newcomer

[igorek]

My 11 year old male orange tabby, Igor, was recently diagnosed with diabetes, caused most likely by his four injections of DepoMedro for his chewing on his front paws. His then Vet never mentioned this could happen as a side effect. After his last injection, a mont later and after losing 4 pounds in these four weeks, we changed Vets. Igor had an absessed and totally rotten tooth, his upper fang. That had to be pulled. Igor was not the same since. A couple months after his surgery we noticed Igor drinking more water and urinating more. He was depressed, hid and lost another three pounds. We took him to the Vet five days ago and Igor was diagnosed with diabetes as we by then suspected. His glucose was at :?: 350. His Vet told us to get him off dry food and use canned EVO. We also inject him with two units of Pro Zinc insulin twice daily. We now give him raw meat in addition to the EVO, raw chicken, raw chicken hearts, raw egg yolk, raw liver. In fact, I shall be making his raw food according to the recipe I found on this web site tomorrow. He loves raw meat. I am determined to get him off of the insulin. As soon as possible. He was tested today and the result was 159. Taking him to the Vet is very traumatic for him and I wonder if his glucose readings are higher than they might be at home? I have not tested him myself yet and am awfully afraid of that. I don't have a glucose meter yet.

My questions are: What meter should I get, if any? The Vet never said this ought to be done at home. Any of you had good results feeding your cats with raw food? How long did it take your cat to get off insulin? I am just so worried about my little darling.

 

[Phoebe_TiggyGA_NortonGA]

Welcome to FDMB!

Sorry your kitty is not feeling well right now - feline diabetes is very treatable and if he already has a blood sugar reading of 159, your chances of remission are pretty decent.

My personal preference for meter is the Maxima AST from www.hocks.com
It is one of the less expensive - the main expense being the Test Strips -- the meters are really inexpensive and sometimes even free -- and the test strips can range from about $0.25 each to over $1 each.

So -- key features -- look for a meter with strips that you can afford -- figure on an average of 2-3 tests per day, and when you're learning, some will be wasted. Since Igor may be going "Off The Juice" soon, you will probably need to test more often -- insulin is a powerful hormone that can cause HYPOGLYCEMIA if too much is given. (please google this and be ready)

>look for "sipping action strips" or "approved for alternate site testing" -- this makes it easier when testing cats who may not be very patient

>look for a tiny amount of blood needed. The smallest amount is 0.3 microliters and of course, those have the most expensive test strips. The Maxima AST requires 0.5 microliters and the test strips cost about $0.30 ea when you buy a quantity -- I place a big enough order to www.hocks.com to get free shipping -- which is enough supplies for 2-3 months.

(I order syringes from Hocks -approx $17.50 per 100, lancets $1.49 per 100 and test strips $15.99 per 50 -- if you buy 300, the price reduces to $15 per 50)

I don't feed raw, so I'll let someone else address that

(((((hugs))))))

 

[tuckers mom]

Hi and welcome.

There are lots of great meters, like Phoebe said, one with sipping action and uses the small amount of blood.

I do sincerely hope your kitty goes off the juice quickly, one of mine did within weeks of switching to canned, Mr. Darcy, but my handsome man Tucker has been FD since '05 being off the juice during 06-07, and then back on. Please do not feel disappointed if Igor does not go off the juice, just know that with the insulin and the excellent food you're going to be making, Igor will be feeling great.

 

[jt and trouble (GA)]

Welcome to the best site on the planet. You sound like you have things well under control. My diabetic kitty has been an angel for over 3 years now, so I'm not up in giving the advice. But I CAN welcome you to the family.

Jeanne

ETA: Trouble did not die of diabetes. I have ths board to be thankful for that.

 

[Bonnie & Joey]

I'm a newcomer to the board as well, and have found the advice here very, very helpful. My guy, Joey, had a double whammy with the diagnosis yesterday of a cancer on top of the diabetes. But I have received help about that, too, so have hope.

There was so much advice on glucometers that I ended up getting a Glucometer Elite from Ascencia because it took so little blood to get a reading. I think the advice to get a glucometer saved Joey's life, because readings can vary so widely, and he did become hypoglycemic from the insulin. Please make sure to read the advice on how to treat this if the cat does become hypoglycemic. Hypoglycemia can be very dangerous.

I was also told that the type of insulin to use is very important. Read some of the posts from the more experienced posters to get a sense of which type to use. My vet gave me Humulin N, which turned out to be somewhat too short-acting for cats. Many on the site suggested other insulins, which I will get for Joey if it turns out he will need constant insulin injections.

Meanwhile, his blood sugar has dropped, so the advice on consistent monitoring has proven to be helpful as well.

Good luck to you and your fur friend. This site will definitely support you as you learn how to work with your cat's diabetes - and other health issues, I have discovered.

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

I'd keep it very simple and inexpensive - if you have a walmart near you - go there and pick up the relion brand meter, strips and lancets - it's the least expensive one around and only requires a small amount of blood. If you are unsure as to which relion to get- talk with the pharmacist he/she ought to be able to guide you on that.

then come back here and we can help teach you to test.

also, while there - pick up:

- antibiotic ointment/cream - like neosporin with pain relief
- ketostix or keto-diastix - should be with diabetic supplies - this tests the urine for ketones

make sure you get strips to match your meter and lancets the little pokie thing to prick ear for blood.

 

[igorek]

Thank you all very much. So far so good. Our next appointment is Friday and I hope things have improven even more.

Geri

 

[Karen & Smokey(GA)]

Pro Zinc is a relatively new insulin for cats, and supposed to be good.
It 'replaces' the old PZI Vet, which is no longer made.

You vet sounds like a keeper, based on the advise to go go canned food,
and that (s)he did not push the prescription foods (which are crap).

You can post over on the Insulin Support Group, on this site, and get
more information on Pro Zinc.

Just stay away from Humulin N, also known as NPH, and stay away
from Vetsulin. Both are too fast-acting and harsh with short duration.
Vetsulin has also been re-called, due to manufacturing problems.

 

[Connie & Em (GA)]

What meter should I get, if any?

Get a meter that you like. Yes, sipping action is the way a lot of us went. My Em hated to bleed so I went through several meters and ended up on the FreeStyle brand - but the strips were very expensive and ended up on Ebay to get more. For the more recent testing, I used relion from Walmart. cheap, easy to get to for me, and effective. The cats I tested with it were not as hard to get blood from as Em (she sure was a "stone")

The Vet never said this ought to be done at home.

Yea, a lot of them don't. Be it that they are afraid of scaring you off of treating, or they aren't up to date on what a valuable resource home testing is, or worse they don't want to lose the revenue of making you come in and charging you to test. The glucometer you purchase will give a close enough reading to what ever machine your vet has to make an accurate diagnosis and basis for treatment. All glucometers have a variance and will give slightly different readings even with the same blood draw. This is true with human blood and if it is good enough for human diabetics, it is good enough for kitty

Any of you had good results feeding your cats with raw food? How long did it take your cat to get off insulin?

Em started out eating dry food and getting 7 units of insulin BID for years and years. When I transitioned her over to wet food her insulin need dropped to 1 or 2 units. When she ate raw, she didn't need insulin at all - but she was old and cranky and didn't want to eat raw beyond two weeks no matter what I did, so we kept her on insulin. Two foster diabetics after that went on a low carb canned food and went almost immediately went into remission. A third took a few months to get off. The fourth I could not get off insulin but I only had him for a month and I haven't heard an update on him since. Some cats do, some don't.

I am just so worried about my little darling

Well I'd be a fool to tell you not to... because I know what issues can crop up, but the fact that you care, you are worried, and you are looking for information and are open to alternatives to the straight and narrow line your vet put down shows you are proactive and that gives you a really good place to start from. Don't forget, there is almost always someone here to help you with any issues that pop up.

Connie