your kitty is bouncing between high and low numbers. Once you have some data, not only will you feel more in control, but you will be able to work with the insulin instead of guessing what it is doing.
Here is a thread with lots of good links and info about hometesting.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287
You could definitely get started with your Mother's meter and strips. We'd suggest a bigger gauge lancet than most people use. For new cat diabetics, 25-27 gauge may work best.
Let us know how we can help. It is scary and overwhelming; we all felt that way at first. It gets easier fast; we want to help.
proZinc is a good mild insulin that works for many cats. Once you start testing at home (we figure we wouldn't give our two legged children insulin without testing first; we do the same for our four legged ones. You do not need your vet's permission to hometest) you will be able to see how the dose is working - whether the number stays flat during the cycle and the dose needs to be raised or whether your kitty is bouncing between high and low numbers. Once you have some data, not only will you feel more in control, but you will be able to work with the insulin instead of guessing what it is doing.
Here is a thread with lots of good links and info about hometesting.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287
You could definitely get started with your Mother's meter and strips. We'd suggest a bigger gauge lancet than most people use. For new cat diabetics, 25-27 gauge may work best.
Let us know how we can help. It is scary and overwhelming; we all felt that way at first. It gets easier fast; we want to help.
Thanks everyone for your advice . My mom is giving me a blood meter and strips to get me started so I will be home testing wither the vet wants me to or not. I'm just feeling so over whelmed with out any help from the one person who is supposed to know what I need to do to keep my baby healthy. I'm interviewing a new vet tomorrow but I want to look into multiples so I have the best option, and find out if I can switch her to a different insulin. Once again thank you all so much.
Martica and Fred
Member Since 2010
I have found that I know more --from this forum mainly--than any vet I"ve ever encountered--during my time with 2 diabetic cats. So just know that you should research everything here and other places first and ask your vet's opinion but don't be afraid to questioins or do something differnetly--ESPECIALLY with dosing--they ALL tend to overdose with the insulin--that's hwat I've found. They do NOT know the nuances of matching the feeding up and certainly in nutrition knowledge etc. I hate to slam vets but this is from many many misdiagnosis, overdoses--one vet sent my cat into hypo repeatedly, and other things...so it's only borne of experience.
You're in good hands here, have confidence in yourself and follow the guidelines--go slow, give things time...
Also, just so you know, cats for whatever reason seem to be able to stay at higher numbers with less obvious ill effects than humans. My cat Fred was diabetic from 15-20 years old. He was never totally regulated, always on the higher side with BGs, but he lived to a ripe old age. If anything I found that less insuline was more, especially as we got farther along--my biggest mistake may have been giving him too much in the earlier years--and I was only giving him 1 -- 1.5 units of Lantus BID.
good luck, youll be fine!
You're in good hands here, have confidence in yourself and follow the guidelines--go slow, give things time...
Also, just so you know, cats for whatever reason seem to be able to stay at higher numbers with less obvious ill effects than humans. My cat Fred was diabetic from 15-20 years old. He was never totally regulated, always on the higher side with BGs, but he lived to a ripe old age. If anything I found that less insuline was more, especially as we got farther along--my biggest mistake may have been giving him too much in the earlier years--and I was only giving him 1 -- 1.5 units of Lantus BID.
good luck, youll be fine!
cjaubz
Member Since 2009
Hello from another member from Denver. Welcome to the forum. I would highly recommend my vet. She is a mobile vet, supports low carb wet food, home testing, and lantus.
Her name is Laurie Lowery. She can be found at www.denver-mobile-vet.com. You can also find great reviews on her at Angie's list.
Hope this helps
Cj
Her name is Laurie Lowery. She can be found at www.denver-mobile-vet.com. You can also find great reviews on her at Angie's list.
Hope this helps
Cj
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