? newly diagnosed 12 yro male cat

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Shondra

Member Since 2016
My cat Smoky has been diagnosed with diabetes and we have started to manage his care, however it saddens me and can be frustrating. I am able to give his shots twice daily without any problems, but testing him is very difficult (he doesn't like it). I have gotten a pet monitor - AlphaTrak2 and we are using insulin from our vet - it is a Bovine insulin - BCP PZI BOV 40-U and I am giving 6U twice a day. His numbers are still very elevated over 500! He is eating his new diet Hill's RX m/d dry food, still drinks water and urinates frequently. I'm not sure if this is working, but he acts normal to me, comes out to see us, sleeps as usual, and talks. I usually test, feed, then give shot. What am I doing wrong or what changes need to possibly be made?
 
I'm not familiar with that insulin. I can tell you for sure nobody on here will recommend dry food for a diabetic kitty. They are high in carbs, thus making good diabetic control very tricky.

I'm sure someone will chime in who knows that insulin.
 
M/d dry food is very high in carbs and could be contributing to his high numbers.

6 units of insulin BID is pretty high dose as well but I do not use PZI myself so I will tag a member who is experienced with that insulin and maybe they can provide further insight. @Sue and Oliver (GA)
 
How do I get another type of insulin and what is a good food for my kitty? He has always eaten dry food. He loves tuna packed in water, but I'm not sure if he should be eating that either. What are good insulins? I've spent quite a bit of money on 3 bottles of that insulin - only 1 is opened.
 
To help with testing, pick a spot to be the testing spot and take Smokey there several times a day, Rub his ears and love him, then give him a treat and let him go. After doing this a few times, add the poke. Always make sure you are relaxed and have a can do attitude before you start and always give a treat after.

I don't know much about PZI either, but I think it's a good insulin. @Sue and Oliver (GA) Knows more about it.
 
PZI is a good insulin. There are conditions that require lots of insulin, but I would first work on the diet and see if the numbers drop. We feed in the 8-10% carb range. I think MD dry is 26%. A vet has a food chart here:

http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Lots of us feed Fancy Feast and Friskies pate. When we switched from dry to wet, our cat went down 100 points overnight.

We put together a protocol for PZI/ProZinc. It is in blue in my signature.
 
But be sure you are comfortable testing at home before you switch foods. If we gave our cat his usual dose that next morning, he would have hypoed.
 
ok thank you for all of the advice and info. I am calling my vet tomorrow to discuss the food change and I will work on the testing by giving treats and loving my fur baby!
 
I am good testing at home - my kitty just doesn't like it. I'm going to try treats and give it time - we just started testing a few weeks ago. I just needed advice and support, THANK YOU for replying!
 
I put a pillow on my lap and love Gryff up a bit and then put the cotton ball under his ear and poke. I have a little flash light in my mouth so that I can see the blood better. The strip needs to just touch the blood, not the fur or else it will ruin the test strip. I went through so many until I read! Then I kiss and cuddle him while we wait for results. After a week or so, he didn't mind it. Good luck to you and Smoky. This all becomes secondhand in no time. I was terrified when I got the diagnosis last year and didn't know how I was going to do all this. But, it really does become routine. There are so many WONDERFUL people on this board that are so knowledgeable and helpful.
 
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