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Jessica Pagano

Jessica Pagano

Member Since 2017
Hello everyone, found this page researching other peoples experiences with their babies. Just found out that my 16 year old Billy cat is diabetic, testing in the 300s at the vet. He is also extremely terrified of everyone but me. After dropping him off for blood work my vet informed me that they would not be able to take him in for the week long insulin introduction/monitoring like I was initially told would happen, so I am doing it from home. I pick up the insulin tomorrow and other supplies (tester, etc) What I am hoping is that his glucose levels were hightened due to the stress of being at the vet and once I start monitoring from home those levels will go down. So, here are my questions:
1. Recommendation on wet food, as of now he is on Purina DM (read somewhere that Purina DM is not good)
2. I'm purchasing the Relion tester because I read amazing reviews and it being a human meter doesnt make a bit of difference.
3. What size lancets are recommended?
4. ANY suggestions or BTW would be great... being that the vet is kind of abandoning me. Would be great to hear from some people.

Thanks :)
 
Absolutely no reason for any cat to spend a week at the vet unless they have dka. So glad you will be testing at home.


1. Most of us feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. They are under 10% carb. At the top of the forums is a great food chart with info on carbs of most wet food.

2. Sounds like a plan.


3. 28 gauge lancets are better than the 31 because they are bigger.

4. In my signature is a video showing how I test my cat CC. Maybe it will help.

You can do this and we are here for you. Make sure your vet is starting you at just 1 unit.
 
Welcome Jessica and Billy! :bighug:

Lots of information on the forum and experienced members who live and breathe feline diabetes! Few things to get you started.
A signature with some basic information about your kitty is helpful when posting and helps those of us with bad memories: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

We are very data driven here and highly promote home testing. It is the best tool in caring for our fur babies diabetes. Here is the Spreadsheet we use, all you need is a Google account: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

And I like to give this to new members; better to be prepared, but I hope you never need it: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

If you need help with ANYTHING, don't be afraid to ask. :cat:

See you on the Main Health forum!
 
Thank you so much for your replies!! Very stressed about this new lifestyle and want to make sure that I am doing everything correctly.

Regarding food. He is 18lbs (down from 24lbs) Just bought a house so he is now active(ish) outside so he is getting some excercise. With that being said, I usually feed him two cans a day, one in the morning and another a night. Those were the 5.5oz cans of Friskies pate. I would like to keep his carb count at the very lowest and thanks to that awesome spreadsheet, I'm ordering specific food right now but then I thought about it and does his per day need to stay under 8carbs or per meal? I will adjust his portion size if needed (he will not be happy about that).

Those Fancy feast cans are pretty small portions compared to the cans he's been getting for the last 10 years. Of course that's probably how we got were we are now.

He is completely off treats since we finished his UTI antibiotics but I intend to use suggested treats once the insulin injections start.
 
Less than 10% carbs per meal, so all meals will be low carb :). Is he healthy at 18 lbs or does he need to gain some weight back?
 
Oh good, I was about to panic if it was per day. I am comfortable keeping him on the portion sizes. He is getting his appetite back and wakes me up at about 5am for breakfast, I think cutting back right now may be too much. He is getting back to being healthy, he dropped the weight pretty fast and stopped eating so I would like to try to keep him at 18lbs and eating. The vet kept stressing the protein part of the DM... Regardless, just to get the process started and not incorporate too much change, I will order another case of the Purina DM and in about a month slowly move to Fancy Feast.

By the way, thank you so much for communicating. I'm a little overwhelmed so it is nice to know I have people to talk to that can hold my hand through this.

Starting his insulin this weekend so I can monitor him 24/7.
 
Jessica Pagano said:
Oh good, I was about to panic if it was per day. I am comfortable keeping him on the portion sizes. He is getting his appetite back and wakes me up at about 5am for breakfast, I think cutting back right now may be too much. He is getting back to being healthy, he dropped the weight pretty fast and stopped eating so I would like to try to keep him at 18lbs and eating. The vet kept stressing the protein part of the DM... Regardless, just to get the process started and not incorporate too much change, I will order another case of the Purina DM and in about a month slowly move to Fancy Feast.

By the way, thank you so much for communicating. I'm a little overwhelmed so it is nice to know I have people to talk to that can hold my hand through this.

Starting his insulin this weekend so I can monitor him 24/7.
Click to expand...
You are definitely not alone. :)
 
I use Friskies for Maury, they are 5.5oz cans. I have FF for his Hypo kit so if I need to use it, it's a smaller can. First time I had to steer all I had was Friskies and I was so tempted to let him eat more so we didn't waste but I just closed my eyes, didn't watch it go down the drain, and put it in recycling bin :smuggrin:
 
Hi Jessica & Billy!
I do Friskies Pate varieties with under 5 carbs from the list. They are the 5.5oz cans so I try to get at least 2 in her a day. She has always been food motivated, but when diabetes hit she got food aggressive. Since being on insulin I now have to chase her to eat. She needs all 11 oz just to maintain the 12lbs she's at. (She was 18, diabetes brought her down to 12 in 4 months.) I'd like her to gain a bit back, as she's a larger gal... so I have tried the low carb Fancy Feast to see if she liked it better, maybe I didn't have to chase her... those cans are 3oz and the weight/serving size is a little different and she would need 4 cans of Fancy Feast a day to just maintain her 12lbs. Well, I still had to chase her, so we went back to Friskies at half the cost. I do notice a bit of food aggression comes back when she has really high numbers.

She does go nuts for the Fancy Feast one ingredient treats (which means all protein, no carbs, yay!) they are individually packaged so I keep them in the ReliOn pouch for her meter. When I started testing I gave her a Salmon treat after every time (part to make me feel better, lol). Janet's video for testing was a big help. Now Fabby runs to the spot we do testing, or if I get out the kit she comes running because of her treat.
I started out with 30 gauge lancets because that's what came in the ReliOn kit. The get enough blood because the ReliOn confirm needs a very smal blood sample. But start where you're comfortable and move bigger or smaller depending on how your Billy's ears bleed. There's a graphic of the cat ear that shows the sweet spot to poke. It truly works. If you haven't come across it, let me know and I'll find it for you if it would be helpful as you start out.

Welcome to the group!
 
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