New diabetic mom in need of advice

[Jen n Leo]

Hi! My Leo was just diagnosed 2 days ago. He had a blood glucose level of 377. The vet put him on ProZinc. I have a couple questions.

Where is a good place for me to get a blood testing kit?

If he doesn't eat his meal at all, do I still give a shot?

The vet had told me to give only half the dose if he only ate part of his meal. But not what to do if he didn't eat at all. I tried looking online but got mixed answers. From what I did read I gather it is better to not give it and let the sugar be high than to give it and it go too low.
Thanks for any and all advice.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

Hi. You can get a human glucose meter at a local store like a drug store or a Wal-Mart or something like that. You want one that takes the smallest available sample size, and you want to make sure the cost of strips is going to be reasonable going forward. There are people here who can make specific recommendations for human meters.

Have you already started giving Leo the ProZinc? Did your vet tell you to start with 1 unit of ProZinc twice a day? That is the normal starting dose. You want to make sure he eats at least a little before giving him ProZinc. He does not have to eat his full meal, but he does need some food in him. Does your cat have issues with not eating?

I'm glad you plan to test. It is very important to test before every shot to make sure it is safe to give the insulin, and getting tests between shots lets you see the impact the insulin is having. You need to know how low the insulin takes him to be sure it is not too low and to know if the dose needs adjustment. Please come over to the ProZinc forum when you have insulin-specific questions like about dosing.

What type of food do you feed Leo? Food is an important factor in treating diabetes. Low-carb wet food is the way to go. Catinfo.org is a site created by a vet that provides a lot of info on feline nutrition. The vet who created it, Dr. Pierson, also created a cat food list that can be helpful when you are trying to select foods to try. I have a link to the database version of it in my signature. Changing a cat to a low-carb diet can greatly decrease their glucose level. So, if you are not already feeding him low-carb food, you would need to be careful to monitor his glucose while making the transition.

You've come to the right place for advice and support. Welcome.

 

[Kate & Toby]

Hi Jen, welcome. You have come to the right place so please stick around and you will have all the help and support you need on this journey.

First of all where are you in the world? I am UK but people here are all over the world. If we know where you are we can help you with supplies.

Prozinc is a good insulin, Leo could do very well.

Please update your signature with some info on

You/cat name, age, date of diagnosis, other health conditions, medication, your location, what Leo eats.

 

[Panic]

The vet had told me to give only half the dose if he only ate part of his meal. But not what to do if he didn't eat at all. I tried looking online but got mixed answers. From what I did read I gather it is better to not give it and let the sugar be high than to give it and it go too low.

Hi Jen! Because you're on ProZinc, it is considered safe to administer insulin as long as they have an appetite in general. Here's what a senior member told me a few months ago when I first switched to ProZinc and was asking about how much food they needed for insulin:

Food before Prozinc: Doesn't really matter how much. The thing is to make sure that she's eating and hasn't gone off her food. The onset is typically around +2, and tends to be gentle enough that as long as they are eating, the amount isn't that important. If Sam really isn't hungry at shot time I'll give him a couple of pieces of freeze dried chicken or salmon. If he shows enthusiasm for them (which he usually does), then I know he's fine and just doesn't want a meal right this second. If he doesn't eat treats, or eats them with hesitation, I'll delay the shot until I can get some food in him (he has chronic pancreatitis so goes off his food far too often).

 

[Jen n Leo]

Thank you all so much for the answers and support.

The vet has him on 4.5 units x2 daily right now. But he has only been eating about half of his meals, so in following my vets advice of only giving a half dose if he doesn't eat all his food, I have been giving him 2 units.

He currently eats Royal Canin satiety, but the vet wants me to switch to Royal Canin glycobalance. He doesn't seem to like the smell of it. He won't eat if I put any of the new food in the bowl. Right now I thought it is better to give him his old food so he will eat, can have a shot, and get his sugar down, than to give him the new food he won't he and not get a shot.

Any suggestions on a food to switch to would be greatly appreciated. He has been on dry food most of his life. When he has eaten wet, he will only eat the pate' style.

On a positive note, after just two days on the insulin, he is already starting to walk better. He had developed neuropathy in his back legs. He started walking flat footed and wobbly on Wednesday, that is what made me take him to the vet. This morning he wasn't quite as wobbly and up a little more on his feet.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome Jen and Leo.
Leo is a beautiful kitty!

I am very concerned about the size of the dose of Prozinc. That is far to large a starting dose for a cat. Please don’t give 4.5 units.
The starting dose of Prozinc is around 1 unit twice a day. I am going to tag @MrWorfMen's Mom to help you with the Prozinc dosing.
In the meantime I would try and start testing the blood glucose levels as soon as you can.
Are you feeding before the shots and a couple of other times each cycle?

 

[Jen n Leo]

I am very concerned about the size of the dose of Prozinc. That is far to large a starting dose for a cat. Please don’t give 4.5 units.
The starting dose of Prozinc is around 1 unit twice a day. I am going to tag @MrWorfMen's Mom to help you with the Prozinc dosing.

Thank you. I'm sorry about the loss of Sheba. She was beautiful.

I wondered about the dose. It seemed like a lot to me. I will only give him 1. I have an appt. with the vet tomorrow with my dog and plan on talking to the vet some more about Leo. Now that I know I can just use a human meter, I will get one today. I'll read through some threads about testing. But my main question would be where do you prick them to get the blood?

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

If you can, switching the food over to a low carb canned food diet is better than dry. Many people here feed their cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies canned food. The pate flavors are the low carb foods. However please make sure you are testing. A diet switch can significantly lower glucose levels and that is why you want to test before every shot.

 

[Jen n Leo]

If you can, switching the food over to a low carb canned food diet is better than dry. Many people here feed their cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies canned food. The pate flavors are the low carb foods. However please make sure you are testing. A diet switch can significantly lower glucose levels and that is why you want to test before every shot.

Thanks Lisa. I know he will eat the Friskies. I will get some and start switching him over.

Wow. This is a lot and a little overwhelming. But I'll get it.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

I agree with Bron....the 4.5u dose is extremely high for a newly diagnosed kitty. It's a higher dose than most kitties ever need and suggests to me that your vet is not very familiar with treating feline diabetes.

I would stick with a dose of 1u to start, start home testing and then switch Leo over to a low carb wet diet. There are lots of retail brands of food that are suitable for diabetic cats, available in pate texture, easier on the budget with far superior ingredients to any of the so called prescription food the vet peddles.

On the home testing front, HERE is some information to help you get started. Most folks use the ears for testing but you can also use paw pads. Make sure when you pick up the meter to get some lancets that are 26 to 28 gauge because the ones that come with the meters are thinner and make getting a sample from a newly diagnosed kitty more difficult. Some folks use the lancing device that comes with the meter but a lot of folks just free hand with the lancet. The important thing is to find what works for you and Leo.

Keep the questions coming and let us know how we can help. We are full of tips and tricks to help you make the testing easy on you and Leo and in no time it will all be routine.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

Oh, my goodness, 4.5 is WAY too high of a starting dose. I am so glad you were only giving 2 instead. Definitely drop to 1 unit which is the normal, safe starting point. As soon as you can start testing, let's get that baby transitioned to low-carb wet food. There was someone on this site whose cat was eating the Glycobalance, and when they changed to low-carb wet, they were able to drop the insulin dose in half! That story tells you two things, 1) low-carb wet is so much better for glucose levels, and 2) it's important to be testing glucose when switching food so that you know if the glucose drops enough that it would not be safe to give the planned insulin dose.

A lot of vets do not know very much about feline nutrition or properly treating feline diabetes. That is why we end up having to educate ourselves so we can know when to follow the vet's advice and when that would not be in the best interest of our cats. You are off to a good start.

 

[Jen n Leo]

Thank you all! I've read several,of the posts about testing and watched the videos. I think I understand the process of doing it. But I just want to make sure I'm right about when to give a shot. I got a human meter at Walgreens, True Focus.

So if his number is 200 or above I give a shot. Yes?

If it is below 200, I wait 20 minutes and test again. If it's still not up, I wait again and test. How many times do you do that before deciding to not give a shot?

 

[Panic]

Correct. I don't think there's a set amount of times you need to stall the shot, it's important to note if they're dropping, holding the BG level, or rising. I would think if they're dropping or holding the BG after a couple stalls then it's best to just skip, because you wouldn't want to be an hour or two off-schedule anyway. Typically if their BG is rising on its own without food it would be safe to give insulin but you could give a "token" dose (maybe half a dose) instead of full.

 

[Jen n Leo]

Correct. I don't think there's a set amount of times you need to stall the shot, it's important to note if they're dropping, holding the BG level, or rising. I would think if they're dropping or holding the BG after a couple stalls then it's best to just skip, because you wouldn't want to be an hour or two off-schedule anyway. Typically if their BG is rising on its own without food it would be safe to give insulin but you could give a "token" dose (maybe half a dose) instead of full.

Thank you!!!