Scruffy's first appointment today

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Matt Dugovich

Member Since 2016
Hello everyone,

I have a few quick questions. My cat is going in for his first trip to the vet after being diagnosed with diabetes.

1. Is there any type of insulin I should avoid or any I should try to get? From brief reading on the site, ProZinc seemed well liked.

2. My cat has had a mix of dry food (free eating) and soft food (in the morning) his whole life. I realize I have to get dry food out of his diet, which is fine, but should I do that at the same time he is starting insulin? I have some prescription diabetic soft food for him, but I'm not sure if I should make the transition now.

Thanks everyone!

I'll continue to browse these topics, so maybe I can answer some of my own questions.

Dugo
 
Good insulins are the human Lantus and Levemir and the pet insulins ProZinc and BCP PZI. For those two human insulin it is best to get the 5 pack of 3 ml disposable pens via a 10 ml vial. Although per ml the vial is less expensive most cats will not use up a 10 ml vial before the insulin goes bad/becomes ineffective. The human insulin N/NPH is sometimes prescribed but only lasts 8-10 hours. Same for the pet insulin Vetsulin/Caninisulin.

A low-carb canned is best. No reason for a prescription food. I wuld not use the prescription food. Here is a list of commercial low-carb canned

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

Most of us here test or cats blood glucose at home using a human meter. We test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
Here is a link to home testing blood sugarshttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
 
If at all possible, it is better to transition to an all-wet, low carb diet before you start insulin. Changing to an all wet, low carb diet can cause a very significant drop in kitty's blood glucose. If you make the switch after kitty has already started insulin, you MUST be home testing and able to monitor closely to keep kitty safe!
 
Larry and Kitties said:
For those two human insulin it is best to get the 5 pack of 3 ml disposable pens via a 10 ml vial.
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Hi Dugo,

If you go for Lantus and you're in the US it's much cheaper from Marks Marine Pharmacy in Canada. Shout if you need more info. (Not sure what the score is for Levemir.)

Matt Dugovich said:
I realize I have to get dry food out of his diet, which is fine, but should I do that at the same time he is starting insulin? I have some prescription diabetic soft food for him, but I'm not sure if I should make the transition now.
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As Lucy correctly advises above, for cats on insulin it is VITAL to be home testing before initiating a food transition to a low carb diet. However, you need to take into account the cat's diabetic status as to whether it's OK to wait a little while to transition the food first or whether the cat urgently needs insulin. Here's something I posted on the subject recently. I hope it's also helpful to you and your Scruffadoodle. :)

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...agnosed-with-diabetes-uk.155961/#post-1649578


Mogs
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You've gotten good advice so far! I agree with getting rid of the dry in his diet before you start insulin--having dry in the diet will give you wonky, higher numbers. Some lucky cats (about 25%) go into remission based on the diet change alone. What wet food do you plan on feeding? Diabetics need less than 10% carbs in their diet. There's a fantastic food chart here that lists many foods with their protein/fat/carb content broken down into percentages. This is not information you can get from the back of a can, unfortunately! If your vet wants you to feed a prescription diet, Purina DM canned is the only food low enough in carbs for diabetics (Hills diabetic canned food is not safe for diabetics, believe it or not!), but you can get premium foods with better ingredients that are also low carb--a prescription diet is not necessary.

Lantus and Levemir have the highest remission rates in cats (80+% with a low carb canned diet and dose adjustements via hometesting), and as others mentioned, much cheaper to get in Canada! You just get a script from your vet. A pack of 5 pens is about $170 after shipping, but it will last you a year or more. Very much worth it! Prozinc is ok (remission rates haven't been studied extensively, but they're estimated at somewhere between 40-60%). I would not start your cat on Vetsulin or Novolin (also called Humulin N). They are good dog insulins, but not good for cats.

The spreadsheet is such a valuable tool! When Bandit has needed insulin, I share his with his vet and it's perfect for visualizing your data for dosing advice, either from your vet or here on the forums.
 
Scruffy's first visit went well. His blood came back and the vet had good hopes of him not being on insulin very long. His diet is now completely switched to a soft food low carb diet (classic fancy feasts). I have not discussed the details of insulin yet with the doctor. I told her how well Scruffy was doing with appetite and switching food, which made her want to wait till next week before checking his blood again.

Is there any way that diet alone could be all he needed? He's acting normal again which is awesome to see.

I guess next Tuesday I'll know for sure, and hopefully have some details about insulin options.

Thanks for all the tips on everything!
 
@Matt Dugovich If he's going to go into remission on diet alone, then you would know within in the first week of changing the diet. Have you picked up a home glucose meter and started testing yet? Your home tests will be more accurate than tests at the vet, where his blood glucose is likely to be inflated due to stress. That could lead to your vet wanting to start him on insulin when it may not be needed.

Is he currently overweight? If so, getting him down to a healthy weight could also reduce insulin need or push him into remission if his numbers aren't terribly high. But if you see consistent home test numbers over 200, I would not hesitate to start insulin, even if it's a smaller dose.
 
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