New Member: Bruno

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SarahNBruno

Member Since 2013
Hello,

I wanted to introduce myself and my husband (Sarah and Jeff) and recently diagnosed 7 year-old boy, Bruno. We took Bruno to the vet a little over 3 weeks ago because he was losing weight very quickly (he had maintained a weight of 15.9 - he has a large frame - for 3 years prior to that). After a blood test, he was diagnosed as diabetic and the vet recommended he be put on a low carb/high protein diet immediately. I am trained as a researcher, so rather than buy the Hill's D/M, my husband and I decided on a different diet (90% wet, we leave out EVO dry during the day, but our two cats rarely touch it), feeding mostly Fancy Feast Classics, thanks a lot to this message board.

Within a couple of days of the new diet, Bruno began to perk up, and he has even started playing with us and his sister (a little calico we adopted, Bettie) in the past week or so.

This upcoming Saturday will be one month since Bruno was diagnosed, and both of us are feeling very anxious (which seems to be the norm)! Of course, we are hopeful that his BGs are well controlled by diet, but are trying not to be too concerned about insulin. Thank goodness for this message board - it makes me feel a little less crazy! We are relieved there is such a large support group as we embark on this journey!
 
Have you been to Cat Info? Its a veterinarian written website on feline nutrition. There's a nice printable PDF file of nutrition info on common US cat food brands, detailing the % calories from protein, fat, and carbohydrate, plus the phosphorus level for those with renal cats.

Are you home testing the glucose levels? You can do that with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the Walmart ReliOn Confirm (genericaly available as the Glucocare 01 from our shopping partner ADW - link at top of web page)
 
Vet stress may raise the glucose level 100-180 mg/dL; home tests will give you a much better idea of how well he is controlled.
 
Thank you so much for the link! We have scoured several of the pet food lists (Dr. Lisa's information on cat nutrition was invaluable) and we have tried several different types. Luckily, our cats are loving the Fancy Feat.

We have not been home testing, but if Bruno is started on insulin we absolutely will be! I have already started on all of the research with that :-)
 
A big warm FDMB welcome to Sarah and her husband Jeff and there sugardude Bruno.

We can help you with lots of the day to day management questions that may arise. There is a broad depth of knowledge here on the boards.

There is a link here glucometers with a couple of added comments on a few of the human glucometers that we have found do not work well with cats. Those with True in the name or the Freestyle with butterfly strips have been found to not read accurately in cats at higher numbers.

Most of us do not use the pet specific glucometers like the Alphatrak because of the high cost of test strips. We have referance ranges to be used for the human meters.

I use a Walmart Relion Confirm meter $0.36 per test strip,needs 0.3 microliter of blood.I have a backup Relion Prime meter $0.18 per test strip, needs 0.5 microliter of blood. The cat shelter gave me an Alphatrak monitor but those test strips can cost $1 to $2 each. At 4 tests a day, times 31 days, that is 124 test strips a month. Add a few more for when your cat is looking odd or to do at home curves and you can be using 150-200 test strips a month.
 
I just wanted to say Hi and Welcome!!
You are in the right place!
Terriy & Chicken Little cat_pet_icon
 
Actually now is the time that you want to start home testing! Because you may find that by testing and food change, there may not be a need to use insulin at all. Or you may only need a small amount for a short period of time.

So, are you up for home testing?
 
Thank you for all of the welcomes!

I wish I would have posted on here sooner - I didn't realize it was a good idea to home test even before cats go on insulin (if they have to) - I always see it associated with insulin. Right now we have been mostly educating ourselves on nutrition. Thank you so much for the insight. We already have a scheduled appointment with the vet for Saturday, but if his BGs are still abnormally high (or only a little high, and we should test at home when he's not stressed) we will absolutely be home testing.

Thank you again!
 
When you are ready to learn about home testing, ask and we have some great documents with tips and tricks. And what bribes to buy to get your cat to welcome the ear pricks.
 
Welcome. Lots of great people here who go above and beyond the call of duty to help and have much more knowledge on treating diabetes than most vets.
 
Welcome to the board!

I hope the diet change was enough, but if not we are here to help.. sometimes the pancreas just needs that extra little bit of help from the insulin

let us know
Wendy
 
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