Recently found out my cat has diabetes

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colelouise

Member Since 2013
Hi I just recently found out my 8 year old cat "shmitten" has diabetes. I cannot afford the insulin and prescription food treatments. Does anyone have any alternative methods that are cheaper. She eats dry food but I am going to switch her to wet food but Im not sure what brand is best. Her glucose levels at the vet were "555" and I think it said normal was "between 70-130." She also had high cholesterol...">450 and normal levels are 70-200." I found a "blood sugar gold-cat diabetes support" at a website called "pet well being" It says one bottle is $36.95 and can last up to 4 months. Anyone familiar with this method? Please help! I want to help my kitty before its too late. Im worried that the levels are too high, are they too high to manage now? What do I do?
 
Did the vet run a fructosamine test? Diabetes is not generally diagnosed on just one blood glucoses number, although that high a level strongly suggests it.

Save your money and don't buy the 'Gold' stuff. It is not a treatment for full fledged diabetes.

Glucose may rise as much as 100 points when a cat is at the vet. Home glucose testing with an inexpensive human glucometer will help you determine what her normal levels are. Many of us use the WalMart RelionConfirm, Micro, or Vital/Prime. These are the same as the Arkray glucometers available at ADW, our shopping partner (link above)

If the cat has an infection, glucose will rise. Did the vet check her teeth? Her Urine?

Feeding dry food may increase the glucose 100 points or more. Switching to low carb canned (ex Friskies pate) or raw, will help bring that down.

Prescription food is not needed for this and many cats don't like it.
 
Hi and welcome!

As already suggested, try the diet change first. There are many cats who can be "diet-controlled" diabetics and never even require a drop of insulin and your Schmitten might be one of them. :smile: Home testing is key because it will show the impact food has on bringing down her numbers and will let you know if your cat might still need insulin. As mentioned above, the cost of home testing is in the test strips and the cheapest ones are the ReliOn/Arkray brand.

If she does end up needing insulin, there are quite a few cheap ways of getting it. First, you'll want a prescription for one of three insulins (these are the safest for cats and achieve the highest rates of regulation and remission): glargine/Lantus, detemir/Levemir, or PZI/ProZinc. Next, check this forum's "Supply Closet" as there are often people who have extra insulin to give away or sell for fairly cheap. Finally, if you have a Lantus or Levemir prescription, instead of purchasing a vial, you can purchase the solostar pens for much cheaper if you can find someone willing to sell you them individually (my local Walmart does). They're about $50 for a pen, plus there's an online coupon somewhere (I don't have the link on this device, so hopefully someone else will be able to post it for you) that gives an additional $25 off. If you use the pens with a syringe, a single pen can last you quite a while and at $25 a piece, that should be much more reasonably priced for you.
 
Thank you all so much for your suggestions, they are helping me so much! U have no idea how much I appreciate it. My vet was kind of rushing me out of the office so I didnt get to ask all the questions I wanted to. I have started feeding her the wet cat food that most of you suggested and her water intake, as well as her very frequent urination...... have slowed down dramatically! I am also attempting to potty train her. I started that before I found out she was diabetic and it has been going pretty good so far. I got the kit at petco for $40 and it is guaranteed to train your cat to go on the toilet. I resorted to this bc of the urination and having to completely dump her litter box everyday. But now that the urination isnt that bad, the potty training is going much better, Since I dont have to clean out the tray as often as I thought I would. I am going today to get the glucose test strips that some of you recommended at wal-mart.....fingers crossed....but I hope that her levels have lowered. I will keep you updated on how things are going. Again....Thank you all so much for all of your help :-D
 
I assume she isnt on the insulin yet? What food did you choose in the end?

Also can you please remove the 911 icon on your first post? You got me very worried!!!
Wendy
 
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