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Jessica Harris

Jessica Harris

Member Since 2020
Good Afternoon,

I am a new member, Jess, I finally received all the items needed for my sugar kitty Rousseau. I've been reviewing everything for him and our new journey. When I first took Rousseau to the vet he had an injury from something outside, whatever it was caused him to need 3 stitches, needless to say he took one stitch out and I had to take him back to the SFSPCA. When we took him they asked to do a series of test blood and urinalysis: they came back with a diagnoses of diabetes. Files of his testing are uploaded. I asked about a change in diet to start and the vet said that she didn't want to put him on a special diet first, that she wanted to start with 2 units of Vetsulin. I asked about the AAHA and mentioned that Vetsulin isn't really recommended to the pharmacist and he just dismissed me. I tested his BG last night and it's at 430. The Vet says she has seen about 20% success rate of remission and she didn't sound hopeful of Rousseau going into remission. A few questions and thoughts I have:

I want to try to change his diet to all wet food: FF Classic Pate. (He loves wet food so it will be an easy to transition him to an all wet food diet)

I'm concerned about the Vetsulin, it doesn't seem like a lot of Kittys go into remission with this.
I'm also concerned with the dose: 2 Units starting seems high based on what I've seen in this Message Board and in the FB Group.

How do I find an affordable Vet that will work with me? I use a ReliOn Meter and am comfortable with home testing, the vet I'm currently with supports home testing and Rousseau doesn't seem bothered by it.

Please help!
 

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Welcome, Jess! :)

You are absolutely on the right track for Rosseau! You are correct that Vetsulin isn't good for cats. I recommend printing out the 2018 AAHA Diabetes Guideline For Dogs and Cats (this will link you to the download, sorry I can't link directly as I'm on mobile) that lists Lantus being the recommended choice for felines with a highest possible remission rate if tackled within 6 months. There is no guarantee of course but 20% remission rate is inaccurate (unless of course you insist on using Vetsulin!).

If the guidelines aren't enough to change your vets mind I would phone around at the affordable clinics nearby and ask how they feel about taking on a client for Lantus and hometesting (many vets actively discourage it for some unknown reason).
 
Jessica Harris said:
How do I find an affordable Vet that will work with me?
Click to expand...

Hi Jess and welcome! I am new here as well so will let more experienced members answer your other questions. But, I see you are in San Francisco like me. I go to Especially Cats in the Sunset and see Dr. Grace Carter.

I am not sure how their prices compare to other vets in the area, but I have been pretty happy with my experience with them. Dr. Carter has had a diabetic cat in the past and so have some of their Techs. Based on reading other posts around here, they seem more knowledgeable about diabetes than a lot of vets. They've been willing to take my opinions on insulin type into consideration. They also are willing to work with me on creating a treatment plan that takes my budget into consideration, especially because I also home test. We are using ProZinc now and she did not recommend Vetsulin due to lack of effectiveness. They attached my SS to Charleston's chart and keep an eye on it as well. Dr. Carter also told me up front that there was no need to use special diabetic food, shared Dr. Lisa's food chart with me (which lots of people here reference), and let me know that many owners of diabetic cats are successful with FF pates as a great cheaper alternative.

They do seem to have some of the same limitations that many vets have. For example, they want to increase insulin 1U at a time. We started at 1U and jumped to 2U after just a couple weeks. But, in my experience, they will listen to you and let you be part of the care decisions without being condescending. Anyway, you should consider checking them out :)

Best of luck!
 
Oh one other thing - the other option she gave me for insulin was Lantus (maybe also Levemir?). I chose ProZinc because I thought it was cheaper, but have since learned I probably should have gone with Lantus and could have ordered it more cheaply from Canada. Also, they charge about $300 for a bottle of ProZinc, but I also learned I can get it on Chewy for more like $100. This is definitely a big learning process...
 
This is the email I sent the SFSPCA Vet Office:
I’m curious as to the difference in available Insulins. Rousseau was prescribed and insulin meant mainly for Dogs: Vetsulin (aka Caninsulin). I’m also worried about his initial dose which is 2 units starting. I just received his home testing kit and I’m not sure if this is what’s best to get him in remission. I also asked about changing his diet to solely wet food based and was discouraged against it and to start with the Insulin. I’m really nervous and the pharmacist wasn’t exactly helpful when I was asking about the Insulins.
2018 AAHA Diabetes Guideline For Dogs and Cats: https://www.aaha.org/globalassets/02-guidelines/diabetes/diabetes-guidelines_final.pdf
 
WELCOME TO FDMB! My you sure are up to speed. I think once your Vet understands just how "Hands on" you want to be they may come around. I know my vet was thrilled when I first showed her my log book. She took it from my hands and went throughout the building showing it to the other vets lol. (that was way before shreadsheets were a thing.)
Youve got your act together thats 50% of the battle.:coffee: You could always say you will look for a Vet thats willing to work WITH you.

At any rate I'm glad you found us. Theres a wealth of info here with nice folks to help you decipher it all.;)
jeanne
 
Hi Jessica and welcome!

I think you’re off to a great start because you’ve already gained a lot of knowledge and you’re all set to start home testing. It took me weeks to get up the nerve to do it so good for you!! :bighug:

my feeling when it comes to vets prescribing vetsulin for cats is that they’re more experienced with dogs and group both species together in the way they care for them. What they prescribe for dogs, which is vetsulin an insulin created for dogs, they also prescribe to cats. It doesn’t work. 2 different species and even within species each cat is different. It’s shocking to me still because a quick internet google will convince you that vetsulin is not the ideal insulin for cats so why do vets refuse to understand this is beyond me. I have a friend whose dog became diabetic around the same time as Minnie and his dog was put on vetsulin. When he told me the price I looked it up and was like, oh it’s for dogs never mind. The good news is if you get the 5 Lantus pen pack from Mark’s in Canada you’ll pay about $189 with shipping which it gets you each pen for 1/3 of the cost here and it could last a year if not longer. I’d give Caitlin’s vet a call to compare prices, unless you feel you can tell your vet Lantus is what you want and end of story. I’ve had to do that before with medication. They were fighting me on it and I finally had to say, no that is not what I want, I want to try this.

Anyway, thanks to you Rousseau will be doing great in no time :cat:
 
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