New 3/15 Canada

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ragekatt

ragekatt

Member Since 2021
Short + Sweet
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Human : Ragekatt (I'm Danni) joined FDMB 3/15/21
Sugar Baby : Deegan, male, 9
Home : Alberta
Diagnosed : 2/19/21
Deets : ProZinc 1u 2x daily, AlphaTrak 2​

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Longer Version
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Hello from Canada. I joined here on March 15. My sugar baby is Deegan, he will be 9 this year.

Deegan never had any interest in people food, he started screaming at us for anything we had and was losing weight, just wasn't himself, so I booked him in. His initial appointment was on Tuesday, February 16, it was looking like a thyroid issue. That following Friday (Feb 19) I received the call that my dude was diabetic, and our next vet trip was booked for March 5. On March 2 I took him in as an emergency appointment because he had lost even more weight, and muscle. Came home that night with insulin, one unit of ProZinc twice a day. It was extremely unexpected, it hit him hard and fast.

I think I cried for a week solid, I have horrid anxiety to begin with! I used to have some small savings for emergencies, but after my oldest cat had dental work done I didn't rebuild that, which was dumb. I am on disability personally due to many autoimmune disorders, so financially it was a bit of a blow. I had some amazingly generous friends that helped a bit financially, which made me cry more. Anyhow, I have only been able to do one reading at home, Deegan is a crafty boy. I have been using KetoDiastix as well, and we're free of ketones, sugar still definitely present. I bought a human meter initially but it was 10+ off on the reading, so I ordered the AlphaTrak in through the vet (they are not easy to track down in Canada).

I am glad to have found this page, and Facebook group. I have learned a lot already (and of course plan to continue doing so). Deegan has three sisfurs, that are sasspot torties! I would do anything in the universe for my furbabies ❤
 
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Hi and welcome Danni and Deegan
It would be good if you could set up a spreadsheet so we can see the data of the blood glucose. It is very good you are home testing !
Here are the instructions. For the spreadsheet https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/spreadsheets-tech-support-testing-area.6/
If you have any trouble setting it up just let us know and someone will help you.

A human meter is just as good if not better than an alphatrak meter and much cheaper to run.

Here is a link to using Prozinc https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...-the-prozinc-basics-please-start-here.164995/

if the dose is hitting him hard and fast you may need to reduce the dose. We need to see some BG numbers to be able to help you with that.

Can you tell us what type of food you are feeding Deegan please?

We have quite a few Canadians here.
 
Hello from the west coast of Canada.

The majority of us use the human meters. The test strips are much cheaper and easier to come by. Our dosing methods use the values from human meters, so it's what we are used to using to. Blood glucose meters can also vary up to 15%, so that explains part of the variability too. And the meters are much closer together in normal blood sugar numbers, further apart in high numbers, where it doesn't matter as much. One of the cheapest meters in Canada is the Bravo meter. A lot of people use the Freestyle, because it just needs a small drop of blood. Or buy their test strips on eBay to save some money.

We have page on Financial resources available - check out Tails of Hope in Alberta.
 
As well as food your profile should include other medical conditions both past and present for Deegan and the other cats. Every detail matters, even your time zone.
Congratulations on having a vet smart enough to give you ProZinc, so many members are sent home with Caninsulin which is hard on the system.
My wife is a BC mountain girl and I'm originally from Deadmonton. My condolences if you're a Calgary sports fan. :oops:
 
What's in the water? We don't have an electric car so I'm part of the problem but this is what you'll find in the tar sands, the wildlife and the rivers.
Heavy metals like vanadium, nickel, lead, cobalt, mercury, chromium, cadmium, arsenic, selenium, copper, manganese, iron and zinc.
We live in Ontario now and can't wait to get out. The "mountains" of Ontario, the bad drivers and the cost of living here is awful.
We were in Nanaimo a few years ago. The only jobs were "would you like ketchup with that" but the salt air means no bugs, the houses are filthy cheap and it's where all the hippies went. Should have bought a bungalow in Penticton when they went for $200,000. I miss snow sheds, grain elevators and the Spiral Tunnels.
 
Hi Danni,

If you're looking for something to help ease the financial burden I buy the Freestyle light strips and slap em into the Alphatrak. Sometimes it varies but I found it to be incredibly accurate the majority of the time. I use the freestyle strips for regular testing and the alphatrak anytime I'm concerned.
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
As well as food your profile should include other medical conditions both past and present for Deegan and the other cats. Every detail matters, even your time zone.
Congratulations on having a vet smart enough to give you ProZinc, so many members are sent home with Caninsulin which is hard on the system.
My wife is a BC mountain girl and I'm originally from Deadmonton. My condolences if you're a Calgary sports fan. :oops:
Click to expand...

Sorry for your luck, being a born Calgarian, yknow I can't like Edmonton (though it's not hard, haha), and absolutely not a fan of our local teams. (No electric vehicles here either, I drive the stereotype small town vehicle...)
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Hello from the west coast of Canada.

The majority of us use the human meters. The test strips are much cheaper and easier to come by. Our dosing methods use the values from human meters, so it's what we are used to using to. Blood glucose meters can also vary up to 15%, so that explains part of the variability too. And the meters are much closer together in normal blood sugar numbers, further apart in high numbers, where it doesn't matter as much. One of the cheapest meters in Canada is the Bravo meter. A lot of people use the Freestyle, because it just needs a small drop of blood. Or buy their test strips on eBay to save some money.

We have page on Financial resources available - check out Tails of Hope in Alberta.
Click to expand...

I do know about Tails of Hope! The people meter is a Freestyle Lite, AlphaTrak is a pain to track down. I. may have found a US supplier that is a little less expensive, and I have a relative in Mexico so I was thinking of getting them to check?! Hah. I can't believe how much the testing strips are. I have never heard of Bravo at all. The vet clinic really pushed for the freestyle libre.
 
Lizzee said:
Hi Danni,

If you're looking for something to help ease the financial burden I buy the Freestyle light strips and slap em into the Alphatrak. Sometimes it varies but I found it to be incredibly accurate the majority of the time. I use the freestyle strips for regular testing and the alphatrak anytime I'm concerned.
Click to expand...

I actually have some and tried them out with the test solution and they were super close!
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi and welcome Danni and Deegan
It would be good if you could set up a spreadsheet so we can see the data of the blood glucose. It is very good you are home testing !
Here are the instructions. For the spreadsheet https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/spreadsheets-tech-support-testing-area.6/
If you have any trouble setting it up just let us know and someone will help you.

A human meter is just as good if not better than an alphatrak meter and much cheaper to run.

Here is a link to using Prozinc https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...-the-prozinc-basics-please-start-here.164995/

if the dose is hitting him hard and fast you may need to reduce the dose. We need to see some BG numbers to be able to help you with that.

Can you tell us what type of food you are feeding Deegan please?

We have quite a few Canadians here.
Click to expand...

Diabetes hit him hard and fast, not the insulin! Am I replying right to you guys? :facepalm: I haven't used a forum in, years and years. I have only had one successful home test, I think I may size up on lancets for the time being. He has been much sassier lately with anything we try to do with him so it's tough, he has never much liked being touched or picked up, to begin with. He screeeeeeams. Even when he was a wee little bean. Deegan is eating canned food for brekkie/dinner (insulin time), and I do have dry kibble - Acana/Orijen for free-feeding the rest of the gang (they get some wet food too just not as much, two of them have crazy finicky tummies). Deegan has had various canned foods, he was never really into the canned food before, but now that his poor body thinks he's staving he's finally trying it! Turns out he really likes venison. :cat:
 
Hi Danni,
Are you giving Deegan a treat each time you test him?
Here is a link to tips to home testing. Give him a treat each time you test, even if you are not successful.
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

I am going to ask @Bandit's Mom if she could help you with the spreadsheet.

Are you offering Deegan food during this cycle as well as before the insulin?
Does he have access to the dry food?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I am going to ask @Bandit's Mom if she could help you with the spreadsheet.
Click to expand...
Hi Danni, I can help with setting up your spreadsheet and signature. Won't take me more than a minute. Let me know if you need help.

I'm tagging @Missy & Tammy who had posted about some Canadian site where she got strips really cheap. I can't remember which one now! Might be the one Wendy linked in her post. Not sure.
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Hi Danni, I can help with setting up your spreadsheet and signature. Won't take me more than a minute. Let me know if you need help.

I'm tagging @Missy & Tammy who had posted about some Canadian site where she got strips really cheap. I can't remember which one now! Might be the one Wendy linked in her post. Not sure.
Click to expand...

Signature is done, fuller details on my profile. The spreadsheet I am going to try to set up myself when it isn't the buttcrack of dawn and I have had some sleep (I deeply dislike google)
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi Danni,
Are you giving Deegan a treat each time you test him?
Here is a link to tips to home testing. Give him a treat each time you test, even if you are not successful.
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Are you offering Deegan food during this cycle as well as before the insulin?
Does he have access to the dry food?
Click to expand...

Deegan has access to all the foods. Not doing a full switch since he went on insulin right away, and they've primarily eaten kibbs. Have also looked at some higher calorie canned foods because he lost a lot of weight. Even unsuccessful he gets the spoiling (honestly my bf was around last time we tried and I think he was just way too awkward, then last when I did it myself, he just didn't really bleed)
 
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