need help with insulin!

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TheFamousCaptain

Member Since 2014
Hi my name is Krystal. I am new to this page. I was on FB and joined a feline diabetes group and everyone suggested to join here so here I am! Here is my situation. I have a ten year old male cat named Captain. He has had diabetes a little over a year. He gets 4 units of Vetsulyn (I know I'm spelling that wrong lol). I switched him to all wet food. He gets Friskies pate, country style dinner, poultry platter and mixed grill. Many people, including my vet says that is a good food to be on. His numbers are still high though. Right now he is at 344 and due to have his next dose of insulin in an hour and a half. I want his numbers to come down a bit. So many people are telling me to switch insulin, and my gut has been telling me that too. What do people suggest? He acts totally fine, he never drinks water, pees only a couple times in a 24 Hour period, and very playful and loveable. How often do you feed your diabetic kitty? And what insulin is the best? I am thinking of switching to lantus. Any feedback is appreciated!
 
Most are on Lantus, Levemir, Prozinc, or PZI

Its more so your preference on insulin, every cat is different. I had Hidey on vetsulin at first (not by choice) and his numbers kept climbing the month he was on it. I had him put on Prozinc and he responded great to it. Regardless I would definitely switch insulin if your not seeing results, vetsulin only lasts for about 8hrs, the four I mentioned last about 12 hrs. and thats what you need to aim for

The food is fine, I think. I know a lot here feed friskies pates or fancy feast pates. I know I have heard the mixed grill is on the higher end for carbs though, Im not sure about the others you mentioned.
 
Thank you! I have a vet appt wednesday and going to tell them that I no longer want him on the vetsulin. I want to try either pro zinc or the lantus. I also have mixed feelings on the mixed grill. I am not going to give him that one anymore!
 
Welcome to FDMB..

I try to avoid the mixed grill, at least for the diabetic. I will feed it to the garage cats as they burn up the carbs staying warm, and to the civvies in the house as they aren't intolerant of it.

How about putting a few of those details in your signature, where they will always show up when you post. This will gives us some context for interpreting any tests you report.

Go to the top left of the screen.
Click on User Control Panel.
Click on Profile
Click on Edit Signature
A text box displays.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name, cat's name,
city, state,country
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
any other pertinent issues like food issues, allergies, IBD, etc.
Then Click on Submit to save it.
 
TheFamousCaptain said:
Thank you! I have a vet appt wednesday and going to tell them that I no longer want him on the vetsulin. I want to try either pro zinc or the lantus. I also have mixed feelings on the mixed grill. I am not going to give him that one anymore!
Click to expand...

If your vet prescribes Lantus or Levemir, ask for the prescription for the pens instead of the vials. You will get 5 pens in a package or you can buy them individually. With the vial, the insulin will start to become ineffective long before you will use all of it. Because the pens are packaged in smaller containers, you should be able to use almost every drop in each pen. Depending on your dose, one package of pens could give you enough insulin for 9 months or more.
 
I will put more info on the signature as soon as I send this. I am sorry, I am completely new to a message board, I have almost no idea what I am doing lol, but I will learn! I do have an appointment for Captain on Wednesday. I did a 12 hour curve on Saturday, and although he is acting just fine (knock on wood) his numbers are too high in my opinion. We had learned from the feline diabetes support group that we need to be testing everyday. Yesterday (sunday) he got his 4 units of insulin at 6:30 am. Around 12:30 he was meowing much more than normal and we tested him then. he was at 73! We hardly ever see it that low...but at 5:30pm (an hour before his next dose of insulin) he was at 315. I am seeing how the Vetsulin does not last a full 12 hours. I put in a call to my vet this morning with all the BG readings we got over the weekend and also gave the receptionist a heads up that we want to switch to lantus or levemir, this way my vet knows I want to make the switch before she calls and before we see her on Wednesday. Also, how often are you all feeding your kitties? He is always begging for food. I give him his big meals (half a can) at insulin time, and throughout the day he gets very small meals when he is being persistent on eating. I want him to be happy, but also healthy. I never want to deprive him of food, but I also don't want to make the situation worse. I learned how to test on my own because I am always alone during the day so I will be testing more, especially before I feed him. Right now I am using One Touch for a meter, but after receiving a lot of info, I am switching to relion because the strips are by far cheaper! 9 bucks for 50 strips, and for the One Touch I am paying $38 for a 25 count! ouch! Thank you all for being there for Captain and I, we both appreciate it! Also, he NEVER drinks water and pees twice in a 24 hour period.
 
As someone that feeds Friskies, I do feed Mixed Grill and at least with my bunch it doesn't effect their numbers, ( have 3 diabetics, 2 in remission and 1 insulin dependent). But it is something that is just kind of trial and error with and your meter will tell you if Captain is horribly carb sensitive or not. The Mixed Grill at last up date was coming in about 11 % carbs and we try to stay under 10% but since the carb percentage can vary from batch to batch what maybe 11% one batch may only be 9% the next batch.

Your other flavors you have listed are just fine and what my kids all enjoy the other ones that are in the rotation here are Turkey and Giblets, Chicken and Liver, Chicken and Tuna, and Supreme Supper.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Thank you. I have a feeling the mixed grill and poultry platter are carb sensitive with him. Thank you for mentioning the other flavors. I do want him to be able to have a variety. He is so stubborn! if I only gave him one flavor. I swear he will starve before he eats it. now that I took away the mixed grill and poultry platter, he is not happy. Last night he just stared at his bowl and would not eat. Luckily I had a can of the turkey and giblets that my other cat eats, and as soon as I put it in front of him, he gobbled it right down! Stubborn lil boy! He is lucky he is cute lol. I downloaded the PDF file to my phone from catinfo.org so I can have the chart at hand while I am at the store buying his food. I was going by a chart that was updated in 2009 and many flavors on the list weren't in stores anymore. I believe this chart was updated in 2012. A couple of the flavors you mentioned I haven't seen at my local Walmart, time to shop around! :-D
 
Also, is all the flavors you mentioned friskies pate? and anyone know if the 9 lives pate that has under 10% carbs any good for them? Just want him to have a variety. I am sorry for all the questions, being a newbie isn't easy! lol. I am already learning a lot and when I have gained enough knowledge, I will be paying it forward to someone who is in my situation now. I just wish none of us were ever in this situation to begin with! we and our kids do not deserve it. I honestly blame the food companies getting into our heads making us think top of the line dry food is best for them. I really think if I had never given them dry food, we wouldn't be going through any of this!
:evil:
 
Yep all the 9-lives pates are good to go, although mine grow pretty tired of 9-lives fairly quickly. But then again I'm trying to please 16 pallets here. Funny how the same cats that will eat the same flavor of dry day in and day out for years you switch them to wet and they start demanding a variety of flavors. :roll: Some other good choices on the lower price range if feeding only a couple cats since they are 3 oz cans would be Fancy Feast Classics, and Sheba pates.

About once a week I also throw in a fishy flavor usually on Fridays which my DH jokes is because I think they are catlicks (his twist on catholic...lol) in reality is that it is just easier for me to remember if it is on the same day each week, but of the fishy Friskies our bunch gets, Mariner's Catch, Ocean Whitefish and Tuna, Salmon dinner, Seafood Supper, and Sea Captain's Choice. But I do try to limit the fishy flavors as they aren't the best for kitties, but I have one that LOVES his fish.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Hi everyone. Couple things, Captain has been doing good, numbers have been somewhat ok. Still see the vet tomorrow. But I am worried. Today I received the most upsetting news, my girlfriend of 8 years, and fiance of 2, moved out today. Meanwhile I am devastated and I am trying to hide it from Captain because I know they can sense when we are upset. I have also heard major changes in the household can stress the out enough where his numbers go up. Unfortunately I will have to stick with the Vetsulin because now I do not have the money for it. Hopefully some time down the road, any suggestions I can try to do to help prevent that from happening? I am trying to hold it together, but I am sitting alone in a house with all these reminders and memories, and this just got put on me today, so it is very hard to not be upset, but I am trying :sad:
 
{{Hugs}}. That really sucks.

No point trying to hide it, though; you probably smell a bit different. If you act normally with him, he'll be OK.
 
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