Cali's Diabetes

[Melissa Fletcher]

Hello all, I am reposting this in the health forum as I could always use advice on diet and testing. I have added more info about my cat in my profile but I'll put them here, as well.

My cat Cali is a 9-year old long haired Manx. She was hospitalized w/ DKA and a UTI in late November, early December) but was cleared of the DKA before they let her go home had a full course of antibiotics for the UTI (I can't remember what kind). I test her blood sugar twice daily with the Alpha Trak 2 system and she gets 3 units twice a day about 10-12 hrs apart. I can't recall if she's had her urine tested during post hospital vet visits, but she might have.

Cali has two brothers Teddy and Frankie and they all eat a combination of wet and dry Propan DM prescription catfood. Cali eats mostly wet, but I put out both because not everyone likes the wet food. Teddy hates it. I've been really bad about putting it up before I go to work or go to bed mainly because Cali occasionally has a day where she doesn't want to eat and it scares me to not have something there if she might want to eat later.

Below is my original post and I'm so sorry to be so wordy. My main issues now are my frustrations with the test strips not always wanting to work and how quickly we go through the food. Doing the Sub Q insulin injection on a long-haired and sometimes tense cat can be challenging, too. Usually I get it, but today I bent the needle and I worry about trying again till the next dosage.

Hi, my cat Cali was diagnosed back in late November. She was hospitalized for several days with ketones and a UTI and has been on insulin several ever since. Cali has been doing steadily better, though her blood sugar still runs high most of the time. Occasionally, she'll have a funk where she doesn't want to eat, but so far she's come through, thank God and knock on wood.
I guess I just need a place for practical advice and I do have questions. What kind of blood sugar monitoring system do you use? I use an Alpha trak 2, but I am really frustrated with it because every other strip seems to be a dud and those things are $50 for a jar of 50!

How do you manage diabetes in a multiple cat home? I have three indoor cats. In my house, everybody gets the prescription diet except the outside cat and I feel bad I can't really give any of them treats anymore especially when I want to reward them for doing something good.

What do you do when you are out of prescription food? My cats eat both wet and dry. The dry seems to stretch pretty well but they can go through two cases of wet in a month. Luckily, one of my cats doesn't like the wet food. Cali, on the other hand, prefers the wet and I'm terrified she'll decide not to eat if I don't have it. Are there non-prescription foods you can use in a pinch?

I know these are probably considered health questions. I also want to thank the forum for Mr. Sock - a sock filled with rice that I use to warm her ears before pricking them for blood samples. It's one poke and done - unless I get a bunch of dud strips, but that's another story.

 

[Idjit's mom]

Good morning Melissa. I'm so glad to see this posting in the Main Health forum so you can get answers to your questions. First, most of us use Fancy Feast Classics and Friskies pates (no gravies or sauces) as they are low carbohydrate and more affordable than the veterinary diets. The Pro Plan DM wet is low enough carbs, but IMO too expensive. Look at the food chart here to compare protein, fat, phosphorus, carbs and calories:
https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
Also Dr. Pierson's feline nutrition website is https://catinfo.org/
Here is some information about dry food that is very important to know: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...r-more-than-just-carbohydrate-content.175004/
Many members have transitioned a multi cat household to an all wet low carb diet, because it's healthier, and then high carb dry food is just not available to the diabetic cat. There are also a few low/no carb dry foods available, however they are more expensive. There may be a low carb wet food that your exclusively dry food eater will like and can be transitioned to entirely to a wet diet.
Many of us use Pure Bites freeze dried chicken for treats, we buy the big bag for dogs and just break it up to smaller cat bite sized pieces. More cost effective. I use pieces of boiled or baked chicken for treats and Idjit gets raw gizzards and hearts that he gnaws with great pleasure (good for his teeth). Both are inexpensive goodies. Dried bonito flakes from your local Asian food store might be an option, if your cats like tuna, or the water drained from a can of tuna. I freeze it into cubes in ice trays and dole it out carefully because of the sodium content.
Consider getting a human glucose monitor, the strips are less expensive and more readily available. Many members use the ReliOn Prime from Walmart, it does require a slightly larger blood sample than the pet meter, but 100 strips are less than $20.00. Many of us used the ReliOn Confirm or Micro that was discontinued at Walmart, but the Arkray Glucocard 01 meter and strips are the same thing, and take that same small blood sample as the AlphaTrak. You still have to order strips online however, and that may not be a good option for you at this time. @JanetNJ uses Freestyle InsulinX strips in her AlphaTrak with great success, and gets her strips on EBay for lower cost.
Regarding your bent needle with the insulin injection, never shoot again, you do not know how much insulin actually got where it was supposed to go. Wait until next injection time.
Please set up your signature with Cali's info, I only see your name. I do see that the info is in your profile but it's better to have it displayed with each of your posts.
1. Set up your signature (light grey text under a post). Here's how:
click on your name in the upper right corner of this page
click on "signature" in the menu that drops down
type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using /glucose meter you're using/what (s)he eats/any other meds or health issues (s)he has.
2. Another thing that will help us help you now that you've started BG testing at home is to set up a spreadsheet like the one we use here. We can all see it and look at it before offering advice:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
You may wish to read the information at the top of the Lantus forum, and post there. 3 Units is a high beginning dose and you may want to get some advice from the experienced Lantus users on that issue, however they will ask for that testing data to see how the insulin is affecting Cali, so get the spreadsheet up and the data plugged in.
I hope this helps answer some of your questions, and I'm sure that other members will chime in. You have begun so well and are dealing with all the changes the diagnosis make in your life. Keep reading, learning and asking questions.

 

[Asiina & Alex(GA)]

Hi!

I'm not sure what you mean by test strips being a dud? Are they not reading when you touch them to the blood? That can sometimes happen if you don't get a big enough blood drop, but if you remove it and put it in again you'll get an error since it considers it "used" so before the machine turns off (you have a minute or two) try to get a bigger drop of blood and you can use the same strip.

As for the food, I'm in a 2 cat household and going from wet and dry to only wet, I've had to double the amount of wet food. Before it was 1 can between them per day and now it's 2 1/4 cans. If you're worried about unequal feeding, you can separate them to eat. I keep some dry food for my non-diabetic cat and will sometimes close the door to my bedroom with him and a small bowl of it and let him eat some to make sure he's eating enough, since the diabetic cat is a bit of a piggy and the non-diabetic one gets spooked off food easily.

If you need prescription food for other reasons you can get it, but I (and many others) here use Friskies or Fancy Feast for their diabetic cats as they are high in protein. There's a list of which kinds are best, but you don't necessarily need to get the very expensive kind. I buy a box of 12 for $7 that lasts a little less than a week, so it's a little more than when it was that and dry food but not prohibitively so.