New Member: my new kitty is diabetic

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Lilla Ross

Lilla Ross

Member Since 2022
Hi all, for Christmas I got a new cat -- a beautiful 6-year-old apricot that I named Nomee. he's an absolute lover. he was from the Humane Society and after a month of diarrhea and nonstop eating and drinking I took him to the vet thinking he needed an antibiotic. Turns out he's diabetic. He got his first shot last night. He's on 2 units of Prozinc. He was a real sport! I was a nervous wreck. I'm having lots of trouble doing a blood sugar reading. He's not a sport about that! I'm going to keep trying.

A big issue is expense. The vet charged me $185 for the PZ and $40 for a sharps container with syringes and is talking about putting him on an Rx diet. I know I can get the PZ from Chewy for $116 and syringes from Walmart etc.
 
Welcome and congrats he’s a gorgeous cat!!!

I can’t believe he charged you for a sharps container :mad: I’m not sure where you are in the states but look up syringe recycling locations near you. Most are city or state owned and they’ll give you the container for free. You can also use an empty laundry detergent bottle to store the syringes. They’ll accept those as well as long as you have the cap to close it. Lastly, there are syringes you can buy that come with a sharps container. Not sure about the prozync ones, but I’d do some googling.

a few tips about testing. You want to always immediately after give him a low carb treat to build positive association. Whether you failed or not, he gets a treat. You also want to warm up the ear which helps getting more blood out. I’ve always used an old sock I filled with a bit of rice and would nuke for about 30 seconds. Then I’d press it against the ear till it was warm to the touch or for as long as Minnie would let me. You also want to use a larger gauge lancet at first till you have more practice so a 28 or even 26 would be best. The capilares in the ears do “learn” to bleed so it gets easier. I always used a flashlight so I could clearly see the sweet spot in the ear and the lancet going in and I also used to sing a lullaby to calm both of us. After a while, Minnie would hear the song and know it was testing time, which meant a treat was coming soon! It sounds silly but I think it helped. Lastly, always aim for the sweet spot in the ears
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A few questions for you, is he eating low carb food, meaning less than 10% and what meter are you using? 2 units is a high starting dose. We recommend 1 unit to start so tagging prozync users here for you @FrostD @Suzanne & Darcy

This is a link to the Prozinc forum. Please take a look at the sticky notes at the top of the page. It will help you to understand more about this type of insulin (it's a good insulin for cats!)

also, if you haven’t already browsed the site, check out this link helping us to help you. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions over and over again (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help.
 
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Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
Welcome and congrats he’s a gorgeous cat!!!

I can’t believe he charged you for a sharps container :mad: I’m not sure where you are in the states but look up syringe recycling locations near you. Most are city or state owned and they’ll give you the container for free. You can also use an empty laundry detergent bottle to store the syringes. They’ll accept those as well as long as you have the cap to close it. Lastly, there are syringes you can buy that come with a sharps container. Not sure about the prozync ones, but I’d do some googling.

a few tips about testing. You want to always immediately after give him a low carb treat to build positive association. Whether you failed or not, he gets a treat. You also want to warm up the ear which helps getting more blood out. I’ve always used an old sock I filled with a bit of rice and would nuke for about 30 seconds. Then I’d press it against the ear till it was warm to the touch or for as long as Minnie would let me. You also want to use a larger gauge lancet at first till you have more practice so a 28 or even 26 would be best. The capilares in the ears do “learn” to bleed so it gets easier. I always used a flashlight so I could clearly see the sweet spot in the ear and the lancet going in and I also used to sing a lullaby to calm both of us. After a while, Minnie would hear the song and know it was testing time, which meant a treat was coming soon! It sounds silly but I think it helped. Lastly, always aim for the sweet spot in the ears
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the sharps container came with the syringes so I'm not sure if I get a new one each time... but I'm planning to buy my syringes at walmart or somewhere. I'm in Jacksonville, Fla and we have several sharps drop off sites. Thanks for the advice about the blood tests. I need to figure out some treats
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
A few questions for you, is he eating low carb food, meaning less than 10% and what meter are you using? 2 units is a high starting dose. We recommend 1 unit to start so tagging prozync users here for you @FrostD @Suzanne & Darcy

This is a link to the Prozinc forum. Please take a look at the sticky notes at the top of the page. It will help you to understand more about this type of insulin (it's a good insulin for cats!)

also, if you haven’t already browsed the site, check out this link helping us to help you. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions over and over again (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help.
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Fortunately he doesn't like dry. He's eating Fancy Feast pate, Friskies and I'm trying out a few new ones Nuvo and Redford. Before his insulin he'd been eating non stop but this morning when i fed him he didn't eat that much. but he's been asking for more food this morning and I haven't given him any.
 
Okay so good food options and you shouldn’t limit his food amount right now. If he’s asking for food, give it to him. Unregulated diabetic cats can’t process the nutrients in food efficiently so they eat and still are hungry and may also lose weight. Smaller meals throughout the day are totally fine and are easier on his pancreas. Any freeze dried treats are great like Pure bites and VitalEssential. Also baked chicken and even a little tuna
 
Woohoo, congrats on your first successful test!!!

As you start to test more often, ideally you’d want a preshot test before you give the insulin in the am and pm. For the preshot tests, you want to withhold the food for at least 2 hours prior so the result is not food influenced. Then you’ll know it’s safe to give the insulin. I’m addition, we recommend at least 2 more tests, one during the day at maybe +4,+5, or +6 so you can start to see how low the dose is taking him and one before you go to bed to get an idea of how he’s going to do overnight. The only tests you need to withhold food for are the preshot ones.
 
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It’s normal to feel overwhelmed. I did too. But as you gain practice and understanding, it will feel like second nature. I promise. Just take it one step at a time. You’re doing way better than most already so yay!!
 
Lilla Ross said:
the sharps container came with the syringes so I'm not sure if I get a new one each time.
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It appears you got this syringe/Sharps combo. The syringes are in the bottom and as you remove the syringes the bottom of the Sharps part drops down leaving more room for used syringes. After using all the syringes and putting them in the Sharps part from the top, you dispose of the whole container like an ordinary Sharps container.
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Welcome to FDMB.

The helping us to help you link that Ale provided has the information on how to set-up your signature (so we don't pester you with asking the same questions repeatedly), the spreadsheet template, information on what the abbreviations on the spreadsheet mean, what you need for a hypo kit and other useful information.

If you've not found some of our other useful links, this is one for information, including videos, on home testing.

Regarding food, most of the Fancy Feast and Friskies pates are low in carbohydrates. However, it's best to double check. This is a link to a food chart that contains nutritional information on hundreds of foods that are available in the US. We consider low carb to be less than 10% carbs although, most people feed their cats in the 5% range. You also want to be sure to have high carb food (over 15%) in case you need to bump up Nomee's numbers. Karo (corn) syrup, honey or other form of sugar will also work. As far as the vet suggesting prescription food, I'd take a look at the ingredients. Some of what is in the prescription foods is pretty awful!

It's not necessary to limit your cat to two meals a day. You can spread out his food over several hours. What is important is to not feed Nomee 2 hours prior to shot time. You don't want your pre-shot numbers to be influenced by the effect of food.

Treats should be something that is primarily protein. Many people will use freeze dried chicken. bounty flakes, etc. Others will use cooked chicken. We've also had members give their cat's cooked shrimp! And others have had cats who think that getting brushed is the best treat in the world. Whatever works. Just don't use things like Temptations -- they are way high in carbs!

Please let us know how we can help. The members here are very generous with their time and information.
 
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