New member- Callie

Status
Not open for further replies.
callieE23

callieE23

Member Since 2022
Hey guys. My name is Callie.
My baby girl Marley was diagnosed with diabetes at the beginning of January. I have taken her to her vet every month, sometimes twice a month, but every time I don’t get a lot of answers. I switched her wet food to fancy feast when she was diagnosed and give it to her before her shots. I leave out dry food for her to snack on throughout the day. My vet told me that I shouldn’t change what I’m doing but last time I was there her sugar was 455. They just shrugged and sent me on my way. I asked if I should be home testing and they said “if you want to” but didn’t explain anything. I just recently got her Tiki Cat dry food and wet food. She loves it. I read that tiki cat is good for diabetic cats. I want to be able to take care of her to the best of my ability. I actually just stumbled across this page (thankfully) looking for diabetic cat food. I’m going to go tomorrow to get a meter but I’m not sure what to do once I start getting her numbers. She is currently on 2 units of Vetsulin every 12 hours. She drinks a ton of water and is always using the bathroom. I’ve been having trouble with her going outside her litter box and I read that it’s a sign that she’s not regulated. She’s playful and acts like her normal self though. There was a week or so about two months ago where she didn’t eat for a whole day. I got her an emergency vet appointment and they told me she had ketones? They gave her fluids and I took her back once a week for 2 weeks to get her more fluids. She’s been eating normally since then. I need all the help I can get and just want my girl to live a healthy life.
Thanks guys.
 
/Hi Callie and Marley and welcome to the forum.
I’m glad you are going to be hometesting. It’s the best thing you can do to keep Marley safe.
I would get a human glucose meter..they are much cheaper than the pet meters to run and are just as good. If not better.
If you live in the US you can buy a ReliOn prime meter for $9 and 100 test strips for $17.88 from Walmart. You will also need a box of 100 lancets..make sure you get gauge 26 or 28. Also get some cotton rounds to hold behind the ear when testing and to hold over the spot after testing.
If Marley has had ketones,it’s important you have some Ketostix, which you can also buy from Walmart or a pharmacy, so you can test the urine for ketones. The things that stop ketones forming are insulin and food and fluids. So make sure you don’t skip any doses of insulin and feed lots of food. We recommend feeding a preshot meal and then a couple of snacks at least during every cycle. Dry food isn’t the best thing for diabetic cats but until you are home testing I would not change the food as a low carb diet can drop the BGs by 100 points.

HELP US HELP YOU has the link to the spreadsheet, the signature and the hypo kit. Make sure you put that she has has ketones in the signature please as that is important information for us.

Vetsulin is not a good insulin for cats. It’s a dog insulin and it hits hard and fast and because cats have a fast metabolism it does not last 12 hours. I would ask the vet to swap you to a longer lasting more gentle insulin like Lantus or Prozinc.
In regards to the Vetsulin….are you feeding first then waiting 30 minutes before giving the dose of insulin? I will give you a link to vetsulin usage but I would really recommend you ask to swap to one of the other insulins.
VETSULIN

Once you start hometesting the BG, the routine is test, feed the shoot in that order. With Lantus and Prozinc you don’t have to wait before you give the dose but with vetsulin you do have to wait the 30 minutes before shooting.
Here is a link to HOMETESTING

When you have the spreadsheet set up and are entering the data, we can help you with the dosing. In all likelihood she needs a dose increase but we can’t comment on that until we can see some blood glucose data. If you. Have any trouble setting up the spreadsheet let me know.

Once she is on a better insulin for cats and she gets into better numbers, she will not drink as much and should start going to the litter box less.
Keep asking questions, we are happy to help.
 
Welcome to FDMB! We're glad you found us and we will do everything we can to help you reach your goal of helping Marley to live a happy and healthy life.

Not all cat food is created equal. The good news is that the canned Tiki Cat is zero carbs. However, the dry food is roughly over 24% carb. We recommend feeding a diabetic a low carb diet-- low carb being less than 10% and most members feed their cat in the 5% or less range. In addition, a canned food diet is far better for your cat. Dry food contains very little moisture whereas canned food contains a good deal of moisture. Cats have a limited thirst drive. Couple their limited thirst drive with a diet that's low in moisture and with diabetes which is tough on the kidneys, it's a recipe for kidney disease. The canned Tiki Cat is what I'd encourage you to use. (Save the dry if your cat is seeing low blood glucose numbers.)

This is a link to a food chart for most of the canned foods that are available in the US. There's a column that lists the carbohydrates. You have lots of choices! If you want to do more reading about feline nutrition, the website that is the home to the food chart is also linked.

As Bron noted, I would also talk to your vet about a different insulin. The American Animal Hospital Association has published a guideline for the treatment of diabetes that includes the insulins that are recommended for the treatment of feline diabetes. Vetsulin is no longer recommended due to its short duration and harsh action. The recommended insulins are either Lantus (glargine -- which is now in generic/biosimilar form) or Prozinc. Honestly, I wouldn't shrug off a blood glucose (BG) level in the 400s. I suspect it contributed to Marley developing ketones. If your vet give you push back about changing insulin, I'd print out the AAHA guidelines and as much as I hate to say it, find a new vet. (Those guidelines were published in 2018 and the vet clearly hasn't done any continuing education -- or is making $$ by selling the Vetsulin.)

Just a word on the cost of insulin. Lantus (glargine) is very expensive (around $500 for a box of 5 pens) if you walk into a pharmacy to buy it. The generic/biosimiar forms -- Semglee and Basaglar -- are less expensive. Semglee is reasonably priced but you may have to call around to see who in your area has it in stock. Many members order their Lantus from Canada at Mark's Marine Pharmacy. It costs a fraction of what it costs in the US (around $125 from Marks). I believe several people purchase their Prozinc from Chewy's.

If you're going to be getting a meter, I would also suggest you pick up a package of Ketostix. These are strips that you use to test a cat's urine for ketones. Ketones can be dangerous if they are present at a higher than trace level. They typically occur if there's an infection or inflammation, your cat isn't getting enough insulin, and if your cat isn't getting enough calories. Testing for ketones is a good preventative measure for keeping your cat safe. Ketostix are available at any pharmacy without a prescription.

Please let us know what questions you have. The beginning of this process is overwhelming. We're here to help and the members here are very generous with their time and knowledge.
 
Semglee and Basaglar are name brand glargine insulins. There is also a "generic" glargine that is even less.
GoodRx lists three glargine insulins, Lantus (Brand), Semglee (Brand) and and glargine (generic).
https://www.goodrx.com/semglee?dosa...ulin glargine&quantity=1&sort_type=popularity
GoodRx-glargine.png
 

Attachments

  • GoodRx-glargine.png
    GoodRx-glargine.png
    140.4 KB · Views: 125
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
/Hi Callie and Marley and welcome to the forum.
I’m glad you are going to be hometesting. It’s the best thing you can do to keep Marley safe.
I would get a human glucose meter..they are much cheaper than the pet meters to run and are just as good. If not better.
If you live in the US you can buy a ReliOn prime meter for $9 and 100 test strips for $17.88 from Walmart. You will also need a box of 100 lancets..make sure you get gauge 26 or 28. Also get some cotton rounds to hold behind the ear when testing and to hold over the spot after testing.
If Marley has had ketones,it’s important you have some Ketostix, which you can also buy from Walmart or a pharmacy, so you can test the urine for ketones. The things that stop ketones forming are insulin and food and fluids. So make sure you don’t skip any doses of insulin and feed lots of food. We recommend feeding a preshot meal and then a couple of snacks at least during every cycle. Dry food isn’t the best thing for diabetic cats but until you are home testing I would not change the food as a low carb diet can drop the BGs by 100 points.

HELP US HELP YOU has the link to the spreadsheet, the signature and the hypo kit. Make sure you put that she has has ketones in the signature please as that is important information for us.

Vetsulin is not a good insulin for cats. It’s a dog insulin and it hits hard and fast and because cats have a fast metabolism it does not last 12 hours. I would ask the vet to swap you to a longer lasting more gentle insulin like Lantus or Prozinc.
In regards to the Vetsulin….are you feeding first then waiting 30 minutes before giving the dose of insulin? I will give you a link to vetsulin usage but I would really recommend you ask to swap to one of the other insulins.
VETSULIN

Once you start hometesting the BG, the routine is test, feed the shoot in that order. With Lantus and Prozinc you don’t have to wait before you give the dose but with vetsulin you do have to wait the 30 minutes before shooting.
Here is a link to HOMETESTING

When you have the spreadsheet set up and are entering the data, we can help you with the dosing. In all likelihood she needs a dose increase but we can’t comment on that until we can see some blood glucose data. If you. Have any trouble setting up the spreadsheet let me know.

Once she is on a better insulin for cats and she gets into better numbers, she will not drink as much and should start going to the litter box less.
Keep asking questions, we are happy to help.
Click to expand...


Yes, I read that I was supposed to wait 30 minutes before giving vetsulin so I have been doing that.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Welcome to FDMB! We're glad you found us and we will do everything we can to help you reach your goal of helping Marley to live a happy and healthy life.

Not all cat food is created equal. The good news is that the canned Tiki Cat is zero carbs. However, the dry food is roughly over 24% carb. We recommend feeding a diabetic a low carb diet-- low carb being less than 10% and most members feed their cat in the 5% or less range. In addition, a canned food diet is far better for your cat. Dry food contains very little moisture whereas canned food contains a good deal of moisture. Cats have a limited thirst drive. Couple their limited thirst drive with a diet that's low in moisture and with diabetes which is tough on the kidneys, it's a recipe for kidney disease. The canned Tiki Cat is what I'd encourage you to use. (Save the dry if your cat is seeing low blood glucose numbers.)

This is a link to a food chart for most of the canned foods that are available in the US. There's a column that lists the carbohydrates. You have lots of choices! If you want to do more reading about feline nutrition, the website that is the home to the food chart is also linked.

As Bron noted, I would also talk to your vet about a different insulin. The American Animal Hospital Association has published a guideline for the treatment of diabetes that includes the insulins that are recommended for the treatment of feline diabetes. Vetsulin is no longer recommended due to its short duration and harsh action. The recommended insulins are either Lantus (glargine -- which is now in generic/biosimilar form) or Prozinc. Honestly, I wouldn't shrug off a blood glucose (BG) level in the 400s. I suspect it contributed to Marley developing ketones. If your vet give you push back about changing insulin, I'd print out the AAHA guidelines and as much as I hate to say it, find a new vet. (Those guidelines were published in 2018 and the vet clearly hasn't done any continuing education -- or is making $$ by selling the Vetsulin.)

Just a word on the cost of insulin. Lantus (glargine) is very expensive (around $500 for a box of 5 pens) if you walk into a pharmacy to buy it. The generic/biosimiar forms -- Semglee and Basaglar -- are less expensive. Semglee is reasonably priced but you may have to call around to see who in your area has it in stock. Many members order their Lantus from Canada at Mark's Marine Pharmacy. It costs a fraction of what it costs in the US (around $125 from Marks). I believe several people purchase their Prozinc from Chewy's.

If you're going to be getting a meter, I would also suggest you pick up a package of Ketostix. These are strips that you use to test a cat's urine for ketones. Ketones can be dangerous if they are present at a higher than trace level. They typically occur if there's an infection or inflammation, your cat isn't getting enough insulin, and if your cat isn't getting enough calories. Testing for ketones is a good preventative measure for keeping your cat safe. Ketostix are available at any pharmacy without a prescription.

Please let us know what questions you have. The beginning of this process is overwhelming. We're here to help and the members here are very generous with their time and knowledge.
Click to expand...


I just visited that Canadian website. I will need a prescription from my vet first? Also, is there a different option to getting needles than from my vet? This website mentioned a cheaper route but I’m not sure what route that is. The vet I go to charges a good bit of money for a small amount of needles. Thank you.
 
You will need to get an Rx one time that Mark's will keep on file.

I used to buy my syringes from ADW. You will need a one time Rx from your vet for them, as well. If you get an Rx for Lantus, you will need a different syringe -- a U-100 syringe (U-100 3/10cc syringes with half unit markings are the best to use). For Vetsulin or Prozinc, you use a U-40 syringe.
 
I feel relieved because of this group. Thank you all so much. I’m going to make a vet appointment in the morning to get these new prescriptions as well as the meter. One more question though. The ketone one.. how do I test for that. Is it a meter test? Is there a litter I can get will show me those results too? How often do I test her for that?
 
For ketones, there are two ways to test. The first is with Ketostix, or equivalent, that test the urine glow. Tips in this post: Tips to catch and test a urine sample Note, even with two cats, I found my girl was very predicable about when she used the litter box to pee, so it wasn't hard to catch her in the act. Ideally you should test every day if numbers are higher or if there have been recent ketones.

The other option, if kitty is shy or multiple cats make it hard, is with a blood ketone meter. Some brands and more details in this post: Ketones, Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), and Blood Ketone Meters
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top