Newly Diabetic kitty

[Bobbie Gullion]

Hello! Canadian here

My partner and I are starting our diabetic kitty Journey. We are only on morning 3 of giving him his insulin shots. The vet prescribed us 1.5 units of caninsulin twice a day.

I’ve been reading lots of forums on here and it’s all a little overwhelming! We test his sugars twice a day (should I be doing more?) it’s always above 20 mmol/l it was 26.8mmol/l this morning.

For food I’ve always feed them the fancy feast but I was reading the “classics” was good so I was going to go look for those. Sent my partner to the store and he came back with just regular pâté fancy feasts so I’m going to go to an actual pet store and look for them.

Any other recommendations for pet food? My vet sold me some pet food but as I been reading on here that it’s no good. I got the dry and wet food of Hills GlucoSupport m/d. Also should I only be feeding him twice a day now? And am I supposed to feed him a certain amount?

I asked the vet so many questions but I feel like I come home and have so many more.

I don’t own a computer so I’m currently trying to download that spreadsheet on my phone.

thanks!

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

Welcome. Waving from Ontario.

caninsulin

There are better insulins for cats. Caninsulin was designed for dogs who have a different metabolism. Caninsulin drops a cat hard and fast.
Here is some reading for you and your vet.

• (2018) Managing Feline Diabetes: Current Perspectives
• (2018) AAHA Diabetes Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

Lantus is an excellent insulin for cats and is inexpensive in Canada. You can buy it at any drug store. Humans require a prescription for Lantus. Cats do not.

We test his sugars twice a day (should I be doing more?)

Yes, you should be testing a couple of times during the cycle, especially the first half because caninsulin hits so hard. Also, dosing is based on the nadir (the lowest numbers of the cycle) and not on the preshots. Testing is necessary before the shot to make sure the number is high enough to shoot.

For food I’ve always feed them the fancy feast but I was reading the “classics” was good so I was going to go look for those. Sent my partner to the store and he came back with just regular pâté fancy feasts so I’m going to go to an actual pet store and look for them.

Save yourself a trip. Fancy Feast Classics are called Fancy Feast Pates in Canada.

Any other recommendations for pet food? My vet sold me some pet food but as I been reading on here that it’s no good. I got the dry and wet food of Hills GlucoSupport m/d. Also should I only be feeding him twice a day now? And am I supposed to feed him a certain amount?

You can find low carb wet foods at this link (some of the foods are not available in Canada). The second link is wet food specific to Canada. You are looking for foods under 10% in carbs.
The only dry food available in Canada that is low enough in carbs is Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein.

• Cat Food - Nutritional Composition, data compiled by Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM (2017)

• CANADIAN Food Chart

The HIlls GlucoSupport m/d is too high in carbs for a diabetic cat. The wet looks to be about 13% which is considered medium carb. The dry will be even higher. You can return the unopened and the opened food to the vet for a full refund. Just tell the vet that your cat refuses to eat it on a regular basis.

Feeding schedule:
You need to feed before the shot to make sure the cat's number are high enough to shoot.

• The proper sequence for dosing insulin is: Test/Feed/Wait (30 – 30 min for Caninsulin/Vetsulin and an hour for N/NPH)/Shoot. In the beginning, if your cat’s BG is not up to at least 200 mg/dL {11 mmol/L}, if your schedule allows, you can stall (without feeding) for 20+minutes, then retest the BG. You are looking for a number that is rising, not falling and up to 200 mg/dL {11 mmol/L}. If you stall once, but can’t do another round of stalling and your cat hasn’t reached a BG of 200 mg/dL {11 mmol/L}, you’ll need to skip the dose and wait until the next cycle. NOTE: Because pet-specific meters (such as the AlphaTrak2) often read higher than human meters, you may want to adjust the NO-SHOOT/Ask for help number to 225 mg/dL {12.5 mmol/L} or even 250 mg/dL {14 mmol/L} This gives you an added margin of safety when using an AlphaTrak2 or other pet-specific meter.

Then since caninsulin hits hard and fast, feed snacks 2 or 3 times throughout the first half of the cycle. Just no food 2 hours before the next shot so that the shot test number is not carb influenced.

Tagging @Bandit's Mom to help you with the spreadsheet. You need to have Google Drive on your phone.

Ask more questions. There is a wealth of researched information and experience on this forum.

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

I don’t own a computer so I’m currently trying to download that spreadsheet on my phone.

thanks!

We have people who might be able to help if you have issues with that (I think it might be easier to use the spreadsheet on a phone than get it set up initially). Tagging @Bandit's Mom just in case... [edit: oh for goodness' sake, how did I miss that Kel also did this???? Sorry for the double-tag, Bhooma, I'm just being silly!]

Great job getting the testing up and running, and on doing your research!

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Tagging @Bandit's Mom to help you with the spreadsheet. You need to have Google Drive on your phone.

Ask more questions. There is a wealth of researched information and experience on this forum.

We have people who might be able to help if you have issues with that (I think it might be easier to use the spreadsheet on a phone than get it set up initially). Tagging @Bandit's Mom just in case...

Hi @Bobbie Gullion , it is indeed easier to set up the spreadsheet on the computer. If you use an Android phone, you can use Google Sheets to input data into it. I think the apps comes with the phone.

I will send you a PM with the details I need to set-up your spreadsheet and Signature.

Welcome to FDMB!

 

[Bobbie Gullion]

Welcome. Waving from Ontario.


There are better insulins for cats. Caninsulin was designed for dogs who have a different metabolism. Caninsulin drops a cat hard and fast.
Here is some reading for you and your vet.

• (2018) Managing Feline Diabetes: Current Perspectives
• (2018) AAHA Diabetes Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

Lantus is an excellent insulin for cats and is inexpensive in Canada. You can buy it at any drug store. Humans require a prescription for Lantus. Cats do not.


Yes, you should be testing a couple of times during the cycle, especially the first half because caninsulin hits so hard. Also, dosing is based on the nadir (the lowest numbers of the cycle) and not on the preshots. Testing is necessary before the shot to make sure the number is high enough to shoot.


Save yourself a trip. Fancy Feast Classics are called Fancy Feast Pates in Canada.


You can find low carb wet foods at this link (some of the foods are not available in Canada). The second link is wet food specific to Canada. You are looking for foods under 10% in carbs.
The only dry food available in Canada that is low enough in carbs is Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein.

• Cat Food - Nutritional Composition, data compiled by Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM (2017)

• CANADIAN Food Chart

The HIlls GlucoSupport m/d is too high in carbs for a diabetic cat. The wet looks to be about 13% which is considered medium carb. The dry will be even higher. You can return the unopened and the opened food to the vet for a full refund. Just tell the vet that your cat refuses to eat it on a regular basis.

Feeding schedule:
You need to feed before the shot to make sure the cat's number are high enough to shoot.

• The proper sequence for dosing insulin is: Test/Feed/Wait (30 – 30 min for Caninsulin/Vetsulin and an hour for N/NPH)/Shoot. In the beginning, if your cat’s BG is not up to at least 200 mg/dL {11 mmol/L}, if your schedule allows, you can stall (without feeding) for 20+minutes, then retest the BG. You are looking for a number that is rising, not falling and up to 200 mg/dL {11 mmol/L}. If you stall once, but can’t do another round of stalling and your cat hasn’t reached a BG of 200 mg/dL {11 mmol/L}, you’ll need to skip the dose and wait until the next cycle. NOTE: Because pet-specific meters (such as the AlphaTrak2) often read higher than human meters, you may want to adjust the NO-SHOOT/Ask for help number to 225 mg/dL {12.5 mmol/L} or even 250 mg/dL {14 mmol/L} This gives you an added margin of safety when using an AlphaTrak2 or other pet-specific meter.

Then since caninsulin hits hard and fast, feed snacks 2 or 3 times throughout the first half of the cycle. Just no food 2 hours before the next shot so that the shot test number is not carb influenced.

Tagging @Bandit's Mom to help you with the spreadsheet. You need to have Google Drive on your phone.

Ask more questions. There is a wealth of researched information and experience on this forum.

Hello! So this is what my vet told me ... Check his glucose before I feed him and if it’s high then give him food and his insulin at the same time.

His Glucose is above 20 mmol/l while he’s fasting. (It was 22mmol/l this am) So I should still feed him and then give him the shot? (To me that seems really high before even having food) I also bought a human glucose meter.

Thanks for helping me!

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Yes, that is high enough to shoot. We usually say that the initial "no shoot" number for Caninsulin/Vetsulin is around 11mmol/l (higher for a pet meter; Kel gave a lot more detail about this in the post above). Test, feed, shoot!

I'd probably test again 2 hours after shooting ("+2" in our usual notation), to see how the insulin is (or isn't) affecting him today.

For even more info about Caninsulin/Vetsulin, there's this from the insulin-specific-subforum: BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO CANINSULIN/VETSULIN