Questions from a newbie

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dlynn

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First, thank you so much to everyone. I have spent many hours reading the board while Morpheus was in the hospital. Out vet is not supportive of home testing (yet) But this was day one for me. Was able to get 2 readings today. Because he is so malnourished (full grown male, barely 6 pounds), also understress with worms being treated with Panacure, our vet wants to keep blood sugars 200-250 at this time. Sounds reasonable to me. Started wet lo-carb food he ordered: Prescription brand, 1/8 can ad and 1/8 can wd per feeding. My questions are: Where is the best place to inject--he has NO subcutaneus fat. I was instructed to use the scruff technique but I worry about absorbtion issues. How do you all handle a resistant vet.? I am a new client to him so I know there is not real trust yet so I was going to keep my testing quiet for the moment. Thank you
Donna
 
I am glad you will continue to test. You don't need your vet's permission; it is nice to have their support. You will need a vet if you have an emergency so I wouldn't burn any bridges. But many vets don't see feline diabetes on a regular basis. They know a little about a lot of things, but not a lot about any one illness. They may not be up to date on feline diabetes.

Here is some info on where to shoot: Where to poke

Is the food 1/8 of a can of the big cans twice a day? Diabetic cats are often very hungry as their bodies don't process their food well when they are so unregulated. If he is seriously underweight, I would feed him more. Their bodies are literally starving for food. At least 6 - 8 ounces daily and more if he seems really hungry. If you spread the meals out over the day and night, it will help support his body functioning and his pancreas. Again, your vet does not have to agree. He isn't there to see how much you feed him.

Keep reading and asking questions. There is a lot of collective knowledge here about feline diabetes and we love to help.
 
thanks. He is soo hungry. The 1/8 can is one of the little short cans. It cant be more than a few Tablespoons. He is jumping on counters, tables, trying to find anything. Caught him taking off with an entire loaf of bread pulling it across the kitchen floor. I have felt so bad retricting his food to so little. Before the diagnosis, there was free feeding of dry food. I also have two other kitties that are MOST unhappy with this turn of events. But I swtiched them over the wet lo-carb friskies so if he bullies them off their food it's not so bad for him. Are there alternate sites for injection the insulin other than the scruff of his neck. I read about somewhere around his bellie but there is no subQ fat anywhere on him.
 
I would definitely increase his food. You can freeze the wet and leave it out to thaw to slow down his gulping. You can free feed wet.

Do be aware if you make a change to wet lo carb, his blood glucose numbers can go down. So that testing is very important.

I thought the link I gave you had a picture of shooting in the side too?
 
I've never seen A/D come in any can bigger that 5.5(6oz?) and W/D is mostly fiber and originally was used for weight reduction in cats. A/D is excellent for a mal nourished kitty but should not be used long term as a final food. I would feed him, as Sue said, several times a day in smaller increments. He's hungry. As for hometesting, keep going...no vet permission required to keep your kitty safe when shooting...You can feed him Friskies, FancyFeast, Wellness.......there is a food chart that list the foods and the carbs. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=115

Donna, you didn't mention insulin...is he on any yet and if so what kind and what is the dose?
 
Sue- the link was a photo of the kitty ear for glucose testing. I like the idea of freezing the food. Thanks!

Hope- Morpheus is on Lantus 1 unit bid. The wd label reads for diabetic but I did not read the list of ingredients and percentages. Maybe I will mix the ad with some of the store bought wet lo-carb. All the dry stuff was given to another kitty family.
 
When you look at the food chart That Hope gave you, we try to stay under 8-10% carbs. Most people here feed Fancy Feast, Wellness, Merrick or Friskies. What your cats will eat that you can afford.

One unit is a good dose to start with. It will be interesting when you get some numbers to see how the diet and insulin are working together.
 
Hi Donna, and welcome!
So good that you have been learning and are already home testing! Getting the testing down is often the hardest part---especially in the beginning, so you are way ahead of the curve.
Many of us free feed---the wet food stays good for a long time, and also leaving frozen cubes of food down, especially at night, often works well. With diabetes your cat is not able to metabolize the food he is eating, so he is semi-starving . To me it makes sense to give as much as he wants to eat (unless he is the kind of cat who would eat enough to make him sick),especially since he needs to gain weight. My cat used to self-regulate---eat more food as her BG went down.
So welcome again, and keep asking questions! We are happy to be able to help in whatever way we can.
 
Donna, well over 20 years ago, maybe even more, W/D was THE food for diabetic cats and also weight reduction. High in carbs and the dry is even higher and it really is not good food. The canned alone is 26% carbs. A/D is 13% carbs. When it came up and out on the board back in '99 or '00 about getting rid of dry and cutting down carbs, all of us who were hometesting jumped on it and saw the numbers go down and the cats improving. It's taken a lot of vets too darn long to wake up to canned only and low carb at that.

Very happy you are hometesting and always test before ever shooting. He's going to be hungry till worms are all cleaned out, insulin and food come together and his system adjusts to it all.
 
Thanks Sue! That helps!

I really like the idea of leaving frozen out over night. That will help during work days too. I was worried about him dropping too low while I am working.
Thank you everyone.
 
Welcome Donna!
You are in the right place! I am also a newbie and these great people have saved my cat.
I came here, like you, with a vet that gave me all the wrong info but because they really don't
know and I go to a vet teaching hospital! They didn't want me to home test, gave me dry .....
but you will need a vet in case of an emergency, so tell them what they medically need to
know but do what you know is right. You are doing good.
 
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