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otismomma

Member Since 2016
Hi my cat Otis is male 8 yrs old and is currently on 3.5u q 12h. He was recently diagnosed. His fasting bs was 485 the day he was diagnosed. His fructosomine level not exact on number but vet said was extremely high..he started on 2.5u q 12h..he is not controlled as of yet. .he is on friskies wet as of now.we stopped dry food. ..looking at ingredients to see best food for him. He is still drinking lots of water..litter being changed once a day due to urine output...
can you use human meter for testing. I thought they were metered differently..
thanks
 
What insulin is Otis on? How did the vet determine his dose? Will you do blood glucose testing at home?

Yes, you can use a human meter for testing. Many here use a Walmart ReLion meter of one type or another (others can advise) because the test strips are cheap and readily available. If you decide to keep a spreadsheet of the type we use here there's a version for people using a human meter that takes this into account. Pet meters give readings closer to what your vet would measure but the strips are $$$$$.

Any of the Friskies or Fancy Feast pate style wet foods are fine for feeding a diabetic cat. There's no need to buy expensive prescription food. Removing dry food from the diet is key and you've already done that.
 
He is currently on prozinc...we did a cbc chem panel and a fructosimine test to diagnose...he started out on 2.5 u q 12h but now on 3.5u due to uncontrolled..vet said we could do a curve but he dont like doing them but when he gains some weight back and stops drinking so much and urine output gets better then we should see him stabalize.We are to go up by 1u every werk until this happens..he is scheduled for labs again in 3 weeks

Ok so on the human meter and cats whats the optimal number?
I have glucose meter and strips cause im a nurse and check a couple patients bs on it..
 
you can use a human meter, just be aware that it will read significantly lower than a pet meter because it isn't calibrated for cat blood. on a human meter you don't want to see a reading lower than 50... that's the beginning of hypo territory.
Most on this board use a walmart relion meter. I personally prefer using a pet meter (alphatrak 2), but the strips are a lot more expensive at about $1 per strip.
 
I use ReliOn prime. $17.88 for 100 strips. I test A LOT at home. Every time before a meal and at least 3 times between meals if possible. Pate foods are best because the ones with gravy are usually higher in carbs. There's a link for the lower carb foods and we are working on getting an updated list for USA foods. I feed 9Lives Meaty Pate it's very gentle on my budget and he loves it. My cat is very sensitive to carbs so Friskies is what I use to get his BG to start going up if he's going too low or hypo.
If you post in the ProZinc/PZI section of the forum there are WONDERFUL and helpful people there too! I'm still pretty new at this ( 1 month or so in). This forum saved my cat's life. No doubt about it.
 
He has eaten 9 lives but only pate....some of the things are similar for diabetes in animals and humans so my nursing kinda wants to kick in over drive but I know there are things that are way different...just want my baby back to his old self.
 
otismomma said:
We are to go up by 1u every werk until this happens..he is scheduled for labs again in 3 weeks
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This is way too much, way too quickly....We recommend increases in only .25 to .5 unit increments because you can easily miss what might be a "perfect" dose.

It's really important to home test...that way you will know what your cats blood glucose is and how he's doing...as well as keeping him safe!! Testing done at the vet is not only going to be higher due to stress, but it's only going to capture one moment in time.....it's important to know how he's doing from one cycle to the next, not once every few weeks
 
I thought the intial 2.5 u was high to begin with was high as well....but I trust my vet...I will test him today after work....thanks for the advice
 
Let us know what the number is. We always advise testing preshot and in the middle sometime. If you have a day home then doing several readings mid day will start to paint a picture of how the insulin effects her and what her lowest time of the day is.
 
2.5 units is a big starting dose, and a 1 unit increase at a time every week is too much. Please start home testing as soon as you can, set up a spreadsheet and come over to the Prozinc forum where we will help you figure out the best dose for him.
 
otismomma said:
I thought the intial 2.5 u was high to begin with was high as well....but I trust my vet
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You may have a wonderful vet, but the sad truth is that even wonderful vets have very little education on treating feline diabetes. During formal schooling, they get only 5 hours of classes on diabetes and that covers all types of animals. After that, unless they have a special interest in treating diabetic cats, they just don't have the time to stay up to date on the latest treatments for every different disease in every type of animal they see. If you're in the health field, you know that continuing education is required, but they still "pick and choose" what classes they want to take.

Most vets see a lot more diabetic dogs and tend to treat their cat patients like small dogs. As you know, they are very different creatures!!

Again, using your experience as a nurse....have you ever heard an endocrinologist suggest a new diabetic child shouldn't be tested before EVERY shot? Of course not! They'd be sued for malpractice!! A small child can't tell you how they feel, just like your cat can't, so testing before every shot is just as important for your furbaby!

The people here have a lot more real life experience in treating this disease than even the most caring vet. We live it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Since we are all interested in FD, we have a lot of people who scan the research articles for the latest information on treatment. We have the two things no vet has....the time to stay up to date on it and the day in/day out experience of caring for our own
 
There are a couple of ways to check for dehydration:
1) gently pull up the scruff at the neck and release it. If it remains pulled up or tented, he is moderately to severely dehydrated.
2) lift the lip and press firmly on the gums, then release. If it remains blanched white and only slowly refills, he is mildly to moderately dehydrated.

If he is showing moderate to severe dehydration, I would consult with a vet as soon as I could.
 
BJM said:
There are a couple of ways to check for dehydration:
1) gently pull up the scruff at the neck and release it. If it remains pulled up or tented, he is moderately to severely dehydrated.
2) lift the lip and press firmly on the gums, then release. If it remains blanched white and only slowly refills, he is mildly to moderately dehydrated.

If he is showing moderate to severe dehydration, I would consult with a vet as soon as I could.
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Also the gums will feel tacky rather than wet.
 
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