New with food question

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Lizzysdad

Lizzysdad

Member Since 2012
Thanks to all of you who post here. It is extremely helpful!

Lizzy was diagnosed two weeks ago at a BG of 325. Our vet prescribed Lantus 1u twice daily. We have an AlphaTrak meter and I did the first home tests last night and this AM. Lizzy tested at 73 last night +2 hr. This AM when I went to test before breakfast I had trouble and couldn't draw blood so I fed her. 15 minutes after eating I decided to try again and she tested at 147. My vet said no shot if she is below 150, so no shot this AM.

Our vet put her on Hills m/d and I feed 1/2 can twice a day. (I am not a fan of Hills, hence my questions.)

My food questions are:

1. Do you feed the exact same food every day or do you rotate flavors?
2. If you change, how often do you feed one type before changing?
3. Do you change brands once-in-a-while?

I would prefer to feed the foods Dr. Lisa recommends ohe's one of e foods on the Binky chart.

Thank you!
 
Good Morning.
The Alpha Trak is generally about 30 points higher than the human glucometers most of us use. Since a 73 on the Alpha Trak equals 43 on a human glucometer, then you should decrease the dose by 0.25, and your new dose should be 0.75. Do you have the syringes with the 1/2 unit markings? If not, you can buy them from Walmart.
ETA: I'm glad you are testing. The 73 was very early in the cycle, and I hope you kept testing to see if he went lower.

I have to leave in a few minutes to go to work, but others will be around to answer your questions. Keep asking, k?

I feed about 12 or 13 different flavors of the FF classic flavors. Sometimes, I leave out the pate varietes of 9 Lives, Sophisticat, or Friskies for lunches, when I go to work for the day. I have tried Wellnes, Evangers, and other more expensive brands, and my cats may eat part of a can, but really don't like them.
 
Good morning Lizzys dad! Dyana gave you some great info. When you get a number that allows you to safely shoot, please follow her advice and reduce the dose to .75u.

The prescription diets are not a good choice...not even the diabetic one. What has Lizzy typically been fed...canned or dry food? We strongly urge you to be sure that Lizzy does not get dry food if that is/was in her menu selections :-D

There are a wide variety of foods that are very acceptable to feed FD from Fancy Feast to Wellness to homemade raw diets.

Here is Janet and Binkys Food Tablewhich is a great resource for showing % of calories from carbs from many foods ( most of us feed in the 3-5% range); some of the info is a little outdated but it will give you an idea.

Also, it will help us immensely to help you if you can do a Spreadsheet for Lizzy. It is really important that you do not give her insulin unless you have a preshot number that is safe to shoot so please test her every time before her shot. We also recommend that you do spot checks at +3, +6, and +9 if possible during the first few days so you can be sure Lizzy is safe. We can help you modify that and figure out the best time to test her if everyone in the household works or goes to school and is out for the day during the week.

Lantus likes consistency and so the goal is to find a safe dose that you can shoot every 12 hours in order to help Lizzy towards the goal of remission.

Are you testing her with lancets...free hand or lancing device? Some vets send caregivers home with needles and I hope that isn't the case here.

Here is an excellent video on home testing and what we used to learn: hometesting.

Please let us know your questions. I can't tell you how lucky you are that you found us!
 
Welcome to FDMB!!

Do you happen to have any more test data or is this as much as you've collected so far?

I think Marje's question about what you had been feeding Lizzie previously is a good question. If you've just switched from dry to canned food, Lizzy's numbers will be lower since canned food is typically lower in carbs than dry.

I'm not a fan of M/D. My cat was initially prescribed M/D. Gabby will eat pretty much anything. I had to coax her to eat M/D. It's really an awful source of protein (i.e., animal by-products). In addition, it's not low in carbohydrates -- it's 14%. We encourage feeding low carb food which we consider less than 10% carb, although most of us feed considerably lower carb foods. I feed both of my cats Wellness. I trade off between turkey and chicken -- both are 4% carb.

I also agree -- I would reduce Lizzie's dose. With Lantus, any number lower than 80 on an AlphaTrack indicates that a dose reduction is needed. Below is information from the starred, sticky notes at the top of the Lantus board. You may find that information helpful. (Also, note that the numbers that are used there refer to a human glucometer. As others noted, the AT runs 30 points higher. You may want to consider switching to a human meter. The strips are a lot less expensive and you can find strips far more easily.)
  • Tight Regulation Protocol: This sticky contains the dosing protocol that we use here. There are also links to the more formal versions -- the Tilly Protocol developed by the counterpart of this group in Germany and the Queensland/Rand protocol developed by Kirsten Roomp & Jacqui Rand, DVM and published in one of the top vet journals.
  • New to the Group: Everything you wanted to know about this forum and more. Info on our slang, FAQs, links to sites on feline nutrition and to food charts containing carb counts, how to do a curve and the components to look for, important aspects of diabetes such as ketones, DKA, and neuropathy, and most important, info on hypoglycemia.
  • Handling Lantus: how to get the maximum use from your insulin and what to not do with it!
  • Lantus depot/shed: This is an important concept for understanding how Lantus works.
  • Lantus & Levemir: Shooting & Handling Low Numbers: What data you need in order to be able to work toward remission or tight regulation as well as information if you have a low pre-shot number or a drop into low numbers during the cycle.
 
Hi! Thanks for the replies!

I did a test 2 hours after feeding this AM. The reading was 152. I have been out-of-town most of the day at a family function, but when I returned home @ 7:30 this evening she was 260. She ate almost half a can of the m/d. I do not have needles with .5 marks. My vet said he wrote the prescription for pediatric syringes, but I received pediatric ones without the .5 mark. So, I had to eyeball the .5 this evening.

I am using a lancing pen and got the needed blood on the first try this evening. :-D Can I use a lancing needle more than once?

Thank you for the link to the spreadsheet template & i will explore it in a little bit. I have looked at a few of the from members signatures and wondered if there was a template. I have been keeping the numbers in a notebook and all the numbers I have so far are in this post and in my first post. I will be testing again around 10 -10:30 pm tonight. Any ideas on how much of a drop I may see or is this an ECID situation ?

Lizzy is 50/50 Siamese/Ragdoll & is 7 1/2 years old. Her brother Leo also lives with us. Before being diagnosed, Lizzy was on a diet of canned food the first couple of years after we got her as a kitten, but money issues forced me to change one of the two meals a day to dry. I do not foresee problems with Lizzy switching to all canned since the 2nd meal of the day was canned already. She begs for raw & cooked chicken when we have chicken for supper, too. The dry food is no longer available for either cat and won't be anymore, either. i will also be changing to other foods that have been suggested here instead of using the Hills.
 
Hello.
Do pay attention now that you are changing foods because it will have an immediate effect on her numbers. Many of us see a drop as much
as 100 less in bg. I did if you look at my ss. I changed foods immediately and my cat is a super stresser so being at the vets gave her
an inflated bg number.
It is not recommended to use a lancet more than once but I will admit I have occasionally. I try to switch mine out often but I don't always
get it every time. If I decide to test our other cat, I do make sure to get a new one.

Welcome. You have started the path to a steep learning curve but everyone here wants to help. We understand what you are going thru
because we've been there. It's definitely an emotional roller coaster. Ask questions and if something is still amiss, ask again.
This is a very caring community.
 
I use a lancet one day and then get another. Each time you use one it becomes duller- and more painful for them. I do not re-use syringes- very bad to do that and can contaminate the vial.

You can usually, in the States, get syringes at wal-mart without a prescription (unless you live in one of those weird states). I used the Relion brand until I needed new ones for a high-dose kitty. they have 1/2u markings and a smaller needle shaft- 100 for $13

Hope it helps.
 
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