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BJM
Member Since 2010
Welcome to the message board, the best place you never wanted to be.
There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.
There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.
Merlin
Member Since 2014
Welcome MaLinda and Abby. We would love to know more about Abby. How old is she? What insulin are you on. What kind of food are you giving her. In case you have not found this article, this is a great read www.catinfo.org
cmluker
Member Since 2015
Thanks for the information. I've recently found myself in a situation where I'm having difficulties paying for vet visits, insulin, and food. I'm looking for all the info I can get to try and save a bit of money although I know I will have to go to the vet to get Abby's blood sugar checked and get her on track again since I haven't been able to give her regular doses for the past couple of weeks.
Sue and Oliver (GA)
Member Since 2009
We test our cat's blood glucose levels at home. It is more accurate and much cheaper than doing it at the vet's office. You can buy a ReliOn meter at Walmart with strips/lancets for about $40. We can teach you how. You can get her numbers at home and email them to your vet. That will save a bunch and keep her safe.
cmluker
Member Since 2015
As soon as I get paid I will do this. I also need to get some insulin. Abby is the sweetest cat and it kills me that I haven't been able to care for her recently like I was able to.
Sue and Oliver (GA)
Member Since 2009
Have you looked in our Supply closet?
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/supply-closet-for-sale-or-free.15/
Something you can do right now, if she is not yet on insulin, is to change her diet. A vet explains why wet low carb food is best here: www.catinfo.org. Friskies pates are the least expensive wet low carb food. Changing from dry to wet brought my cat's levels down 100 points overnight.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/supply-closet-for-sale-or-free.15/
Something you can do right now, if she is not yet on insulin, is to change her diet. A vet explains why wet low carb food is best here: www.catinfo.org. Friskies pates are the least expensive wet low carb food. Changing from dry to wet brought my cat's levels down 100 points overnight.
Philippe & Mei Li
Member Since 2015
Welcome ..
Bobbie And Bubba
Member Since 2015
Hi Malinda and Abbey. Assuming you have a Walmart near you, the cheapest Relion Meter and Strips is the PRIME. The strips for the Prime meter are 9$ /50 of them as compared to double that for the Relion Micro. Hope that helps.
Tara & Ivana (GA)
Member Since 2015
Welcome MaLinda and Abby! It's great that you're willing to learn a lot, because you certainly will here 
Wishing you all the best on your journey.
Wishing you all the best on your journey.
Squalliesmom
Member Since 2015
Hello and welcome, MaLinda and Abby (and Miklos, too!).
The Relion Confirm, also sold at Walmart, is about $15 and uses a very tiny amount of blood to test; test strips run about $35/100. The Prime is less expensive but uses a larger blood sample. Here's a link to some home testing information, to get you started:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
What type of insulin was Abby using? We all have little tips and tricks for finding the best prices so we can probably help point you toward a price that, hopefully, you can live with. Having a diabetic kitty is not easy on the budget, I know!
This article will also help you a lot! Definitely do read it, then go back through it and click on the highlighted phrase "Cat Food Composition" to see a list of the carb content of most popular cat foods. It's really invaluable. Please, if you do change her diet, do it gradually, so as not to cause digestive upsets, and if she is already back on insulin, you absolutely must be testing at home to make sure her blood glucose doesn't drop too low and bring on hypoglycemia! Blood glucose can drop considerably if you switch from a higher carb diet to a low carb one.
Don't be afraid to ask questions! Everbody here is always willing to help!
Lucy
The Relion Confirm, also sold at Walmart, is about $15 and uses a very tiny amount of blood to test; test strips run about $35/100. The Prime is less expensive but uses a larger blood sample. Here's a link to some home testing information, to get you started:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
What type of insulin was Abby using? We all have little tips and tricks for finding the best prices so we can probably help point you toward a price that, hopefully, you can live with. Having a diabetic kitty is not easy on the budget, I know!
This article will also help you a lot! Definitely do read it, then go back through it and click on the highlighted phrase "Cat Food Composition" to see a list of the carb content of most popular cat foods. It's really invaluable. Please, if you do change her diet, do it gradually, so as not to cause digestive upsets, and if she is already back on insulin, you absolutely must be testing at home to make sure her blood glucose doesn't drop too low and bring on hypoglycemia! Blood glucose can drop considerably if you switch from a higher carb diet to a low carb one.
Don't be afraid to ask questions! Everbody here is always willing to help!
Lucy
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