Newbie

[Linda-Ray's Mom]

My 17 year old tabby Baby Ray was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and feline diabetes on March 31. It has been a hectic and expensive roller coaster ride since then. So thankful to find this forum and answers to so many of the questions I'm having. Ray has recovered from his infection and is up two pounds from the skinny 7.2 that he weighed in at last month. He's on insulin and I just started blood glucose monitoring this week at home.

Looking forward to getting to know you and finding more out about your precious kids and how you all are coping with this. Thanks for the support.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Welcome to the FDMB Linda and extra sweet Ray!! This is the best place you never wanted to be!!

It's great that you're starting to home test!! By testing at home, you're arming yourself with knowledge of exactly what's going on inside your kitty's body as well as keeping him safe!

You'll want to get him onto a low carb canned or raw diet if you're not already doing that. Just like humans, a low carb diet is needed to help control the blood glucose. Here's a Full Food Chart that shows most of the foods available and the percentage of carbs. You want less than 10% (column C)....the good news is you don't have to spend a fortune either....a lot of us feed Friskies pates or Fancy Feast Classics

What insulin are you using? There are 4 that are good for cats. Lantus, Levemir, ProZinc and PZI

What type of meter are you using? While most vets will tell us we need to use their very expensive AlphaTrak2 meters, the majority of us here use human meters because the cost of the test strips is one of the biggest expenses we have and the AT meter strips can be over $1 each

Keep asking questions, and again, welcome!

 

[Linda-Ray's Mom]

Using ProZinc insulin - 2 units 2x/day - and yes the vet has ordered me a AlphaTrak2 meter (will try to cancel and get "human" one per your suggestion). I am currently using the original AlphaTrak version they loaned me until I get my own. Ray is very mellow and doesn't seem to mind the ear pricks much so far. He loves Fancy Feast Classics which I get at Costco but have been also giving him Purina Dietetic Management dry at vet's suggestion. He seems to like it, but from what I've read so far dry food doesn't sound good for him at all. Will check out food chart you mentioned. Hard part in feeding is making sure he gets enough without his brother & sister getting too much. They are on the chubby side & come out of the woodwork whenever they hear the dishes rattle! Thanks for the tips & the welcome.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

I switched all my cats to low carb canned....and my 2 chubby cats actually lost weight, while my diabetic gained....and that happens a lot around here!

If you're already giving insulin, you do want to go slowly as you reduce the dry because you'll be lowering the amount of carbs they're eating too, so the dose may come down quickly

The meter a lot of us love is the Relion Confirm or Micro from WalMart because it takes the tiniest sample and the strips are affordable ($35.88 for 100)...you can also get strips at 4am in the morning when your cat is having a hypoglycemic episode.

I'm off for tonight, but there will be others around as the night goes on....keep asking any questions you may have!

 

[BJM]

Welcome to FDMB.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hello Linda and Baby Ray; welcome to FDMB.

 

[Mogmom and Goofus]

Using ProZinc insulin - 2 units 2x/day - and yes the vet has ordered me a AlphaTrak2 meter (will try to cancel and get "human" one per your suggestion). I am currently using the original AlphaTrak version they loaned me until I get my own. Ray is very mellow and doesn't seem to mind the ear pricks much so far. He loves Fancy Feast Classics which I get at Costco but have been also giving him Purina Dietetic Management dry at vet's suggestion. He seems to like it, but from what I've read so far dry food doesn't sound good for him at all. Will check out food chart you mentioned. Hard part in feeding is making sure he gets enough without his brother & sister getting too much. They are on the chubby side & come out of the woodwork whenever they hear the dishes rattle! Thanks for the tips & the welcome.

Welcome to the FDMB, sorry you need to be here bcause that means you've gotten on the roller coaster named Feline Diabetes. There's a lot of information here and bit by bit you'll find what works best for your kitty. My vet also suggested the prescription DM dry food, but he's now recommending the Evo Cat and kitten dry for people, like me, that feeding strictly wet won't work. It's 8.4 carbs and while my 2 fatsos are losing weight, my sugar baby has gained back the weight he'd lost.

 

[Linda-Ray's Mom]

Appreciate all the welcomes and helpful advice. Mogmom--thanks for the Evo Cat & kitten tips for dry. I will check it out and see if it works for us. Am I correct I need to check BG before eating and before giving insulin shot if needed.