Newly rescued Diabetic Kitty

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MiniandShawti

MiniandShawti

Member Since 2013
My name is Silvia and I recently rescued a 5 year old diabetic tom cat named Mini Me from a friend who was going to put him down instead of taking care of him. I know the very basics of taking care of a diabetic cat as my parents had one when I was younger, but I didn't realize how much they didn't do for him until I took on this cat with every intention of doing all I could for him without going broke i the process. I've never taken a cat's blood glucose before but did get a meter. I'm taking Mini to the vet tomorrow to discuss several things with him about Mini. He isn't fixed, yet, and hasn't been checked since he was diagnosed months ago according to the people I rescued him from. I'm in a little over my head at the moment but he's such a sweet boy that I think it's worth it. I was originally only wanting to foster him but he gets along with my younger cat, Shawti, and I was looking for a friend for her during the day as I work anyways so it all works out rather well. I will update as I learn more, I was told so little as they never really kept track, just got him the cheapest insulin possible and left it at that thinking he'd get totally better from it... than wanted to put him down when he eventually got worse. I wouldn't allow it and got him the day after Christmas with expectations that he was sick to a point of a lot of care and medicine. He wasn't and isn't. Just regulating his insulin and an antibiotic and he's already doing better.
 
You make me smile!!!! Thank you so much for taking in sweet Mini Me...You are an angel on Earth.

If you have any questions just ask...we would love to help you help Mini Me. BTW since everyone is going to ask..what insulin?, what dose? and what are you feeding?

Again thank you so much for rescuing Mini Me...I have 2 adopted diabetics...personally I couldn't have picked two better cats.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
Welcome and bless you for rescuing this boy. As you will read on this site, we have a protocol that has gotten hundreds of cats to regulation and sometimes remission. We feed wet low carb food, use one of the long lasting mild insulins (Lantus, Levemir or ProZinc) and test at home. The food can be inexpensive - Friskies pâtés are one example. Testing at home not only keeps the kitty safe; it can save hundreds in vet visits. The three insulins are more expensive than chaper ones like Humulin or Canninsulin, but are much more effective.

Let us know how we can help. We are all paying it forward for help we received when we were overwhelmed at first.
 
I'm feeding the friskie's I had for now and he's at one unit twice a day, I'm going to as to switch him to Lantus as the insulin I was given is Novolin and I heard its not the best
 
Be aware that some vets aren't up to date on feline diabetes. They may push Rx food, discourage home testing, prescribe old school insulins such Humulin or Novolin, or dose contemporary insulins incorrectly. It helps to be prepared. See my signature link Vet Interview topics for some questions to ask.

We have the American Animal Hospital Association guidelines linked here and the Lantus/Levemir Tight Regulation info posted here. Print these out and/or provide the links to your vet for discussion.

Also, pop over to Cat Info for information on nutrition. There is a pdf file of food nutrition info you may print to go shopping and the link for the site should be shared with the vet for review (written by a vet).

For home testing, an inexpensive human glucometer may be used, not a pricey animal specific meter, so don't be bullied into buying an AlphaTrak nor IPet. A Relion Confirm (aka Arkray Glucocard 01) will do just fine!
 
Thank you. I don't know much about the first vet he saw, other than he didn't seem to know anything he was doing. I have a one touch ultra a family member gave me with everything needed to make it work. I'm not sure how my vet will react, my parents never tried with their cat and I don't know if he suggested it as I imagine they'd turn it down.
 
Welcome to FDMB! So kind of you to take in a sweet kitty and spare his soul. Hopefully we can get him back on track in no time flat! With the OneTouch Ultra meter....it's a great meter, but I think the test strips are pretty expensive. I had the OneTouch Ultra Mini and I think they take the same strips. If you find this to be true, there are many other solid meters with much less expensive test strips. For instance, the ReliOn Prime from Walmart has test strips that run $9 for $50. There is some variance between meters and you'll drive yourself nuts trying to figure out all the numbers if you try. It's important to find one you like and stick with it. Just wanted to let you know you don't have to go broke in caring for a diabetic kitty.

Good luck to you both!
 
Hi Silvia,
How great of you to adopt Mini Me. You found the right place to get you through this overwhelming stage.
The diet Mini changes to will also benefit your other kitty as well. Find a vet that will work with you, read
as many stickies as you can. The people here will set you up with a spread sheet to help keep track of Mini Me's
blood sugars, adjusting the insulin dose accordingly. There are all kinds of teaching tools to help you check his
blood sugars. Get a neck warmer that heats in microwave to heat up his ears. This brings the blood to the surface
and makes kitty comfortable. I drape it on Boot's neck and ear. She loves it and runs in before me to the room we check her in.
God Bless You Silvia..You hang in there and know there are so many good people here to help you.
 
I'd be very grateful for a work sheet to help me figure the insulin out. Took him to the vet today and he's good with everything but would like to keep him on the prescription food... not happening as I can't afford it. His blood glucose was over 400 at the vets, partly stress but mostly just not being taken care of correctly. I am changing him to Lantus as well
 
There are a lot of links to helpful information about hometesting here, under the Health Links section on the main page: Hometesting Links and Tips

The two things that made the biggest difference for me when I was learning to hometest were:

Calm down! When I was stressed about doing it, the cat would freak out too. If I just approached it as . . . whatever, let me have your ear, I have to do a thing . . . it went a lot more smoothly!
Warm the ear. I am using an old spice bottle that just fits nicely in the curve of the ear, and fill it each time with nearly hot water. My cat actually quite enjoys it - now she lies on her side on the floor, purring, while I get down next to her and hold the bottle with one hand to her ear and pet her with the other. When the ear is good and warm you get a good-sized blood drop way more easily.

Also, I'm not sure what you're using to prick the ear, but a lot of people (me included) find it easier to just hold the lancet and prick the ear freehand, rather than trying to line up the device and use the spring action.
Testing actually gets easier really fast, so I know you'll master it in no time.

Biggest, biggest hugs to you for rescuing this kitty!
 
another ear warming option is a rice sock

take one sock
add 1/4 cup rice (not instant) or dried beans or oatmeal (oatmeal is my preference)
knot the top of sock so whatever you added stays in
heat in microwave 15-30 seconds until warm to touch
place behind cats ear until ear is warm to touch

i also kept it behind the ear, as a barrier to not poking my fingers when testing.
 
What size lancet are you using? With new diabetics, sometimes a 25-27 gauge is needed rather than the tiny 30-31 guage that comes with most lancets. And I agree with Hillary, warming the ear really warm helps so much at first. A cold ear just doesn't bleed as well. If you ever get a drop and he is moving, you can put the drop on your fingernail and test from there.

If you continue to have problems, I see I am only about an hour away from you. I could drive down and help.

PS. I don't think your spreadsheet is working. Try going back to the url in your signature, make sure the whole url is highlighted and then go up to the buttons on the top of the white box. Use the URL button in the line with B and Quote, Code etc. That should put an url designation on both ends of your spreadsheet url. Submit and see if that helps.
 
Here are some links that I just sent to someone else. I think they'll be helpful for you as well.
Also with the lancets, I like using the auto-poker that comes in the kit. Its less painful when being poked.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00165 ... 02_s00_i01 (fortiFlora-probiotic) Helps digestion&can help with appetite and switching to wet from dry food))

http://felinediabetes.com/diet.htm (Food Info)

http://catinfo.org/docs/Tips%20for%20Tr ... -14-11.pdf (Food Info)

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Food%20Char ... -22-12.pdf (wet food carb list)

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=86436&p=925576&hilit=testing+ear#p925576 (testing tips)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8 (ear)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_3TLtN8XYo (shot)

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207 (spread sheet)

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/view ... =9&t=85113 (BS testing tips)

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581 (lantus proticol
 
I'm using the one touch ultra soft lancets and the lancer with those. Finally got a good test tonight and his levels were at 439, which i know is way too high. I had some help but won't usually. I will try to figure out the spread sheet thing
 
Welcome to the vampire club!! And thanks for setting up a spreadsheet. Your SS says you don't know how to use it. The 439 needs to go into the column relating to the time of day the test taken. Right now it is shown as being the AMPS [morning (AM) pre-shot (PS) test]. You said the test was at night, so it needs to go in a column further to the right, however many hours after the morning shot the test was taken. It may be the PMPS [evening (PM) pre-shot (PS) test].
 
Hang in there! I'm only 3 days in and if not for all the help here, I never would have made it this long!

He is absolutely beautiful and you are a true gem for taking him in! Bless you sweetie!
 
Did you return the prescription food? A lot of people here feed wellness canned (grain free) of fancy feast classics or friskies pâté.. All of which are cheaper than prescription food.

I don't know anything about novolin but probably takes a few days to settle in anyway..?
 
No I didn't as my vet doesn't do returns and I opened it so I had something for him until I got better food. He's been on it for months so I'm not sure what's going on
 
Science diet DM dry food. I'm waiting for the wet food I ordered to come in. My parents said they'd get me some blue buffalo wilderness for me as Dad heard it was good. No where near me has it so I mail ordered some. By near I mean walking distance. No car to speak of. I don't know about it but I'll take every break I can get and it is supposed to by a all natural high protein low carb food. If they eat it... My other car is kinda picky yet has to get whatever Mini does.
 
As i mentioned above, might be cheaper to do what a lot of people here do including me.. Fancy feast classics and wellness grain free.
 
ok part of the problem is the dry food!

dry food of any type is not good for cats diabetic and non-diabetic alike. please read this about the reasons why: www.catinfo.org

regarding returning the food - it is guaranteed and if the vet won't return it, then contact science diet and ask them for a refund.

what food did you order? prescription canned food? honestly you don't need prescription food and it is higher in carbs than we like to use. you can go to petsmart or anywhere else and buy friskies, fancy feast, etc and save lots of money while feeding perfectly acceptable food. have you checked out the food charts? we recommend getting food that is less than 10% carbs and even 0-5% is best for most cats.

if you get fancy feast - you want the classics pate style, same with friskies, pate style

here is the link to the food chart list:

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=79683
 
I got the blue buffalo wilderness canned food. I know dry is bad for them but with my finances I take what I can get a lot. My parents are helping with the food since they had a diabetic cat once.
 
MiniandShawti said:
No I didn't as my vet doesn't do returns and I opened it so I had something for him until I got better food. He's been on it for months so I'm not sure what's going on
Click to expand...

No matter what your vet says, he has to honor the Hill's Guarantee:

Are Hill's® pet foods guaranteed?

All Hill's pet foods are marked with our guarantee. If you are not satisfied with Science Diet® pet food products for any reason, simply return the unused portion to the place of purchase for a refund or replacement.

We guarantee Prescription Diet® brand pet food for quality, consistency and palatability. If you are not completely satisfied with any purchases for these reasons, simply return the unused portion to your veterinarian for a refund or replacement.
Click to expand...
 
Good job on switching to wet! :thumbup Sure, the short-term cost of dry food might seem cheaper, but the long-term cost is NOT WORTH IT! Especially if you can get your cat into remission and off insulin altogether (which is pretty much impossible to do with dry food).

What food did you end up picking? Friskies is one of the cheapest low carb, wet food options available out there. Depending on how much your cat eats, it's generally about a $1 a day to feed them at ~.50 cents a can. You can find it for much cheaper in many places and there are deals and coupons to help reduce the cost as well. There are a few others that are just as cheap. Check the food list for some more options (look for foods under 10% carbs).
 
Make sure they're the pate varieties as those are usually the lowest in carbs. Unfortunately, Blue Buffalo refuses to give out nutritional information on their cat food, so be aware that even these might be higher in carbs than some other brands.

Be aware that changing a cat from dry to wet can significantly lower BG numbers (over a 100 points or more) so make sure you test him these next few days and drop his insulin dose if necessary.

It sounds like you're already off to a great start and you are definitely one of the special ones for saving Mini Me from an unnecessary death just because he might need a little more care and maintenance than a non-diabetic cat.
 
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