Piper-Newly diganosed

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jwierzbo

Member Since 2014
My cat Piper has had pancreatitis since November. Her former vet was not providing her the care she needed and took months to diagnose. She eventually fell into fatty liver, and that is when I changed vets. Her new vet has been helpful in helping her liver recover. However, during her second ultrasound it showed her pancreas was damaged. She went from one nodule to three. On April 29th her blood sugar level was 172, yesterday it was 470.

Medications that Piper is currently on are Denamarin, Cerenia, Pepcid AC, Amoxicillin, Metronidazole, Mirtazapine. I also have her on Daily Best Senior vitamins. She was recently taken off of 100 of fluids daily which ad B12 in it, Nutri-Cal and pain meds. She also recently started to eat on her own again.

The vet gave me cans of DM, but after Piper put it in her mouth-she spat it out. The food she really enjoys are various cans of pro-plan.

I just don't know what to do. I have already spent $1,000s trying to repair the damage and neglect her former vet caused and I am not sure how much more I can afford. She just turned 11 yesterday and her liver levels are heading in the right direction. And her asthma is under control thanks to a secondary benefit of cerenia. Her pancreas doesn't seem to be causing her pain anymore, nor her liver. I am feeling stuck and the FAF pointed me in this direction when I asked for guidance.

Jessica and Piper
 
Welcome.
This chart, which I also provided in my response to your post in FAF includes the breakdown for ProPlan, They range from 2% to 24% calories from carbs. Yo generally want less than 10% calories from carbs.
http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
Does your vet want to start insulin? a BG of 470 is not good but if you are feeding high-carb food go to a low-carb food might work.
Most of us here test our cats BG using a human meter. less expensive and better that going to the vet for BGs
 
Hi just wanted to sent you and your kitty tons of healing green light ....you have found the very best place in helping your furry one Angels here to help you all the time...if you want your question answer quick just put ??? or 911 or if its advice write it in the subject line get more eyes that way. Best of luck (((Piper)))) you are in great hands !!!! ~O) Hugssssssssssss
 
Re:??? Piper-Newly diganosed All advice welcomed!

I was feeding Piper rice based pro plans, but after reading the list that was so thoughtfully posted, I yanked those from her pile. I am going to the store tomorrow to exchange out those for the low carb pro plans. She does have two that were on the list, so she will be good until then. The rice and veggie based were her faves, so I would keep buying her those. Maybe looking at other brands of food as well that she has eaten in the past, but I haven't tried since she started eating again on her own. I did read lots of articles online saying dry food isn't good. So, I am going to go with what I read and keep her on wet food only.

My vet does want to put her on insulin. That is where the struggle with cost is. He told me to call pharmacies to find the cheapest price, but after researching I have learned that there are many kinds and he didn't suggest a name to me. Any suggestions on what is the cheapest but most effective way to get insulin for her?

He is calling me tomorrow with the results of her urine test. And he did say I am lucky that it was caught so soon so that I can adjust her food at the starting stage of it. He said he has seen cats go months without people knowing. She just happened to go in to get her levels checked for other reasons.

Can someone offer guidance on home kits? What is the best one to get? Where is the best place to buy it?

Any and all advice would be welcome. I feel like my head is spinning.

Jessica and Piper
 
Yes, wet food is best for cats for not only being low carb but also for the moisture content. There's absolutely no reason to start her on dry.

Here's something I wrote up explaining the various types of insulin prescribed for felines and where to find them as well as ways to get them less expensively that might help guide you. There are only three recommended insulins for use in felines: Lantus, Levemir, and PZI/ProZinc. All other insulins work better for canines and don't work well with a cat's faster metabolism. Hopefully with the food change to low carb, you might not even need to start insulin.

For home testing kits, if you're in the US, the ReliOn brands from Walmart are a favorite around here because the test strips are the cheapest (where the cost adds up). The ReliOn Micro/Confirm takes the smallest amount of blood so it's best for when you first start out learning to test ($18 for 50). The ReliOn Prime takes a larger blood sample, but the test strips are the cheapest of them all ($9 for 50).
 
The up front costs of these 2 insulins will have less sticker shock.

BP PZI
ProZinc

Lantus and Levemir have discount programs and savings cards, but may not always be honored. Some folks have had success ordering from Canada for these insulins.
 
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