New member: cat just diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kimberly L

Kimberly L

Member Since 2022
Hello All! My name is Kimberly. Im from Pittsburgh PA. My kitty's name is Jasmine. She's 12. I inherited her from a deceased family member. Already have 2 bonded cat sisters.
I am so thankful I found this community. I'm stressed and worried.
Long story but it all started 18 months ago with her peeing in the house. Took her to the vet didn't find anything. Diagnosed as behavioral. After thousands of dollars replacing floors, furniture, etc it got really bad in October and I recently noticed excessive drinking weight loss etc.
Went to the vet Friday and was diagnosed. Her level was at 580 and should be 71-150.
Lots of crying later I decided to keep her and treat her. I'm realizing how much effort, money, and life changes are going to have to happen to manage this and 2 other cats.

Any advice or suggestions for finding help to pay for the insulin Novolin N and how do you balance your own life with leaving the house for work and travel, finding caretakers etc is welcomed. I certainly do not want to put her down. I love her so much. I just am overwhelmed and so worried.
Thank you all.
 
/Hi and welcome to the forum to you and your three kitties. ….especially Jasmine.
First of all, it is upsetting and overwhelming at first when you get the diagnosis. That is normal!

Im so glad you have decided to treat her. She will reward you with love and devotion.
It is a commitment but a manageable one. The beginning is the hardest while you learn about it all and get set up so you can manage it all.

The insulin you have been given is not suitable for cats…..it is an insulin that hits hard and fast. If I were you I would go back to the vet and ask for a longer acting more gentle insulin that is suitable for cats and is recommended by the American vets assoc. Prozinc and Lantus are the two insulins I would recommend.
If you are prescribed Lantus, there is a bio similar one called Semglee which is much cheaper than Lantus but is the same as.

I would also look at hometesting the BGs . This will allow you to see what the blood glucose is doing and if you need to adjust it. It will also let you see if you are giving too much and if it is dropping too low…….in other words, you are in control.

Have you looked into switching to a low carb wet diet? This will help the BGs to drop somewhat as high carb food, increases the BGs.
if you have to go out each day to work, I would look at investing in an automatic timed feeder for her so that she can get food while you are not there. This will help stop the BGs from dropping too low.

If you have already started giving Novolin, make sure you feed a Jasmine 1 hour before you give any insulin as she needs food aboard because it hits hard and fast. Also give her snacks 2 and 4 hours after the doses as she will need more food around those times.

Im going to give you a few links that might help.
Keep asking questions and if I haven’t answered any ask again.

FOOD CHART

HELP US HELP YOU this has links to the hypo kit, the spreadsheet, the signature and more.

HOMETESTING
 
Hi. So sorry about the diagnosis but the good news is it's very treatable and they can live long healthy lives with it.

I agree with Bron and Sheba that you will want to get on ProZinc or lantus. ProZinc is about $105 on chewy.com and will last about 5-6 months of kept in the refrigerator.

The initial cost of everything is a lot because you are buying everything at once, but ongoing it's not bad. If you learn to test at home it's not only safer and more accurate, but it will save you from needing frequent vet trips. Once I started testing at home my cat didnt go back to the vet for a year.

Changing insulins and testing at home will also raise your chances of getting your cat into remission. I have a video in my signature showing how I tested my cat CC at home.

The other thing you're going to want to do is get her on a diet of low carb pate foods such as fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. No need for the expensive perscription food they vet may try to sell you.

I worked full time. Tested and feed at 5:15 shot at 5:30 usually did one more test at 7:30 before I left. then did the same in the pm.... With a test before bed about 4-5 hours after the shot. On days off I got extra tests in.

We went on trips. I just had to factor in boarding her as part of the vacation cost. My vets office does boarding so that's where I took her. It was sometimes unconvinent to have to leave places a little early to get back for her shot time but giving the shot a little early or late one in a while isn't that big of a deal.

I understand how overwhelming it is for sure. I was so worried in the beginning. After a few weeks is all so routine that her care really didn't take up much of my time. Tests took about a min or two. The shots only take a minute. It's an expense but really not terribly excessive if your cat is on an average dose. Buying supplies online is typically less expensive than getting them from your vet.
 
Kimberly, welcome to FDMB, you are at the right place for advice and support. My cat was started on Novolin N and did quite well for a couple years on it. I was not testing at the time but his excessive urinating and drinking disappeared. I was fortunate that he did not have a hypo event. Finances were an issue for me and I kept him on Novolin N long after it was evident it was not giving the needed BG control. I moved to Semglee, a glargine insulin bio-equivalent to Lantus, but much less expensive. I used the GoodRx app to receive a discount and got a carton of 5 3ml pens from Publix Pharmacy for around $150. More expensive than Novolin N, for sure, but worth it to bring his BG into good numbers. I have used the GoodRx app to get discounts for other meds for my kitty and no one ever objected to my using it for my cat. You might get some pushback--depends on the pharmacy, I suppose. Apparently, you don't have Publix supermarkets in your area but the app will show pharmacies in your area and the prices available with the app.

I found the ReliOn brand of syringes, lancets, and BG strips that Walmart carries to be the most economical. A human BG meter such as the ReliOn Premier Compact is fine. I believe users on this board used human meters long before a pet specific meter was available and most continue to use one as the spreadsheets, advice on the stickies, and general experience of those who will help you are geared toward the data you get from a human meter.

You will want to set up a spreadsheet for tracking Jasmine's BG numbers as soon as possible. @Bandit's Mom is great for helping with that as well as providing other support as well. Please hang in there, keep reading and posting for help. We have all been where you are now, anxious and overwhelmed, but we overcame many obstacles to help our kitties. Others will chime in as needed to give you direction.
 
Hi Kimberly, welcome to FDMB.

You can get in touch with Diabetic Cats in Need (DCIN). They have two Compassionate Assistance Programs...one is for one time help for people who can't come up with the start-up supplies (insulin, syringes, lancets and a blood glucose meter) and the other is a continuing assistance program for low income caregivers who can't afford the treatment costs.

You can contact DCIN on their Facebook page or by through their the website.

@Chris & China (GA)
 
Here is a coupon below for semglee
Just call any pharmacy to see if they have the 5 pens, they will last you a year or more
Type in where you live and you will see where you can buy it
The 5 pens should last you about a year
Lantus is expensive if you live in the US
https://www.goodrx.com/semglee?dosa...rride=Semglee&quantity=1&sort_type=popularity
Semglee, it is a generic Lantus, and was approved by the FDA last June

You can also get the Relion Premier Classic 9 dollars
17.88 for 100 test strips
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
 
Last edited:
Kimberly L said:
how do you balance your own life with leaving the house for work and travel, finding caretakers etc is welcomed. I certainly do not want to put her down. I love her so much. I just am overwhelmed and so worried.
Click to expand...
If you work full time you can purchase an automatic time feeder and set it for certain times for it to open for her to eat.
I see you have 2 other kitties, you might have to keep Jasmine in another room while you ate at work so when the feeder opens your 2 other kitties won't eat her food
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top