Newly diagnosed:(

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catsmms06

Member Since 2013
Hi,
My name is Sylvia and my cat's Misty. She's 16 years old, and was recently diagnosed with diabetes. It's overwhelming, and I guess everyone else who has gone through this has experienced the same. She's on Prozinc, and now changing her to Fancy Feast. She always had Fancy Feast on the weekend, and during the week it was dry food. But now, going to do this daily. Vet gave her some DM food, but she threw it up. So guess she doesn't like it. So far shots going well. Whew! But now I am seeing she should be home tested and etc. Vet has never said anything about this, but she does have a follow up appointment tomorrow, and this is breaking my bank big time. Thanks for listening to me...just needed to vent. I see there's a lot of information here, so hoping to have the time to read up on it. Thanks for being there!!!
 
Hello, Sylvia. Welcome. My name is Barb and I also am new here, just a few weeks. But this is the BEST place for you to be. For help with information, and there is a wealth of it, and also to encounter good listening ears of the long timers who really help to get you breathing again. Home testing should help bring some cost down as you can show your vet Misty's spreadhsheet and the lastest Blood Glucose number you got at home right before you go to the office, so there is no need for vet to test at office and charge for that. I learned from here that some prescription food is not right and you can get good low carb nutritious food in local grocery such as Fancy Feast & Friskies. Welcome again and I will now let the great wisdom of the others guide you now.
 
You're two thirds of the way there already, Sylvia! Good insulin and changing to wet low carb. Lots of cats don't like the DM. It's liver based so we're guessing the taste gets old. One warning - wet low carb can really change the blood glucose levels downward. Our Oliver went down 100 points overnight. Thank goodness we were hometesting. If we had given our usual amount, he would have hypoed.

So, testing soon as you can. We use human meters (the pet ones are expensive to buy and the strips are expensive). A popular brand here is the ReliOn from Walmart - cheapest strips and meter and works fine. Not all vets support testing at home. If we are being kind, it may be that they don't want to overwhelm their customers all at once. But also, tests and curves done at the vet are much more expensive than hometesting. And we would argue less accurate. Stress raises levels and most kitties are very stressed at the vet. Here's a video on how we do it:

http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/bgtest.htm


We are working on a protocol for ProZinc. It is a work in progress, but might be helpful:

There is no established protocol for ProZinc. Dose is determined by looking at the history of the kitty – his doses and how he has responded including preshot numbers and midcycle numbers.

Starting Doses
The recommended starting dose for ProZinc or BCPPZI is .5 units or one unit twice daily. It is suggested that if the initial numbers are high, doses can be changed every three cycles, increasing by .5 at a time. If the initial numbers are in the 200-300 range at preshot and midcycle (nadir) numbers are not too low (not 50 and under), increases can be made .25 units at a time. During this early period, especially if wet low carb food is replacing higher carb dry, monitoring is very important. Insulin plus a diet change can result in sudden low numbers or in a gradual lowering of numbers overall, depending on the cat.

Over time, as data is collected and nadir numbers are available, doses can be adjusted more confidently.
If the cat is in the 250+ range at preshot and does not drop 50% or more for nadir, a small adjustment could be considered, if monitoring is possible.
If the cat is in the 250+ range at preshot and drops below 50% at nadir, bouncing is a possibility (bouncing occurs when the cat’s body perceives a drop that is below what has been occurring and releases extra glucose, resulting in an “artificial” rise in numbers) Bouncing most often involves a lower midcycle number than the cat has experienced previously. If bouncing is suspected, any increases in doses should be tiny and monitored carefully.
If the cat is high and flat during the entire cycle, the dose could be raised .5 units, as long as monitoring is possible.

ProZinc and PZI are unique in that they can be dosed in two ways, depending on how the car responds. Some cats seem to do best if a specific dose is held for several cycles. It seems to take that long for their numbers to really change. Some cats respond to a sliding scale, getting a different dose for different preshot numbers. Collecting data will help you see which regiment works best for your cat. If you need help with a sliding scale, ask people on the PZI forum to guide you.

Low Preshot Numbers
The general recommendation for new diabetics is not to shoot a preshot under 200, but to wait 20 minutes (without feeding as food raises blood glucose levels) and retest. If the number is rising and above 200, then a shot can be given with perhaps a little less insulin given.

If midcycle (nadir) numbers are in the 40-50 range, the cat should be carefully monitored for the next couple of hours with tests given every 30 minutes as long as the cat stays low. First small amounts of low carb food can be given to raise the blood glucose levels. If that doesn’t raise the levels, higher carb food should be given. If the levels are dropping and below 40, then honey can be put directly on the cat’s gums. If the numbers still aren’t rising, a trip to an emergency vet is probably necessary.

If one preshot is above 200 and shootable, and one preshot is too low to shoot, it probably means the dose is a little too high and lasting more than the usual 12 hours. Try reducing by at least .25 to see if you get two shootable preshot numbers (ideal) rather than one that is too high and one that is too low to shoot (not ideal)

If you are using U40 syringes and find yourself trying to eyeball doses under .5, you may want to consider using U100 needles and the conversion chart. (Conversion chart) This will allow you to give mini doses.

It is important to test for ketones regularly, at least once weekly even if the cat is eating well and has no infection present. Test daily if any infection is present, the cat is not eating well and/or is in higher ranges. Testing for ketones can catch DKA early. Cats with DKA should be seen immediately by a vet.

Data Collection
Until the bean gets data on their cat’s responses to the insulin, advice on dose changes can be gotten on the forum or from the vet. Using a spreadsheet to record data is the best way to share this data with forum members and the vet.

_________________
 
Hi Sylvia,
Welcome to the board. First, in the immortal words of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galxay - Don't Panic! :-D You and Misty will be fine.

Prescription food is not necessary or IMHO desirable.

Two very good resources to help you decide what to feed Misty are Janet & Binky Nutritional Page and Dr. Lynne's Wet Food Shopping List. Basically you want to feed her something that is low in carbs, meaning that it is under 10% carbs.

I just found the shortcut shopping list -all less than 8% It is also sorts of cat food that is less then 8% carbs.

Many of the people on this board feed their cats Fancy Feast Classics. The gravy lovers and the other types can be much higher in carbs and are not recommended.

If you are currently giving her insulin and feeding her dry food, don't just switch out the food without testing at home. It can cause the BG to drop by 100+ points overnight. You don't need any special type of BG meter designed for a cat. A human glucose meter will work. The Walmart brand Relion Confirm or Micro appears to be a popular choice on the board. They use a very small bit of blood and the test strips are fairly inexpensive. Other people can give you more advise on the meter.

I don't know much about Prozinc, my cat Clyde is on Lantus which is a long duration (12 hour) insulin.

Diabetes does not have to be expensive to treat. The folks on this board will be more then happy to help guide you. I would also suggest checking out Binky's Page they have a lot of information on there about Feline Diabetes, including links to the FDMB FAQ and frugal treatment of diabetes.
 
Welcome to the board!

You may see an immediate drop in her blood sugar - she may even start toward remission - with the food change. So its critical you start home testing ASAP.

Heres a shopping list and we can give testing tips once you get the shopping done :)


Getting started shopping list
1. Meter ie Walmart Relion Confirm or Micro.
2. Matching strips
3. Lancets - little sticks to poke the ear to get blood . new members usually start with a larger gauge lancet such as 28g or 29g until the ear learns to bleed. Optional - lancing tool.
4. Cotton balls to stem the blood
5. Neosporin or Polysporin ointment with pain relief to heal the wound
6. Mini flashlight (optional) - useful to help see the ear veins in dark cats, and to press against
7. Ketone urine test strips ie ketodiastix - Important to check ketones when blood is high
8. Sharps container - to dispose of waste syringes and lancets.
9. Treats for the cat - like freeze dried chicken
10. Karo syrup/corn syrup or honey if you dont have it at home - for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast
11. A couple of cans of fancy feast gravy lovers or other high carb gravy food- for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast


Wendy
 
Hi Sylvia and sugarprincess Misty and welcome to the message board,

My name is Deb and that handsome tuxedo pictured to the right is my sugardude Wink. He is celebrating 8 months OTJ (off-the-juice, insulin being the juice. He got there with a good insulin, low carb canned food and appropriate monitoring including home testing. Much more affordable to home test than to take the cat to the vet all the time for expensive curves. Less stressful for the cat too.

As you have seen already, lots of experienced people of help you in your new journey and teach you the steps of this sugardance. Keep asking questions and we'll help you all we can.

Diabetes is a very treatable disease and cats can live long and healthy lives.

My best advice? Deep breathing exercises. Deep breath in, hold, release, deep breath in, hold release. Helps to calm and relax you and if you are calm then Misty will be calm.

Binky's food list is outdated, not maintained anymore, not updated for about 5-6 years. A better resource is vet Dr. Lisa Pierson's cat food chart, current as of September 2012.
 
Welcome to FDMB Sylvia & Misty. I see that other members have already posted awesome info for you to start with. We love to help our sugarkitties and their beans here. :-D

Keep us posted and ask any/all questions you have. We are here to help you.

You should set up a spreadsheet so we can see Misty's numbers and other info. It will help us help you even more. Here is link to how to set it up http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207 Feel free to ask any questions if you have a problem.
 
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