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Anita49

Member Since 2014
I have 3 blood glucose test meters probably from about 2006. They were my father-in-law's. One is an Ascensia Contour and the other two are both One Touch Ultras. Can I use one of these to home test and can I still buy test strips for them? Cheapest test strips? I am going to try to switch all my cats (8) to canned food. How much per day should each cat have?

My name is Anita and my 6 1/2 yr. old, female cat was diagnosed on Nov. 4th. Her name is Lilly. Her first bg was over 500. Today it was under 500 but not by a lot. I'm supposed to up her insulin to 3 units from 2, starting today. It has been very, very stressful for both of us. I think having 7 other cats has had a lot to do with the stress. I have to change all of my feeding routines, etc. I've been feeding dry but plan to switch to canned for everybody. I've read up on protein, fat,
& carbs.
 
I have 3 blood glucose test meters probably from about 2006. They were my father-in-law's. One is an Ascensia Contour and the other two are both One Touch Ultras. Can I use one of these to home test and can I still buy test strips for them? Cheapest test strips? I am going to try to switch all my cats (8) to canned food. How much per day should each cat have?
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The meters may work. I think people here like the One Touch. The strips are expensive. You can buy them on ebay - just be sure the expiration date works for you and that the seller is reputable. Many people here like the ReliOn from Walmart as it is the least expensive and has the cheapest strips.

Can you give us some more info, Anna? What food are you considering? What insulin ?
 
I'm going to try Fancy Feast Chicken Classic to begin with. I'd love to buy the food from Kiki put I just can't afford it.
Lilly was on 2 units twice a day of vetsulin (Prozinc?). I took her to the vet yesterday and he upped her dose to 3 units
twice a day. She originally tested over 500 but she is now down in the 400's. I should have written the exact numbers
down. I'm 65 and I don't remember things as well as I use to. I have to write everything down.
I may look into the meter at Walmart since the test strips are cheaper.
Thanks for your response!
 
Vetsulin and ProZinc are different insulins. I hope you have ProZinc as it is usually easier to regulate with. We put a protocol for ProZinc together; it is in blue type in my signature. The difference between the two is that Vetsulin has a faster, harsher onset, usually taking the cat low early in the cycle. It does not tend to last as long as other insulin. ProZinc tends to give a cycle shaped like a smile, dropping slowly to a low point 5-7 hours after the shot and then slowly coming back up to a preshot number number 12 hours after that is similar to the preshot in the am.

If you are using Vetsulin, you do want to feed before giving the shot so he has some food in his stomach to counteract the possible fast onset.

We have a spreadsheet where you can keep track of the numbers. It is color coded and easily accessible for you vet and us to see. When you are asking for help with dosing, it is easy for us to see his dose and levels history. It's kind of tricky to set up. If you want help setting it up, send me a private message. (choose the PM button at the bottom of this post)

Fancy Feast is fine, as long as you stay with the classics. You don't want the ones with gravy.

Testing will give you a real clear picture of how the insulin is working. Let us know how we can help. There are lots of good videos and info in the Health thread on the main page. One thing to buy with your meter and strips are lancets to poke with. Be sure you get a bigger gauge at first (25-27 gauge). Human diabetics use 30-31 gauge and it may not make a big enough hole at first. If you want a shopping list for testing, we have one.

Welcome to the forum. I have a few years on you - you'll have this down in no time. :mrgreen:
 
Sue and Oliver:

The people in the vet's office said they were putting Lilly on ProZinc and gave me literature for ProZinc but the actual insulin bottle says Vetsulin, as did the literature that came with it. I've been reading so much about diabetic cats that I'm overwhelmed but I thought ProZinc sounded like a good insulin. I'm going to call the vet in the morning and ask about what's going on with Lilly's insulin. I'd prefer her to be on ProZinc. I put both names in my last message because I didn't know if one was a generic of the brand name. Thanks for setting me straight! It's late. I'll check back in tomorrow.
 
Vetsulin is a cheaper insulin than ProZinc. If they charged you for ProZinc and gave you Vetsulin, that was dishonest. If they told you they were giving you ProZinc and substituted Vetsulin, that was also dishonest. I hope instead it was just a clerical mistake that they will fix. And I hope you can get ProZinc. You are right; it is a better insulin.
 
Welcome to FDMB Anita and Lilly,

I bought my sugar kitty's Prozinc at the vets office. It came in a green and white box (which I store it in still in the refrig.) and says Prozinc clearly on the box. You should take yours back to where ever you bought it to make sure that you have the right one. Bottle should say Prozinc on it as well.

I use the One Touch Ultra meter but only because I have it and lots of strips because my husband is a type II diabetic. When I run out of strips, I'll probably switch to Relion Micro meter.

It is very overwhelming at first but it does get easier with time and patience.

I'm still a "newbie" but am feeling so much better as I learn about how to care for Hank.

You'll get there too.

I'm glad the vet put Lilly on Prozinc. It's one of the good long-lasting insulin's. Hank is doing great on it!

If you have any other questions, just ask away. We're here to help. :smile:

Kimmie
 
I thought today was going to be good. I put out canned food for all 8 of my cats and they all ate it. I don't think switching to all canned food is going to be a
problem, except for the cost. Lilly ate most of her food but not all of it and then she started being very vocal. Normally, she doesn't say much & this was more
like yelling. Then she threw up everything she had eaten and she almost never throws up. Scared me to death and I couldn't get through to my vet because
their line was busy for 1/2 hr. I finally got through and they told me to skip her morning shot and keep an eye on her. I'm supposed to feed her tonight and then give her shot. I sure hope that works. I'm thinking of changing vets to an office closer to me and one that isn't so busy all the time. I didn't even get a chance to discuss the insulin issue. That has me really upset too.

Thanks, Kimmie, for responding too.
 
That is distressing. Sometimes it is that it is too fast a switch, and you need to slowly make the change (1/4 wet with 3/4 the old food, then 1/2 and 1/2 etc). Did she eat it too fast? If they really are excited about having wet food, sometimes they scarf and barf. One way to help that is to spread the food out on a plate so they have to eat more slowly. Sometimes adding warm water to make a gravy makes them eat slower and keeps them hydrated also.

It is important to know which insulin you are using because having food ahead is important with Vetsulin and not vital for ProZinc (though a good idea). And with Vetsulin, you need to monitor carefully those first few hours in case she drops.
 
Any suggestions on what canned food is good but also cheap? I'm not going to be able to feed all 8 of my cats canned food. I purchased Fancy Feast on sale at 50 cents a can. That would average out to be $240.00 or more per month. I may have to switch 6 of the cats back to dry food although now I know it's not good for them. The diabetic, Lilly, and Ripley, who has urinary problems, would be the only ones left on canned. Ripley has been on canned probably 4 years or longer.
I fed them all 3 oz. in the morning & 3 in the evening. They ate all of it and maybe they really needed more but I really couldn't afford that!
 
I'm feeding Hank and Oscar 9 lives. There are flavors (on the food chart) that are lower in carbs than Friskies an FF.

It is cheaper than both Friskies and Ff.

I picked up a case over the weekend at Walmart of 24 count for $9.54!
They are the 5.5 oz. cans too.

Kimmie
 
Anita49 & Lilly

Some good news. I took Lilly in for a blood check on Wednesday afternoon & her bg was 126. I am amazed that it dropped so much in one week.
I got her other numbers from the vet while I was there. On Nov. 4th when she was first diagnosed, it was 523. On Dec. 3rd, it was 478 so that's when they switched Lilly's insulin from 2 units twice a day to 3 units twice a day. On Wed., Dec. 10, it was 126, like I said. The other cats are all happy eating canned food
but I'm not going to be able to keep it up. I will have to buy dry food for at least 5 of my 8 cats. I haven't tried home testing on Lilly yet either and I'm thinking of taking the meter and strips I bought at Walmart back. My whole life and household is topsy turvy and I'm so stressed that I can't add another new thing. I love
Lilly and all my cats but I'm going to have to change something. I've been told repeatedly to just put Lilly down but I could never do that. I had 4 cats of my own when my Dad died in 2008 and I inherited his 4 cats. One of mine and one of his has died so that left me down to 6. My husband died in 2011 and we had been living separately so I inherited 2 cats from his death. All of these cats were strays that we have taken in. I just wanted to fill in the rest of my story. Now, I'm going to spend hours searching out the best dry food that my cats will actually eat. I've tried many different brands of the better quality dry foods over the years but my cats would not eat any of them. They liked junk food dry cat food which is probably why Lilly got so overweight.

Thanks to everyone that gave me encouragement & support & answered my questions!!
 
That's such good news about Lily! :-D

I heard of this dry food from someone on this forum, called Wysong Epigen Starch Free. You can order it from 1-800- pet- meds. It was reasonable too.

I ordered the chicken and fish flavors. This food is lower in carbs than the cat food in the stores but no one seems to know what the carbs are in it. I used it as a transition food till Hank was eating the wet food.

As you have heard here, dry food is not an idea long term food for cats but I understand your situation too.

Maybe go to the website and check it out.

Hope this helps.

I'm so happy for you and Lily! :-D

Kimmie

Kimmie
 
Hi Anita!
Welcome from another major multi-cat MamaBean! We have 9 of them ranging from 14 years old down to about 5 months, all rescues from somewhere. We lost one of our diabetics in August but still have our sweet Dakota. Ours were all also 'kibbleheads', I thought we couldn't afford to change them all too. I discovered the large 13 oz cans of Friskies - it makes a HUGE difference. I buy 4-5 cans of FFeast a week as some of this crew like the higher carbed flavors (Mixed Grill) of Friskies at times. Other than that, they eat the same thing that Dakota eats. There's a big difference in the litter box - not nearly as much poop making litter last longer - those few dollars go to food now.

You can also order the Wysong Epigen directly from Wysong - it will be fresher than what you get from Pet-meds. They will send samples first too, just email them. The Epigen is starch free which is where the carbs in dry food are....that will help the pocketbook too.

This IS manageable, it just takes a bit of time to change everything around.

HUGS!
 
Hi! I haven't been on here in a little more than a month. I took Lilly to the vet on Dec. 23, 2014 and her bg was too low. The vet said that I could cut Lilly back to 1mg in the morning & one at night of insulin or I could stop the insulin and see how she did. I did the lower dose for a few days and then I just stopped the insulin completely. Her numbers have continued to stay low, below 100. I'm not confident that I'm getting accurate test readings but she is still doing fine on the canned food and is not drinking or peeing excessively. Should I be concerned that her numbers have stayed below 100 for over 3 weeks with no insulin? I have as much trouble getting a blood sample as I did giving her her insulin shots. She definitely reacts as though I'm hurting her ear when I poke her.
 
If she has been below 120 mg/dL on a human meter for 14 days, she is officially off the juice and in diet-controlled remission!

:otj:!!!!!!
 
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Below 100 is good. It is in the normal range. I would just continue as you have been and try to get the odd glucose reading. I take remi's every other day either before his morning breakfast or before his main evening meal.
 
Well, if you aren't giving any insulin, and Lilly's BG levels have been <100 for three weeks without insulin, then she has passed her OTJ trial and is considered to be in officially in remission. congratulations.

Here are some tips to stay OTJ (off-the-juice, insulin being the juice)

1. Never feed dry - not even treats. If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission.
3. Measure blood once a week, indefinitely. You want to catch a relapse quickly. Some people only do checks every 2 weeks to a month.
4. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check.
5. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission.
6. Regular vet checks for infection such as dental , ear or UTI. And get them treated quick!

If your cat does fall out of remission you need to be more aggressive and resolve issues/ back on insulin as soon as possible as the window for a second remission is tight if any. Pancreatitis, hyperthyroid, dental issues are the most common reasons cats fall out of remission.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Well, if you aren't giving any insulin, and Lilly's BG levels have been <100 for three weeks without insulin, then she has passed her OTJ trial and is considered to be in officially in remission. congratulations.

Here are some tips to stay OTJ (off-the-juice, insulin being the juice)

1. Never feed dry - not even treats. If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission.
3. Measure blood once a week, indefinitely. You want to catch a relapse quickly. Some people only do checks every 2 weeks to a month.
4. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check.
5. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission.
6. Regular vet checks for infection such as dental , ear or UTI. And get them treated quick!

If your cat does fall out of remission you need to be more aggressive and resolve issues/ back on insulin as soon as possible as the window for a second remission is tight if any. Pancreatitis, hyperthyroid, dental issues are the most common reasons cats fall out of remission.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips! Lilly still seems to be fine. I sure hope she stays in remission.
 
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