CaliAlli
Member Since 2017
THANK YOU TO SHARON14 for responding to my first post and suggesting I move it to this forum! Here's my first post. Updated info is at the bottom.
My 13 year old Tortoiseshell, Darla, was recently diagnosed with Diabetes. She has gained weight (great!) and is definitely drinking and urinating less (great!). I have had her into the vet for 2 BG curve tests and, well, let's just say, she's not cooperating and the vet does not feel she can get an accurate reading. Darla is miserable about it, wants no part of the testing, hisses at the vet, and has to be isolated from other animals. The vet has recommended that Darla come back in in 3 weeks for a Fructosamine test and, in the meantime, wants me to do BG testing at home where Darla's stress level will be lower. I am scared to death. We have had a difficult enough time giving her insulin. She is generally quite happy and content at home, and I don't want to her to be miserable at home like she is at the vet.
The vet started her at 2 units, then increased it to 3 units after her first BG curve test, then decreased it to 2 and a half units after her second BG curve test. During this time, we've been SLOWLY transitioning her to a wet food lower carb diet. The vet also wants me to try to make this transition to an even lower carb wet food (almost no carb) than I have been feeding her. I am afraid to do this too aggressively given that we still don't seem to have good numbers from her BG curve tests and are still changing around her insulin units. This is compounded by my fear of home testing, even though I know it is important.
Recommendations on glucometers and any tips that may make testing more tolerable for her would be appreciated. I would prefer whatever is the quickest and least painful for her (ie. there's a big difference between 5 seconds and 7 seconds). Affordable would be nice, but quick and painless is the priority. Has anyone had positive experiences with urine testing instead? I know it's not ideal, but right now I feel like it might be my best option.
If you have ever had a Tortoiseshell, you probably can empathize. I would really appreciate any advice!
UPDATED INFO:
Darla is receiving 2 and a half units of Lantus (U100) every 12 hours 30 minutes after she eats. We started at 2 units, went to 3 units after her first BG curve test, then went to 2 and a half units after her second BG curve test (yesterday).
Darla is a very small cat (she has teeny tiny short legs). She has gone from about 5 and a half pounds to just over 7 pounds since starting treatment a month ago. She started on 48 grams of Iams Grain Free Chicken and Turkey Recipe dry food. I am not able to find the nutritional content for this food. We then transitioned her to 36 grams of this food with 12 grams of Iams Grain Free White Meat Chicken Breast wet food (vet wanted us to start with something comparable to what she was already eating), nutritional values 43% protein, 49% fat (which I know is way too high), 8% carb. We successfully transitioned to 32 grams of the dry food with 16 grams of the wet food. When we tried to transition to 24 grams of each, she vomited (clear) the following 2 days about 1 – 2 hours before her dinner time (maybe too much fat for her pancreas?) and we moved her back to 32 grams dry food with 16 grams wet food and she’s been fine since. I know she needs a high protein, low fat, low carb diet. The chart the vet gave me showed that (surprisingly), some of the best options are Special Kitty (Walmart) Tuna and Shrimp Entrée (73% protein, 26% fat, 1% carb) and Trader Joe’s Tuna for Cats (72% protein, 26% fat, 2% carb). That seems like an awfully drastic change to me, since we also just changed how much insulin she is receiving, but I know it is the ultimate goal. Advice? Other suggestions?
Darla does not have any other health issues, but she has had episodes of vestibular disease in the past (more than 10 years ago) and she is VERY sensitive to noise.
My 13 year old Tortoiseshell, Darla, was recently diagnosed with Diabetes. She has gained weight (great!) and is definitely drinking and urinating less (great!). I have had her into the vet for 2 BG curve tests and, well, let's just say, she's not cooperating and the vet does not feel she can get an accurate reading. Darla is miserable about it, wants no part of the testing, hisses at the vet, and has to be isolated from other animals. The vet has recommended that Darla come back in in 3 weeks for a Fructosamine test and, in the meantime, wants me to do BG testing at home where Darla's stress level will be lower. I am scared to death. We have had a difficult enough time giving her insulin. She is generally quite happy and content at home, and I don't want to her to be miserable at home like she is at the vet.
The vet started her at 2 units, then increased it to 3 units after her first BG curve test, then decreased it to 2 and a half units after her second BG curve test. During this time, we've been SLOWLY transitioning her to a wet food lower carb diet. The vet also wants me to try to make this transition to an even lower carb wet food (almost no carb) than I have been feeding her. I am afraid to do this too aggressively given that we still don't seem to have good numbers from her BG curve tests and are still changing around her insulin units. This is compounded by my fear of home testing, even though I know it is important.
Recommendations on glucometers and any tips that may make testing more tolerable for her would be appreciated. I would prefer whatever is the quickest and least painful for her (ie. there's a big difference between 5 seconds and 7 seconds). Affordable would be nice, but quick and painless is the priority. Has anyone had positive experiences with urine testing instead? I know it's not ideal, but right now I feel like it might be my best option.
If you have ever had a Tortoiseshell, you probably can empathize. I would really appreciate any advice!
UPDATED INFO:
Darla is receiving 2 and a half units of Lantus (U100) every 12 hours 30 minutes after she eats. We started at 2 units, went to 3 units after her first BG curve test, then went to 2 and a half units after her second BG curve test (yesterday).
Darla is a very small cat (she has teeny tiny short legs). She has gone from about 5 and a half pounds to just over 7 pounds since starting treatment a month ago. She started on 48 grams of Iams Grain Free Chicken and Turkey Recipe dry food. I am not able to find the nutritional content for this food. We then transitioned her to 36 grams of this food with 12 grams of Iams Grain Free White Meat Chicken Breast wet food (vet wanted us to start with something comparable to what she was already eating), nutritional values 43% protein, 49% fat (which I know is way too high), 8% carb. We successfully transitioned to 32 grams of the dry food with 16 grams of the wet food. When we tried to transition to 24 grams of each, she vomited (clear) the following 2 days about 1 – 2 hours before her dinner time (maybe too much fat for her pancreas?) and we moved her back to 32 grams dry food with 16 grams wet food and she’s been fine since. I know she needs a high protein, low fat, low carb diet. The chart the vet gave me showed that (surprisingly), some of the best options are Special Kitty (Walmart) Tuna and Shrimp Entrée (73% protein, 26% fat, 1% carb) and Trader Joe’s Tuna for Cats (72% protein, 26% fat, 2% carb). That seems like an awfully drastic change to me, since we also just changed how much insulin she is receiving, but I know it is the ultimate goal. Advice? Other suggestions?
Darla does not have any other health issues, but she has had episodes of vestibular disease in the past (more than 10 years ago) and she is VERY sensitive to noise.
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