New Member- Aug 27/21

[Etoile]

Hi everyone. My cat Bear was diagnosed with diabetes and I have just started treatment.He is 14 I have changed his food to a diabetic food, and am giving insulin twice a day. I am very upset and scared and just want what’s best for him. I am really struggling with checking his blood. He absolutely hates the ear pokes, so I am going to try a toe bean tonight. Do you have to check his blood every time before a shot? It is really stressful for him and me, and I am really struggling. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi Etoile and Bear and welcome to the forum.
Have you seen THIS link to home testing. It may help.
Yes it is really important that you test before every shot to see it is safe to give the dose.
I would also recommend trying to get a test in during the cycle around +5 to +7.

HELP US HELP YOU has some links within it which you will find useful.
Make sure you set up a hypo kit…the link is there.
If you could set up your signature and spreadsheet that will help us a lot. The signature tells us about Bear and the Spreadsheet will show us the BG data.

What type of food are you feeding? There is no need to feed prescription diabetic food. I will give you a list to look through. choose canned food that is 10%or lower carbs

FOOD CHART

It is overwhelming in the beginning but you will soon find it much easier.
Keep posting and asking questions. We are happy to help
Bron

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Can you tell us what type of insulin you are giving and what dose please?
Also what meter are you using. Is it a human meter or a pet meter?

 

[Etoile]

Hi Etoile and Bear and welcome to the forum.
Have you seen THIS link to home testing. It may help.
Yes it is really important that you test before every shot to see it is safe to give the dose.
I would also recommend trying to get a test in during the cycle around +5 to +7.

HELP US HELP YOU has some links within it which you will find useful.
Make sure you set up a hypo kit…the link is there.
If you could set up your signature and spreadsheet that will help us a lot. The signature tells us about Bear and the Spreadsheet will show us the BG data.

What type of food are you feeding? There is no need to feed prescription diabetic food. I will give you a list to look through. choose canned food that is 10%or lower carbs

FOOD CHART

It is overwhelming in the beginning but you will soon find it much easier.
Keep posting and asking questions. We are happy to help
Bron

Can you tell us what type of insulin you are giving and what dose please?
Also what meter are you using. Is it a human meter or a pet meter?

 

[Etoile]

Hello,

thank you for the welcome and for the advice. I got him a human meter it is by Contour Next but I really dislike it as the lancer sucks and doesn’t go through his ear or toe. I just tried to get a sample and ended up just crying instead. He is getting 2U of Prozinc every 12 hours.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hello,

thank you for the welcome and for the advice. I got him a human meter it is by Contour Next but I really dislike it as the lancer sucks and doesn’t go through his ear or toe. I just tried to get a sample and ended up just crying instead. He is getting 2U of Prozinc every 12 hours.

I am sorry you are having trouble with the lancet. What size are you using? A 26 or 28 gauge is best

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

It sounds like you're using the lancing device. You may need to change the setting so it pokes a bit deeper. I personally hated the lancing device. I would free hand - I felt like it gave me better control and there wasn't the "click" that made Gabby jump. OTOH, other people really like the device.

Also, don't get frustrated! It takes a while for the capillary bed in your cat's ear to more fully develop. In the beginning, it's harder to get a cat's ear to bleed. You may want to use a wider gauge lancet -- something like a 26 - 28 gauge. You can also try poking twice in the same spot (or nearby) which may get you more blood.

That's a large starting dose of insulin. We typically start cats at a much smaller dose. This is a link to the Prozinc forum. There are sticky notes at the top of the board that will provide you with a great deal of information about Prozinc, dosing, etc.

What are you feeding your kitty? Many of the prescription diabetic foods, especially the dry foods, are high in carbohydrates. A diabetic needs to be on a low carb dies (i.e., less than 10% carb and most people here feed their cats in the neighborhood of 5%). If you're feeding a higher carb food, I would not change that until you are able to home test. A switch to low carb food can drop blood glucose numbers and you need to be able to know your cat's BG level for safety reasons.

 

[Etoile]

I am sorry you are having trouble with the lancet. What size are you using? A 26 or 28 gauge is best

I just checked the box, and it literally doesn’t say the size. They seem too small though. We just tried to free hand pricking his ear, poked him like 6 times and no blood. Going to wait awhile then try again. I’m also going to the pharmacy today to try to get something better and the 26-28 gauge like you said. Thank you.

 

[Etoile]

It sounds like you're using the lancing device. You may need to change the setting so it pokes a bit deeper. I personally hated the lancing device. I would free hand - I felt like it gave me better control and there wasn't the "click" that made Gabby jump. OTOH, other people really like the device.

Also, don't get frustrated! It takes a while for the capillary bed in your cat's ear to more fully develop. In the beginning, it's harder to get a cat's ear to bleed. You may want to use a wider gauge lancet -- something like a 26 - 28 gauge. You can also try poking twice in the same spot (or nearby) which may get you more blood.

That's a large starting dose of insulin. We typically start cats at a much smaller dose. This is a link to the Prozinc forum. There are sticky notes at the top of the board that will provide you with a great deal of information about Prozinc, dosing, etc.

What are you feeding your kitty? Many of the prescription diabetic foods, especially the dry foods, are high in carbohydrates. A diabetic needs to be on a low carb dies (i.e., less than 10% carb and most people here feed their cats in the neighborhood of 5%). If you're feeding a higher carb food, I would not change that until you are able to home test. A switch to low carb food can drop blood glucose numbers and you need to be able to know your cat's BG level for safety reasons.

It sounds like you're using the lancing device. You may need to change the setting so it pokes a bit deeper. I personally hated the lancing device. I would free hand - I felt like it gave me better control and there wasn't the "click" that made Gabby jump. OTOH, other people really like the device.

Also, don't get frustrated! It takes a while for the capillary bed in your cat's ear to more fully develop. In the beginning, it's harder to get a cat's ear to bleed. You may want to use a wider gauge lancet -- something like a 26 - 28 gauge. You can also try poking twice in the same spot (or nearby) which may get you more blood.

That's a large starting dose of insulin. We typically start cats at a much smaller dose. This is a link to the Prozinc forum. There are sticky notes at the top of the board that will provide you with a great deal of information about Prozinc, dosing, etc.

What are you feeding your kitty? Many of the prescription diabetic foods, especially the dry foods, are high in carbohydrates. A diabetic needs to be on a low carb dies (i.e., less than 10% carb and most people here feed their cats in the neighborhood of 5%). If you're feeding a higher carb food, I would not change that until you are able to home test. A switch to low carb food can drop blood glucose numbers and you need to be able to know your cat's BG level for safety reasons.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate everyone’s help. I’m having a hard time this morning and just keep crying. Haha I am feeding him W/D the diabetic food. He was on Urinary SO because he had to have crystals removed surgically a few years ago, and the vet said this food would help with the diabetes and the urinary issues.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Hello,

thank you for the welcome and for the advice. I got him a human meter it is by Contour Next but I really dislike it as the lancer sucks and doesn’t go through his ear or toe. I just tried to get a sample and ended up just crying instead. He is getting 2U of Prozinc every 12 hours.

Most of us just freehand just holding the lancet in our hands and poke, I feel you can see where you are poking better. If you look at the lancet you will see that one side is curved up, poke with that side
Are you using 26 or 28 gauge lancets? If not please get them
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

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 will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming

VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar
Here is a video one of our members did

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

It would be helpful if you can set up your signature ,it's at the end of everyone's post in gray,ball info about your kitty. This link also tells you how to set up your spreadsheet to track your cats BG to see how the insulin is working and how low it's dropping it
If you need help we have a member that will help you, Just post and ask and we can tag her


https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I hate to tell you this but the canned W/D is 25% carb.. It's very high in carbs. It is not going to help your cat's diabetes. If anything, it will prevent remission and make regulation hard unless you are dosing a lot of insulin. I'd suggest you take a look at this article on urinary track issues. The author is a vet, Lisa Pierson, DVM, who has an interest in feline nutrition. Her emphasis is on increasing water intake to help with crystals and other kidney issues.

Just some background... For years the pet food industry has manufactured "prescription" foods. If you read the labels, in the vast majority of the food, there is nothing "prescription" in the ingredients. There was a recent class action suit that resulted in prohibiting the manufacturers from putting the label prescription on their foods unless they could prove there was something in the food that required a vet to write a prescription. Fundamentally, the use of the term "prescription" food was a scam. It got caregivers to pay a lot more money for foods that were of inferior quality. It meant that vets could sell those foods only in their office so it was a way for them to to have another revenue stream.