New to Board - Home Testing and Managing Diabetes

[Amanda Holton]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Amanda. I have been researching on this board and the website for about a month now but have not posted til today and am hoping for some advice !
My sweet Apple - 7 y/o Orange Tabby Cat was diagnosed on 12/4/17 and shocked me! He had always been a healthy boy but had been on dry food his whole life. I got him from a nice family who were downsizing houses when he was 4 y/o and I was in college.
I recently had a falling out with my vet... I had loved them and bring our dog there as well but they did not believe in changing the diet. They started Apple on Royal Canin Glycobalance and it was okay in the beginning but I started doing more research and turns out that a lot of dry foods are not recommended at all due to the carb value. I changed him to FF Classic Pate and Primal. He has loved it. His water intake has slowed immensely. His behavior is better and just seems to be more comfortable.
My vet didn't agree with me changing diet, didn't agree with me not shooting at a low number, and didn't agree with me home testing. and then told me I had made my cat "my experiment".... it was very upsetting. So I have an appointment with a new vet, Nashville Cat Clinic and I am thinking it will go better.
We are on 3u of ProZinc every 12 hrs. If someone could link me the spreadsheet that would be great... I will get that together but couldn't find it. I have been keeping a manual log. This is my dilemma, he is bouncing and I am trying to find a method to the madness. He was in the 400s yesterday and is now at 119 today.

I would love to share my numbers and see what you all think but definitely don't want to confuse everyone since we are on different timezones. Feel free to guide me in any direction or if I am missing anything.
Thank you for your time!

 

[JanetNJ]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Amanda. I have been researching on this board and the website for about a month now but have not posted til today and am hoping for some advice !
My sweet Apple - 7 y/o Orange Tabby Cat was diagnosed on 12/4/17 and shocked me! He had always been a healthy boy but had been on dry food his whole life. I got him from a nice family who were downsizing houses when he was 4 y/o and I was in college.
I recently had a falling out with my vet... I had loved them and bring our dog there as well but they did not believe in changing the diet. They started Apple on Royal Canin Glycobalance and it was okay in the beginning but I started doing more research and turns out that a lot of dry foods are not recommended at all due to the carb value. I changed him to FF Classic Pate and Primal. He has loved it. His water intake has slowed immensely. His behavior is better and just seems to be more comfortable.
My vet didn't agree with me changing diet, didn't agree with me not shooting at a low number, and didn't agree with me home testing. and then told me I had made my cat "my experiment".... it was very upsetting. So I have an appointment with a new vet, Nashville Cat Clinic and I am thinking it will go better.
We are on 3u of ProZinc every 12 hrs. If someone could link me the spreadsheet that would be great... I will get that together but couldn't find it. I have been keeping a manual log. This is my dilemma, he is bouncing and I am trying to find a method to the madness. He was in the 400s yesterday and is now at 119 today.

I would love to share my numbers and see what you all think but definitely don't want to confuse everyone since we are on different timezones. Feel free to guide me in any direction or if I am missing anything.
Thank you for your time!

My guess is you need to reduce the dose a bit too settle the bounce. What's happening is he's dropping more than 60% and that's causing his body to panic and release stored glucose sending his numbers back up. Here's the link to the spreadsheet. Good call getting a new vet.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Welcome Amanda and Apple! That's a cute name for a kitty!

I changed him to FF Classic Pate and Primal. He has loved it. His water intake has slowed immensely. His behavior is better and just seems to be more comfortable.

Excellent! This is good food for diabetic cats.

My vet didn't agree with me changing diet, didn't agree with me not shooting at a low number, and didn't agree with me home testing. and then told me I had made my cat "my experiment".... it was very upsetting. So I have an appointment with a new vet, Nashville Cat Clinic and I am thinking it will go better.

I'm sorry you've had a falling out with a vet you liked over your kitty's treatment. I hope you find a new one that will work collaboratively with you in treating Apple's diabetes.

We are on 3u of ProZinc every 12 hrs. If someone could link me the spreadsheet that would be great... I will get that together but couldn't find it. I have been keeping a manual log. This is my dilemma, he is bouncing and I am trying to find a method to the madness. He was in the 400s yesterday and is now at 119 today.

It's possible that 3 u is a bit too high but start tracking your data on a spreadsheet before changing anything:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Here's the basic home testing routine we recommend:

1. test every day AM and PM before feeding and injecting (no food at least 2 hours before) to see if the planned dose is safe
2. test at least once near mid cycle or at bedtime daily to see how low the BG goes
3. do extra tests on days off to fill in the response picture
4. if indicated by consistently high numbers on your spreadsheet, increase the dose by no more than 0.25 u at a time so you don't accidentally go right past a good dose
5. post here for advice whenever you're confused or unsure of what to do.

BTW - are you using a human meter or a pet meter for testing?

 

[Djamila]

Hi Amanda and Apple, and welcome! It sounds like you're doing a great job with everything!!! There is a forum for folks who use Prozinc, so once you get the spreadsheet set up, you'll want to post over there to get input on dosing and anything insulin specific. Here is the link for that section:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/

Look forward to seeing you over there!

 

[MaSha]

Hello Amanda and Apple,

I would just like to join in and voice my support.
Hopefully the new vet will be more flexible, you're doing a great job!
Home-testing, diet change... IS NOT an experiment. It saved our boy.

Before he went into remission we didn't use Prozinc, so I cannot share any experience with the insulin brand, but for us changing his diet made the biggest difference.

Good luck!

 

[Amanda Holton]

My guess is you need to reduce the dose a bit too settle the bounce. What's happening is he's dropping more than 60% and that's causing his body to panic and release stored glucose sending his numbers back up. Here's the link to the spreadsheet. Good call getting a new vet.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Okay great. I will fill out the spreadsheet with the values and see what you guys think.. Yeah.. I figured we have a case of bouncing. My pattern that I am noticing is he is good on the 3u but 2u is not enough. We did 2u for two weeks and all I got were high numbers. he does much better with 3u, now its just figuring out what is his magic dose! I do 2.5u when I need a lesser dosage but that never seems to be enough either for him.

 

[Amanda Holton]

Welcome Amanda and Apple! That's a cute name for a kitty!

Excellent! This is good food for diabetic cats.

It's possible that 3 u is a bit too high but start tracking your data on a spreadsheet before changing anything:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Here's the basic home testing routine we recommend:

1. test every day AM and PM before feeding and injecting (no food at least 2 hours before) to see if the planned dose is safe
2. test at least once near mid cycle or at bedtime daily to see how low the BG goes
3. do extra tests on days off to fill in the response picture
4. if indicated by consistently high numbers on your spreadsheet, increase the dose by no more than 0.25 u at a time so you don't accidentally go right past a good dose
5. post here for advice whenever you're confused or unsure of what to do.

BTW - are you using a human meter or a pet meter for testing?

Awe thank you! He was so stressed when I got him because his original family gave him to me so I decided to keep his name since change is hard for cats.​

Our dog is on Primal and has done great on it. I've always wanted to get Apple on it, so this was a good reason to. I know FF pate is good for diabetic cats and I am feeding half FF and half primal right now but in your experience, have you heard of anyone else feeding raw to their cats?

Okay great. I have been following this for the most part. I am using u-40 syringes so what is your advice for getting the quarter doses? Would I need to get u-100 and do conversion? I am using the AlphaTrak 2. I do "mini curves" is what I call them. And I watch his BG and it does pretty well through the day with the 3u. When I get the spreadsheet filled out, Ill explain the pattern I am seeing and see what y'all think. I will get that done this weekend as I am thinking it will be quite the task

 

[Amanda Holton]

Hi Amanda and Apple, and welcome! It sounds like you're doing a great job with everything!!! There is a forum for folks who use Prozinc, so once you get the spreadsheet set up, you'll want to post over there to get input on dosing and anything insulin specific. Here is the link for that section:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/

Look forward to seeing you over there!

oh wonderful, I will do that! Thank you!

 

[Amanda Holton]

Hello Amanda and Apple,

I would just like to join in and voice my support.
Hopefully the new vet will be more flexible, you're doing a great job!
Home-testing, diet change... IS NOT an experiment. It saved our boy.

Before he went into remission we didn't use Prozinc, so I cannot share any experience with the insulin brand, but for us changing his diet made the biggest difference.

Good luck!

I fully believe that our health has everything to do with what you put in your body especially for animals! So I was happy to see how better he did on wet food and raw food. He is doing great on it. His body is responding and his mood and behavior. I know that just diet change can start remission now too! Thank you for sharing