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Skinni

Member Since 2013
My name is carrie and I am new to your board. I have an 11 yo male orange tabby "Sherbert". He was diagnosed with diabetes in late April. He had a major weight loss. was 14 dropped to 11 in less than a month. Hugged the water bowl and was peeing cement blocks. The vet is pretty clueless in regards to this illness. Not sure why they aren't up on things. She recommended novolin as his insulin. He still is not regulated. She also recommended Purina DM Kibble. I have been doing so much reading on this subject I am nearly blind. I took him to the vet hospital down the street from the vets, to get a 2nd opinion. She said he is diabetic but said not to use the kibble, use all wet pates. Why do they give conflicting info. Anyway, I found that whiskas Purrfect pouches are lo carb hi protein which I use as well as using friskies pates as a change. My Sherbert is extremely fussy. I got him a methyl B-12 Supplement and last week tried this homeopathic supplement called Dia-ionx. He gets 2-1/2 units of insulin in the morning and 2-1/2 units 6 hours later and a final dose of 5 units at night to hold him until the morning. I have done a curve on him and found his level is lowest at the 4 hour mark and then rises by the 6th. I do test him at home. it has been a very stressful event as we try to use his ear vein and he really doesn't get much blood from there. I have a carb calculator that I take with me to the store. The petstores really aren't very diligent with this disease and most of the stuff they sell really isn't good for the pets at all. I wonder if the people who make most of this garbage actually feed this to their pets. I actually have tried making my own cat food but Sherbert will have none of it. He has very bad feline neuropathy. It seems to be worse some days and not so bad others. His symptoms are not consistent. He has gained some weight and he is exteremly bright eyed. And purrs nonstop. He does however just sleep when he is not eating. We encourage exercise even if it's just walking to the door. He will take a few steps and then lay down. I have just ordered a supplement called Blood Sugar Gold. I will keep trying anything to see if it works. I just don't understand why we can't get his BG regulated.
Anyway just wanted to say hi and thank you for any advice I may get. I have 4 cats and they are all part of my family. I want to make sure Sherbert has a good quality of life in whatever time he has left.
 
Welcome. A low-carb canned food is best and it is good that is what yo are feeding. It is also go that you are home testing BG.
What is not good is is N (novoline) is not a good insulin. As you found out you need more than two doses a day. I would ask the second vet about changing to the human insulins of Lantus or Levemir.
 
Thanks Money is a BIG problem. I have spent a grand already getting to this point. Lantus here is 175 bucks a vial. I couldn't believe it. I have been unemployed since February so money is a big issue. I was hoping he would eat homemade as it would have been cheaper in the long run owning 4 cats. His supplements aren't cheap either. A credit Card goes only so far. LOL
The monitor which is a ultra one touch mini was a gift. All I had to do was get the strips and lancets. yea only lol! it all adds up but once the initial purchases are made you just have to stock what u use. Anyway thanks for the advice I saw something about prozinc this morning. Any ideas about this? TY
Carrie
 
Prozinc is actually more expensive than Lantus. ProZinc is a U40 insulin while human insulins like Lantus and N are U100. U100 has 100 units per ml while U40 has only 40 units per ml. While a 10 ml vial ProZinc costs $100, it only has 2/5 as much insulin as the $175 vial of Lantus.
You can use the Lantus disposable pens (you just stick the syringe into the end of the pen and draw the insulin out out like from a vial) since it is unlikely you will use a 10 ml vial of Lantus before the the via goes bad. Also yo can get a good discount on your first six prescription. See:
http://www.lantus.com/considering/save- ... fault.aspx
 
That savings card is used without insurance. I hope. It works for a vet prescription? The walmart here says it has to be Human script! Thx for the adive on this. this would certainly help with the pocketbook. And after the 6 you have to pay full price?
Thx Carrie
 
Hello Carrie and your sugarkitty Sherbert to the FDMB, the best little message board in the universe to help your diabetic cat.

If money is such an issue for you, I would recommend not using the Dialonx or the Blood Sugar Gold. No studies have shown them to be effective in diabetic cats. Save yourself some money on products that don't work.

What is effective is
1. low carb canned food like Friskies pate style, Fancy Feast pate style, Wellness pates. Low carb <10% and low cost too.
2. a good long lasting insulin like Lantus, Levimir or Prozinc
3. home testing, 4 times a day minimum

Lantus has a Savings card Program for the Lantus Solostar Pen. $25 for the first 6 refills. Some people have said that Target will sell individual pens. You'll need to hunt around to find out.

If you can sign up for that program, and get your vet to write a prescription for the Lantus Solostar pens, you could save some money too.

If you go buy a Relion Prime meter and matching test strips at Wal-Mart it will cost you about $15 for the meter and $18 for 100 test strips, much less than the cost of the test strips for the One Touch Ultra Mini. Another way to save money.
 
Hey Carrie!

Remember that a vial of Lantus or Levemir will last you up to six months if you keep it in the fridge (not the door!). Given Lantus, Levemir and Prozinc have a good chance of remission too, its well worth the investment!

I second Debs recommendations but here are my thoughts

1. Stop the whiskas and feed only the friskies pates. Whiskas is generally too high carb ( remember its % calories from carbs you want under 10%)
2. Get a better insulin - as mentioned above
3. More home testing as Deb said - and set up a spreadsheet and share it with us so we can advise on dose. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207


Forget the Dialonx and blood sugar gold - with the 3 things mentioned above you have an 84% chance of getting him into remission in the first 6 months but the window is short and you need to be diligent.

Wendy
 
Skinni said:
That savings card is used without insurance. I hope. It works for a vet prescription? The walmart here says it has to be Human script! Thx for the adive on this. this would certainly help with the pocketbook. And after the 6 you have to pay full price?
Thx Carrie
Click to expand...

Yes, the savings card is for those without insurance. I doubt you have insurance for your cat anyway. :o

What does your Wal-Mart mean by it has to be a human script? The Lantus is a human insulin. There are no cat specific lantus versions of that insulin. We use the human one.

Yes, after the 6 you pay full price. But a pen lasts along time with proper storage if you only need a low dose of insulin.
 
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