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luciagua

Member Since 2014
Hi everyone,

I found out from my vet today that Angel is diabetic. Angel is 18 years old, and has gone through her share of lives. Let me tell you about her.

Angel is an 18 year old beautiful cameo colored Maine Coon. She is extremely loving. Eight years ago in April, she had her leg amputated due to cancer, fibro sarcoma. This was not vaccine injection related. Fast forward to 5 months ago, when she was diagnosed with mast cell tumor. The tumor is on her chin so surgery is not an option. She is also 18 years old and the vet does not want to sedate her. Her chin looks awful, but that's not going to get better. She is still eating and behaving normal until now. I take her to the vet every three weeks so they can thoroughly clean her chin. Angel was getting a long acting steroid, which is what caused the diabetes. The steroid was helping with the inflammation on her chin, and her arthritis. Yup, she has arthritis due to her amputation. The last few days I noticed that she is limping a little. I read something about neuropathy, which concerns me because I don't want her to hurt. She still gets on the couch and the bed.

Today my vet informs me that Angel is now diabetic. All I could think was how much she has gone through. I too feel frustrated that she has to go through so much. The vet wants to start with changing her diet. We will go with high protean diet. Angel is already a fussy eater, now I have to try and get her used to eating something else. Since the thing on her chin is raw sometime, she prefers chicken baby food. I have been cooking chicken for her and giving her baby food. She loves them both. My vet suggested Fancy Feast. I have Friskies at home right now, which is what I give the feral's I feed. I guess now all of them will get the same food, that makes it easier.

I told my vet that I will start the insulin right away, but she said she wants to teach me how to do the injections. I know how to do subQ's so that's not it. She said it's the way the inject is done, how it's prepared. I looked it up, and it doesn't seem that complicated. I am very comfortable giving injects. I had a cat that was was fluids for 7 years, so that is not an issue.

I have three other cats, all rescues. I volunteer for a rescue group that does mostly TNR. I mostly manage their website and Facebook page.

I work full-time as a counselor. I am married, and my husband is very supportive. However, the second thing he asked was, "how much is this going to cost?" I haven't looked into the cost of the insulin yet, the expense scares me. I, like most people live pay check to pay check, so the cost concerns me. However, I will do everything I can to do what is needed.

I look forward to learning as much as I can to help Angel.

I know I'm missing some info on Angel, but I think this gives you an idea of what she's gone through in her 18 years.
 
Hello,

Welcome to you and Angel. My cat Lilly who passed away also had steroid induced diabetes. This was from long term Depo Medrol shots for itching. I just wanted to offer you support and say welcome.
If you can do SubQ fluids then giving insulin should not seem that hard. Some people feed Friskies pates, there is a food list on here somewhere maybe someone can point it out to you as I don`t remember where it is. Kuddos to you for helping the rescue and doing TNR, I have done a good bit of that myself here. Best of luck to you and Angel.

Terri
 
Welcome to FDMB! Angel has been through a lot huh? A real fighter!

The cost isn't too bad. Different insulins cost different amounts but they last awhile too. What insulin are you going to be using? My girl is on ProZinc and while the vial is expensive, it lasts a few months too.

Do you home test? We advocate that in a big way. It gives you real time data and helps you see how the insulin is working and helps determine dose. It's more accurate than testing at the vet since the stress of the vet visit can raise BG levels. And it saves you money on vet visits to check her levels! :-D

It's good to have a low carb wet food since that can drop her BG. But I wouldn't start insulin and change food unless you are home testing. Otherwise, your kitty can go too low. You can use a human glucometer to test. I use relion confirm from Walmart since it doesn't require much blood and the strips are pretty cheap. Don't get a pet meter...way more expensive and no better.

Ask any questions you want. We're here to help! You're in the best place to help your kitty!
 
terri1962 said:
Hello,

Welcome to you and Angel. My cat Lilly who passed away also had steroid induced diabetes. This was from long term Depo Medrol shots for itching. I just wanted to offer you support and say welcome.

Terri
Click to expand...

Hi Terri,

Thank you for the welcome.

I am so sorry for your loss. It's so hard to loose them. Angel is my baby, I do everything I can to help her.

I appreciate the support, I need.

Lucy
 
Hi Rachel,

I just found out this morning about Angel's diagnosis so I have no supplies or anything. I don't have a clue yet. I will be talking to vet again on Monday.

Do you think I should call and ask for her numbers, and what I should be looking for? I'm getting a little anxious about this because I do not know anything about diabetes. I'm pretty sure my vets office will be closed in the morning because we are having a snow storm, supposedly blizzard conditions.

I will be doing my research so I can be prepared.

Thank you for your response.
 
Before insulin, change to over the counter, low carb canned food. There is a nutrition pdf file over on Cat Info, compiled by veterinarian Dr Pierson. An inexpensive choice is the Friskies pates as you'll find it easier if all cats are eating a species appropriate diet.

Home testing will keep your cat safe from shooting when it is unsafe, adjusting the dose, and determining the effectiveness of the dose. Too much insulin can send the cat into hypoglycemia and death.
 
Thank you BJM.

I have three other cats, being able to feed them all the same thing will be helpful.
 
Hi and welcome to FDMB.

Caring for a diabetic cat can be done economically. There are several ways to reduce your costs. I understand your concerns about the costs, at one time I was unemployed and had two diabetic cats, along with several other pets.

First is by learning to hometest. This will eliminate the unnecessary trips to the vet just to have your cat's blood glucose (BG) levels tested. You will use a human glucose meter to test before every shot. You can use almost any brand of meter. Many of us use the Walmart Relion meters. The meter and strips are not expensive and the meters work well. By testing before every shot, you will know if it is safe to give the insulin dose and also learn if you need to adjust the dose. You also do not need to take your cat to the vet just to be tested.

If your vet prescribes Lantus or Levemir, ask for the script for the pens instead of vial. Even though the initial cost is more for the pens than the vial, overall you do save money. With a vial, the insulin will become ineffective long before you use all of the insulin in it. You will end up throwing away a lot of insulin. With the pens, you will receive 5 pens in a package. Because the insulin is packaged in smaller containers, you should be able to use almost every drop. One package of pens will provide enough insulin for almost a year, depending on your dose.

For food, many of us feed our cats Fancy Feast, Friskies or Special Kitty canned foods. Pate flavors usually have less carbs than the other flavors. Avoid anything with "gravy" in the name, it is high in carbs. You do not need to feed any prescription foods - most do not work well for diabetics and many cats stop eating it anyway. Changing all of your cats' diets to a low carb/high protein diet will also reduce the chances any of the other cats become diabetic. Many cats also can become diet controlled for their diabetes so insulin may only need to be needed for a short time. If you are currently feeding dry food, you want to remove that from all of your cat's diet. Dry food is high in carbs and will make it harder to control your cat's diabetes. Plus it increases the chances that you other cats could become diabetic.
 
Another way to save money is joining any rewards programs at your local pet store. I joined the pet perks program at my local petsmart. It's free to join and you get a discount on food. I feed friskies and my food is about 10 cents cheaper per can! If you have a pet store nearby ask them about rewards programs...can save you a bundle over time!
 
Another note on cost:
Calculate the cost per unit. It turns out that Lantus can be less expensive than ProZincvp on a cost per unit basis.

Lantus and Levemir of both U-100 insulins with 100 units per mL.
- A 10 mL vial has 1,000 units; a 5 pack of 3 mL pens has 1,500 units
ProZinc is a U-40 insulin with 40 units per mL.
- a 10 mL vial has 400 units

Milliliter to milliliter Lantus and Levemir would need to be 2.5 times the cost per unit to be more expensive than ProZinc
Ex: With a ballpark of $200 for a Lantus vial and $140 for a ProZinc vial, Lantus is less expensive.

Other PZI insulins may came as either U-40 or U-100, depending on source.
 
Start with food - I would change them all over to friskies pates or fancy feast classic pates as they are the cheapest and low carb. A change in food can cause remission in a short time.

And go to walmart and pick this stuff up:

Getting started shopping list
1. Meter ie Walmart Relion Confirm or Micro.
2. Matching strips
3. Lancets - little sticks to poke the ear to get blood . new members usually start with a larger gauge lancet such as 28g or 29g until the ear learns to bleed. Optional - lancing tool.
4. Cotton balls to stem the blood
5. Neosporin or Polysporin ointment with pain relief to heal the wound
6. Mini flashlight (optional) - useful to help see the ear veins in dark cats, and to press against
7. Ketone urine test strips ie ketodiastix - Important to check ketones when blood is high
8. Sharps container - to dispose of waste syringes and lancets.
9. Treats for the cat - like freeze dried chicken
10. Karo syrup/corn syrup or honey if you dont have it at home - for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast
11. A couple of cans of fancy feast gravy lovers or other high carb gravy food- for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast

Did the vet mention ketones?

Wendy
 
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