New and wondering about glucose monitors

[Ozma]

Hi everyone, my cat's name is Jinx and shes a beautiful 11 year old tabby. Yesterday my gf and I got the heartbreaking news that our little lady has diabetes, and we've been rushing to try and get everything we need for her. She has refused to eat wet food her whole life but we will try to get her switched. We are hoping if we can get her diet balanced it may be enough to put her into remission. How likely is that? Any ideas for good grain-free dry food? She cant eat grain, which sadly limits our options for dry food. We have so Rachel Ray weight control food, some Purina One and some Blue Buffalo weight control food. Apparently Purina is bad? But yeah I dont know what to do I mix dry food in with wet and she refuses to touch it.

Anyway my real question is about glucose monitors. I'm thinking about getting an Alphatrak, as that seems to be the best option for cats, but what are the differences between human and cat monitors? Is it harder to get enough blood for a human monitor? Any suggestions for the best monitor, be it for humans or pets? Any tips for getting a reading would be very appreciated.

 

[tiffmaxee]

Welcome. I saw you post on the dry food thread but it’s really just for information. Good you posted here. On Lisa Pierson’s site she has suggestions for transitioning from dry to web. Have you tried any freeze dried foods?
You don’t need to get an AT meter. The strips are really expensive. If in the US Walmart’s Relion is just fine. Human meters read a little lower but work well. The dosing methods we use were developed with a human meter as well.

Have you started insulin? If so which one? if not best to get a meter and syringes as soon as possible and start testing. How was Jinx diagnosed? Did your vet mention whether she had ketones? How is her health otherwise? Is she overweight, underweight, or at her ideal weight?

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

If you have to get any dry food you can try this it's grain fee but expensive
Comes in 2 different size bags. It's about 6% carbs
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FCPBMRT/ref=twister_B09GHFJY65?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Ozma]

If you have to get any dry food you can try this it's grain fee but expensive
Comes in 2 different size bags. It's about 6% carbs
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FCPBMRT/ref=twister_B09GHFJY65?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

That stuff looks great but im a bit worried about the 544 calories/cup. Thats 200 more calories than what we have her on now, but i know high protein is good for diabetic cats. Sorry I'm new to this, are you sure this is good for a diabetic cat? What should I be looking for when it comes to dry food for her? She seems hungry enough now shes willing to try nibbles of dry food, so we are making progress on that at least. I wish cat foods showed the level of carbs.

 

[Ozma]

Welcome. I saw you post on the dry food thread but it’s really just for information. Good you posted here. On Lisa Pierson’s site she has suggestions for transitioning from dry to web. Have you tried any freeze dried foods?
You don’t need to get an AT meter. The strips are really expensive. If in the US Walmart’s Relion is just fine. Human meters read a little lower but work well. The dosing methods we use were developed with a human meter as well. Also we havent tried freeze dried foods yet but we will get some today! She likes crunchy stuff so that would be perfect!

Have you started insulin? If so which one? if not best to get a meter and syringes as soon as possible and start testing. How was Jinx diagnosed? Did your vet mention whether she had ketones? How is her health otherwise? Is she overweight, underweight, or at her ideal weight?

Thank you I'll be sure to check that website out! She hasnt started insulin yet. Our vet for some reason wanted us to wait 9 days because Jinx had seizures and she wanted to make sure she could handle the insulin. Doesnt make much sense to me since the seizures are obviously caused by diabetes but she seems to think it might not be for some reason, though Jinx has zero history of seizures. Jinx was diagnosed with a blood test at the vet. The vet didnt mention ketones at all. Jinx is 14 lbs and she is pretty healthy otherwise. So slightly overweight. Her blood sugar was at around 453 when we took her in to the vet, which was like 4 hours after her last meal. I suggested her blood sugar couldve been high enough to cause the seizures after said meal but the vet said she didnt think her blood sugar wouldve dropped to 453 within the 4 hours between feeding and get appointment. She says it would have to be extremely high to cause a small seizure. It was a short thing. She fell over on her side/back and twiched a bit then got up. Not a long protracted thing at all. Or she just gets a bit wobbly and falls over. Shes a little slow and wobbly lately though but she used to be a happy healthy cat. I was hoping to use Glargine or Deterin insulin cuz i heard that is more likely to get her diabetes into remission? Is there any truth to that? Im hoping we can just get her weight down and get the diabetes into remission w a change a diet but we will do whatever it takes for our little girl. So a Relion meter is a good one? Is it hard to get enough blood for it? But it will read fine for a cat and be able to test and read high/low enough? Is the ear the best spot? I worry about using her pads cuz feet seem like the least sanitary part to draw from. I need to hit a vein? Thank you so much for responding! We havent tried freeze dried foods yet but we will get some today! Thank you!

 

[tiffmaxee]

I think it will really help you to do some reading. Go to Dr. Lisa’s site catinfo.org to start. There is a chart fir carbs but not for dry food. I’ll link a carb calculator that can be used. Chewy.com does has the carbs firnlots of food. As for the calories fed you would adjust to get or keep your cat at an ideal weight.

 

[tiffmaxee]

My vet taught me to test using the ear. None of my cats have ever been crazy about my clipping their claws plus being in the litter box I didn’t ever consider the paw pad. The Relion works just fine.

It sounds to me like your cat needs to start insulin asap. I would ask for a copy of all labs and tge urinalysis and post it here. We can take a look to see if any thing eases is going on. We are not vets but have lots of collective experience. The best chance at remission is with low carb wet or raw food. Next best is low carb dry food. Starting insulin early on improves chances of becoming diet controlled.

You are correct that either lantus or Levemir or the best insulins for cats. I suggest that you head over to our lantus/lev site and read the stickies at the top. Since you will be feeding dry at least for now, if you choose to follow one of our methods it would be SLGS. Have you tried to get her to eat different wet foods such as fancy feast pates or other pates? Try sprinkling crushed dry on top of it.

 

[Ozma]

My vet taught me to test using the ear. None of my cats have ever been crazy about my clipping their claws plus being in the litter box I didn’t ever consider the paw pad. The Relion works just fine.

It sounds to me like your cat needs to start insulin asap. I would ask for a copy of all labs and tge urinalysis and post it here. We can take a look to see if any thing eases is going on. We are not vets but have lots of collective experience. The best chance at remission is with low carb wet or raw food. Next best is low carb dry food. Starting insulin early on improves chances of becoming diet controlled.

You are correct that either lantus or Levemir or the best insulins for cats. I suggest that you head over to our lantus/lev site and read the stickies at the top. Since you will be feeding dry at least for now, if you choose to follow one of our methods it would be SLGS. Have you tried to get her to eat different wet foods such as fancy feast pates or other pates? Try sprinkling crushed dry on top of it.

I took pictures of her tests but how to do i upload them to the forum? It asks for a url but the images are saved to my phone. The food you suggested does sound really good. I guess we can just feed her a bit less. I just worry cuz we already feed her very little since her diagnoses. Im gonna get some different wet foods to see if any of them are to her liking. The kind weve been trying to feed her (which we've coaxed her to take only nibbles of so far) is Hills Glucosupport m/d. Are these other wet foods still ok for a diabetic cat? Like would even just regular wet food be much better than weight loss tailored dry food? I'll check out the site you suggested thanks. This site has been amazingly helpful. Im just pissed cuz our vet wants to wait to get her on insulin cuz shes worried about the small seizures and for some reason seems unsure its the diabetes causing them. Which seems obvious to me. Ive helped family w diabetes and my grandpa had a diabetic dog so im not unfamiliar with it. I understand how insulin works and stuff and how to manage highs and lows. I just want to do everything possible to get Jinx in remission. We'd hoped to get her balanced with just good but you say getting her on insulin sooner could possibly help with remission? So eventually we might be able to her off insulin? We will keep her on it as long as necessary i just would prefer to just get her healthy and normalized. Thank you so much for your time. Jinx is my girlfriends cat of many years that she rescued years ago and she is heartbroken. We both are, but I'm more clear headed and trying to get this taken care of for my girls.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

That stuff looks great but im a bit worried about the 544 calories/cup. Thats 200 more calories than what we have her on now, but i know high protein is good for diabetic cats. Sorry I'm new to this, are you sure this is good for a diabetic cat? What should I be looking for when it comes to dry food for her? She seems hungry enough now shes willing to try nibbles of dry food, so we are making progress on that at least. I wish cat foods showed the level of carbs.

You can also look at these
These are around 6% carbs
Young again Zero Mature
https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/products/zero-mature-health
Young again on their web site
https://www.youngagainpetfood.com
Take a look at the young again zero mature

Here is their web site
https://www.wysong.net/epigen
Call then see if they will send a sample
https://catfooddb.com/product/wysong/Epigen 90
Is Wysong grain-free?
Not satisfied with simply going grain-free, Wysong Epigen is the first dry kibble diet formulated with a patent-pending process that enables them to create a truly starch-free formula that closely mirrors the diet your pal was biologically designed to eat.
Using the calculations provided by the AAFCO, Wysong Epigen 90 has approximately 364 calories per 100g (103 calories/ounce), which is an average amount of calories compared to the average of the other dry cat foods in the CatFoodDB.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

You can feed any low carb food on this list, 6% carbs or under
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/
Try sprinkling any freeze dried treats or Parmesan cheese on the wet food you choose to try and always add water to the wet food
If Jinx is overweight we usually go by
20 x ideal weight for calories
So if Jinx should weigh say 15 lbs
20 x 15= 300 calories

About testing
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets any brand
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming

A video one of our members posted, she is using a pet meter ,strips too expensive plus you have to code it
A human meter is just fine, most of us use human meters ,that's what our numbers are based on


VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Here's the meter from Walmart 9 dollars
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-CLASSIC-Blood-Glucose-Monitoring-System/552134103
Text strips 17.88 for 100
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-P...V6GJyCh0KqgZ0EAAYAiAAEgL8E_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Try and get lantus, it is expensive in the US so many members get the generic which is fine
Get Glargine

Lantus is fine, many members use the generic
Check this out also
https://www.goodrx.com/insulin-glargine?dosage=five-3ml-prefilled-pens-of-100-units-ml&form=carton&label_override=insulin glargine&quantity=1
The 5 pens will last about a year
Its generic lantus

Or this one
https://www.goodrx.com/insulin-glargine?dosage=five-3ml-prefilled-pens-of-100-units-ml&form=carton&label_override=insulin glargine&quantity=1

Or this one also

I see some members will call CVS, Rite Aid, Costco, Walgreen's, to get the price for 5 pens

You will need U-100 syringes with half unit markings for lantus , just insert the syringe into the pen and draw out the insulin. We use syringes to insert in the pens because you can only adjust the pens by whole units, with the syringes you can adjust by 0.25 units at a time ,which is what we do
13.47 for a box of 100 Here is the link to buy them from
If they say you need a script from you vet they will call the vet to fax it over 'ask for refills and give your vets office a heads up . I know that some member didn't need a script at all ,I did I live in N.J. So I guess it depends on where you live

https://www.adwdiabetes.com/product/1316/surecomfort-u100-syringes-half-unit-31g-3-10cc-5-16in-100ct



We use the pens just like a vial , just stick the syringe in the gray rubber stopper and draw out your insulin
Just take the cap off the pen and use a U100 syringes and pull the insulin out of the pen!

Posted by another member
One members posted this
. I paid $175 for a box of 5 pens at Walmart pharmacy, but GoodRX coupon says you can get it for around $90 if you have a Rite Aid pharmacy near you.

The reason we don't use the needles that would go in the pens is because you can only dial the pens by whole units
With the U-100 syringes with half unit markings we can adjust by 0.25 units at a time

Here's a coupon for ordering from ADW Diabetes the ones I listed above

DIA10

10% off your next order!


Or you can get the syringes at Walmart

You can also get the syringes with half unit markings at a Walmart. Their ReliOn Brand syringes of 0.3 cc (30 unit) capacity come with half unit markings. Cost $12.58 for a box of 100
This is what the packaging looks like: either box
They won't say it half unit on the box but the are . open then and look before you leave the store, can't be ordered on line , need to go into the store
:

When you do start insulin let us know and we can give you more information
You can read all about Lantus here
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-levemir-biosimilars.9/

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

There is really nothing "prescription" in the diabetic foods. The key for managing your cat's diabetes, other than insulin, is a low carbohydrate food. You don't need to restrict calories -- just carbohydrates. The food chart that Elise (tiffmaxie) mentioned gives you lots of choices of canned foods that are less than 10% carb. Most members use foods that are in the 5% range.

An alternative is freeze dried or air dried raw foods. Both ZiwiPeak and Stella & Chewy's have a variety of flavors and the foods are low in carbs.

I'm concerned that your cat had a seizure. If your vet thinks that the seizure was due to high blood glucose levels, I would not wait to get your cat started on insulin. If you opt for Lantus (glargine), the name brand is expensive. There are generics/biosimilars available that are far less expensive. You may need to call around to see which of your local pharmacies stocks the generic/biosimilar.

We also have great resources on home testing. The link has lots of tips along with videos.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

I took pictures of her tests but how to do i upload them to the forum?

The upload doesn't work, just copy and paste it here
@Ozma

 

[Ozma]

The upload doesn't work, just copy and paste it here
@Ozma

There is really nothing "prescription" in the diabetic foods. The key for managing your cat's diabetes, other than insulin, is a low carbohydrate food. You don't need to restrict calories -- just carbohydrates. The food chart that Elise (tiffmaxie) mentioned gives you lots of choices of canned foods that are less than 10% carb. Most members use foods that are in the 5% range.

An alternative is freeze dried or air dried raw foods. Both ZiwiPeak and Stella & Chewy's have a variety of flavors and the foods are low in carbs.

I'm concerned that your cat had a seizure. If your vet thinks that the seizure was due to high blood glucose levels, I would not wait to get your cat started on insulin. If you opt for Lantus (glargine), the name brand is expensive. There are generics/biosimilars available that are far less expensive. You may need to call around to see which of your local pharmacies stocks the generic/biosimilar.

We also have great resources on home testing. The link has lots of tips along with videos.

There is really nothing "prescription" in the diabetic foods. The key for managing your cat's diabetes, other than insulin, is a low carbohydrate food. You don't need to restrict calories -- just carbohydrates. The food chart that Elise (tiffmaxie) mentioned gives you lots of choices of canned foods that are less than 10% carb. Most members use foods that are in the 5% range.

An alternative is freeze dried or air dried raw foods. Both ZiwiPeak and Stella & Chewy's have a variety of flavors and the foods are low in carbs.

I'm concerned that your cat had a seizure. If your vet thinks that the seizure was due to high blood glucose levels, I would not wait to get your cat started on insulin. If you opt for Lantus (glargine), the name brand is expensive. There are generics/biosimilars available that are far less expensive. You may need to call around to see which of your local pharmacies stocks the generic/biosimilar.

We also have great resources on home testing. The link has lots of tips along with videos.

Sorry yeah it wasnt really prescription food just some canned Hills m/d our vet gave us. We have been making slow progress getting her to try wet food but thats better than no progress. We are mixing it with dry food and tapering the dry food down. Thats good to know that we dont need to worry about calories cuz someone here suggested some great looking low carb/high protein dry food that i was worried about because the calorie content was higher than what we have now. So calories just refer to the amount of energy but that isn't the same as glucose. Glucose is just concerted to energy. Ok cool. So I will get that healthy dry food. So we wont have to feed her less of the high protein/low carb dry food because it has more calories? Sorry if its a stupid question Im new to this. We also have some Purina Pro low carb food coming in the mail but i hear thats not really that good? Im guessing I should still get the air-dried food?

 

[Ozma]

There is really nothing "prescription" in the diabetic foods. The key for managing your cat's diabetes, other than insulin, is a low carbohydrate food. You don't need to restrict calories -- just carbohydrates. The food chart that Elise (tiffmaxie) mentioned gives you lots of choices of canned foods that are less than 10% carb. Most members use foods that are in the 5% range.

An alternative is freeze dried or air dried raw foods. Both ZiwiPeak and Stella & Chewy's have a variety of flavors and the foods are low in carbs.

I'm concerned that your cat had a seizure. If your vet thinks that the seizure was due to high blood glucose levels, I would not wait to get your cat started on insulin. If you opt for Lantus (glargine), the name brand is expensive. There are generics/biosimilars available that are far less expensive. You may need to call around to see which of your local pharmacies stocks the generic/biosimilar.

We also have great resources on home testing. The link has lots of tips along with videos.

Thats the problem, the vet said she wasnt sure the seizures were caused by diabetes, which seems stupid to me. The only reason she said that is because i told her Jinx had taken a small tumble down 3 or 4 steps (probably because of a seizure) and she wants to make sure the seizures are under control before starting her on insulin. It seems obvious diabetes is causing the seizures but she gave us phenobarbital to control the seizures as she thinks starting her on insulin if the seizures are caused by something else could be dangerous. Seems like she could be trying to damage our cat to ensure a steady customer to me..Or shes just being overly cautious. I got a glucometer so im going to check her blood levels tomorrow to see if theyre any lower and if not reschedule the appointment. The seizures could be stress related, apparently she has had that happen years ago, and they are very small seizures, not super violent. She just kinda falls over and twitches for a second or two and gets back up. Obviously though I dont want that happening at all and though the phenobarbital may stop the seizures, if they are caused by high blood sugar, we need to take care of that. I want to get her balanced and in remission or diet controlled. My gf doesnt understand diabetes really and wasnt raising a fuss about the 9 day wait for insulin, cuz we are hoping we can get her blood sugar balanced with a healthy diet before then. I think she worries if we get her on insulin too soon it would lessen our chances of getting her in remission. Or make it so we cant do it with food alone. But am I correct in thinking if we wait and the high sugar damages her pancreas that that would make it impossible for her to go into remission? You can get your pets diabetes into remission on insulin and then taper them off insulin right? How fast does the pancreas get damaged? How much time do we have? I cant copy the photos of her test results on my phone for some reason so i will upload tonorrow.

 

[tiffmaxee]

If you start our spreadsheet it has a tab for you to fill in labs.

 

[tiffmaxee]

Here are spreadsheet directions.
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

You will want to test in the morning before she eats and the same at night. If possible get a test 3-4 hours after first meal.

 

[Ozma]

Sorry yeah it wasnt really prescription food just some canned Hills m/d our vet gave us. We have been making slow progress getting her to try wet food but thats better than no progress. We are mixing it with dry food and tapering the dry food down. Thats good to know that we dont need to worry about calories cuz someone here suggested some great looking low carb/high protein dry food that i was worried about because the calorie content was higher than what we have now. So calories just refer to the amount of energy but that isn't the same as glucose. Glucose is just concerted to energy. Ok cool. So I will get that healthy dry food. So we wont have to feed her less of the high protein/low carb dry food because it has more calories? Sorry if its a stupid question Im new to this.

Here are spreadsheet directions.
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

You will want to rest in the morning before she eats and the same at night. If possible get a test 3-4 hours after first meal.

So test before she eats then 3-4 hours after the first meal, got it.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

So test before she eats then 3-4 hours after the first meal, got it.

You want to withhold food 2 hours prior to testing AMPS and PMPS so the BG number is not food influenced ,after that you can feed any time during each 12 hour cycle

The spreadsheet is easier than it looks
Just some info about it look at mine at the end of my signature it says Tyler's spreadsheet to get a look at it, you can look at anyone's spreadsheet

About the spreadsheet
AMPS - means AM Pre Shot the first test you take in the AM ,you need to withhold food 2 hours before testing so it's not food influenced

Units is where you would put how much insulin you gave
+1 is one hour after giving insulin if you were to test then that's where you enter his _BG number
+2 two hours after giving insulin. ditto
+3 and so on until you get to PMPS - PM pre shot withhold food 2 hours before testing

+1 same as you do for AM cycle

We don't give times because we are all in different time zones that's why we use the + numbers


If you want to try and set it up here the link, if you need help just ask we have a member who will be glad to set it up for you

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

If you can fill out what we call our signature that will be helpful,it's at the end of everyone's post in gray fill out what information you have already, when you start insulin you can fill that in later

To set up your signature which you will see is at the end of everyone's post in gray, click on your name up top and then tap on the word signature and add this information

• Add info we need to help you:
  • Caregiver & kitty's name
  • DX: Date
  • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
  • Name of your meter
  • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
  • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
  • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
  • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
  • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
  • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.

Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Take a look at mine

 

[tiffmaxee]

You want to withhold food 2 hours prior to testing AMPS and PMPS so the BG number is not food influenced ,after that you can feed any time during each 12 hour cycle

Insulin has not been started yet. @Diane Tyler's Mom

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Hi Elise yes I know that I just figured he could fill out what info he had so far and when he started insulin he could just add that to his signature and SS
@tiffmaxee

 

[Ozma]

Sorry yeah it wasnt really prescription food just some canned Hills m/d our vet gave us. We have been making slow progress getting her to try wet food but thats better than no progress. We are mixing it with dry food and tapering the dry food down. Thats good to know that we dont need to worry about calories cuz someone here suggested some great looking low carb/high protein dry food that i was worried about because the calorie content was higher than what we have now. So calories just refer to the amount of energy but that isn't the same as glucose. Glucose is just concerted to energy. Ok cool. So I will get that healthy dry food. So we wont have to feed her less of the high protein/low carb dry food because it has more calories? Sorry if its a stupid question Im new to this.

Sorry yeah it wasnt really prescription food just some canned Hills m/d our vet gave us. We have been making slow progress getting her to try wet food but thats better than no progress. We are mixing it with dry food and tapering the dry food down. Thats good to know that we dont need to worry about calories cuz someone here suggested some great looking low carb/high protein dry food that i was worried about because the calorie content was higher than what we have now. So calories just refer to the amount of energy but that isn't the same as glucose. Glucose is just concerted to energy. Ok cool. So I will get that healthy dry food. So we wont have to feed her less of the high protein/low carb dry food because it has more calories? Sorry if its a stupid question Im new to this.

Hi Elise yes I know that I just figured he could fill out what info he had so far and when he started insulin he could just add that to his signature and SS
@tiffmaxee

Thank you! I will fill out the spreadsheet tomorrow or saturday. I have a dental appointment but I'll try to get it filled out tomorrow. We are having trouble testing her blood but we are gonna try again in the morning. Is there anything we can use to numb the area before lancing it?

 

[Ozma]

Sorry yeah it wasnt really prescription food just some canned Hills m/d our vet gave us. We have been making slow progress getting her to try wet food but thats better than no progress. We are mixing it with dry food and tapering the dry food down. Thats good to know that we dont need to worry about calories cuz someone here suggested some great looking low carb/high protein dry food that i was worried about because the calorie content was higher than what we have now. So calories just refer to the amount of energy but that isn't the same as glucose. Glucose is just concerted to energy. Ok cool. So I will get that healthy dry food. So we wont have to feed her less of the high protein/low carb dry food because it has more calories? Sorry if its a stupid question Im new to this.

Sorry yeah it wasnt really prescription food just some canned Hills m/d our vet gave us. We have been making slow progress getting her to try wet food but thats better than no progress. We are mixing it with dry food and tapering the dry food down. Thats good to know that we dont need to worry about calories cuz someone here suggested some great looking low carb/high protein dry food that i was worried about because the calorie content was higher than what we have now. So calories just refer to the amount of energy but that isn't the same as glucose. Glucose is just concerted to energy. Ok cool. So I will get that healthy dry food. So we wont have to feed her less of the high protein/low carb dry food because it has more calories? Sorry if its a stupid question Im new to this.

Here are spreadsheet directions.
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

You will want to rest in the morning before she eats and the same at night. If possible get a test 3-4 hours after first meal.

Yay we were finally able to get a home test done this morning before breakfast! She was at 267, so high, but not insanely so. We gave her a few kibbles at 12:30am ( dinner was at 5:30pm) so we will try not to do that and see how her sugar is in the morning. Once her good food arrives and she'll eat a full serving we wont do kibble snacks at all. I will upload her spreadsheet info later today after my dentist appointment. Thank you all for you help.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

Did the vet run a fructosamine test as well? It gives a 3 week average of her BG as opposed to a spot check

 

[Ozma]

The upload doesn't work, just copy and paste it here
@Ozma

So I'm having trouble getting the spreadsheet to work at the moment but I've typed out a good amount of the test results below. Some of them i will need to call the vet tomorrow about as they use some mathematical symbols I'm unfamiliar with. One looks like a tall thin A, that I've seen on the AlphaTrak monitor screen, and the other looks like a taller, thinner A without the crossbar, or a tall thin Pi sign with a slanty leg. Below are is the first page of the results. I'll upload the rest tomorrow or get the spreadsheet up:


T4 3.4 1.5-4.8 ug/dL
CHOL 278 * 90-205 mg/dL

QC OK
HEM 0 LIP 3+ ICT 0

.............................................................

ALB 5.1 * 2.2-4.4 g/dL
ALP 110 * 10-90 U/L
ALT 77 20-100 U/L
AMY 409 300-1100 U/L
TBIL 0.4 0.1-0.6 mg/dL
BUN 21 10-30 mg/dL
CA 10.8 8.0-11.8 mg/dL
PHOS 3.7 3.4-8.5 mg/dL
CRE 1.0 0.3-2.1 mg/dL
GLU 409 * 70-150 mg/dL
NA+ 157 142-164 mmo1/L
K+ 6.0 * 3.7-5.8 mmo1/L
TP 7.9 5.4-8.2 g/dL
GLOB 2.8 1.5-5.7 g/dL

QC OK
HEM 0 LIP 1+ ICT 0


NOTE: This next page has numbers with exponents which I will indicate with a ^ followed by the number. So 10 to the 9th is 10^9. There are two other symbols I don't recognize, one of each is sometimes to the right of the exponent. One looks like a tall thin Pi sign with a slanty leg, one looks like a tall thin A. I've seen the A symbol on my Alphatrak. I will indicate said symbols with an A or /] at the moment, and call the vet tomorrow to figure out what they are. Theres also a small chart that appears to show where the result lands between two numbers... I will try and replicate that under each result and ask what that refers to with the vet tomorrow.


WBC 7.31 10^9 /]
3.50| | * | |20.70

LYM 1.16 10^9 /]
0.83| |* | |9.10

MON 0.53 10^9 /]
0.09| | * | |1.21

NEU 5.61 10^9 /]
1.63| | * | |13.37

EOS 0.02 - 10^9 /]
0.02| *| | |0.49

BAS 0.00 10^9 /]
0.00| |* | |0.20

LYM% 15.8 %
0.0| |* | |100.0

MON% 7.2 %
0.0| |* | |100.0

NEU% 76.7 %
0.0| | * | |100.0

EOS% 0.2 %
0.0| |* | |100.0

BAS% 0.0 %
0.0| |* | |100.0

RBC 10.86 10^12 /]
7.70| | * | |12.80

HGB 14.5 g/dl
10.0| | * | |17.0

HCT 47.74 %
33.70| | * | |55.40

MCV 44 A
35| | * | |52

MCH 13.4 pg
10.0| | * | |16.9

MCHC 30.4 g/dl
27.0| | * | |35.0

RDWc 22.7 %
18.3| | * | |24.1

RDWs 36.7 A

PLT 609 10^9 /]
125| | *| |618

MPV 10.3 A
8.6| | * | |14.9

PCT 0.63 %
PDWc 38.95 %
PDWs 17.3 A

PrVW 361/363
PrVR 382/386
PrVE 303/308
WBC Lyse 0.65 ml
Lyse 2 2.00 ml

 

[Ozma]

Did the vet run a fructosamine test as well? It gives a 3 week average of her BG as opposed to a spot check

Im not sure. I'll call today and ask. She basically told us she has diabetes, wrote a prescription for phenobarbital for the seizures (she for some reason was unsure theyre caused by diabetes), gave us 3 tins of Hills diabetic wet food, and told us to come back in 9 days. Her blood sugar was 167 on a human meter yesterday morning after giving her the low carb high protein food we just got.