Minding a Sugarbaby

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Pamelaoz

Member Since 2011
It's 13 years since my darling Mandy was dx and this board saved her life. She went to the Bridge in 2005 a couple of weeks off her 19th birthday so I am way out of date with care. A neighbour's cat was recently dx and she was going to have her baby PTS so I've told her it is not a death sentence and I will help in any way I can. She is heading off to her Vet this afternoon and I'm not sure which Insulin she will be given. I used Caninsulin for Mandy and it worked for her.
Can you please tell me what brand you are using now to blood test and even though I live in Australia I'm sure there is an equivalent. I haven't done ear-pricks for a while but I guess it is like riding a bike-you never forget! If there are any oldtimers around....my old user name was Pamela, Mandy & Louis
 
Just stopping by to say "Hi" to you, Pamela. We have several in Australia that I will try and put in touch with you. I believe most of them are using Lantus (Glargine). Good to see you back on the board and hope all is well with you.
 
Hi Pamela!!

Caninsulin is still available but Lantus (aka Glargine) and Levemir are better insulins for kitties.
Yolanda and Goo were among the, if not THE pioneers of Lantus on this board and were my Lantus mentors with Merlyn end of 04 so I am 100% certain you can find Lantus there, not sure about Levemir. Both are U100 human insulins.

Veterinary insulin is ProZinc, replacing PZI from Idexx. Not sure about availability there. That is a U40 insulin.
 
Hi, if you are in Melbourne I can give you two vials of Lantus. I got rid of everything else when LB passed away (sorry my sign isn't updated that he's gone). I still have the lantus though it might have got too cold in my fridge over summer. Interested to hear how the vet visit goes. My girl friend in Qld just visited yesterday. She feeds her new kitty dry food. OH god why do vets tell people to feed their cats dry food? Are they anxious to make them sick so they can make money from treating them???

best to you Pamela.

Marilyn in Melbourne
 
Hope + (((Baby)))GA said:
Just stopping by to say "Hi" to you, Pamela. We have several in Australia that I will try and put in touch with you. I believe most of them are using Lantus (Glargine). Good to see you back on the board and hope all is well with you.
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Thank you for getting back to me. I see Marilyn has got back to me from Melbourne.I shall have to wait and see what the Vet prescribes as I don't wish to rock the boat!
 
Hi Pamela,

My cat was on Lantus (she's on an OTJ trial at the moment).

I bought an Optium Xceed meter because it can test for ketones as well as bg. It takes the Freestyle Optium strips. Don't buy a meter that uses Freestyle Light strips - they aren't so accurate. The meter was $28 and the strips $40 at a discount chemist. You can get the bg strips for $20ish on ebay but you won't get them on time for today. Serryn from Perth uses the same meter.

I found the two vets I've seen were very interested in this website (University of Queensland) on home testing - they liked the local recommendation. I printed out some stuff from it, including the protocol and the how to on home testing to give to the vets.

Angie had been on insulin for 6 months but once I changed her food had insulin reduction after reduction as her pancreas could cope better with the lower carbohydrates. She was eating dry food before.

I hope it all goes well,
Grace
 
Really important to pass on: if she has started insulin, she should learn to test the glucose before changing food. The level can drop significantly with a diet change.

And let her know that the glucose level may be elevated at the vet due to stress and also can be elevated by infection (dental and kidney are common). Removing those factors, if present, may also reduce the amount of insulin needed.
 
Pamela, told you I'd find a few :-D and they were quick to respond. Other person I found is Vyktor's Mom but she hasn't responded yet. So glad you are helping convince this woman to treat her kitty and as for hometesting :mrgreen: ....you never forget how to do it.
 
hello lantus is the way u want to go. levemir isn't available here. if you don't want to rock the boat with the vet and they prescribe canninsulin. give it for a week test frequently and then take the results back into the vet with some of the lantus info. that's what I did. the vet had to agree that the results from canninsulin (fast drop but back up just as fast and spending most of his time in the organ damaging range) were not what we wanted to see and that I knew what I was talking about. no problems getting a lantus prescription then.

for diabetic cat friendly foods in Australia check vyktors profile. I'm not sure if I've updated yet (posting from my phone can't check ) to say that woolworths select brand in the little plastic tubs not the tins is also ok.
 
I have taken all this onboard and want to thank you for your help. Will keep you posted.
Hope, you and Baby were always and inspiration to me.
 
So sad to say that the neighbour's little one didn't make, guess she was too far gone by the time she was dx. Fly free sweet sugarbaby. Thanks for your help and support.
 
Pamela, so sad....you tried and I know it hurts you too. Please extend my sympathy to the owners on the loss of their kitty. Thank you for letting us know and it was so good to see a post from you. So many years....so many memories.
 
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