Newbie here...need assistance plz

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Lmctwig

Lmctwig

Member Since 2019
Hi...new here and I am not very savvy at all this. I have a 7 yr old Maine Coon, Shadow. He was diagnosed with diabetes 9 months ago. Vet has him on very expensive dry cat food: Hills WD. I administer 6 MLS in AM and 5 MLS in PM of ProZinc insulin.
The original reason I brought him into vet was because he pees an excessively huge amount. He started at 18.1 lbs and lost a lot of weight...down to 12.2 lbs. Just recently vet had me start giving him NutriCal...an oral gel to gain weight. He's now up to 13 lbs. Vet advised no more NutriCal...he is at the weight she wants...he seems way too small for a Maine Coon. I just do not feel he is getting any better.
I apologize for rambling on but I am trying to give as much info as possible. Can anyone advise of a good wet food for him plzzz.
 
First of all welcome!!

And take a big breath, we know (been there) is a lot to take on at first but eventually it does get better

One of the reasons he's losing weight is because the high blood sugar levels doesn't allow his body to really use the food and nutrients he gets properly, once his diabetes gets regulated they stop loosing it and usually start going back to their normal weight without you needing to give any extra supplements or anything

Are you testing his blood glucose at home? If not that is probably the most important thing you have to consider because is really the only way you can actually know what's going on and start working to get him regulated ( sometimes even in remission ) and for that what you need is a blood glucose meter with it's stripes , most people here use human glucose meters because the strips are cheaper ( and you will use a lot of them) but if you or your vet prefer a vet glucometer is ok

Food is the next thing you have to address the best for diabetics is wet food ( actually for any cat wet is always better) and from the list that Ann mentioned above what you want is a food that is 10% or less in carbohydrates take a look at it and find one that suits you and that Shadow accepts, you will need to start switching him to his new diabetic friendly food but you need to start testing at home first because he's in a bit high dose and the change of food will probably have an impact in his blood glucose ( it will get lower )

There's a forum for the insulin you are using where you can find a lot of information regarding how it works and how to dose it this is the link
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/
 
Veronica & Babu-chiri said:
First of all welcome!!

And take a big breath, we know (been there) is a lot to take on at first but eventually it does get better

One of the reasons he's losing weight is because the high blood sugar levels doesn't allow his body to really use the food and nutrients he gets properly, once his diabetes gets regulated they stop loosing it and usually start going back to their normal weight without you needing to give any extra supplements or anything

Are you testing his blood glucose at home? If not that is probably the most important thing you have to consider because is really the only way you can actually know what's going on and start working to get him regulated ( sometimes even in remission ) and for that what you need is a blood glucose meter with it's stripes , most people here use human glucose meters because the strips are cheaper ( and you will use a lot of them) but if you or your vet prefer a vet glucometer is ok

Food is the next thing you have to address the best for diabetics is wet food ( actually for any cat wet is always better) and from the list that Ann mentioned above what you want is a food that is 10% or less in carbohydrates take a look at it and find one that suits you and that Shadow accepts, you will need to start switching him to his new diabetic friendly food but you need to start testing at home first because he's in a bit high dose and the change of food will probably have an impact in his blood glucose ( it will get lower )

There's a forum for the insulin you are using where you can find a lot of information regarding how it works and how to dose it this is the link
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/
Click to expand...
Ty
 
Glad to see you posting here. It will all get easier with time and we are here to help anyway we can.

Shadow is on a large dose of insulin and that may be partly because of the food but it raises other questions of how quickly the dose has risen to that level.

When was Shadow diagnosed?
What dose did the vet start Shadow on?
How was the dose of insulin increased....full unit increases? How frequently?
Does Shadow have any other medical conditions?

I would NOT start changing the food Shadow is being fed until you can home test as a change of diet can often have a significant effect on BG and the amount of insulin needed. We can help you learn how to home test Shadow and not only will that give you a way to monitor Shadow's BG and keep him safe but it also will save you money in the long run as I assume you are currently having curves done at the vet's office. Not only are curves at the vet's expensive, but the BG readings obtained are often elevated due to vet stress. Testing at home will save you money, time and lessen stress levels for both you and Shadow.

It would be really helpful if we could get you to set up a signature with pertinent info about Shadow so we can help you without repeatedly asking the same questions. The signature is the light gray text you see under our messages.

To set up a signature on a PC, hover your mouse over your user name in the upper right area of the screen. This causes a menu to drop down. Select and click on "Signature" in the left column. This will open a text box into which you can type the information you wish to share. There is limited space for the signature so something like
"Shadow, 7 yrs. M, Maine Coon, DX (Date), ProZinc, (other health issues) Purina WD."
When done, scroll down the page and click on "Save Changes".

If and when you get a glucometer, we'll get you to add the type of glucometer into your signature and ask you to set up a spreadsheet to track the BG readings you take. We can help you set up the spreadsheet.

We can help you help Shadow to feel better.
 
So glad you’ve found us! Your story is almost exactly the same as my cat’s when we first started. She was put on the Hills WD dry which is crazy high in carbs, and she was started on 6 units of Prozinc 2x a day, which I’m sure the vet came to that dose based on her extremely stress elevated blood glucose during her curves at the vet and the extremely high carb food she was on causing her numbers to stay elevated. I was also not home testing and the results were almost disastrous when she had a very bad hypoglycemia incident. This group helped me SO much to get her regulated and then into remission and I’m sure they can do the same for you! :cat::cat:
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Glad to see you posting here. It will all get easier with time and we are here to help anyway we can.

Shadow is on a large dose of insulin and that may be partly because of the food but it raises other questions of how quickly the dose has risen to that level.

When was Shadow diagnosed?
What dose did the vet start Shadow on?
How was the dose of insulin increased....full unit increases? How frequently?
Does Shadow have any other medical conditions?

I would NOT start changing the food Shadow is being fed until you can home test as a change of diet can often have a significant effect on BG and the amount of insulin needed. We can help you learn how to home test Shadow and not only will that give you a way to monitor Shadow's BG and keep him safe but it also will save you money in the long run as I assume you are currently having curves done at the vet's office. Not only are curves at the vet's expensive, but the BG readings obtained are often elevated due to vet stress. Testing at home will save you money, time and lessen stress levels for both you and Shadow.

It would be really helpful if we could get you to set up a signature with pertinent info about Shadow so we can help you without repeatedly asking the same questions. The signature is the light gray text you see under our messages.

To set up a signature on a PC, hover your mouse over your user name in the upper right area of the screen. This causes a menu to drop down. Select and click on "Signature" in the left column. This will open a text box into which you can type the information you wish to share. There is limited space for the signature so something like
"Shadow, 7 yrs. M, Maine Coon, DX (Date), ProZinc, (other health issues) Purina WD."
When done, scroll down the page and click on "Save Changes".

If and when you get a glucometer, we'll get you to add the type of glucometer into your signature and ask you to set up a spreadsheet to track the BG readings you take. We can help you set up the spreadsheet.

We can help you help Shadow to feel better.
Click to expand...
Ty very much. I have discussed this with my vet but she does not condone it. I wasn't asking her, I was telling her via her staff as she was too busy...3 days just to get this response! I'm going to try and fill out signature. I am too nervous to do this w/o a vet. Is this safe to do with no vet?
 
Is it home testing your vet does not condone? If that is the case, then your vet needs to update her information. I'd ask your vet if she would give insulin to a baby without first checking to see if it was safe to do so. I'm betting her answer would be no.

To be honest, a good majority of folks here look after their kitty's diabetes themselves and see the vet for everything else. Diabetes is a 24/7 proposition and you are the front line Caregiver....not your vet who is not going to be available to you 24/7. So for you to be home testing and as informed as possible is the best way for you to get your kitty regulated and keep him safe. Besides what you choose to do at home is your business.

While we are for the most part laypersons here, we have or are dealing with feline diabetes and the combined knowledge on this board far exceeds what most vets know or understand. We've even had vets come here with their kitties to take advantage of the vast knowledge base here.

The decision is entirely yours and we are here to help in any way we can but we are data driven so without home testing the amount of assistance we can offer will be limited.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Is it home testing your vet does not condone? If that is the case, then your vet needs to update her information. I'd ask your vet if she would give insulin to a baby without first checking to see if it was safe to do so. I'm betting her answer would be no.

To be honest, a good majority of folks here look after their kitty's diabetes themselves and see the vet for everything else. Diabetes is a 24/7 proposition and you are the front line Caregiver....not your vet who is not going to be available to you 24/7. So for you to be home testing and as informed as possible is the best way for you to get your kitty regulated and keep him safe. Besides what you choose to do at home is your business.

While we are for the most part laypersons here, we have or are dealing with feline diabetes and the combined knowledge on this board far exceeds what most vets know or understand. We've even had vets come here with their kitties to take advantage of the vast knowledge base here.

The decision is entirely yours and we are here to help in any way we can but we are data driven so without home testing the amount of assistance we can offer will be limited.
Click to expand...
Hi again. Ty so much. I completed signature. Ok, so if I start feeding him wet low carb diet and have glucometer, do I check before or after first feeding? I plan on buying meter Monday. I did ask vet tech what his level was last visit, 11/7/19 and he was 4.02 ???
 
Hmmmm....

4.02 if you are outside of the US is a normal range blood glucose number. (It's 72 on the US based scale.) Normal range is 50 - 120 (US) or 2.8 - 6.7 elsewhere. I would be very hesitant to have you giving insulin if that was a pre-shot number. It may also have been that the number the vet tech gave you was closer to mid-cycle in which case, it's still a good number but you would expect the numbers at shot time to be higher. This is exactly the reason that home testing is so important -- it's the only way to keep your kitty safe.

It's also possible that if you've started feeding your cat a low carb diet, Shadow's numbers may be appreciably lower. It is very important that you're testing your cat's blood glucose if you switch to low carb food. Sorry to repeat with Linda (MrWorfMen's Mom) said above but we've seen people's cats go from high numbers to not needing insulin with a change to a low carb, canned food diet.

The process for testing is to test before you give insulin or feed your cat. You want to test, feed, and then shoot. This allows you to know if it's safe to give insulin. You also want to get some spot checks during both the AM and PM cycle so you know how low the insulin dose is taking Shadow's numbers.

You noted in your signature that Shadow as started at "4ml daily and is now at 11 ml." Just as an FYI, insulin is dose in units, not ml.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Hmmmm....

4.02 if you are outside of the US is a normal range blood glucose number. (It's 72 on the US based scale.) Normal range is 50 - 120 (US) or 2.8 - 6.7 elsewhere. I would be very hesitant to have you giving insulin if that was a pre-shot number. It may also have been that the number the vet tech gave you was closer to mid-cycle in which case, it's still a good number but you would expect the numbers at shot time to be higher. This is exactly the reason that home testing is so important -- it's the only way to keep your kitty safe.

It's also possible that if you've started feeding your cat a low carb diet, Shadow's numbers may be appreciably lower. It is very important that you're testing your cat's blood glucose if you switch to low carb food. Sorry to repeat with Linda (MrWorfMen's Mom) said above but we've seen people's cats go from high numbers to not needing insulin with a change to a low carb, canned food diet.

The process for testing is to test before you give insulin or feed your cat. You want to test, feed, and then shoot. This allows you to know if it's safe to give insulin. You also want to get some spot checks during both the AM and PM cycle so you know how low the insulin dose is taking Shadow's numbers.

You noted in your signature that Shadow as started at "4ml daily and is now at 11 ml." Just as an FYI, insulin is dose in units, not ml.
Click to expand...
Ok now I'm totally confused. We are in California. Why would he say 4.02? I asked for last results. And no I have not started any changes in food. Excuse my ignorance....11 units daily. So basically I am going to get the meter, check him and then advise you if that's ok. I will get it Monday early evening.
 
I'm confused, as well! Perhaps the vet tech misunderstood and was giving you some other lab value.

It's fine to work at your own speed. Please let us know how we can help.
 
Ahh, I see that now, thanks. Definitely agree that the high carb food is a major factor.
Edit: deleting my post, since it's not as relevant now. :blackeye:
 
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