Introducing...

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tessamalk

Member Since 2014
Hi there, I'm Tessa.

I've had my furbaby since he was a wee little kitten and now he's 11--and our vet just told us the news. His bloodwork from a routine check-up came back with glucose levels around 400. So yeah. We're supposed to take him back in soon so they can do a urine test to confirm, but given that he's older and overweight and has had some problems finding the litterbox lately... the vet is fairly certain it's diabetes.

Our dog was diagnosed with epilepsy in October, so it's been stressful enough over the past year with pet health issues. Bleh.

I'm sure we can do it just fine. The vet will show us how to give insulin injections and all. We'll change up his diet--I've read that we need to switch him to wet food. I'm sure he'll HATE that (*sarcasm*). Any sage wisdom or recommendations would certainly be appreciated.
 
If you are not yet giving insulin, get the food change underway asap. Otherwise, you'll need to be home testing to change the food and see how he's doing.

For food, you want anything with less than 10% calories from carbohydrates. Cat Info, written by Vet Lisa Pierson, discusses feline diet and provides a printable food list of most North American canned foods.
 
I've been looking at that one and making a list. It looks like there are a few Friskies and Fancy Feast options that fit the build--I even found a 32-pk of Friskies online at Target for about $15, so that's a bit of a relief--I know wet food gets a lot more expensive than dry, and fast. We haven't started insulin yet, no... the vet wants to do a urinalysis first. I know that adjusting his diet can make a BIG change though, so I definitely want to get that started before we figure a starting dosage. I'll have to pick up a pack of cat food in the morning before work and we'll just go from there!

Lacking wet food tonight, and unable to go out since the toddler is already in bed (and hubby is out with friends), I've given him some canned tuna. I'm sure it's not GREAT for him but it's probably better than Meow Mix right? He doesn't seem to be complaining...

I do worry a bit because hubby and I both work full-time, there's nobody home during the day to keep an eye on him. Logically I know--he's been fine all day so far, the only difference is now I KNOW about his health issue--but all the same, I want to be sure we're taking good care of him and that he's eating right and eating properly. I want to try to give him a couple of small meals per day instead of one morning meal and one evening... but that's harder to do when we're working. Maybe breakfast, first dinner, and then second dinner just before we hit the sack?
 
I want to try to give him a couple of small meals per day instead of one morning meal and one evening... but that's harder to do when we're working. Maybe breakfast, first dinner, and then second dinner just before we hit the sack?
Click to expand...

My 3 kitties get first breffis, second breffis an hour or two later, first suppa when I have my dinner and second suppa just before bed time. Works well for me and my schedule.

The food switch first to a low carb (<10%) canned food can be very beneficial. It can help to moderate the BG levels, but canned food also has fewer calories and fills the kitties up better and is easy to portion control.

You said your kitty was a bit overweight, and getting him back to his ideal weight is a big factor in helping the diabetes. Excess weight is one of the major causes of insulin resistance.

What is your kitties name? You told us your name, Tessa, but forgot the cat's name. Around here, it's usually the other way around, cats name but forget to introduce the bean (human). :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Eep! I did. It was a long day yesterday. Viggo is my kitty. He's just under 12 lbs at his last check-up. I got him when he was just a wee little kitten born to the cats of a girl in my freshman dorm. I just picked up a pack of Friskies cans. No sauce or gravy. Just seafood pates. I think he'll take to the new diet easily enough.
 
Since you had mentioned finding an online Fancy Feast deal, I thought I'd post what I've found for prices (I'm new to having a diabetic cat, but I hate paying full price for anything so I'm quite the bargain hunter and couponer)...

Target: Twice in the past month, they've had a "Buy two Fancy Feast 24-packs, get a $5 gift card" deals" while also running a sale price (I think $11.99 the first time, and $11 the second time). So the net price was $19 and $17 for 48 cans, respectively, if you had no other discounts. However, in addition to those discounts, they also offered an extra 5% off through their Cartwheel app one of those times for even more savings. And then also on top of that, there is currently a $1 off a 24-pack of Fancy Feast coupon that is good until sometime in July. It came out a few weeks ago in the Sunday coupons, but you can find people selling them on eBay and other coupon clipping websites for pretty cheap. Realizing that a 24-pack was only going to last me about 8 days, I decided to buy a set of 20 of these $1 off coupons from someone on eBay for about $3.50. (I've already used 6 of them, so I've already saved more than I paid.) So...all together on that last Target gift card deal, for every two you bought, the cost after 5% Cartwheel discount and coupons was $18.90 and then you got a $5 gift card back, so the net cost was only $13.90 for 48 cans! You can do as many of these gift card deals as you want in a single transaction (buy 2 get 1 gift card, buy 4 get 2 gift cards, etc.); however, you can only use 4 of the same coupons at a time (per household per day, I believe), so if you were using coupons you would be limited to buying 4 and getting 2 gift cards each day, but the sale runs for 7 days and you can go back every day if you want. (Oh, and I almost forgot, if you have the Target RedCard credit or debit, you get another 5% off, and if you fill 5 prescriptions at Target pharmacy they give you a 5% off a total purchase coupon for yet another 5% savings...all of which stack so that could mean an extra 10% off the already low deal price.)

Walmart: I haven't found any sales or deals on Fancy Feast at Walmart yet, but their regular prices are the best non-sale prices I've found. Their 24-packs are $13.68, so if you're using those $1 off coupons, the price is $12.68 for 24 cans. However, they also have 12-packs of some single flavors for $6.42 (I know they have the Classic Turkey and Giblets and Classic Ocean Whitefish and Tuna, and I think they also have the Classic Chicken, but I honestly can't remember since I've mostly been buying the 24 packs.) So, without any coupons, the 12-packs are actually cheaper per can, but there are fewer flavors that come as 12-packs.

Grocery stores: I haven't found a single grocery store yet that has decent prices. I even shop at a grocery store chain that will double coupons up to $1.00 (for a total of $2.00 off) but their regular price for a 24-pack is $15.49 (!) so Walmart's regular price + coupon is still a better deal.

Pet specialty stores: The prices at Petsmart and Petco are generally higher than Walmart ($14.99 and $13.99, respectively, for 24-packs) but if you sign up for their loyalty cards, they sometimes send total purchase coupons (for example, 10% off your entire purchase) which can be paired with manufacturer's coupons. So if you had a 10% off total purchase coupon and also the $1 off Fancy Feast coupons, you could pick up 24-packs for around $11.59 each.

Online: The only online price I've found that is even somewhat competitive is through Amazon's Subscribe and Save program. The 24-packs cost $13.68 each (confirming that Walmart's price of $13.68 is probably the lowest price around and Amazon is price matching), but if you subscribe to a monthly re-order agreement you can get 5% off ($13.00 each), OR if you subscribe to 5 or more monthly products (looks like they need to be different products not just 5 of the same thing) you get 15% off ($11.63 each). Plus, you get free shipping on orders over $35. So, if you can find 5 products that you can subscribe to monthly for the same or better price than what you pay at the store, the Amazon multi-subscription price with the 15% off discount is probably the best price without coupons or other deals.

All in all, I plan to watch the Target ad for another Fancy Feast 24-pack gift card deal (if they've had two in just the past month, I'm guessing there will be more...) and supplement with 24-packs from Walmart if I run out before another good Target deal comes along.
 
Oops - just noticed it was a Target Friskies deal online. Haven't looked into Friskies yet since the Fancy Feast 3oz cans are working so well for Hannah.
 
Yeah and me without my redcard when I stopped at the store this morning...hubby still has it I guess. I do use cartwheel and that reminds me to download it on my new phone! Plus the pharmacy rewards though I only get that every three or four months depending on timing. The dog is the only one with a monthly refill around here.
 
tessamalk said:
...Just seafood pates. I think he'll take to the new diet easily enough.
Click to expand...

We try to limit seafood to 1-2 times per week, due to the likely mercury content.

Also, check the % cal from carbs on the seafood vs non-seafood. Some cats are very sensitive to changes in carbs, even a percent or 2. You can use that to your advantage - use the lower carb one during the day and the slightly higher one at night, as many cats go lower during the night.
 
Eep! I did. It was a long day yesterday. Viggo is my kitty.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the intro of Viggo! It's OK Tessa, we know what those long days are like and all the things you are trying to learn here at the beginning can be a bit overwhelming that you can forget one of the most important things, your kitties name. ohmygod_smile Now we know and feel properly introduced.

Just keep asking questions and we'll help with the real life day to day management of your diabetic cat Viggo. Our goals here are to help you keep Viggo safe and to get him feeling better and hopefully into remission.

One of the best ways to keep your kitty safe, is to learn to home test. Do you think you might be interested in that? How to link's are here.

If you do need to start Viggo on Insulin, your vet should prescribe one of the 3 best insulins for cats, Lantus, Levimir or Prozinc. There are ways to save money on the Lantus and Levimir by getting a prescription for the pens (mini 3 mL vial) as opposed to the 10 mL vial.

We can provide a shopping list of supplies if you would like to see that too. Here's a link to that list.

Would you be willing to edit your signature and add some tidbits of information for us? Something like this would sure help us out:

Tessa & Viggo (male, age 11)
DX date 05/21/2014
insulin used, meter used for testing
Switching to Friskies pates food
any complicating medical conditions like asthma, CRF, Hyper-T, etc
 
I'll swap my signature when I get home...easier on computer than via mobile. My main concern is how much the insulin is going to cost...we're on a tight budget as it is. We make good money; we just have a lot of bills to cover.
 
ProZinc, a U-40 insulin (40 units per mL) comes as a 10 mL vial and runs in the $90 to $140 range.
400 units
at 1 unit 2 times per day would last 200 days.
at 2 units 2 times per day would last 100 days.

The lower carb the diet, the less insulin that may be needed, barring some rare conditions such as acromegaly or insulin autoantibodies.
 
BJM said:
ProZinc, a U-40 insulin (40 units per mL) comes as a 10 mL vial and runs in the $90 to $140 range.
400 units
at 1 unit 2 times per day would last 200 days.
at 2 units 2 times per day would last 100 days.

The lower carb the diet, the less insulin that may be needed, barring some rare conditions such as acromegaly or insulin autoantibodies.
Click to expand...

Oof. Thanks, I do appreciate the pricetag. That is a lot of money for a prescription to me, but at least it would last for a good long while--if you break it down per month it's cheaper than the dog's pheno!
 
Welcome Tessa. Regarding the relationship between low carb diet and insulin doses, I thought I would share with you our experience. For the first couple of months of being diagnosed, Merlin was getting 3-4 units two times per day. Once he was on low carb food, I was able to reduce him 2-3 units two times per day. He is now getting anywhere from 1 - 1.2u two times a day.

Glad you found this site early. Lots of knowledgeable people here that are very helpful.
 
There are some ways to save on both Lantus and Levimir.

Levimir has a savings program that lets you get the pens (aka mini-vial) for a low $25 per pen cost for a 2 year period. Program link is here.

Lantus pens(aka mini-vial) are less expensive than the 10 mL vial. DCIN(Diabetic Cats in Need) did this writeup on how to get Lantus insulin less expensively.

Both these insulins will keep a long time, especially if refrigerated. Most of us here get 3-6 months out of a 10 mL vial and can use those insulin pens/flexpens to the last drop.

You would use a regular 3/10 cc insulin syringe with 1/2 unit markings on the barrel to measure the insulin and withdraw it from the pen or vial.
 
Thanks Deb! Hopefully we can use that savings program... looks like a great deal!

Does anyone else use it? Do I have to sign up for the card in my name, or my cat's name? Does it have to match the name on the prescription? Presumably, that would be Viggo...
 
Some caretakers have been successful in using the card. I have used my cat's name as my first name and my last name. Yo have tos ecify birthdate that results in an age of at least 16, 18 or maybe 21 years, I do not remember.
 
You sign up for the discount cards with your cat's name and that he is 18 years old. I've successfully used both the Lantus savings card and the Levemir discount at my local Walmart. Some people have had trouble getting their pharmacy to accept it since it's a prescription written by a vet and not a human doctor (there's some sort of number required that vets don't have). If that's the case, they should be able to use a "dummy" number for the vet prescription and then the savings card will work.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top