Hi , we have a large people and larger animal family. All of my pets are rescues and an integral part of our lives. My son is autistic and the animals have helped him immensely.In May one of my cats was diagnosed as being diabetic and was pretty sick. Currently she is on 3.5 units of prozinc two times a day, science diet wd two times a day and trader joes canned cat tuna once a day for a snack.Shanty is being cared for by Banfield hospital in New Hampshire and we are overall pleased. She is seen about once a month, at last visit her fructosamine levels where still high and they want to repeat in September. I would appreciate any feed back on how to manage this, especially financially, as my husband is chronically ill. I'mtrying hard to do the right thing by Shanty, but, just her food is 120 plus per month... again any ideas would be appreciated, thank you for reading this
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Tooloo
Member Since 2013
Hi Kathy. Welcome! I'm too new to give you advice, but I'm certain someone here will be able to do so. I can tell you that I saved a ton of money by home testing with an inexpensive human glucometer (I use a Relion Confirm purchased at Walmart). I found through advice given here that there are many things I can do at home that would cost much more if done by the vet. I found a vet who was quite supportive of my doing so and was very willing to work with me.
You have your hands full, but hang in there. You will get good advice here.
Debbie
You have your hands full, but hang in there. You will get good advice here.
Debbie
Larry and Kitties
Member Since 2009
Welcome. There is no reason for the WD. In fact, a low-card canned food is better. Yo want food with less than 10% calories from carbs. You can find those here:
http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
I second home testing BG using a human BG meter. If yo do test you can likely avoid the monthly vet visits
http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
I second home testing BG using a human BG meter. If yo do test you can likely avoid the monthly vet visits
Chris & China (GA)
Member Since 2013
Hi Kathy and extra sweet Shanty!! Welcome to the FDMB...the best place to be to help your kitty!
First, the dry w/d is too high in carbs (and very expensive too!). There's no reason you need to buy an expensive prescription diet. A lot of us feed Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies Pates from WalMart.
You'll want to get wet foods that are less than 10% carbs. This chart shows pretty much every food available and the percentage of carbs (column C) Dr. Pierson's Food Chart
Since you are giving insulin, don't transition too fast though. Shanty's blood sugar could come down too fast!
The next thing you'll want to do is learn how to home test. We can help teach you how to do this, and you'll get much better results (as well as more accurate ones) by testing at home. Just the trip to the vet can raise the stress levels in your cat, which can raise the blood glucose levels as much as 200 points! It's also a lot cheaper than monthly curves at the vet!
WalMart carries Relion Prime or Confirm blood glucose meters in the pharmacy. The meters are about $15, and the strips for the Prime are $9 for 50....for the Confirm they're about $18 for 50 (the Confirm takes the smallest size blood sample) Don't let your vet convince you that you must use a "pet only" meter. The majority of us use the Relion and do just fine without paying $100 for a meter, and over $1 per test strip!
The members here have thousands of hours of experience dealing with the day to day management of diabetes and we can help guide you along the way. I think most of us only see the vets now for routine care, like shots and checkups
Edited to add...I do know of Banfield..they have a pretty good reputation, but there aren't any "feline diabetes experts" that I know of. Vets can't keep on top of the latest treatments for every disease, every animal they see...and a lot of them get their "nutritional education" from maybe one class in vet school...and then the only continued education they get is from high pressure salesmen trying to sell more of their products. The members here live and breathe feline diabetes. I seriously doubt if there's anything they haven't seen before..and figured out how to handle!
First, the dry w/d is too high in carbs (and very expensive too!). There's no reason you need to buy an expensive prescription diet. A lot of us feed Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies Pates from WalMart.
You'll want to get wet foods that are less than 10% carbs. This chart shows pretty much every food available and the percentage of carbs (column C) Dr. Pierson's Food Chart
Since you are giving insulin, don't transition too fast though. Shanty's blood sugar could come down too fast!
The next thing you'll want to do is learn how to home test. We can help teach you how to do this, and you'll get much better results (as well as more accurate ones) by testing at home. Just the trip to the vet can raise the stress levels in your cat, which can raise the blood glucose levels as much as 200 points! It's also a lot cheaper than monthly curves at the vet!
WalMart carries Relion Prime or Confirm blood glucose meters in the pharmacy. The meters are about $15, and the strips for the Prime are $9 for 50....for the Confirm they're about $18 for 50 (the Confirm takes the smallest size blood sample) Don't let your vet convince you that you must use a "pet only" meter. The majority of us use the Relion and do just fine without paying $100 for a meter, and over $1 per test strip!
The members here have thousands of hours of experience dealing with the day to day management of diabetes and we can help guide you along the way. I think most of us only see the vets now for routine care, like shots and checkups
Edited to add...I do know of Banfield..they have a pretty good reputation, but there aren't any "feline diabetes experts" that I know of. Vets can't keep on top of the latest treatments for every disease, every animal they see...and a lot of them get their "nutritional education" from maybe one class in vet school...and then the only continued education they get is from high pressure salesmen trying to sell more of their products. The members here live and breathe feline diabetes. I seriously doubt if there's anything they haven't seen before..and figured out how to handle!
grapey
Member Since 2012
I also have a Relion Confirm meter from Walmart, and believe it or not, drawing blood from a cat's ear isn't too bad once you get the hang of it. Seriously--if I can do it, anybody can do it!! Also, I don't go to the vet unless the numbers are really high. Testing at home saves soooo much money.
For food, I give Lily friskies pates that have fewer than 10 percent carbs (see the food chart), and the big cans are 99 cents at Walmart. I have also found a way to get Lantus in a solostar "pen" (aka, tiny vial) so my insulin costs are down to $20 a month, thank God! I also buy syringes at Walmart--I think it's $12 for a pack of 100.
This board has been INVALUABLE to me. You will learn so much here.
For food, I give Lily friskies pates that have fewer than 10 percent carbs (see the food chart), and the big cans are 99 cents at Walmart. I have also found a way to get Lantus in a solostar "pen" (aka, tiny vial) so my insulin costs are down to $20 a month, thank God! I also buy syringes at Walmart--I think it's $12 for a pack of 100.
This board has been INVALUABLE to me. You will learn so much here.
Deb & Wink
Member Since 2013
Hi Kathy and extra sweet kitty Shanty and welcome to the FDMB.
Where in NH are you located? I'm in MA, northshore area.
Where in NH are you located? I'm in MA, northshore area.
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