Bootsie was diagnosed 12/9/ and it has been a long road to get treatment started but he will start senvelgo on Monday. This thread does not look as active as some but thought I would introduce myself here. Any help always appreciated. For those of you a little further down the road with senvelgo is there anything you did that you feel really helped or that you would change if you had to do over. I am using pretty litter , have ketostrips and a hypo tool box ready. I feed low carb wet food 4 times a day. I have followup appointments at vet for rechecks on day 3, 7, 14 and 28. suggestions ? advise?
bootsie --- senvelgo starting.
- Thread starter PLUAC
- Start date
Glassgoblin
Member Since 2018
Hello, We just started last month, and have our one month vet visit tomorrow (just a couple days late.) Testing has helped me a lot- maybe because I am a control freak but also because it lets you measure the impact of the meds and watch for any DKA or hypo signs quickly. Your signature mentions Prozinc? I keep hoping if more of us share Senvelgo experiences it will help others with future diabetic kitties.
Hey, The first vet Bootsie saw did not check ketones, or fructosamine and made several comments about not needing to check at home. She ordered prozinc, but had to special order it for me. Because of her comments and casualness was so at odds with what I was seeing on this site--and the insulin though paid for never came--I got a second opinion at another vet. He said Bootsie was a good candidate for senvelgo. I. decided to try senvelgo first just for simplicity. I'm not sure how to change my signature but think I got it changed on my spread sheet. I am nervous about starting this drug and was glad to see your successful story. What kind of test schedule do you do? Do you test blood ketones at home? Do you weigh Electra at home?
Glassgoblin
Member Since 2018
I try to do a ketone (urine) test strip once daily but the timing depends on when I can catch Electra headed for the litter boxes. I bought several disposable paper cups and plastic cups and I can "catch" the testing sample as she pees. I test blood glucose (usually) once each day at about 3-5 hrs after she gets her meds. I have not tried a curve test yet, but it would be interesting to see how her bg changes over the 24 hr period. I have a digital baby scale I use to weigh my cats, and it is pretty close to what my vet office has, so I think it is pretty accurate.
I was really worried about starting this drug after seeing several horror stories online, but I know my Vet did a lot of research and made sure the blood and UA tests showed Electra was in the right spot for this drug; the papers that come with the meds have specific tests mentioned so if you got copies of your cat's blood tests you can look at how they compare. I read the inserts a few times for advice on how to give the meds and what to look for; they have a great website also. Document as much as possible- if anything does go wrong they promise to cover the switch to Prozinc, or emergency vet costs. My last diabetic cat was on Prozinc, so I know that is a good insulin, and if we had to switch it would be my first choice.
I can not imagine being able to catch pee--for now I have some non absorbent litter, but will try catching--lol. I just read the insert twice--and almost had a panic attack! I am retired and home with Bootsie a lot and will intentionally be home even more this first month. Do a glucose 3-5 hours in--good to know...and my vet did not tell me that. I am about terrified to give him this stuff-but I do have a who I think is a good vet now and will monitor as well as I can.. I may order a baby scale. Thank you for the support and tips--I hope I don't need it but good to know they will pay to have switched to insulin if fails.
Glassgoblin
Member Since 2018
My Vet told me that the first two weeks are the most critical and that if your cat is likely to have a bad reaction (like DKA) it will most likely happen in that time period. The testing mostly makes me feel comfortable about how she is reacting to the meds; I note all kinds of things on my spreadsheet to track her behavior and attitude also, and shared it with my Vet so it can be reviewed before our appointments. If I forget something later I still have that record, which helps. ( I have three cats and four litter boxes, so I have to be on hand for samples or I can't be sure which cat is the contributor.)
Lol-- I have 4 cats and 4 litter boxes and haven't figured that out yet - but think maybe once a day I will shut bootsie in my bed /bath area with the "special litter box" and just sit with him till he pees- I can always clean a drawer or read-lol. With 3 cats how do you handle feeding- I have always free fed and now am feeding all wet 4-5 times a day ( like split a 6 ounce can 4 ways multiple times a day). All 4 heads go down but anything left- bootsie and his brother clean up. All 4 cats have lost weight since I start feeding low carb - and they all needed to. My vet said maybe feed a prescription diet and gave me a script for royal canin DM and Hill's Md. It is higher fiber and carb and lower protein than fussie cat and weruva and just as expensive . I've been trying to stay really low carb -like less than 3 % since it has taken so long to get him on medicine. Is that too low? What do you feed? Suggestions? My other male has had trouble in the past with urinary crystals so no dry.
Glassgoblin
Member Since 2018
I haven't changed food much yet- Electra liked Fancy Feast and has been eating it for years, and the younger two are more adventurous but like Weruva, Tiki, FF, and they all like the dry foods we have had. As we switch for the allergy trial I will take away the FF and only use the new food as the dry- the Weruva can still be out until Electra decides she is desperate and tries to eat it. Dr. Elsey's dry foods are quite low carb (4-7% average) and I am waiting to get more answers from Chewy on a couple other dry food carb content.