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Scuzzlewump

Scuzzlewump

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Hello. :roll:
I'm new here. My cat has just been diagnosed with diabetes. He is 13 years old, an adorably fluffy fellow.
I seem to be doing okay with the insulin shots, though getting him to eat on a meal basis, instead of having his food out all day for his picking seems to be a challenge.
I would love suggestions on how to get him to eat all his food at meals, as well as tips on the best way to get a blood glucose test done. confused_cat We did our first one this morning, and it took a good 8 tries to get any blood. Poor kitty was understandably annoyed by it all. cat(2)_steam
 
What gauge lancet are you using?

I had to special order a 25 gauge lancet. Most lancets on the shelf seem to be 28-32's. After getting the 25 gauge, our testing lives improved a thousand times. i didnt have to squeeze his paw pad to increase the blood sample size,ir comes out in the perfect size now.
 
Hello, and Welcome :-D

I find the 28 gauge One Touch Ultra Soft lancets to be the best for my kitty. I still have to poke more than once a lot of time though. I try to poke right next to the first poke, and if I get a little blood in both pokes and I use the strip right and quickly, I can sometimes get enough blood combined for the test.

I also feed in little meals. My cats get 1/4 of a 3oz Fancy Feast can per meal. Perhaps if you made the meals smaller, at least at first and then (numbers permitting) made him wait an hour or two before he gets his next 1/4 can, he would learn to eat all that is served. Just a thought. My kitties, pretty much get three 1/4 can breffises and three 1/4 can dinners.
 
Welcome!

Congrats on finding a way to test. Many of us do ear testing, rather than paw pad testing, but whatever you can get to work is terrific!

The unregulated diabetic cat is hungry around the clock as the body is not able to process the digested food without enough insulin. Because of this, many of us free feed low carb, non-prescription food, where the % of calories from carbohydrates is 10% or less. One source of info on the over the counter options for this is Binky's Page. Since you are testing and can see the effect of food changes, it is safe to transition to low carb foods. We strongly suggest the removal of all dry food, as most of these have higher carbohydrate levels than are good for diabetic cats and make regulation difficult. They also tend to have fewer quality ingredients than canned, low carb foods do.

Old school vets who haven't kept up to date are still prescribing Humulin N insulin. There are 3 long lasting insulins available which may be used in cats: Lantus, Levemir, and ProZinc. Which of these 4 insulins are you using?

If you are using Humulin N, a short acting insulin (about 6-8 hours duration in a cat), I can understand the vet not wanting food around when the insulin wears off. Not having food around until the duration poops out doesn't make sense as diabetics tend to do better with small frequent meals.
 
Hi again everyone.
Thanks for your comments and questions.
Let's see....the vet gave me 25 gauge lancets to use. She taught us to use it on his ear, so I'm not even sure how one would do the tests on a paw...I think I would lose hand chunks if I tried that. nailbite_smile
The vet has him on Purina Veterinary Dietetic Management dry food.
He is on Lantus.
And I was told he should be fed twice a day, in 12 hour spans, and have his insulin right after.
His first blood test went well in terms of numbers....before we started him on the insulin, his number was 28.5. His first test came back at 6.8 after two days on insulin. We do the first blood glucose curve on Saturday. :shock:
 
Many of us had vets suggest we feed DM. Aside from the ingredients (which are mostly animal by-products), it's 13% carb. The majority of us feed around 5% carb and feed a canned food diet. A low carb diet is under 10%. I'd encourage you to take a look at this website on feline nutrition. It's written by a vet, Lisa Pierson, DVM, and it's an eye opener about the problems with feeding dry food. Frankly, for what you're paying for prescription food, you can buy a much higher quality, premium brand cat food that is lower in carbs.

However, if you opt to transition your cat to a lower carb, canned food diet, please get home testing under your belt. In all likelihood, your cat's blood glucose (BG) levels will drop lower as a result of the change in diet.

There's really no compelling reason to feed only twice a day. My cat gets her AM and PM meals spread out over the first four hours from when I give her her shot. Some people free feed. It's just important to not feed your cat the 2 hours prior to shot time so your pre-shot test doesn't reflect the influence of food elevating the test result.

You may want to look at the sticky notes that are on the Lantus board. They will give you an introduction to using Lantus and how to dose, handle your insulin, etc.
  • Tight Regulation Protocol: This sticky contains the dosing protocol that we use here. There are also links to the more formal versions -- the Tilly Protocol developed by the counterpart of this group in Germany and the Queensland/Rand protocol developed by Jacqui Rand, DVM and published in one of the top vet journals.
  • New to the Group: Everything you wanted to know about this forum and more. Info on our slang, FAQs, links to sites on feline nutrition and to food charts containing carb counts, how to do a curve and the components to look for, important aspects of diabetes such as ketones, DKA, and neuropathy, and most important, info on hypoglycemia.
  • Handling Lantus: how to get the maximum use from your insulin and what to not do with it!
  • Lantus depot/shed: This is an important concept for understanding how Lantus works.
  • Lantus & Levemir: Shooting & Handling Low Numbers: What data you need in order to be able to work toward remission or tight regulation as well as information if you have a low pre-shot number or a drop into low numbers during the cycle.
 
If that's your kitty in the pic = black and fluffy you may be getting blood you can see to get. I have read on here about people with fluffies poking the inside of the ear rather than the outside to get it to bead up and they can see it better.

And also, welcome. :) I love this board.
 
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