My cat will beat diabetes through sheer force of evil.

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tantan and the White Avenger

New Member
Hi everyone!

I'm the proud owner of two lovely 9-year-old-ish kitties, a tiny black shorthair (Mystique) and a gigundo white furball (Patrick)...otherwise known as Basement Cat and Ceiling Cat (and their battles are epic as only the clashes of gods could be...) Mystique was rescued from a coworker years ago who decided she was done with having cats, and Patrick was a stray-turned-shelterkitty who blocked my path in the shelter's cat room - in two different places. I think he had decided it was fate. :P He also has blue eyes (and does have the gene glitch that makes him deaf), but really, I don't think he'd listen to me even if he could hear... :roll:

A few weeks ago, I noticed Patrick had started drinking nearly twice the water he used to, and thought I was worrying over nothing - but a chat with my vet cleared up that particular misconception, and so yesterday, we trudged to the vet's office, where he advised we check for diabetes and kidney failure. His blood glucose level came up as 488, and the other test he ran with the blood showed reduced kidney function, which he said was probably due to the untreated diabetes. The vet decided to start us with one unit twice daily of Prozinc, showed me how to administer the shot, and scheduled a follow up visit for Tuesday.

I have to be honest, while I intellectually know that diabetes is certainly treatable and manageable (and I am incredibly fortunate to have an awesome coworker who had to treat two diabetic kitties, and really knows her stuff), the diagnosis devastated me. I had a close friend who was hospitalized with a 300-ish BG level, and (while I know cats and humans are different) the 488 number just knocked me on my butt. My poor kitty...how on earth could I let him get to such a miserable state?

I'm, of course, committed to getting his diabetes controlled, and I have a ton of questions.

- I'm not sure what kind of test the vet gave to check his kidney function. I know it was a blood test on a color-changing stick, and Patrick's numbers showed up as 60, which, according to the vet, was far too high. Does anybody know what this test was, and if you do, is it possible to restore the kidney function that has been lost? My vet seemed pretty uncertain, but I know others might have different opinions.
- The vet (of course) recommended starting Patrick out on Hills M/D for food. I'm a single mom. While I love my kitties and will do everything in my power to make them healthy, I'm not keen on M/D, and neither is my wallet. I know many of the articles I've read encourage a low-carb, canned food approach, which is fine, but would the higher protein levels of this food cause too much of a strain on his kidneys in their current state?
- I'm a numbers person, and I'm trying to figure out just how long that outrageously expensive vial of Prozinc is going to last me. The vial states there are 40 units of insulin per ml, and there are 10ml in the bottle. So if I am figuring correctly, if we didn't end up changing his dose, 40 units x 10ml = 400 units, which, if I'm giving him 2 units a day, would allow for (approximately) 200 days' worth of shots (which doesn't seem possible to me). Is this correct? Can any Prozinc users weigh in on that or tell me how off I am?
- Are there any questions I should ask my vet Tuesday, to get a better picture of how to successfully make my evil fuzzball happy and healthy again? He did mention picking up a blood glucose meter, which isn't a problem at all. Anything else that I may not think of?

I am so, so incredibly glad that I found this forum. Patrick and I are both already very thankful for the wealth of information we've found here...but he'll never admit it. ;-)
 
I had a nice post and Internet explorer ate it..:(

Ok Welcome aboard! Your kitties sound wonderful!

I am not sure what test your vet did to test for kidney function. There are some newer tests that detect kidney issues earlier than before.. but it would be good to get a blood panel as well. Cats are obligate carnivores. Newer thinking is that low protein diets should be reserved for end stage.

Theres lots of home testing info and videos on the home testing page here:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-home-test.htm
picking up a bg meter would be a good idea. Also, you probably need some ketostix to test urine for ketones.

ProZinc wasnt around when Merlyn was on insulin, but I think ProZinc is stable enough to last 200 days, but once you start hometesting ;) you might find you need a dose decrease or increase at some point.
 
.Part of your title the white avenger part might also be offensive to some African-American or minority members of this board. I assume you posted with that title to get some attention; Unfortunately the attention you get might not be positive.
 
Maybe I am being too politically correct.I realized some of this might come from the theme of a video game,movie or book.However,for others who aren't into this theme it can come across as being strange.In any case, it may distract from your real goal to get up with your kitty.
 
Welcome!

I don't know about the kidney test. I have no clue about that one.

As for food, skip the M/D. You don't need it. Check this link to learn about cat food: http://www.catinfo.org/ And then go to this link to find carb values in commercial canned food: http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html

I feed my cats low-carb Friskies, as it is the best I can afford, and they're both doing beautifully on it. They've both lost weight (which they needed to do), but Max is also maintaining his glucose levels w/o insulin.

Definitely get a glucose meter. There are suggestions all over this site about good ones. I know the less expensive models that are popular are the Walmart Relion meters, and the Infinity (replacement for the Maxima AST, which is what I use)...but the Infinity may only be available online. I prefer online shopping as I have little kids at home too and work full-time and live in the middle of nowhere... But take your pick, it's up to you. You just want to check prices for the test strips because you'll use a LOT of them, and the cheaper they are, the less money you'll spend on your quest for a healthy kitty. :-)

I know nothing about ProZinc as we used Lantus. You'll want to check with the ProZinc support group for tips and issues with that insulin. They can also help you with dosing and testing/feeding/shot schedules.

Good luck!
 
Welcome! We will do our best to help you and Patrick. Feline diabetes is a steep learning curve at first, but knowledge is power and this is a journey you can have lots of control over.

PZI is initially expensive, as are all the good long lasting insulins. If you check out the threads on the PZI support group forum, you will see that some people are giving 2 units a day and some people are giving 0.4 units a day. It is definitely a process, checking bg levels and adjusting the insulin as you go. viewforum.php?f=24 We are a small friendly group and people are on most often in the am and pm. You should post here on Health for diet and hometesting questions; if you need dosing help or have specific PZI questions - come on over to the PZI forum.

Here is info on how PZI works and how to use it to your best advantage: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=32799

Hometesting is the one best thing you can do to keep Patrick safe and ease your mind. Here is a list of things you will need: A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest around. Try the meter out on yourself or someone else before you try it on your cat. You want to be familiar with it before you poke the cat.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 25-26 gauge is good. Any brand will work.

Ketone strips. (Ketostix) Just like human diabetics use. You will sometimes need to test urine if the numbers are high.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Then heat the ears before poking.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

And some lo carb treats to give your kitty, successful test or not Lo carb treats

It can be tricky at first and we all have things that helped us. Just ask! It is wonderful that your vet is supportive, and he may be able to show you the first time.
 
Hi! Im new here too! (4 days to be exact ) Everyone here is sooo helpful!! Im learning alot. I too cannot afford a bunch of office visits, so I decided to do hometesting. I bought a ReliOn Confirm meter from Walmart that came with a lancing pen and 10 lancets to start off with for $9.00. It works GREAT!! It takes hardly any blood at all to work and the strips seem inexpensive compared to some of the others. Ive been testing every 3-4 hours just to get an idea and for practice when I start the insulin. I switched her to wet food as well. Fancy Feast. I got the kind I saw on the Binky list here.Her vet visit level was 562, and now its around 300ish in just a day or 2 of the new food. We go to the vet next week to get our insulin prescription. Finding this site has giving me so much hope! I know it will for you too :)

Good luck!!
 
Just wanted to say hello and welcome. My cat Max was diagnosed in early January and I was right where you are, worried and upset. Tears rolled down my cheeks at the vet and I cried when I got home. It is really overwhelming at first, going from knowing nothing about diabetes to needing to know everything, but you've come to the right place. The advice I've received here has been invaluable and has really helped me turn Max's health around. Giving shots, pricking ears, convincing Max to eat a different diet, it was a lot to deal with at first, but you can do it! And it won't always be so overwhelming.

When Max was diagnosed, his BG tested 621 (yikes!) at the vet. I felt horrible that I hadn't realized sooner that something was wrong. My vet did a CBC blood test and mentioned that Max's liver and kidney readings were above normal as well but would hopefully return to normal once the diabetes was controlled. For the next 4 weeks after Max was diagnosed, he made little progress, testing in the 450's week after week. I was becoming increasingly discouraged, but then I found and followed the advice on FDMB.

The biggest difference for Max has been the change in diet. First, we went off the dry high carb food (had no idea it was so bad). For a couple weeks, I fed Max a mix of dry M/D recommended by my vet and the low carb wet recommended here. Max really turned a corner though when we went to only low carb wet. I was uncertain at first about changing the diet from what the vet recommended, but it has sure paid off. We went from 4u ProZinc twice a day on the Science Diet M/D, to 1u, .5u, .2u, OTJ (off insulin/diet controlled) with the low carb wet. Going OTJ doesn't happen for every kitty, but the diet change makes big a difference and can lower your insulin dose (which is why home testing is important). I feed Fancy Feast Classic - Chicken, but there are less expensive low carb options with Friskies and even Walmart's Special Kitty. Just check out which ones are low carb on Janet and Binky's list.

I'm budget minded too and use the Walmart ReliOn Micro meter and test strips. My meter came with a lancet device and spare lancets and I'm still using those. I'm still a newbie but understand that ProZinc has a shelf life of around 4-8 weeks. With home testing though, you'll see how you're kitty is doing and will know by the #'s when the insulin may be "pooping" out.
 
I have to admit that when I saw your name and subject I thought hummmmm. But your post made me laugh. You and Patrick will do just fine, you have a great attitude, outlook and sense of humor and now you have this site.

When your ready come over to the PZI support group and read the PZI Checklist, it's full of great information and resourses.

Welcome aboard.
 
i just want to second every one else's posts of encouragements. my 12 year old punkin was diagnosed initially the end of november and we found this site 2 weeks ago and jumped on board with home testing. everyone will help you through it.

take a look at the "SS" (spread sheet) links at the bottom of people's signature lines and that will give you an idea of how many kitties hit high numbers at some point during the day. they also come down. be encouraged!
 
Thank you so much for your supportive comments! I am SO grateful for experienced voices chiming in.

Patrick is not doing very well today. He hasn't wanted to eat (canned or dry food), projectile vomited this morning's meal all over the floor, and has been acting pretty lethargic. I live in a very small town and haven't been able to obtain a glucose meter (that's tomorrow's project), so I had to err on the side of caution, and gave him a small amount of Karo. That seemed to do the trick...he ate a small amount of food shortly afterwards. I am checking on him every 15 minutes and watching his behavior closely.

I honestly believe I've being a bit over-concerned...the poor guy has been through so much these last couple of days, and his routine has been turned upside-down...of course he's going to be off his game! My dad is dropping off his meter tomorrow morning for me, and then I will hopefully be able to calm down.
 
If you think that he might have gone too low, then it might be an idea to hold off on giving his morning insulin until you are able to test him - especially if he still isn't eating much. Starting with 2 units may be too high for him, but I don't use this insulin and so can't do more than speculate. Have you posted in the PZI insulin support group? You might want ot go there in the morning and give an update on Patrick and ask for dose advice.
 
The vomiting and inappetite are a little scary. The problem can be too much insulin, not enough insulin or a reaction to the diet change. If syrup helped, it is likely that it was too much insulin, but that is only a guess. We do suggest starting low and increasing slowly. Our recommended starting dose is .5 or 1 unit twice daily.

I would give a minimum amount of insulin until you get the meter - maybe .5 units. I would get the ketostix and test his urine. That will at least give you some information. ketones Then be prepared to get a bg reading tomorrow. Make up a rice sack (thinnish sock filled with raw rice and knotted, put in microwave until very warm but not hot) Start playing with his ears and warming them with the sack. Give him a small treat after he lets you mess with his ears awhile. This sets up the routine to use when you have the meter and are ready to poke.

Here is a beginning testing site that has good info: Newbie hometesting site
 
My Patrick is doing a thousand times better today. He gobbled down his food with gusto and has been cuddling and playing as much as usual (which is to say, not very much, cat-ankerous old guy he is :roll: )

I tested him tonight with the BG meter my dad gave me, it was not a happy experience for the poor little dude, but we got through with a minimal amount of trauma and a reading of 372. And a reading of 115 for me, in case you were interested. ;-)

Other than being highly annoyed with me, Patrick is more or less back to normal (pre-diagnosis anyway). Considering in the span of a few days he's gone from free-feeding dry food and being left alone other than for lovins and grooming, to a wet food schedule and being held against his will to be stabbed with a needle, I think we're both doing as well as can be expected! Once we've fully established this routine, life will be much easier.
 
Good job! You'll be surprised in a few weeks at how routine it all becomes. Don't forget the lo-carb treats whenever you poke his ears (blood or not). Soon he'll come running for his tests.
 
Yeah...so glad Patrick is doing better. Just-As-Appy is right that things will soon be routine.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top