Newly Diagnosed with Questions

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Chey Bear's Mom

Chey Bear's Mom

Member Since 2017
I know dry isn’t the way to go and after doing my own research on Royal Canin Glycobalance (vet prescribed) I am seeing that the nutritional content is very high. Cheyanne likes to graze, and the vet told me I needed to get calories into her ASAP and to let her eat however much she wanted to right now since she had lost so much weight so fast. Any recommendations?

I am thinking just wet food would maybe be best, but I work and am afraid since she loves to eat that it will not be good for her not to eat while I am not home. Also, if I do give her wet food how much should she be eating? I did switch wet food to Fancy Feast (classic) and she loves it!

I am monitoring the levels at home and have been keeping track, but I have NO clue what any of it truly means or where she should be at…. I have the Relion Prime metter, does anyone use this meter and is it pretty reliable? I am going to make an appointment with the vet to compare our readings.
 
Welcome. This is an excellent place to start, lots of help here.

Wet food is best for diabetic kitties. As long as it's not in gravy. Many people feed multiple times a day. I feed Ham 4 times a day (probably more then I should. He gets the whole 5.5 ounces). There are timed feeders and I have heard about freezing food that they can eat when it thaws. Haven't had the time yet to look into that.

Yes Relion is a good meter a lot of people on this site use it. Here is the link to the spreadsheet you can set up and put into you signature that will help people to assist you. http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thre...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/
Reading at the vets are usually higher then at home due to stress.
 
Thank you for responding!

I think I may look into switching Cheyanne from dry completely. She does like wet food, but she will try and eat it all once put down.

I have been keeping track of her levels so far and I feel that they are so high. The vet did up it, so may it will help. I ran home at lunch and took another reading just to make sure she was OK. Attached is my current "spreadsheet".
 

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Welcome to you and Chey Bear! :) Congratulations on doing home testing already - it's the essential tool in keeping your kitty safe. I'm going to throw a bunch of observations at you (I like lists! ;))
  • I see that the dose has gone from 1 to 2 units on your spreadsheet
  • the 2 unit dose is bringing the BG down fairly well
  • you've been testing 3 times a day - good!
  • your dosing times drift a little - depending on the insulin you're using this can be an issue
  • off to a good start!
Here's how you can structure Chey Bear's treatment to get her on track more quickly:
  1. switch her to low carb wet food (Friskies and Fancy Feast pates are fine) and feed her several times a day
  2. refine your testing routine to keep her as safe as possible
  3. keep doses as close to every 12 hours as possible
  4. set up a spreadsheet like we use here to log her data - we can look at it before giving advice
  5. learn how to eyeball 0.25 unit fractions on your syringes - those are the increments we recommend.
Testing routine:
  1. test AM and PM before feeding and giving insulin (no food at least 2 hours beforehand) to see if the dose is safe
  2. test at least one more time around the middle of the cycle (the 12 hours between doses) or before bed to see how low the dose is taking the blood glucose.
  3. extra tests on days off to round out the picture.
Spreadsheet link:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
 
Thank you so much for your reply!

I also talked to my vet tonight, and I feel more so stressed and confused. As far as food goes I guess. Instead of the Royal Canin wet she did say to stick with the Fancy Feast. However she said to only feed her twice a day. Before the insulin shots of course and just let her eat during that time as much as she wants. So if she wants to eat two cans of food then she can and when she is done then I will give her the shot. I dont know how I feel about only feeding her twice a day. Is this normal?

I did decide though that I am going to structure her schedule a little more, and as much as possible. It is a little hard as I have a 4 year old, 15 year old, and a 17 year old. My life is a little crazy and we always seem to have something. I am honestly feeling a little overwhelmed.

As soon as I can afford it I am going to switch from the ProZinc to the Lantus. The vet did say that she thinks it will help Bear out better than the ProZinc.
 
Most of us feed multiple times a day, as the twice a day feeding is sort of an older school of thought. I feed Maury 4 times a day like Amanda & Ham as well :), not as much though ;). How is Bear's weight? Does she need to gain, lose, or maintain?
 
Yong said:
Most of us feed multiple times a day, as the twice a day feeding is sort of an older school of thought. I feed Maury 4 times a day like Amanda & Ham as well :), not as much though ;). How is Bear's weight? Does she need to gain, lose, or maintain?
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Cheyanne was originally 15 lbs a few months ago and she dropped weight pretty fast, she is now 11 lbs. At the vet last week she was 10 lbs so she has gained a lb since. With feeding four times a day do you use wet food? I work all day so I am not sure how I would do that. I heard people freezing the wet food. I dont even know how much I would feed her? She has always been a dry food, free feed cat. A couple years ago we started incorporating wet food, and then when we placed her on a diet about six months ago we were giving her more wet food.
 
Chey Bear's Mom said:
Thank you so much for your reply!

I also talked to my vet tonight, and I feel more so stressed and confused. As far as food goes I guess. Instead of the Royal Canin wet she did say to stick with the Fancy Feast. However she said to only feed her twice a day. Before the insulin shots of course and just let her eat during that time as much as she wants. So if she wants to eat two cans of food then she can and when she is done then I will give her the shot. I dont know how I feel about only feeding her twice a day. Is this normal?

I did decide though that I am going to structure her schedule a little more, and as much as possible. It is a little hard as I have a 4 year old, 15 year old, and a 17 year old. My life is a little crazy and we always seem to have something. I am honestly feeling a little overwhelmed.

As soon as I can afford it I am going to switch from the ProZinc to the Lantus. The vet did say that she thinks it will help Bear out better than the ProZinc.
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How much price difference between Lantus and prozinc?
 
It's in my signature. He gets 1/3 Friskies wet food 4 times a day and less than 1/4 cup of Young Again Zero dry each cycle. When I'm home (quite often because I'm unemployed) he gets "fresh". If I have to be away, I freeze 1/3 of a can with some water and set it out before I leave. Takes a couple hours to thaw so it's ready for him after his meal :).
Some people also use automatic timed feeders, the PetSafe C50 5-meal feeder is popular one.
 
I keep forgetting to look at the signature! Sorry, I just set mine up too. I think I will have to play around and see what I can do with her food, I just do not know how twice daily will work for her. She gets very pissy when she does not eat.
 
It depends where you buy the insulin from as far as costs go. I pay about $130 for a vial of prozinc. Lantus can be $300 for a vial if sold it in the US. If you buy the pens instead of vials with Lantus the insulin usually lasts much longer. I've heard that Marks Marine Pharmacy in Canada is where a lot of members buy Lantus from.
 
I did hear about buying Lantus from Canada, so I am thinking about doing that. I am completely frustrated that the amounts for the drug costs so much! I honestly didn't know what we were going to do because we did not have the money. Thankfully, my mom helped with the first bottle of ProZinc.
 
I free feed wet food. I live in a cool climate, so most days I just open their food for the day (I have 2 cats), split it up into four bowls, set them out in different places, and leave for work. On the rare occasion it turns warm, I freeze food with water (as Yong said), and put out two regular bowls and two frozen pucks of food for later. Feeding twice a day would just make them angry. Nobody wants angry cats!
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
It depends where you buy the insulin from as far as costs go. I pay about $130 for a vial of prozinc. Lantus can be $300 for a vial if sold it in the US. If you buy the pens instead of vials with Lantus the insulin usually lasts much longer. I've heard that Marks Marine Pharmacy in Canada is where a lot of members buy Lantus from.
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Does your prozinc vial last just one month?
 
Chey Bear's Mom said:
I dont know how I feel about only feeding her twice a day. Is this normal
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I feed Phoebe 4 ff cans a day. She was under weight and now as of today we have put on 1+ pounds!! I would never just feed her 2x a day she would scarf and barf'. The diabetic kitties are burning more calories, so they are starving. Good luck to you and your furbaby. Head bumps and Welcome!
 
Phoebes said:
I feed Phoebe 4 ff cans a day. She was under weight and now as of today we have put on 1+ pounds!! I would never just feed her 2x a day she would scarf and barf'. The diabetic kitties are burning more calories, so they are starving. Good luck to you and your furbaby. Head bumps and Welcome!
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I really think I will try feeding Cheyanne four times as well. She is not a happy kitty when she doesn't get to eat!
 
I feed her 1/2 FF can multiple times a day. I also mix a can with about 4 teaspoons if water and just fill the ice cube tray. Makes about 4 cubes. I have tried the feeder, but she prefers a saucer with the foodicle on it. It thaws and she eats thru the night. It can be overwhelming, I have been here 3 months, feel like a pro after some overwhelmed, break downs, rants and tangents. These people are wonderful and full of knowledge and ideas. :bighug: it will get better.
 
Phoebes said:
I feed her 1/2 FF can multiple times a day. I also mix a can with about 4 teaspoons if water and just fill the ice cube tray. Makes about 4 cubes. I have tried the feeder, but she prefers a saucer with the foodicle on it. It thaws and she eats thru the night. It can be overwhelming, I have been here 3 months, feel like a pro after some overwhelmed, break downs, rants and tangents. These people are wonderful and full of knowledge and ideas. :bighug: it will get better.
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Thank you so much. It really is overwhelming. Our other cat had kidney failure (we fixed her up with quite a bit of money and time) and that I felt was so black and white. Diabetes has so much more to it. So many different routes.

That is funny that your husband gets hangry, I do the same! My husband says " Well I wonder whose cat she is?". lol
 
Lol. They say here it is a marathon not a sprint. :) it is doable. Phoebe is still not regulated but you can see from my signature she has chronic pancreatitis and IBD. On my ss we are at 9.5 units and marching.
 
Phoebes said:
Lol. They say here it is a marathon not a sprint. :) it is doable. Phoebe is still not regulated but you can see from my signature she has chronic pancreatitis and IBD. On my ss we are at 9.5 units and marching.
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It really is! And I am already worn out... lol
 
Cherish Gallagher said:
How much price difference between Lantus and prozinc?
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Lantus is cheaper than ProZinc if you buy it from Marks in Canada

You can get a 5 pack of Lantus pens (which is 1500 units) for $149.99 plus $25 shipping, so it's about .12 cents per unit (including shipping). Each pen holds 300 units so you can use every last drop before you open a new one and keep the rest in the refrigerator. They'll be good through the expiration date, usually at least 2 years away

ProZinc is a U40 insulin, so each 10ml vial only has 400 units and is usually around $100.....so it's about .25 cents per unit
 
Chris & China said:
Lantus is cheaper than ProZinc if you buy it from Marks in Canada

You can get a 5 pack of Lantus pens (which is 1500 units) for $149.99 plus $25 shipping, so it's about .12 cents per unit (including shipping). Each pen holds 300 units so you can use every last drop before you open a new one and keep the rest in the refrigerator. They'll be good through the expiration date, usually at least 2 years away

ProZinc is a U40 insulin, so each 10ml vial only has 400 units and is usually around $100.....so it's about .25 cents per unit
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Thanks for the info! Just weighing my options if it comes down to us switching her. :) how fast does the insulin get to the US from Canada after you order?
 
Chris & China said:
Lantus is cheaper than ProZinc if you buy it from Marks in Canada

You can get a 5 pack of Lantus pens (which is 1500 units) for $149.99 plus $25 shipping, so it's about .12 cents per unit (including shipping). Each pen holds 300 units so you can use every last drop before you open a new one and keep the rest in the refrigerator. They'll be good through the expiration date, usually at least 2 years away

ProZinc is a U40 insulin, so each 10ml vial only has 400 units and is usually around $100.....so it's about .25 cents per unit
Click to expand...

The Lantus will last about 4 months then? I am going to look into that for sure.

Has anyone purchased their insulin from Costco? I think they are cheaper if you have a membership but I am not sure if it is a substantial amount.
 
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