New here - ProZinc starts tomorrow

if you’re doing it freehand, do you just use a sewing needle or what kind of needle?
You should buy 26 or 28 gauge lancets to poke the ear with
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
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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 can even put a smidge of Vaseline on the ear so the blog d will bead it
Even though the video shows her testing with a pet meter , you will not have to code anything when using a human meter which most of us use
When you get your meter just please add the meter to your signature and what food you are feeding
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

Here is a video that one of our members did
 
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@FrostD Guys, just got home from Walgreens with the ketostix and she jumped in box when I was also sitting on my litterbox (she loves to do that, don’t ask me why) Grabbed one and I got it under her stream but I think I touched the litter a little. It was somewhere between negative and trace on the color chart. We will see what I can get tomorrow, but this boosted my confidence in my ability do this!
 
@FrostD Guys, just got home from Walgreens with the ketostix and she jumped in box when I was also sitting on my litterbox (she loves to do that, don’t ask me why) Grabbed one and I got it under her stream but I think I touched the litter a little. It was somewhere between negative and trace on the color chart. We will see what I can get tomorrow, but this boosted my confidence in my ability do this!
Awesome! That's good. They do make blood ketone meters if that ends up being easier but I figured baby steps lol

About the vet...a lot of new people have similar sentiments. They are uncomfortable going against/doing things differently from what the vet said, or some it's the only vet around and they *need* a good relationship in order to get scripts, labs, etc.

All I can say is - do what's best for you and your cat. We always work with caregiver's comfort levels, we've all been there at the very daunting beginning. Once you get testing and up and running, I usually give a few options. I say "this is what I would do if it were my cat", but "here's option 2 if you're a little uncomfortable with that" or "option 3 because x,y,z", and here's the pros/cons of each. Just so you have the whole picture and can make informed decisions.

That said it is an internet forum after all, nobody professes to be a vet here. Anyone can give advice, so keep that in mind. JanetNJ and I are primarily the advice-givers on the ProZinc forum, Chris and China occasionally pops in. Bron and Sheba as well as Bandit's Mom are the usual nighttime crew since they're in Australia and India respectively.
 
Awesome! That's good. They do make blood ketone meters if that ends up being easier but I figured baby steps lol

About the vet...a lot of new people have similar sentiments. They are uncomfortable going against/doing things differently from what the vet said, or some it's the only vet around and they *need* a good relationship in order to get scripts, labs, etc.

All I can say is - do what's best for you and your cat. We always work with caregiver's comfort levels, we've all been there at the very daunting beginning. Once you get testing and up and running, I usually give a few options. I say "this is what I would do if it were my cat", but "here's option 2 if you're a little uncomfortable with that" or "option 3 because x,y,z", and here's the pros/cons of each. Just so you have the whole picture and can make informed decisions.

That said it is an internet forum after all, nobody professes to be a vet here. Anyone can give advice, so keep that in mind. JanetNJ and I are primarily the advice-givers on the ProZinc forum, Chris and China occasionally pops in. Bron and Sheba as well as Bandit's Mom are the usual nighttime crew since they're in Australia and India respectively.

That makes sense. I am just going to take it day by day and try to use my magical cat mom instincts. Thank you for all your help today.

A few years ago, somehow Gizmo and I got giardia around the same time. Could have been from our newly tapped well at the house. I had to take a few rounds of metronidazole, so did Gizmo. The metro kept making her vomit and foam at the mouth. She stopped eating entirely. They insisted on me continuing to force it to her even though it wasn’t helping for several days and she was clearly suffering. I threw my hands up and said “f this, I’m not giving it to her anymore.” Stopped calling and asking questions. Just stopped and waited. It all went away and she got back to normal. That’s the moment I stopped blindly trusting in these kinds of situations. I don’t know, it’s tough. But I’ll do anything to keep her feeling good. I think on this one I’ll have to go with my instincts, too.
 
I’m very worried about having to do this spreadsheet - it seems like a lot of things I have to acclimate to before I even get the medicine in her. How long can I stall this until I figure all of this out and get all the needed supplies. Worried :(
The spreadsheet totally looked intimidating to me at first. But we have people here who can set it up for you. You can successfully do this!
 
Thank you so much! I did order some of the Proviable. I already have Proviable Forte. Do you know how this differs from DC?
It looks like it’s advertised as being for dogs? Not sure. What does your bottle say? For cats? Either way, I’m sure it’s not harmful to cats.
 
It was supposed to be here in a week but I believe it will be here tomorrow. It seems like everyone says to wait to start giving her the insulin until I get the hang of it. I can guarantee you I will be crying. If you’re doing it freehand, do you just use a sewing needle or what kind of needle?

thank you for all the tips!
Lancets. I assumed these would come with your meter and test strips. But I see you have had more advice since I was last on. You will do great.
 
It looks like it’s advertised as being for dogs? Not sure. What does your bottle say? For cats? Either way, I’m sure it’s not harmful to cats.
Says cats and dogs. We had it for a bout of diarrhea. I went ahead and ordered the DC to be on the safe side. We actually just had the first poop in 72 hours. Was gray and a little bit firmer than toothpaste. I think this is from all the seafood flavors I’ve been feeding her. She refuses to eat anything other than seafood right now. Hoping with the probiotics this improves stool quality. The last 3 have been gray and softer than I’d like. Told the vet about this, seemed only marginally concerned.
 
I don’t understand why they weren’t interested in the grey stool color. Hopefully it will pass and is just an issue with a too rapid transit time. But it can be indicative of other organ system problems. I hope probiotics will help.
 
Nevermind my comment above. :blackeye: Proviable DC has 5 billion CFUs per cap, Forte has 10 billion. Compare that to Visbiome that has 112.5 billion CFUs per capsule. Still, it's good to start somewhere.
 
Well, we are back to inappetance. Woke up this morning screaming for food, won’t touch anything but the gravy. Had a wretching episode when she woke me up. Going to continue to try to feed other things throughout the day to see if I can get her to eat.
 
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:bighug:
Well, we are back to inappetance. Woke up this morning screaming for food, won’t touch anything but the gravy. Had a wrenching episode when she woke me up. Going to continue to try to feed other things throughout the day to see if I can get her to eat.
:bighug::bighug::bighug: I hope she eats for you today. Hopefully when she starts insulin she will feel better.
 
Well, we are back to inappetance. Woke up this morning screaming for food, won’t touch anything but the gravy. Had a wretching episode when she woke me up. Going to continue to try to feed other things throughout the day to see if I can get her to eat.
❤️❤️ just sending love and prayers. I know how stressed you must be. I just went through it. Please eat beautiful girl EAT
 
Yes. It is soooo upsetting when they won't eat. And you drag out every single cat food in the world... and baby food, and treats, and forti flora and parmesan cheese on top of food and go to the store and buy more foods... and try human foods... and you have food everywhere and they won't eat. Feels so hopeless.
 
Agreed. Thank you all for the support. I talked to the vet and everyone agrees she should probably go to the hospital soon to get stable with the insulin and all this mess. It’s looking a lot like she probably has pancreatitis.
 
Now, having said all this (above) have you tried any appetite stimulants on her. Miratax (transdermal applied to the inner ear flap) is good in small amounts. Cyproheptadine works for a lot of people too. I have used both.

Naturally, you would want to make sure she's not nauseous before stimulating appetite. I don't know why she would be... but I don't know why she's not eating either. I'd be inclined to experiment with a little Zofran (Ondansetron) to see if she eats better. It is a very effective anti-nausea medication. However (sorry) it can be constipating and you may not want to go there. When did she last poop? Yesterday?

Sorry to be back and forth on suggestions... just presenting options here to consider. Hopefully by now she's eaten?
 
Okay, did they test her fPLI for pancreatitis? If so, then she probably is nauseous and needs the Zofran to feel well enough to eat. And the appetite stimulants I mentioned. I'm so sorry. I'm quite worried now. Please keep us posted.
 
We got some eating tonight, finally got her by pouring tuna broth on everything. She had a pretty decent meal. Her meter just got here today but with managing the 60 cans of cat foods I had to open, I haven’t gotten to look at it yet. Thanks for checking in y’all - will report back when I get the meter running
 
I’m glad she ate something as well. We’ve all been there. 49 cans on my counter as we speak. All flavors all styles.
I was up to 3 or 4 a sitting to get her to eat anything.
I truly hope she feels better soon and starts to eat. Is she drinking? Cats get the bulk of their water from food so if she doesn’t eat you may want to take her for some sub q fluids. Thinking of you guys and hoping she feels better soon. Keep us posted. :bighug:
 
I’m glad she ate something as well. We’ve all been there. 49 cans on my counter as we speak. All flavors all styles.
I was up to 3 or 4 a sitting to get her to eat anything.
I truly hope she feels better soon and starts to eat. Is she drinking? Cats get the bulk of their water from food so if she doesn’t eat you may want to take her for some sub q fluids. Thinking of you guys and hoping she feels better soon. Keep us posted. :bighug:
Why are they like that with the food? Why did you like something 3 hours ago that now is disgusting and you’re burying it like poop? Oh, cats….

she’s fairly hydrated because I had to pour those tiki cat broths over everything and she loves those. So if nothing else she was eating the entire packet of broth.
 
I’m glad she ate something as well. We’ve all been there. 49 cans on my counter as we speak. All flavors all styles.
I was up to 3 or 4 a sitting to get her to eat anything.
I truly hope she feels better soon and starts to eat. Is she drinking? Cats get the bulk of their water from food so if she doesn’t eat you may want to take her for some sub q fluids. Thinking of you guys and hoping she feels better soon. Keep us posted. :bighug:
And yes, she has been drinking.
 
Sometimes cats in the wild will try to hide their food by burying it so that they can come back to it later. I see my ferals doing it. Sometimes my house cats do it as well, so I know what you mean.

Hopefully she’ll eat this morning. I do think something for nausea could help
 
Yeah, it’s a strange behavior. If I present something new she hates, she will do it. Will also do it and it does seem like hiding it for later.

she ate almost a whole can of wet food this morning with minimal coaching, so that was good. I do have some cerenia for backup in case anything gets worse.
 
Hey y’all. Our power was out for a few days due to a construction accident. Ugh.

I tried to get the meter going but didn’t have much success with her ear. I tried warming it, etc with no blood.

long story short, I’ve started the insulin. I spoke with a cat diabetes specialist via video chat because I did not trust what my vet was saying. I wanted to start giving it to her because she seemed so not herself. So we started. Wow, shots are much easier than oral medication. I’m shocked.

She has been getting 1/2u twice a day, and the clinical signs improved immediately. The peeing and drinking have slowed and appetite majorly improved. Still fighting with constipation. Got her started on probiotics. As the days have gone on, I noticed the clinical signs coming back. She has a blood test at the vet Tuesday. I wonder how we will do. The original dose was 1unit so I’m sure they will be mad at me for halving it. Oh well, I was too scared with her weird appetite.

just wanted to send an update.
 
Hey guys - sorry - me again. Can you guys point me to where I get a spreadsheet started again? I just got my first reading on the monitor. I think I have it down now. Who do I go to to get one set up? Thanks!!
 
Also, I squared up with the vet today. He said he didn’t want to “overwhelm me” with the info about testing and that I should more than do it. I said I’m not overwhelmed when it comes to my only child, I can handle whatever. So now he’s on board. And I wore him down about the eating twice a day thing LOL
 
Woke up at 4:45 am to vomiting and diarrhea. Not sure what’s going on, will keep you posted.

oh dear, quite scary to wake to that! poor you and Gizmo. Arthur had a lot of the same beginning symptoms and problems as you describe so I can sympathize.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate you because already you have wonderful dedication and great application to the task of getting Gizmo on track, despite your stress and the ocean of sometimes conflicting info. Well done.

Secondly, I can advise at this point, the aim to to get Gizmo stable first, and we can push the longterm worries aside for now.
Keep in mind during this first period of adjustment that Gizmo will experience big changes in appetite and energy as her wee body slowly becomes accustomed to the hormone. we all know how our hormones affect us monthly, and Gizmo receiving insulin may feel nausea, a stomach that feels full after only a small feed, a bit of bloating and discomfort... Gastroparesis and pancreatitis are common among diabetics, but most often ease with good regulation.
I would advise sticking to one safe food and not swapping and experimenting - it is not the food that will create the appetite, but the regulation of nausea or discomfort. while you are trying to match the insulin dose to the food, it is more effective to do so by Not swapping foods with different calories and ingredients. Broth or even adding warm water to more solid wet food is a great incentive.
In the beginning, I gave Arthur 6 to 8 tiny meals a day because the supposed 2 feeds, 2 shots just did not get him settled, and was too risky if he then vomited after a shot. I had tried that schedule advised by the vet for probably two weeks with Caninsulin, and it was just a nightmare. Regular small feeds meant he was safer and felt less queasy. It took me 6months to convince a vet to give Arthur a script for Lantus (another saga).

Btw, the covering of the remaining food is done to protect it from predators. By covering the meal with soil or foliage, the scent would be masked until the cat comes back later to feed again. It is a cat fridge, if you will :-) This is good news because it shows Gizmo approves of that food, but just does have the appetite or stomach space to eat it.

I also used the sachets of probiotics drizzled over food in the beginning to try and help digestion.

Importantly, if Gizmo is having both vomiting and diarrhea, dehydration will be an issue. I took Arthur to the vet during those epidoses for subcutaneous fluid. A small animal just cant keep up with water loss in that situation and I have to say, the fluid injections really work and gave both him and me such relief. It was an important stepping stone to recovery.

I can also recommend the tiny little paste posts GimCat Pate Deluxe in Veal to raise calories after vomiting, and be safer if insulin was already given prior to vomiting. I have also spread it on food to get him to eat.

I hope today is a better day for you! All the best!
 
Hi Rachel. Are you testing for ketones? Vomiting in diabetics is not a great sign — if it’s just for today and not something that’s occurring a lot, then it’s probably just a tummy upset for some reason we may never know, but if it becomes really frequent, please take him to the vet. This happened to my Darcy and he was in DKA.

Would it be possible to start another thread and link this one to it at the top? This thread is very long.
 
oh dear, quite scary to wake to that! poor you and Gizmo. Arthur had a lot of the same beginning symptoms and problems as you describe so I can sympathize.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate you because already you have wonderful dedication and great application to the task of getting Gizmo on track, despite your stress and the ocean of sometimes conflicting info. Well done.

Secondly, I can advise at this point, the aim to to get Gizmo stable first, and we can push the longterm worries aside for now.
Keep in mind during this first period of adjustment that Gizmo will experience big changes in appetite and energy as her wee body slowly becomes accustomed to the hormone. we all know how our hormones affect us monthly, and Gizmo receiving insulin may feel nausea, a stomach that feels full after only a small feed, a bit of bloating and discomfort... Gastroparesis and pancreatitis are common among diabetics, but most often ease with good regulation.
I would advise sticking to one safe food and not swapping and experimenting - it is not the food that will create the appetite, but the regulation of nausea or discomfort. while you are trying to match the insulin dose to the food, it is more effective to do so by Not swapping foods with different calories and ingredients. Broth or even adding warm water to more solid wet food is a great incentive.
In the beginning, I gave Arthur 6 to 8 tiny meals a day because the supposed 2 feeds, 2 shots just did not get him settled, and was too risky if he then vomited after a shot. I had tried that schedule advised by the vet for probably two weeks with Caninsulin, and it was just a nightmare. Regular small feeds meant he was safer and felt less queasy. It took me 6months to convince a vet to give Arthur a script for Lantus (another saga).

Btw, the covering of the remaining food is done to protect it from predators. By covering the meal with soil or foliage, the scent would be masked until the cat comes back later to feed again. It is a cat fridge, if you will :) This is good news because it shows Gizmo approves of that food, but just does have the appetite or stomach space to eat it.

I also used the sachets of probiotics drizzled over food in the beginning to try and help digestion.

Importantly, if Gizmo is having both vomiting and diarrhea, dehydration will be an issue. I took Arthur to the vet during those epidoses for subcutaneous fluid. A small animal just cant keep up with water loss in that situation and I have to say, the fluid injections really work and gave both him and me such relief. It was an important stepping stone to recovery.

I can also recommend the tiny little paste posts GimCat Pate Deluxe in Veal to raise calories after vomiting, and be safer if insulin was already given prior to vomiting. I have also spread it on food to get him to eat.

I hope today is a better day for you! All the best!

thank you so much for the encouragement. This definately hasn’t been easy and it’s taking a toll on my mental and physical health, for sure. I’m exhausted and only sleep a few hours a night :(

I have been sticking to the food that she will eat and has been eating, although maybe not the absolute best. But there were periods of anorexia weeks ago (with hunger and begging), so we’ve stayed with one thing as best we can. She is getting multiple small meals a day, usually 4-5. I told the vet the twice a day thing was absolutely not going to work, especially given how hungry she is and for the fear of her stopping eating again, vomiting, etc.

I’ve never seen that type of food in my store, but I do have some cans of Purina GI food which is pretty calorie and carb dense. Luckily she vomited about two hours before the shot, and her stomach was empty from the night so I gave her several small meals over that two hour period. She was hungry and has kept them down for about 4 hours now. Gave her the shot but only knowing that she had already kept some food down for a few hours.

my thoughts on the diarrhea - two days ago, she pooped after 5 days of nothing. Right before she pooped, because I wanted to get her back pooping if she was constipated again, I gave her 1/4 tsp miralax. I am hoping and wondering if this is just the lingering effects of the miralax. I could have kicked myself for giving it that morning, when she pooped 10 minutes later. She has been getting Proviable DC sprinkled on her dinner and that seemed to be firming things up, if I hadn’t have messed up by giving her the Miralax. She often vomits if she’s constipated or has diarrhea. Will take her in if it happens again. My mind is just so tired trying to get this right.
 
...if I hadn’t have messed up... My mind is just so tired trying to get this right.

Don't worry, you are doing so well with a massive learning curve and huge responsibility - there are no mistakes when we are doing our best for our cats with good faith.

I have no experience of needing to medicate for constipation - it resolved itself as Arthur got used to his insulin. It was a rollercoaster emotionally and for him, physically and energetically. Thankfully the days of grey poop, vivid poop, and weird poop are mostly over. You will get Gizmo there too.
Arthur does self-regulate with grass growing under my doorstep - I didn't weed it, luckily, as I noticed it is his favorite. If I come home after being out a few hours he asks to be let out to have a munch. He also loved eating the seed heads of my festuca glauca and even the spring greens of muscari. I get really proud of him when his poop is well formed, ha ha!
I just started growing him cat-grass indoors speculating that work will present itself once more, and he'll spend more time on his todd. easing out of covid restrictions.

I could not go straight to low carb diabetic foods as they are not readily available in Ireland, so his initial dose was quite high. When I could import the good diabetic wet food I was able to lower his dose accordingly and run less risk if he did vomit.
 
Hi Rachel. Are you testing for ketones? Vomiting in diabetics is not a great sign — if it’s just for today and not something that’s occurring a lot, then it’s probably just a tummy upset for some reason we may never know, but if it becomes really frequent, please take him to the vet. This happened to my Darcy and he was in DKA.

Would it be possible to start another thread and link this one to it at the top? This thread is very long.

I have been but it’s been fairly consistently between negative and trace with not the greatest samples. I am thinking about taking her today for some fluids if it continues, but here’s to hoping it was just a fluke.
 
I have been but it’s been fairly consistently between negative and trace with not the greatest samples. I am thinking about taking her today for some fluids if it continues, but here’s to hoping it was just a fluke.
Good job. Fantastic news on the ketones. At least you will know that’s not it! I hope Gizmo will feel well and have a good day.
 
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