New Memeber 8/22/25 Bosco's mom

Boscosmom

Boscosmom

New Member
Hi everyone,
I'm so thankful for this site and the FB group that sent me here. I am new on this journey, and because of the great information, I felt educated on what to ask my vet. Bosco is a 16 year old Mainecoon. He has a benign heart murmur, arthritis in his legs, and his right back leg had a knee replacement 8 years ago. I started testing him at home with a human diabets reader and have been testing once/twice a day. He is now on all wet low cab food. Since that change, he is peeing less and seems to be more perky. We are still dealing with a lot of flat feet walking and lack of stability with is only increased with his arthritis. He is on a monthly shot for the arthritis and gets a joint supplement. I'm starting his spreadsheet, I've been tracking on my phone but the sheet is amazing.
I would like to know what others experience is with the walking part. Do they tend to get more steady as numbers decrease? How long does that take? Has anyone done any additional things like red light therapy or acupuncture to help with the walking?

Thank you for all the advice you can provide for my sugar baby Bosco!
 
Welcome to FDF, you are definitely in the right place and on the right track, we would like to know more about your Main Coon and your Glucose result, if you have them written down please insert them in the cells on your spreadsheet, below is a link for you to create your signature, what insulin are you using is important, so I can guide you to the right knowledgeable member in that insulin to help you with dosing, you are at an advantage, by home testing, and feeding low carb foods between 0-10% and also by creating your spreadsheet. any new concern please post us, and I am sure someone will plug in to help you 😸😸🤗

Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
 
CORKY said:
Welcome to FDF, you are definitely in the right place and on the right track, we would like to know more about your Main Coon and your Glucose result, if you have them written down please insert them in the cells on your spreadsheet, below is a link for you to create your signature, what insulin are you using is important, so I can guide you to the right knowledgeable member in that insulin to help you with dosing, you are at an advantage, by home testing, and feeding low carb foods between 0-10% and also by creating your spreadsheet. any new concern please post us, and I am sure someone will plug in to help you 😸😸🤗

Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
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Hi,
 
Hello and welcome, I am glad to hear that you are home testing already and switching to low carb food. Well done!

The walking issue is called neuropathy, which some, but not all diabetic cats get. More information in this post: Feline Diabetic Neuropathy. There are two things that can help, one is indeed getting their blood sugar values better regulated. The other is methyl B12, Zobaline is one such product. That and time, it depends on how long they take to get regulated, but can be months for complete healing. My girl, in spite of being in high numbers, did not get neuropathy. She had severe arthritis and acupuncture did help with that.
 
An alternative to the expensive LifeLink Zobaline methyl B12 product is this:

posted by @Diane Tyler's Mom GA


the Vitacost brand another member told me about
Vitamin B-12 Methylcobalamin -- 5000 mcg - 100 Capsules

Same as Zobaline , but the Zobaline is so expensive as you know
This is the same thing
The only difference is the Zobaline has 200 mcgs of folic acid
So I bought the folic acid at the supermarket and crush it up and added it to the Vitacost brand
If you can't find the 200 mcg get the 400 mcg and cut it in half and crush it up and add it, some members didn't even add the folic acid and the neuropathy improved
The Vitacost brand is a capsule so just open it and pour the powder on the wet food
Has no taste, no need to crush it up, I still give it to Tyler every now and then and he has never tasted it in his food , I always add water to his food and just stir up the methyl B-12 good
I switched to the vitacost brand because the zobaline was too expensive,
Even though the vitacost brand is 5000 mcgs and the zobaline is 3000 mcgs
What they don't need they will pee out because it's water soluble.

The Zobaline is expensive for 60 pills, 30.00 some other places want 33.00
I used to use the Zobaline when I joined, then a member told me about the Vitacost brand .

It took about 2 months for Tyler to get back to walking normal, jumping on to the couch, running around
But every few weeks I did see a slight improvement
Some members didn't even add the folic acid to the vitacost brand and it still helped and the neuropathy was gone

https://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-vitamin-b-12-methylcobalamin-5000-mcg-100-capsules-6

14.49 for 100 capsules
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Hi I've started the spreadsheet but I thought I read that it is set for the pet meter. Maybe I read that wrong. It should be attached in my signature.
I'm just not sure where to add his readings. We haven't started insulin yet. But I do take 1 - 2 readings a day.
 
CORKY said:
Welcome to FDF, you are definitely in the right place and on the right track, we would like to know more about your Main Coon and your Glucose result, if you have them written down please insert them in the cells on your spreadsheet, below is a link for you to create your signature, what insulin are you using is important, so I can guide you to the right knowledgeable member in that insulin to help you with dosing, you are at an advantage, by home testing, and feeding low carb foods between 0-10% and also by creating your spreadsheet. any new concern please post us, and I am sure someone will plug in to help you 😸😸🤗

Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
Click to expand...
Where do I add his. numbers on the spreadsheet? We are using the relion premier classic blood glucose tester
 
Boscosmom said:
Hi I've started the spreadsheet but I thought I read that it is set for the pet meter. Maybe I read that wrong. It should be attached in my signature.
I'm just not sure where to add his readings. We haven't started insulin yet. But I do take 1 - 2 readings a day.
Click to expand...
Since you're not shooting yet, just select a time that you think you'll likely administer insulin. That is your AMPS and PMPS (AMpreshot and PMpreshot). The time increments align with that start time and go incrementally, hourly: +1, +2, etc. Place your bg test results in the box that coincides with the hour of the test. Jude's test time is 7:30, so +1 is 8:30, +2 is 9:30, etc. You can look at any of our spreadsheets to get an idea. I hope this helps answer your question.
 
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There's a separate spreadsheet if you are using a pet meter.

The one you have linked in your signature is for Human meters, which is what the Relion meter is.

You will need to log into your spreadsheet and enter the numbers in. I mostly use my phone to enter numbers so I just leave myself signed into Google so I don't have to enter my email address and password every time.

You fill each row across. The date is self explanatory :) The next column to the right of the date is AMPS which stands for AM (morning) Pre Shot number. U is for the units of insulin given. If none was given or you did a fur shot you can put in N/A and add a comment in the comments section way at the end of the row. The + numbers indicate hours after the insulin shot. If you tested 3 hours after insulin and got a reading, you would enter it into the +3 cell (box) for that day. PMPS is PM (evening) Pre Shot number. Then it repeats with U for units given and the + numbers.

If you get a test done at say +5.5, you can either just enter the number into the +5 cell and add a comment in the comments section to note +5.5 or, if you're familiar with using spreadsheets, add a new column between +5 and +6 and label it as +5.5
 
Boscosmom said:
I would like to know what others experience is with the walking part. Do they tend to get more steady as numbers decrease? How long does that take? Has anyone done any additional things like red light therapy or acupuncture to help with the walking?
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As has been mentioned, methylcobalamin (methyl-B12) can help many cats. I used Zobaline. If you choose a human version, make sure it doesn’t have any sugars or artificial sweeteners. To improve neuropathy, it’s also important to get the BG in a better range.

Here’s a video that shows the neuropathy journey of one diabetic cat. It’s an old video but still one of my favorites.

 
This has been so helpful. I ordered the recommended meds to try to help with the neuropathy on Amazon. I've updated the spreadsheet. Hopefully correctly. Thank you for the information and please feel free to give any advise.
 
You mentioned that you haven't started insulin yet. Do you have an idea when you're planning on starting. Your cat is in diabetic numbers so the sooner you start, the better. If your vet hasn't discussed insulin choices with you, there are two insulins that are recommended by the American Animal Hospital Assn for the treatment of feline diabetes -- Prozinc, which is formulated for animals and Lantus (glargine is the generic/biosimilar) which is a human insulin. Lantus is available at any human pharmacy. We encourage members to use one of these for treating their cat.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
You mentioned that you haven't started insulin yet. Do you have an idea when you're planning on starting. Your cat is in diabetic numbers so the sooner you start, the better. If your vet hasn't discussed insulin choices with you, there are two insulins that are recommended by the American Animal Hospital Assn for the treatment of feline diabetes -- Prozinc, which is formulated for animals and Lantus (glargine is the generic/biosimilar) which is a human insulin. Lantus is available at any human pharmacy. We encourage members to use one of these for treating their cat.
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Hi, starting soon. I think she wanted to give it two weeks with low carb diet to see if we could really change numbers with food first. I have a follow up with her this week. Is one of the two of those seeing better results with cats?
 
Please be sure to complete your signature, which is located in your profile (click on your name at the top right of the page). You might want to remove your full name for security purposes.

Here is what we ask that people add:

Make sure your signature is up-to-date.
  • At the top right, click on your profile + Signature. This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback. There is a limit of two lines which may include two links; you may separate pieces with commas, dashes, | etc. This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Bexacat or Senvelgo (if applicable) and dates
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.
 
Mary & Jude said:
Please be sure to complete your signature, which is located in your profile (click on your name at the top right of the page). You might want to remove your full name for security purposes.

Here is what we ask that people add:

Make sure your signature is up-to-date.
  • At the top right, click on your profile + Signature. This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback. There is a limit of two lines which may include two links; you may separate pieces with commas, dashes, | etc. This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Bexacat or Senvelgo (if applicable) and dates
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.
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is DX when diagnosed
 
We tend to see more Lantus/glargine users here. I suspect that the reason is that it's more widely available since it's a human insulin. The biggest benefit is that if you run out or have a mishap with the insulin (e.g., your cat decides it's a hockey puck and breaks the container) you don't have to wait to have it mailed to you. With Prozinc, some vets don't keep it in stock and you would need to order from Chewy's or some other source. Historically, the other advantage of Lantus was that there was a well researched dosing protocol available for its use.

The biggest downside of Lantus is that it is much more reliant on predictability. You will get the best results if you are able to give shots as close to every 12 hours as possible. While this is largely true for Prozinc, Lantus is a "depot" type of insulin so closer adherence to the timing of shots is more helpful for good results.

You may want to read the yellow sticky notes at the top of both the Lantus and Prozinc forums. The notes will discuss each insulin, dosing methods, etc.

And yes, "dx" refers to diagnosis.
 
IF YOUR VET DOES PRESCRIBE LANTUS
Which I hope the vet does

You can definitely get 5 pens of Lantus or the generic Glargine

You can Check
CVS, Rite Aid, Costco, Walgreen's, to get the price for 5 pens either Lantus or the generic Glargine , plenty of members use the generic
Just call around and see who has the cheapest price , it's really not that expensive
With the pens just keep them in the fridge middle shelf , they all have the expiration date on them .

Also
The 5 pens will last about a year, we use the pens just like a vial, you would just insert the syringe it the gray rubber stopper on the pen and draw out your insulin
Its generic lantus

If you use the Good Rx
GoodRX has a 1-800 number to assist you in using their services to get your pets prescriptions filled if the pharmacy gives you any issues.

I think I found it for you
GoodRx / Customer service

1 (855) 268-2822


GoodRx coupon.
https://www.goodrx.com/lantus?label...d-pens-of-100-units-ml&quantity=1&slug=lantus
Make sure that the Match your prescription pull down menu says generic glargine 1 carton of 5 3ml pens.


Also
A membersaid she followed this prescription info exactly and it worked perfectly. Hope this helps!
Then go to the Lantus site to generate the coupon as in second image.
upload_2023-12-1_6-57-52-png.68163







upload_2023-12-1_6-59-16-png.68164




Found this also posted by another member
finally got the pharmacy to honor the 5 pens for $35 coupon. I had my vet write the prescription as 8 to 25 units twice a day and that seemed to do the trick

If the vet will give you Lantus you will need U-100 syringes with the half unit markings since we increase or decrease by 9.25 units at a time
CORRECTION WE INCREASE OR DECREASE BY 0.25 UNITS NOT 9.25

copied and pasted this from another member's post from earlier today.

If you are by a Walmart, you can get U100 insulin syringes with half unit marks for $12.58/100.
You need to go into the store to get them
I don't know if you need a vets script though

Either of these 2 boxes are the ones you want (with a purple stripe). You have to go into the store , can't buy them on line
upload_2024-4-22_23-37-23-jpeg.69946




This was posted by a member and copied it for you
If you're going to Walmart, ask for Relion 3/10ml, 31 or 30 gauge insulin syringes. (Don't mention half unit marks because this tends to confuse them and they think you don't know what you want and will try to convince you that you need 1/2ml syringes---you DON'T)

ALL of the 3/10ml Relion syringes at Walmart have half unit marks. Trust me on this. You will want one of these boxes of syringes (the difference is the needle length...blue box are shorter needles than white box but both work fine). As long as the box has the purple stripe, they are the correct syringes.

I don't know if you will need a vets script though

You can get them from Amazon without a vets script for U-100 syringes for Lantus
half unit markings without a vets script
Amazon.com: UltiCare VetRx U-100 Pet Insulin Syringes, Comfortable & Accurate Dosing of Insulin for Pets, Compatible w/Any U-100 Strength Insulin, Size: 3/10cc, 31G x 5/16’’, w/Half Unit Markings, 60 ct Box : Health & Household
 
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