Hello everyone!!!

[Sofiecusion]

Hello. My name is Lacey. I have been a cat owner my whole life. I have 3 cats Summer, Chevy, and Kira. My youngest kitty Kira who is almost 5 was diagnosed with diabetes last month when I brought her to the vet for a possible upper respiratory infection. Vet check blood for possible asthma. She does not have asthma however her glucose levels were high. She was treated for an upper respiratory infection and then rechecked. Her urine glucose levels were also high. She also had a slight bladder infection which was cleared up also with antibiotics. Tried her on DM for a month and then just got her rechecked last week. My vet said her numbers are higher than before and she began 1 unit of insulin once a day since Monday. Her recheck is in a month. So far its been going okay and its its not as bad as I thought. She's the sweetest and best behaved kitty we have. She hasnt been showing too many symptoms other than drinking a lot of water and some weight loss. Thanks for reading and I look forward to getting to know all of you! I am so happy this forum exists!

 

[Alix]

Welcome Lacey, I am glad you found this forum!! Poor Kira has had a bad go of it lately but she is now on the road to good health (albeit a diabetic)!! What kind of insulin is Kira on? And have you started home testing yet? In my opinion, home testing is vital as there are a couple of things that can go fatally wrong with diabetes and these can be negated by home testing. DM is not the best food for a diabetic (and it is very expensive!!). Kira is better off with a low carb high protein diet (WITH home testing!!) and Dr Lisa Pierson(DVM) thankfully complied a list of commercial foods at: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

best wishes, Alix

 

[Sofiecusion]

I havent started home testing yet. She is on PZI insulin. Thanks for the info. It seems canned only is the way to go! She no longer has the URI or UTI. Thanks so much for the info!!! Its awesome to know she can eat fancy feast classic and other brands her non diabetic adopted kitty siblings can eat too. She vomitted the DM canned. What is the best home testing kit to use? I bought some of the relion brand needles at Walmart as I also saw was suggested here. I love this site so far and your tips are all very helpful!

 

[Alix]

Hi Lacey, she is on a good insulin!! My Scamp is on the same insulin. A lot of people use the relion meter also - they say the price of the test strips is the least. there are a lot of human glucometers and the one for animals is the Alphatrak (but I hear that the test strips are really expensive) and as long as you are aware there is a difference between the two and that you account for that the human glucometers work well. I am not sure about the States but when I bought 100 test strips I got the meter for free!
It seems like a quiet Saturday but there are others that are much more knowledgeable than I am and I am sure they will add to my comments.
It takes a bit to get used to testing but there is truly no other way to care for Kira - I cannot stress enough to do home testing - it is, in my opinion, incredibly important!! and my Scamp comes to me now without any issues other than patting the couch(I have to admit - she is weird that way!!) but a lot of people have to use bribery and that is okay too!!
good luck!

 

[phlika29]

Hi and welcome

Here is a great link on home testing

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

We wouldn't recommend you switch food until you have started testing as it can reduce blood glucose and hence the need for insulin.

I don't know much about PZI but most insulins are best given twice a day as it keeps glucose levels under better control @Elizabeth and Bertie and @BJM might be able to offer more advice.

In the meantime have a look at the protocol for these types of insulin

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/protocol-for-prozinc-pzi.109077/

 

[BJM]

Specifically, the WalMart ReliOn Confirm or Confirm Micro. If you're not a WalMart fan, the Glucocard 01 or 01 mini from ADW is the unbranded version of those.

It would be better to give 0.5 units every 12 hours, as no insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat.

We have a protocol for using PZI here.

 

[Sofiecusion]

Thanks for all the great tips and info.