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TheJynx

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Hello my name is Lauri and I have a 4 year old torbi girl named Jynxie who was just diagnosed with diabetes today. I am upset, overwhelmed and worried. I am a healthcare professional myself which helps but when it is my baby who is sick I lose all rationality. We adopted her from the SPCA when she was a year old and aside from one UTI has been great. In February she started drinking excessively and doing HUGE pees. We took her to the vet and they tested her pee and found no bacteria or sugar and said she just must be thirsty. I knew something was not right but I believed them. The drinking and peeing has continued and the past two days she peed outside her litterbox three times. I assumed it was a UTI and we took her in. They did a urinalysis and bloodwork. Still waiting for the urine results for an infection but her blood sugar was 400. They sent it to the lab to have it "double checked" and said they will call us when they get it back. We were sent home with Purina Diet Management hard and soft food and told to switch her to that. She was on Science Diet Weight Maintenance (she was chubby..she lost 3 pounds on her diet food). We were told they will bring us into the office to learn how to give her insulin shots and check her pee as well as go over her new diet. She is acting perfectly fine. They said the peeing on the floor should stop once her sugars are under control. I am not worried about any work involved in caring for her. We are willing to do whatever we have to in order to keep her healthy and our 21 year old daughter will also be helping since she loves the cat as much as we do. I am a little worried about cost. We are not wealthy people and have had a bit of a financial setback recently however I will do everything in my power to care for her and give her everything she needs. We love her like our child. We lost our 18 year old cat to kidney failure only 3 years ago and i cant go through that again. Im hoping people here can help me and guide me who are also dealing with this. I have no idea what to expect and am just praying that we get it under control and she is stabilized without going broke. I am extremely stressed out today after finding all of this out and hope that people here will understand. So thats my story. Nice to find a community of people I can talk to. :-)
 
Welcome. In the top section you can request a "newbie" kit. It is requested you pay postage if you can. It has everything you need to start plus a sock for warming kitty's ear and usually some toy. We understand tight budgets and love of kitty and everyone here is ready and willing to help you and kitty do best at most reasonable costs. First: you don't need prescription food, it costs too much, kitties don't like after a day or two and it's too high in carbohydrates. There are many inexpensive food choices that are far lower in carbohydrates and better food products. Fancy Feast Classics; Friskies Pate; Special Kitty. Look for Janet & Binkey's lists (there are two lists - one older one newer- the important column is the third and you want foods below 10% carbs. We urge you to learn to test Jynxie at least three times a day - once before each shot and once at around 6 hours post shot. There are lots of great tips in the top section. We all start out overwhelmed, so just read as you get a chance and take deep breaths. My baby's first reading was over 500, and she only needed insulin for a month after food change. HUGS
 
Hi Jynx and Lauri,
Kathy gave you great suggestions about food. That is one way to cut costs - and you can simply take the rx food back to the vet and say that she wouldn't eat it.If the vet persists, maybe you can say that oyu are working on finding lss expensive, lo carb food for her.

Now the home testing with the newbie kit - this is where you can really save money. The vet will probably start you on insulin (more about this later) and then want you to bring Jynx back for a whole day in about a week for a curve. This simply consists of checking her blood glucose every hour or two to get a sense of how the insulin is affecting her. Since she will be stressed, it won't give a true picture, and will cost you a fortune. The better option is to test her at home and then send the vet your numbers.

As for insulin, the most successful at achieving control and even remission are the 2 long acting human insulins - Lantus (or glargine) and Levemir (or detemir). They both come 2 ways - either a 10 ml vial or 5 3ml cartridges. It is generally better to get the cartridges because few people manage to use a full vial before it needs to be discarded. However, because you only handle one cartridge at a time, you will likely be able to use every drop from all five before it goes bad. Syringes are available at a number of places on line - depending on where you live.

So - my advice to you for the weekend is to read everything you can on this site. We all know its overwhelming - we've all been there. And that's why many of us are still here - because others helped us when we arrived feeling just like you or worse! And the other thing I suggest is that you look over Janet and Binky's canned food lists (can be found though the FAQ document- a couple of links, but persist!) and change her food ENTIRELY to wet, lo carb. You might need to do this over a few day - we don't want a sick tummy on top of diabetes. If you need hints to change her food, check out www.catinfo.org

Read lots and ask lots of questions - you'll be so prepared to visit your vet.
 
ok so the vet sold me hard and soft food because that is what she has been eating. They did not tell me how much to give her just to "introduce" it to her for the next few days then they will go over portions and how much to give her daily at our next visit. Seriously....if they sold me rx food that is not needed im going to be furious. FOR NOW.. I am going to use the food they sold me as my husband insists on listenning to a vet since they "know best". Yeah I have my doubts. I gave her half a can of soft food tonight and she inhaled it and begged for more. She is not a picky eater she tends to like everything and loves soft food so I dont think changing her diet to all soft will be an issue. The vet did say I can check her blood at home and they will show me how. We do both work very long hours I dont know how I am going to do this. Neither one of our employers would allow us to take off because of a cat. Some people just dont understand. We can check it in the morning, husband at lunchtime and after work so we can probobly work with this. I can get syringes....not an issue. One of the docs I work for is a professional cat breeder and can probobly get me whatever I need cheap. I hate to keep emphasizing on money but its real, its a factor and I cant pretend it doesnt exist. I hope they dont make me bring her in constantly for office visits I cannot afford that. I am still paying off vet bills from my late cat he was very ill and his bills were astronomical and we don't believe in using credit cards.
 
Hi Lauri!! I completely understand about the money issue. I'm a single mom with a daughter in college so money is extremely tight. I'll tell you what I've done to cut costs and maybe some of them will help you. First of all, I hope your husband comes around to the idea of not listening to the vet for the best advice when it comes to feline diabetes. The unpleasant fact is that vets have to learn so much about so many different animals about so many different diseases that it's impossible for them to have much knowledge about diabetes. They receive very little information about it in vet school and most vets have never had to treat a diabetic cat . The peope on this site have been dealing with feline diabetes for years and have extensive knowledge and hands-on experience. They have helped 100's of cats go into remission!! I would definitely take the RX food back to the vet and get your money back. If you can't see yourself doing that, just don't use it. Unfortunately, the weight control food Jynxie was on is very high in carbs and may very well have contributed to her becoming diabetic. Fancy Feast classics are a very good choice for diabetic cats as are the Friskies pate foods. Janet & Binky's food lists are awesome for checking the carb counts on foods (though some are out of date and formulas have changed, but they're still low carb). The Fancy Feast classic varieties are on the old list. I ordered a very good top line food online for what it would have cost to buy the Fancy Feast in town.

When it comes to the insulin, some, though not many, pharmacies will sell you one pen instead of a pack of five (Lantus). You can get a $25 coupon online to use toward your Lantus purchase, whether it's one pen, a five-pack of pens, or a vial. You'll definitely need a meter. Walmart has a brand called ReliOn (micro or confirm) which costs $9 and the strips are the cheapest of any meter. You can buy the strips at Sam's Club even cheaper and you don't have to be a member of Sam's Club to use their pharmacy. I also get my syringes from Walmart, the ReliOn brand, and they cost $12 for a box of 100. The initial outlay of money is the worst, but then it's just a matter of buying strips every once in a while and food. The insulin will last far longer than most people realize if you always keep it in the refrigerator and don't toss it around (never shake!). I used my first vial for around 80 days with no reduction in how well it worked. I decided to start my first Lantus pen to see if it made a difference in Champ's numbers and it didn't so I'm sure I could have continued to use the same vial. I haven't had to take Champ back to the vet since his diagnosis because I do all his testing at home, including any curves that need to be done, and then I send my vet the link to his spreadsheet so he can see how Champ is doing. My vet has told me that he trusts this board to help me with Champ's dosing and it has worked out just fine.

When it comes to testing and work schedules, many people here are single, work full time and still are able to manage. You just have to arrange your test/feed/shoot schedule so you have enough time to shoot and then be able to check a +1 (and hopefully a +2) before you head off to work. If someone can come home and check at lunch time, that's perfect. Then you test/feed/shoot exactly 12 hours from the morning dose and do as much testing as you're able before going to bed, but at least one test at bedtime (this is the most important for the evening cycle). I feel about Champ the way you feel about Jynxie. I still have days where I cry a lot because I worry, but the first two weeks were the worst. I cried all the time!!! It does get so much better, especially when you realize how many friends you have here who have gigantic shoulders for you to lean on!!

I hope this helps!! If Jynxie is prescribed Lantus, the Lantus ISG here on this board is wonderful. Someone is always around to answer questions and help you with any problems you may have.

Good luck!! :-D
 
what the vet sold you is fine for now, just know that you can save $$ on food in the future as there are several store bought foods that are adequate for a diabetic cat and much less expensive. (friskies & 9lives for instance have several low carb varieties). vets don't get much education in the way of nutrition so they get most of their info from pet food companies who of course are going to promote their own product. while yes a vet could take it upon themself to learn more about nutrition, and i believe they should, i also know they are as busy as the rest of us and just may not have had the time yet or whatever so i would cut the vet a little slack for the time being until you get a chance to learn some yourself about diabetic nutrition and can see if the vet is going to be adamant about the prescription food or not. if they are, then you can get angry about that :-)

as far as taking him in for testing regularly, if you hometest, you won't have to do that. my Mousie only goes once a year for her annual exam. my vet doesn't do any testing as far as her diabetes go since i do it all at home.

i too work long hours. as a matter of fact, it is 7:40 pm here and i've been here at work since 8 this morning sooooooo, you learn to work the diabetes kind of around what you can do. yes, more testing in the beginning is best but life is life so you do that extra testing on weekends or days off or holidays ;-)

on average i test twice a day during the week and if i need to do more testing, it's done on the weekends. i admit i don't do that as much anymore since we've been doing this since 2006 but way back when, yes, i'd test half a dozen times on a saturday 'cause that's when i had time.

and lastly, there's a Supply Closet forum here where members share supplies for whatever reason. one can post stuff they have available, or one can ask if anyone has something. believe me, we've all figured out how to make this quite affordable over the years so if you find you're struggling with something, just post. there's hundreds of people here and you never know when someone has something they don't need and someone else does need it. it never hurts to ask.
 
Hi Lauri and Jynx,

Okay first order of business just breathe. We can help you get her back to feeling great and not break the bank. I know this is all overwhelming and down right scary right now, been there, done that. But you have an upper hand being in the health care field, since I bet you already know how a glucometer works. :-D

I personally have 12 cats, 10 non-diabetics, and 2 that I adopted as diabetics. I'm a full-time college student, and a stay at home kitty mom, which means my husband is our only source of income & he is a roofer, so not a ton of cash here either. Everyone here eats exactly what my diabetics eat, just good old fashioned Friskies pate style canned food. And the really great thing about Friskies is that it comes in 13oz cans for about $1 each. I also use just a regular human glucometer to test my cats at home. Maxwell, my 12 year old adopted furry son, with just getting him off dry food and a short course of Lantus insulin (2 weeks) went into remission and is now off insulin altogether. Musette I just adopted and she is being a little harder to get under control but she had a rough start before she was adopted by me and is just getting over a UTI and we are working on finding her perfect dose still.

Hopefully your vet will prescribe Lantus, Levermir or PZI for Jynx, all three are great insulins for cats and we have Insulin support groups for all of them that can help guide you. If your vet prescribes either Lantus or Levermir have him write the script for solostar pens instead of a vial. The cost will be more upfront but will save you money in the long run, as you will be able to use it to the last drop, as opposed to he vial that you will end up tossing half of it, because it will lose its punch.

Lori and Tom can set you up with a newbie kit that will have everything you need to get started testing her at home. I simply email my spreadsheet to my vet, and then call the office to discuss dosing changes. To date Maxwell has seen his vet once and that wasn't as a patient it was to give a demo on home testing. :-D Musette just got here last saturday, so she has yet to go see the vet either, I've been testing her at home and with the help of the Lantus board here I'm being guided on how to handle her doses. We can do that for you to. There is no need to keep dragging Jynx in to be tested by the vet, especially with all the help it sounds like you have at home.

Fpr now read through the stickies on this site, ask any and all questions that come to mind and someone will be around to either answer them or point you in the right direction. Trust me if this was a hard disease to treat I won't have adopted two extra sweet kitties. But it really does boil down to a few little pokes to their ears to test their blood just like a human diabetic pokes their fingers, and a couple itty bitty shots that they don't even notice. Both Maxwell and Musette purr right through their test and Musette doesn't even look up from her food dish when I give her, her insulin.

You can do this and we would love to help you.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette and The Fur Gang
 
I am so relieved to read all this and am writing everything down! You guys are making me feel so much better!!!!
 
Hi Laurie,
Take a deep breath. 7 weeks ago, I was in the same spot you find yourself in today. Every cat is different, but I'm pretty sure that everyone who posts here has been in that exact same spot. 7 weeks later, life is back to normal (well, it's a different "normal", but it's nowhere near the chaos you're feeling tonight).
My kitty, Bob, had a first test blood glucose number in the upper 500s. Today, he's almost regulate and "off the juice". THIS WILL GET BETTER!

I see you've already gotten a couple of replies that are telling you to go with what you're being told here, and go against what the vet is saying. Also that your husband has an issue with that. Okay, I'm going to walk a line in the middle.
I think what you need to do is educate your family, and convince your vet. I think it is very crucial that you win the vet over. He's already encouraged you to home test! That is the most important thing, and it is the best thing you can do for you, your finances, and most important, for your kitty.

It may require that you and your family rearrange your routines for a few weeks. I had to completely arrange my schedule around the testing, but once I made those adjustments, it all worked out (hence the "new" normal I mentioned).
If your vet is encouraging home testing, it's because he knows it is what is best for your pet as far as treating diabetes. If you (like I did) print out the nutritional charts others have mentioned that show the carb content of commercial canned food, and compare that to what he has sold you, there is simply no way he can argue that the prescription food is "better" for diabetic cats. I did that, and my vet had no problem with the switch. She was familiar with this site and the lists from previous cases. They prescribe the food sometimes because it is only available through them, and also because it gives them some sort of a "control". Not control like they are trying to control what you do, but in the sense that if you use "this" food, then they can fit that into their equations because that food is a "known" item. It removes a variable from the equation. Does that make sense? Also, like someone said, vets are overwhelmed because they have to know a bit about everything, and that doesn't allow them to know a great amount on any one illness or disease. Like General Practioners vs. a specialist like an Oncologist for instance.

Bottom line, I hope that you will try and are able to "bring the vet along for the ride" rather than ignore him or dump him. You will be able to come online and visit here whenever you want and get all your questions answered and feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off your shoulders. It will keep you sane and make you feel like there's hope and you're not alone. But having an actual person you can talk to face to face that it on your side and who has a great deal of resources that can help you out is extremely important.

The way I have figured it as far as the cost of treating this disease is this - first off, disregard the intitial expense. You'll have to deal with the initial cost of tests at the vet of course. I have no idea how much anyone else had to spend within the first few days in terms of diagnosis and vet bills. I know for me it was somewhere around $700 maybe. Every vet is different, and what your's tests for and the associated costs are going to depend on how much he charges, and what exactly he needs to test in this particular case. Every cat is different - you're going to hear that a lot around here - and it is very true and very important that you remember that.

Once the dust settles, it really isn't going to cost you as much as you probably think. The BG meter is cheap. Mine was $9. The test strips cost me $20 for 50 strips. That's enough for 3 weeks or so, allowing for the botched tests that will happen. My kitty is on PZI which costs me $52. I've only had to buy that once, and it's been 7 weeks so far. The vial is probably going to last another couple weeks, which is perfect because it expires mid-August anyway. Since ditching the prescription food and going with Fancy Feast and Friskees wet, the net is that food isn't costing any more now than before Bob was diagnosed. I no longer buy dry food, and that savings pays for the slightly more expensive price per feeding with Fancy Feast (which is priced higher than Friskees or 9-Lives by a few cents a can). I've also had to pay for syringes - just bought a 2nd box of 100 - and those cost me $23 per box from the vet. I've had to buy 3 bags of lactated ringers, but I don't remember how much those were. Not too much. And those will no longer (fingers crossed) be needed.
So, looking at all that, I figure that home treating Bob is costing me at most $2.50 a day more than I was spending before he got sick. Looking at it that way, it's nothing. My cell phone costs more per month!
I think I saw someone offer to send you a "newbie" kit for the cost of shipment. That will eliminate a lot of your initial costs of home testing.

Last thing for now - I'm almost positive your vet will take back the unopened food he sold you. Mine did, no questions asked. They wouldn't take back the bag of dry food, so I fed the raccoons that hang around my house really well that night!

So remember to take many deep breaths, and bookmark this place. You've found a great place with lots of terrific people who above all just want to help.

Carl in SC
 
ok one last question. How many cans of soft food a day am I supposed to give her? I want to completely eliminate dry food I have been reading that cats do much better on only soft food. She is 11 pounds.
 
This is from Dr. Lisa's site about how to determine how much food your cat needs:

Required calories per day = [13.6 X optimal lean body weight in pounds] + 70

Most female cats should weigh a nice, lean 10 -11 pounds. Most male cats should fall into the 11 -13 pound range.

Using an optimal body weight of 12 pounds as an example, we come up with 233 calories/day as a starting point.

[13.6 X 12 pounds] + 70 = 233
Click to expand...

So an 11 pound cat would need just shy of 220 calories to maintain their weight. I've found, however, that this is on the high side and my cat has not been able to lose weight using this formula. Fancy Feast canned food has about 90-100 calories per 3 oz. can. You could safely feed 6 oz. a day without having her gain or lose weight.
 
Right now, feed her as much as she can eat, while she is unregulated her body can't process her food correctly, insulin is what our bodies and theirs use to break down the food eaten. Once you get her blood sugar under control she will probably eat about a can (5.5 oz) to a can and a half per day. Maxwell is 15lbs and he eats 1 1/2 cans (5.5oz) cans of Friskies and maintains his weight just fine.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Just so your husband knows, my vet specifically told me that I could learn about hometesting and I could save money by doing the blood glucose curve at home (of course she did fail to mention that I should also test before every shot, but, I found that out here, so that turned out okay).
 
Rats! My laptop decided to update and reboot when I was typing a reply for u! ohmygod_smile

You've gotten great advice here and will be able to pull this off! :smile: having others to help (ie hubby and daughter) will work around your schedules. Keep a record - this will be important so your cat doesn't get a double dose - but being a healthcare professional, that won't be a problem for you. :smile:

My mom works for McKession, but can't sell me syringes, and it turned out to be easier for me to just go to Wal-mart and get a Relion micro than for her to get me a meter and strips. I might have given you a different answer if she lived near me (we are 1000 miles apart). the meter was about $9 and the box of 50 strips was $20. Meter works great.

Note my boy's spreadsheet below. He was on Lantus for a month. I changed his diet to grain free, high protein low carb (Wellness & Evo) and while the dry food I was feeding him was those things, when I finally gave in to the advice givers here and took his dry away, his numbers dropped about 100 points, and he was normal 2 days later. No insulin since.

I also give him 4 small meals a day. I bought a C-20 autofeeder by Cat Mate (I bought it from petmountain.com). It has an ice pack on the bottom, so I give him a refrigerated portion to eat between 10 & 11 am, then a frozen portion (thaqt I put in the freezer the night before) on the other side for him to eat between 3 & 4 pm. I then feed him his final meal between 8and 9pm. I live alone and work 7 days a week. I am fortunate that I can take him into the office to do his curve when needed - you might not be so lucky, but could do a curve on a day off, or the three of you could do it in shifts (am I stating that clearly).

Speaking of work, I better go to get ready to go to my p/t job at Walt Disney World.

Welcome to the boards! Read all you can, but also take a breath and relax! :YMHUG:
 
I forgot to mention you might want to update your profile so that your city shows in case there are others here in your town that might be able to give a demo or at least be there for you to talk to. I put orlando on mine, but I actually live in a suburb.
 
Ok after a sleepless night with worry and a meltdown this morning.. she peed on the floor again but the vet says that will stop once her levels are worked out (or possible UTI waiting for the urine test to come back) Im feeling much better about this. I've learned alot of cats only need medication for a short time and as long as their diet is under control alot of them do just fine with diet control. Now question... she LOVES the soft Purina diabetic cat food she cries for more! I am only going to put a little bit of hard food (crunchies as we call them) in her bowl to much on here and there. How many cans of the soft food do I give her a day? They are 5 oz cans and she is 11 pounds. Also....we normally give her breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is better to give her 5 smaller meals a day to keep her sugars level? I figure its probobly just like diabetes in people. So final question.. . how many cans total a day and divide that up amongst how many meals? We are not giving her ANY table scraps or treats anymore. She is constantly in the kitchen yelling for more soft diabetic food Im so happy she likes it!
 
You need to check the calories in what you're feeding. There is a calorie count on Janet & Binky's list for all of the brands and flavors listed. An 11 lb cat should get about 220 calories per day. It's best to spread this out over the first half of the 12-hour insulin cycle. Since you're not yet giving insulin, I would spread this out over the course of the day. A lot of food all at once will cause a diabetic cat's blood glucose numbers to spike.
 
Since I'm home with my furry herd I feed my bunch 4 times a day, in human terms they basically get, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and a before bed snack. You are correct when it comes to the correlation between small meals several times a day being better for a diabetic cat just like in a diabetic human. Just figure out what Jynx needs to maintain her weight and then divide that by the number of meals you are feeding. For me, personally, 4 meals is a nice easy number for me to divided their meals into, since most of my cats are right around 8-10lbs that works out for me to 1/4 (5.5oz) can per meal per cat. With Maxwell and Lady Jane Grey being the exceptions to the rules as they are my two biggest cats at 14lb & 15 Lbs and since they eat seperately anyhow (long story) they get 1 1/2 cans divided by 4. Or 3/4 of a can that they split between the two of they as they share a dish.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette and The Fur Gang
 
If she loves the Purina DM, then there are many less expensive foods that are pretty much the same that she'll most likely take to. When Bandit was diagnosed, my vet handed me a list of canned foods that are good for a diabetic cat, in all sorts of different price ranges. I actually think I might scan the list after the weekend so that you can show it to your husband (it's on my vet's letterhead), and maybe that will help convince him that you're not getting bad advice. :smile: Purina DM ingredients are about the same as 9 lives, Friskies, or Special Kitty, so if you get the low carb versions of those it will be an easy transition for both your cat and your wallet. As someone else mentioned, just tell your vet that your cat refused to eat the prescription food. Because of the high liver content, many cats refuse to eat it (some cats get sick of liver very easily), so it's a common situation.
 
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