Newly Diagnosed Cat & I have questions

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Hollyberry

Hollyberry

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Hello all. I have been reading and reading on this site. All the information is helpful but I still have questions. Backstory: I have rescued a lot of cats in my life and the one I’m here for was one of my bottle raised babies and I almost lost him. He has always looked at me like, “Are you my mother?” He is now 10. They are in a large enclosure with a mini house that I have finished out and they have a/c & heat. So, not an “indoor” cat. He started walking oddly with his hind legs. Brought him inside, I noticed polydipsia & polyuria. Took to vet (1st vet I’ve been to since moving & will never give another dime to) I was more concerned about kidneys but came out diagnosed with diabetes. They have no insulin & refused any communication from any pharmacy. Only written script so your cat can die before you get it or you can pay $213 for them to order. This was Friday, we had a hurricane on Monday & Tuesday I got in with my previous vet 2 hours away. They sent me home with Vetsulin. I had 1 prior cat about 6 years ago that was medication induced diabetic, she was on prozinc & I used alpha track 2. I thought I could use AT2 again but as I find, it is discontinued & the manufacturer makes sure not to make strips that fit it anymore so not interested in buying AT3. I also had prior cat o Evo, discontinued, & canned food. My current cat Fluffy’s BG from 8/2 is 366 & 0 ketones in urine.
My questions:
1. Do I need to wait after giving him his canned food meal to give insulin or can I give it concurrently?
2. I have looked at pet meters & human meters (those mentioned on here). Please help me with getting the best results for him. And if I use a human meter, how do I report those to vet? What do they need to know? This meter part is the most confusing part for me.
3. What can I do know for his best possible chances of remission?
4. I read about 2 new drugs for cat diabetes in oral form, not insulin but works for certain diabetic cats. Would mine be a candidate?
5. Should I request a different insulin in lieu of Vetsulin? Would that be better for a chance at remission?
6. Food: I don’t have tons to spend so what would be an ok amount of carbs? Is 20% horrible? Anyone have input on Dr. Elsey’s food? How do I figure the carb content in canned food? Same as dry food?
I am sure I have more questions but this is a good start. Everything has changed since my first diabetic cat so I am trying to learn all over again.
 
Hollyberry said:
Hello all. I have been reading and reading on this site. All the information is helpful but I still have questions. Backstory: I have rescued a lot of cats in my life and the one I’m here for was one of my bottle raised babies and I almost lost him. He has always looked at me like, “Are you my mother?” He is now 10. They are in a large enclosure with a mini house that I have finished out and they have a/c & heat. So, not an “indoor” cat. He started walking oddly with his hind legs. Brought him inside, I noticed polydipsia & polyuria. Took to vet (1st vet I’ve been to since moving & will never give another dime to) I was more concerned about kidneys but came out diagnosed with diabetes. They have no insulin & refused any communication from any pharmacy. Only written script so your cat can die before you get it or you can pay $213 for them to order. This was Friday, we had a hurricane on Monday & Tuesday I got in with my previous vet 2 hours away. They sent me home with Vetsulin. I had 1 prior cat about 6 years ago that was medication induced diabetic, she was on prozinc & I used alpha track 2. I thought I could use AT2 again but as I find, it is discontinued & the manufacturer makes sure not to make strips that fit it anymore so not interested in buying AT3. I also had prior cat o Evo, discontinued, & canned food. My current cat Fluffy’s BG from 8/2 is 366 & 0 ketones in urine.
My questions:
1. Do I need to wait after giving him his canned food meal to give insulin or can I give it concurrently?
2. I have looked at pet meters & human meters (those mentioned on here). Please help me with getting the best results for him. And if I use a human meter, how do I report those to vet? What do they need to know? This meter part is the most confusing part for me.
3. What can I do know for his best possible chances of remission?
4. I read about 2 new drugs for cat diabetes in oral form, not insulin but works for certain diabetic cats. Would mine be a candidate?
5. Should I request a different insulin in lieu of Vetsulin? Would that be better for a chance at remission?
6. Food: I don’t have tons to spend so what would be an ok amount of carbs? Is 20% horrible? Anyone have input on Dr. Elsey’s food? How do I figure the carb content in canned food? Same as dry food?
I am sure I have more questions but this is a good start. Everything has changed since my first diabetic cat so I am trying to learn all over again.
Click to expand...
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@Wendy & Neko
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
 
Hi and welcome to the forum

Hollyberry said:
Do I need to wait after giving him his canned food meal to give insulin or can I give it concurrently?
Click to expand...
With vetsulin, you need to wait 30 minutes after food before giving the insulin. Vetsulin is not a great cat insulin so somewhere along the line when you can manage it, I would try and get that changed over to Lantus or Prozinc.
Hollyberry said:
have looked at pet meters & human meters (those mentioned on here). Please help me with getting the best results for him. And if I use a human meter, how do I report those to vet? What do they need to know? This meter part is the most confusing part for me.
Click to expand...
You can use a human meter and be confident it will be safe to use. All vets used human meters until the advent of the pet meters several years ago. Just tell the vet you have a human meter…don’t be talked into an expensive pet meter. The human meters just read a bit lower than the pet meters and the vets should be able to get their heads around that…after all they prescribe the freestyle libre and that is a human meter but somehow when they are confronted with the hand held human meter, they suddenly can’t!
You can get a ReliOn premier meter from Walmart very cheaply. You will also need some test strips to go with them and a box of 100 lancets size 26 or 28 and some cotton balls to hold behind the ear when testing.

Hollyberry said:
What can I do know for his best possible chances of remission?
Click to expand...
Feed a low carb wet diet.
Hometesting the blood glucose and follow one of our dosing methods.
Swap over to a much better cat insulin.
Post here and ask lots of questions.
Hollyberry said:
I read about 2 new drugs for cat diabetes in oral form, not insulin but works for certain diabetic cats. Would mine be a candidate?
Click to expand...
I am not a great fan of the oral medication. I have seen some cats not do well on them. I will attach a link to info on them.
NEW TREATMENT



Hollyberry said:
Should I request a different insulin in lieu of Vetsulin? Would that be better for a chance at remission?
Click to expand...
Yes definitely. Lantus or Prozinc. I like Lantus
Hollyberry said:
Food: I don’t have tons to spend so what would be an ok amount of carbs? Is 20% horrible? Anyone have input on Dr. Elsey’s food? How do I figure the carb content in canned food? Same as dry food?
I am sure I have more questions but this is a good start. Everything has changed since my first diabetic cat so I am trying to learn all over again.
Click to expand...
All dry food apart from a few are much too high in carbs.
Diabetic cats need 10% or less carbs. Fancy feast pates are good and so is friskies. I’ll link formation below. And also about the dry food.
Food is one of the most important things so make sure you get that right.
FOOD CHART

INFO ON DRY FOOD look at post 4

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO VETSULIN
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
How are things going now @Hollyberry
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Sorry for my delay, had to put my 16 yo Pom to rest yesterday.
Thank you for confirming about 30 min delay to give Vetsulin, vet said give when I feed & I read different elsewhere. I’m pretty sure I remember injecting concurrently with food with Prozinc? Is that correct? I’m fairly certain this vet will not mind if I request prozinc on my next bottle. I think I read Lantus has to be given strictly every 12 hours as if there is less leniency with this med. Though I have been punctual so far with Vetsulin.
I saw a Relion Platinum at Walmart and thought I’d try that, I don’t know how worthy reviews really are but they were one of the highest. (That first vet I saw had good reviews, so…) And my current vet did mention the Freestyle Libre I think it is.
On the food, I do feed the can food 2x/day & that’s mostly his diet but I leave kibble out and now he will be housed inside & I have 1 other cat indoors so he will have access. She could use to lose a few pounds herself, so she gets switched with him. Thank you for the post info. I think I will give Dr. Elsey’s a try, see if they both can like it. Thank you for all of your help & time to respond.
Just curious if you have input on him ever being able to be back “outside”? I read somewhere that an owner lets their cats out freely including their diabetic cat. He would be back with the other 3 (1 his dad, another is a litter mate) in their enclosure.
 
I’m sorry about your 16 year old Pom.
Yes Prozinc can be given straight after food as it is a gentler insulin than Vetsulin.
And Lantus does need to be given 12 hourly if at all possible. Prozinc has a bit more leeway.
Te putting your kitty back outside. It is much easier to manage if they are inside. Maybe further down the track he could spend some time out in the enclosure with the others but you would still have the issues with feeding suitable food etc
Wouk’s you like to set up a spreadsheet so we can help you with dosing?
I’ll put the link below
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I can’t see the spreadsheet when I click onto the link. Maybe you haven’t shared it or saved it. @Bandit's Mom will help you sort it out so don’t worry.
Click to expand...

I am having to fix a mistake I made. It was on there but then found I had saved it to my husband's work drive as I had to use his tablet...and everyone in the company could see a file named Fluffy...OOPS! Lol. I will be replacing it, hopefully by end of weekend.
 
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