Newly diagnosed-don't know if I can trust vet

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Hannahb

Member Since 2013
Hi-
My cat Hannah was just diagnosed with diabetes last week. We moved across the country a few months ago to a smaller town and there aren't many choices for vets here. I really don't have a relationship with the vet who diagnosed her, but he is the closest vet to where we live.
The vet put Hannah on Novolin N with an initial dose of 2 units twice a day. He also told me I needed to switch her to Hills Prescription Diet m/d. He said that I should bring her by in a month and have one of the vet techs test her glucose level then. I thought it was weird that he didn't want to see her at all and didn't want to monitor for a month, but I am new to this whole thing, so I just figured it was normal and I was being a panicky pet mom. After looking online, I have serious concerns about the type of insulin, the dose and the lack of monitoring, especially after switching her food. I am thinking I need to find a new vet, but in the meantime, what should I do?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated-I love my kitty and don't want to do anything to hurt her.
Thanks!

Kim
 
Hi Kim, welcome to you and to Hannah!

The best thing to do first is to think about home testing her blood glucose. Your instincts are right.

Telling you to just give 2u twice a day, and then bring her back for a checkup in a month is NOT great advice. But really, it doesn't seem to be uncommon for many vets to advise that way. And even if some vets understand the illness well, sometimes they don't give their clients the benefit of the doubt, and just assume they aren't willing to go to the lengths of home testing or changing diet.

No, Novolin is not the best insulin for cats. It's more appropriate for dogs (or humans). My guess is that whatever experience your vet has with diabetes is most likely with dogs?

That's what I would ask them first - how many cases of feline diabetes have they seen recently? And how many of those cats did well or went into remission?

Did they suggest anything about a proper diet? One key to successful management of diabetes is a low carb canned food diet.

We can definitely help you to more effectively manage your kitty's diabetes at home.
We suggest home testing with a human glucometer.
And a low carb diet.
And logical dosing based on the blood glucose tests you do at home.

We'd also suggest a more "cat suited" insulin like Lantus, Levemir or Prozinc.

But one thing at a time. Would you like us to help you learn how to home test?
 
Thank you. Yes-I am interested in anything I can do to make sure Hannah is getting what she needs, but I am a bit nervous about it. My parents, who were both nurses before they retired, had a diabetic cat and they weren't able to get blood from their cat for testing.
Hannah has always eaten a combination of wet food (Friskies pate) and dry food (Science Diet), but the vet said to put her on the Prescription diet m/d cans. She ate it for a day, then refused, so I have resumed feeding her the Friskies wet but am no longer giving her the dry food.
 
Yes, many vets prescribe either Purina D/M or Hill's M/D because they are supposed to be prescription diet foods for diabetes. And many cats, mine included, eat it for a few days, and then refuse to eat it.

Good news is that it's not necessary to give them prescription food. Plenty of grocery store brand foods are low carb, and are just as high in quality as D/M or M/D.
Friskees pates are perfectly fine to feed. I used Fancy Feast Classics and Friskees Pates as well.

Home testing - we buy a human glucometer and strips and we test at least two to four times per day. Once before each shot, and a couple times in between shots. Some people test more often, and in some cases, the numbers you see when you test will dictate how often you might need to test on any given day.

Many people use Relion Confirm or Relion Micro meters which are sold by Walmart. They are popular because the daily cost of strips is lowest. But other meters, like One Touch, Accu Check and others are also popular.

You just poke the edge of one of their ears with a lancet, get a drop of blood, and see what the meter says. It can be difficult at first, but there are all sorts of tips on how to do it. Lots of videos on YouTube if you look up "Feline Diabetes Testing" too.

The biggest advantage to home testing is that it lets you do things in the safest manner possible. You can tell what the BG number is at any time day or night. You can check just before giving insulin to make sure that a shot is safe to give or not. And, you will be able to adjust the dosage based on the numbers you get to keep the dose safe and logical. That's a huge difference from just shooting a set dosage every day, twice a day, and not checking until a month goes by.

Do you have the results of the blood work your vet did? What kind of numbers did the vet see when he checked her blood glucose?
 
For more information and a downloadable food list, pop over to Cat Info. And maybe refer your vet to that veterinarian written website as well!

You want to select any foods with less than 10% calories from carbohydrates for routine feeding and the downloadable PDF file lists that, plus other nutrition info. And as a "just in case" you also want a couple cans iof high carb gravied foods set aside for use if the glucose levels every go to low to be safe. Be sure to mark them as high carb, so you don't feed them by mistake!

Fancy Feast Classic Pates and Friskies pates are some of the most economical low carb foods in the US.
 
The first test he did, it was in the 400s. She had been taking Prednisone for a respiratory infection so he had me take her off the Prednisone and bring her back 5 days later to re-test. The second time, it was over 500 (fasting).
I am going to go out and get the testing supplies this morning and I will call the vet and see if he will switch her to one of the types of insulin you recommended.
Another question about feeding-the vet told me to feed her 3/4 can of wet food twice a day. She loves to eat, but she only eats a little bit at a time, then comes back for a little more later. Is it okay to feed her little bits throughout the day, or does that mess things up?
 
Multiple small meals are actually a better way to go! You're better at this than the vet is :-D
We usually give good with shots, but 4-6 feedings a day is fine as well.

With Novolin, which acts fairly quickly, you do want her to eat before giving the shots.

We test, then feed, then shoot.

Here are two good links.
Meters-
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=80723
And home testing -

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287

On that one, there are lots of other links you can check out after reading.
 
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