New member JBoots

[JBoots]

My 13 yr old cat, Boots weighs 18 lbs & is on 2 units of Vetsulin. His blood sugars, are still too way to high. The vet wanted us to change his food again to Hills canned cat food & then want to hospitalize him. To do a blood curve & possibly change his insulin to Prozinc. He has also been urinating, outside his box & we also changed his litter. We are on a fixed income & we cannot keep affording all of this expensive food, litter, etc. Need help asap, thank you

 

[Librarianista]

Welcome! I’m sorry you’re going through this with Boots. We all understand how stressful this is.

I’m also pretty new here, so I can’t offer a ton of advice. But the sticky posts in this forum are a great start:
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/health-links-faqs-about-feline-diabetes.14/

You also do NOT need to feed your diabetic cat prescription food. There are many brands of wet food that are lower in carbs and better for your kitty. There’s a chart posted in this main forum that you can check. Anything <10% carbs is a good choice. Friskies pates and Fancy Feast are popular choices here.

While I know this is a terrible situation to have to be in, the people in this group are wonderful resources. We’ve got your back.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Hi and welcome to FDMB! I am sorry to hear that you are having a hard time regulating Boots' numbers.

How long has he been diabetic and what are his numbers like? What food is he on?
Most importantly, do you know whether he has ketones? Is that why the vet wants to hospitalize him?

Like @Librarianista pointed out, you do not need expensive prescription food. Any low carb canned food that he will eat is good enough. Fancy Feast, Friskies, Tiki Cat are some of the popular brands in the US. Here's the link to the cat food list. Look for food with carbs carbs less than 10%.
https://catinfo.org/chart/index.php

Vetsulin is not a great insulin for cats. Prozinc or Lantus is better but they are more expensive. You can check out the DCIN's Compassionate Assistance Program for financial assistance.
@Chris & China (GA)

 

[JBoots]

Hi and welcome to FDMB! I am sorry to hear that you are having a hard time regulating Boots' numbers.

How long has he been diabetic and what are his numbers like? What food is he on?
Most importantly, do you know whether he has ketones? Is that why the vet wants to hospitalize him?

Like @Librarianista pointed out, you do not need expensive prescription food. Any low carb canned food that he will eat is good enough. Fancy Feast, Friskies, Tiki Cat are some of the popular brands in the US. Here's the link to the cat food list. Look for food with carbs carbs less than 10%.
https://catinfo.org/chart/index.php

Vetsulin is not a great insulin for cats. Prozinc or Lantus is better but they are more expensive. You can check out the DCIN's Compassionate Assistance Program for financial assistance.
@Chris & China (GA)

Boots got diagnosed last year, with diabetes. He's been on 2 units of Vetsulin. His numbers, I think are in the 400's. I used to feed him BFF pouches/canned food. Morning & dinner with temptations treats, in between. Then the vet, suggested I buy prescription food Hills w/d canned for Boots & dry food for our other cat Bella. There doing the blood curve tomorrow morning & hopefully, we find right dose or insulin. The vet mentioned before, possibly switching him to Prozinc. Instead of Vetsulin

 

[Bandit's Mom]

He's been on 2 units of Vetsulin. His numbers, I think are in the 400's.

2 units twice a day?

I used to feed him BFF pouches/canned food. Morning & dinner with temptations treats, in between. Then the vet, suggested I buy prescription food Hills w/d canned for Boots & dry food for our other cat Bella.

A diabetic cats needs to be on a low carb diet - food with less than 10% carbohydrates. Preferably less than 5%. Not all BFF pouches/cannes are low carb and temptation treats are super high carb - that's like giving cake to a human diabetic. Don't waste your money on prescription food - they are high carb, expensive, not great qulaity for the price and many cats hate them.

Find a low carb canned food that Boots likes - Fancy Feast, Friskies, Tiki Cat, etc all have low carb flavours. This list is not exhaustive, but a good starting point.
https://catinfo.org/chart/index.php

There doing the blood curve tomorrow morning & hopefully, we find right dose or insulin.

Changing him to a low carb food will make a difference to his numbers, but you want to home tets when you make the change so you can see how low he is going and adjust the accordingly. Home testing is the best way to keep him safe. Testing done at the vet's office is expensive and can be unreliable due to stress, which can significantly raise the BG. By testing at home, you get more accurate results.

The vet mentioned before, possibly switching him to Prozinc. Instead of Vetsulin

Prozinc is definitely a better insulin for cats than Vetsulin.