New diagnosis, a few questions

[Bree & Misty]

Hello friends,
My girl Misty was diagnosed on 6/25. I read all the main articles linked for beginners, but still have a few questions.
1. Dosing: the vet prescribed 2u prozinc twice a day. This is a lot higher than recommended for a starting dose here, should I lower it just to be safe? I purchased an at home tester but haven't used it yet, as I haven't received the insulin I ordered yet.
2. Diet: vet recommended a few prescription diets, which I chose to forgo after reading here. He didn't tell me how much to feed her. She is currently about 7.5 pounds, pretty underweight, I brought her in due to weight loss in the first place. I plan to have her on one 2.8 oz can of tiki cat chicken in chicken consomme, split into a half can before each dose of insulin, and 1/4 cup northwest naturals freeze dried chicken recipe automatically dispensed while I'm at work during the day, and another 1/4 cup while I'm sleeping, and of course some low carb treats at shot time. Is this enough? I don't know if I should be feeding her extra so she can gain weight back (she was never overweight). She's not picky at all, and loves canned/freeze dried food. I had her on Kirkland signature dry food prior to diagnosis but immediately switched to canned.
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks to everyone in this amazing community!

 

[JanetNJ]

Hello friends,
My girl Misty was diagnosed on 6/25. I read all the main articles linked for beginners, but still have a few questions.
1. Dosing: the vet prescribed 2u prozinc twice a day. This is a lot higher than recommended for a starting dose here, should I lower it just to be safe? I purchased an at home tester but haven't used it yet, as I haven't received the insulin I ordered yet.
2. Diet: vet recommended a few prescription diets, which I chose to forgo after reading here. He didn't tell me how much to feed her. She is currently about 7.5 pounds, pretty underweight, I brought her in due to weight loss in the first place. I plan to have her on one 2.8 oz can of tiki cat chicken in chicken consomme, split into a half can before each dose of insulin, and 1/4 cup northwest naturals freeze dried chicken recipe automatically dispensed while I'm at work during the day, and another 1/4 cup while I'm sleeping, and of course some low carb treats at shot time. Is this enough? I don't know if I should be feeding her extra so she can gain weight back (she was never overweight). She's not picky at all, and loves canned/freeze dried food. I had her on Kirkland signature dry food prior to diagnosis but immediately switched to canned.
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks to everyone in this amazing community!

Welcome!! So sorry about the diagnosis but you came to the right place.

1. Yes I would start at 1. It's possible that is not enough, but that's safest until you get the hang of testing. So glad to hear you are planning to test at home.

2. If she's underweight feed her as much as she wants! The rule of thumb is about 20 calories per pound of IDEAL WEIGHT. If she's 7 but should be say, 10 lbs... That would be 200 calories. But being an unregulated diabetic might need even more than that because her body is not utilizing the nutrients properly. Tikicat is a great choice for food but pretty low in calories so would need several cans a day. If she's willing to eat more I would feed her more. Half a can of Tiki doesn't sound like much to me... But I don't know how much she likes to eat. I don't know how many calories is in the other food you're feeding. Being underweight just feed her as much low carb as she will eat. Once you start testing just no food 2 hours prior to the preshot test so the number is not food influenced.

 

[Bree & Misty]

Welcome!! So sorry about the diagnosis but you came to the right place.

1. Yes I would start at 1. It's possible that is not enough, but that's safest until you get the hang of testing. So glad to hear you are planning to test at home.

2. If she's underweight feed her as much as she wants! The rule of thumb is about 20 calories per pound of IDEAL WEIGHT. If she's 7 but should be say, 10 lbs... That would be 200 calories. But being an unregulated diabetic might need even more than that because her body is not utilizing the nutrients properly. Tikicat is a great choice for food but pretty low in calories so would need several cans a day. If she's willing to eat more I would feed her more. Half a can of Tiki doesn't sound like much to me... But I don't know how much she likes to eat. I don't know how many calories is in the other food you're feeding. Being underweight just feed her as much low carb as she will eat. Once you start testing just no food 2 hours prior to the preshot test so the number is not food influenced.

Thank you! Trying to make the best of this
1 unit per day or 1 unit per shot?
Perfect thank you! I'll make sure she has food available throughout the day. After she has regained a healthy weight, do you think I should continue to free feed (outside of 2 hours before shot time) or give her specific portions? The other food has 134 cal/oz. It's freeze dried.

 

[JanetNJ]

Thank you! Trying to make the best of this
1 unit per day or 1 unit per shot?
Perfect thank you! I'll make sure she has food available throughout the day. After she has regained a healthy weight, do you think I should continue to free feed (outside of 2 hours before shot time) or give her specific portions? The other food has 134 cal/oz. It's freeze dried.

1 unit per shot.... Two shots per day. That's the recommended starting dose.
Most here do feed several small meals a day. I always fed 4 times a day. Morning, lunch, dinner, and before bed. My cats are all grazers. An option for leaving wet food when you work during the day is to put an ice cube in it in a timed feeder.

 

[Bree & Misty]

1 unit per shot.... Two shots per day. That's the recommended starting dose.
Most here do feed several small meals a day. I always fed 4 times a day. Morning, lunch, dinner, and before bed. My cats are all grazers. An option for leaving wet food when you work during the day is to put an ice cube in it in a timed feeder.

I never thought of the ice cube idea, that's smart thank you for your help!

 

[Logan & Sandy]

I agree with Janet about 1 unit a day.. my cat logan was diagnosed in Nov. of last yr.. and my vet told me 2 units twice a day.. crazy... i didn't start to test till a few weeks later..cuzz i was a chicken about testing.. and when i started to test he was going hypo.. and i had to lower the dose.. .. this group is great.. and has helped me a lot. goodluck.

 

[Bree & Misty]

I agree with Janet about 1 unit a day.. my cat logan was diagnosed in Nov. of last yr.. and my vet told me 2 units twice a day.. crazy... i didn't start to test till a few weeks later..cuzz i was a chicken about testing.. and when i started to test he was going hypo.. and i had to lower the dose.. .. this group is great.. and has helped me a lot. goodluck.

That's why my vet told me too, but after reading here I felt that might be too high to start with. Thanks for the advice!