Hello Everybody

[Melissa Fletcher]

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]

Hello and welcome, Melissa and Cali. You are in exactly the right place to find answers to your questions. What I suggest you do is copy your message here in the Intro forum and go to the Main Health forum, begin a new thread and just paste the message.
That way more members will see your questions and start getting you some answers.
I'm so sorry that Cali had a bad experience with DKA and the UTI. Poor baby, and because of the ketones she is going to need some extra attention to her diet and blood sugar levels, and testing her urine for ketones to avoid another event.
The prescription food is not necessary, it's too high in carbs for a diabetic cat, and not usually good for any cat, particularly dry food. There are excellent, more cost effective alternatives.
So, ok, there is information about feeding dry food, and a food chart at the top of the Main Health forum where I have asked you to post HERE
Check out www.catinfo.org for more feline nutrition and diet information too.
I will tell you here that most of us use a human glucose meter because of the cost and availability of strips. I began with an AlphaTrak2 also on the vet's advice but changed because I just couldn't afford the strips and the wait time to receive them.

Create your signature so that Cali's information is available to responding members:
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. It's always helpful if you put in a geographic location in your profile information or the signature, as sometimes time zones make a difference.

Another thing that will help us help you since you are 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/

I don't want to overwhelm you with too much information all at once, but I hope you have had the time to read through the Getting Started and the Education sections on the Home page. Lots of good information for new members to help on the beginning steps of this new journey.

Best wishes going forward!

 

[JanetNJ]

The alpha is a great meter. It's less expensive if you use freestyle insulinx strips in it. Insulinx are available on amazon or you can often get a good deal on eBay.