Questions! Clide at Vet Getting Curve

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RenaRF

RenaRF

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Thank you to everyone who responded last night to my introductory post about sweet 15 year old Clide.

I've dropped him at the vet's this morning for him to get his glucose curve - I've requested my "Newbie Kit". I think I have a handle on that.

I asked what kind of insulin they use, and they said it was PZI (?). I believe that was on the "safe" list from the questions I asked yesterday.

I would really welcome what questions you think should be asked when I pick Clide up later today. My vet apparently treats a lot of diabetic cats, so I at least feel they have experience with the condition. BUT - I have NO idea what to ask them. Experienced input would be greatly appreciated.

Also - my husband and I are going for our "late Christmas" with family up in Delaware on Friday. We would be gone all day - my inclination, despite the fact that Clide HATES the vet, is to take him there early in the morning and let them keep him for the day. I just feel like we're starting treatment today, and I'm not comfortable leaving him unsupervised for an entire day. Thoughts?

Rena
 
Yes, ProZinc or PZI works well for lots of cats and is mild and long lasting. This is a monster document that you need to digest in small amounts and has lots of great info on the insulin and how it works:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=32799

As far as the vet. Ask him to start low with the dose. We like .5 to one unit twice daily, especially as you still don't have your testing kit. You can get tests done at the vet, but if he is at all stressed, they are likely to be much higher than numbers you will get at home. You might give him info on feeding wet LO carb from this site by a vet: www.catinfo.org. BUT don't change his diet until you are testing. When we switched Oliver from dry to wet, he went down 100 points overnight. If we hadn't tested and had given him the regular dose, he would have hypoed.

I would work on getting him ready for home testing. Pick a place where you will test - maybe a blanket or a towel. Take him there and mess with his ears. Warm them with a prescription bottle filled with hot water. After a few minutes, give him a treat. Then, when you add the poke, it shouldn't be a surprise!
 
Thanks. Ironically, the vet called after I clicked "submit" - I've had a relationship with this vet for years and I do trust them to be open, and they know me to be someone who does her homework when it comes to cats and treatment (my kitty Grady who passed in March of 2009 had CRF that I treated for a year and a half - he lived to be just over 19 years old).

So the Doc told me that they're probably going to do a fructosamine test (in addition to the curve) to see if he's a candidate for oral medication - anyone have some insight into what that means? I'm trying to catch up here, educationally speaking. He also strongly recommended that I start moving Clide to wet food only. Thing is - Clide loves his kibble (this despite the fact that he literally has only 2 teeth and one is a fang). SO - I'm going to start increasing his wet food intake and decreasing the kibble, hopefully to where the kibble is in treat amount and is not a co-equal diet staple with the wet. Clide loves Gerber stage 2 chicken baby food (I had to use this in a syringe-feed blend when he had a horrible URI he had to be nursed back from), so I plan to mix just a bit with his DM or M/D to get him eating it. Hopefully that's ok?

I will have a conversation on discharge about the insulin/diet interaction as I move him from half dry/half wet to wet exclusively - i do take your point and that's a great question.

I'll get started on the document - thank you so much.

Rena

Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
Yes, ProZinc or PZI works well for lots of cats and is mild and long lasting. This is a monster document that you need to digest in small amounts and has lots of great info on the insulin and how it works:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=32799

As far as the vet. Ask him to start low with the dose. We like .5 to one unit twice daily, especially as you still don't have your testing kit. You can get tests done at the vet, but if he is at all stressed, they are likely to be much higher than numbers you will get at home. You might give him info on feeding wet LO carb from this site by a vet: www.catinfo.org. BUT don't change his diet until you are testing. When we switched Oliver from dry to wet, he went down 100 points overnight. If we hadn't tested and had given him the regular dose, he would have hypoed.

I would work on getting him ready for home testing. Pick a place where you will test - maybe a blanket or a towel. Take him there and mess with his ears. Warm them with a prescription bottle filled with hot water. After a few minutes, give him a treat. Then, when you add the poke, it shouldn't be a surprise!
Click to expand...
 
Please do not use oral medication - it does not help the pancreas heal the way insulin can do. If the pancrease can heal, your cat might become diet-controlled.
 
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