Semi new diabetic cat owner

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CarolAbbyCat

CarolAbbyCat

Member Since 2016
Hello everyone! This looks like a wonderful place!

My cat Abby was diagnosed with diabetes 2 years ago, but I'm still not happy/comfortable with managing it. She was diagnosed while I was in college and now I'm back in college so it is really hard to keep a regular schedule for her with night classes some days, early morning labs others... ugh. I do test at home, but only rarely am I able to do so, and I've never been able to perform a successful curve :'( Now the college I'm at has me traveling a lot for school and finding petsitters that will take care of a diabetic cat in a new town is really really hard :(

Anyway, thank you all for having me! I hope to learn a lot! :)
 
Welcome.
What insulin are you giving and what is the dose? Good insulin 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.
ProZinc and BCP PZI are better when the shooting schedule varies like yours seems to.

It is good that you are home testing. What difficulties are yo having? Maybe we can help. 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/...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/
What are you feeding? A low-carb canned is best. No reason for a 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/

Here is a link to home testing blood sugarshttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
 
Hey there and welcome. Sounds like your schedule is a challenge. Is there a time that you are always consistently home at? Maybe something early in the morning before you leave for class and then again 12 hours later. ( ie 5 Am and 5 PM)

There are pet sitter agency you can find on the internet, as I know my son who lives in MI found a couple of great people that way.

What insulin are you using? Tell us how we can help you to make it easier. We re here to help.
 
Hi there and welcome to you and Abby.

I love the avatar picture of your kitties. Those soulful eyes!!! Beautiful. :cat:


Mogs
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Hi! Abby was originally on Lantus, but has been on Vetsulin from my vet for over a year now. She is getting 4.5 units.

I have the Relion tester from Walmart. I am able to get a good test, but I'm not sure how accurate it is to where she really is. I've been trying to find a conversion chart on here? I think I saw a mention of one??
My issue with testing is that I'm at school/work all day weekdays and at least part of the day on weekends. She's too excited for food for me to test right before she eats. Any other time and she is a champ. I've never been able to do a successful 12hr curve because of my busy schedule or something happens - she will throw up a hairball or get into the cupboard etc etc throwing off her curve lol

They are getting one can of Friskies Chicken and Gravy Fillets per feeding, but Abby shares it with my other cat(Ziva). They get fed wet food twice a day, usually between 6:30 and 8:30 AM/PM depending on my schedule for that day/week. At 1AM/PM I have a timed feeder that gives them 1/4 cup of dry cat food (Blue Buffalo Chicken Recipe Adult) which they share. It was very very hard to find a wet food that Abby would eat and she will 'hunger strike' for a feeding when I open a new bulk container of cans. Ugh. If I do not give them the 1AM/PM snack, they will destroy my apt, blinds, toilet paper, kitchen cabinets, etc during the day, and at night they won't let me sleep. ><

I am traveling for my new job so frequently now that I think I will have to find a petsitting service - my new friends are tired of me asking and my coworkers get the same work trips/vacations I do. I usually drop her insulin dose to 4 units (down from 4.5) when I have petsitters to reduce the chance of hypoglycemia since they don't like new people. Is that bad/wrong?

What led me to this site is I was recently scheduled for an unexpected work trip and could only find a friend of a friend that was able to take care of my cats for half of the five day work trip on such short notice. They just set out a bunch of extra food on their last visit and I hoped for the best :'( :'( :'( I feel like a terrible cat mom and want to do more, be better armed with more information, and do better for her.

Thanks so much for your responses (and future help! :) )
Carol and Abby
 
Welcome to FDMB. This board is a fountain of knowledge and everyone is very supportive. I'm sure you will find some useful suggestions and tips to help you look after Abby.

A lot of folks grapple with how to look after their sugar kitties when they have to be away and it's obviousl your school and work schedule does present some challenges. If you could let us know where you are located, there may be someone else on the board in your neck of the woods who can recommend a pet sitting service or a local vet tech. Some folks have been able to get a vet tech from their vet's office to look after their cats in their absence. Since you are frequently away/have extended hours, having a couple of options would be ideal. What about an animal loving neighbour or an older teenager nearby wanting some extra that you could train? Sometimes a great sitter is much closer by than you think.

Reducing the amount of insulin while you are away is not wrong. Your ultimate goal is to keep Abby safe and sometimes that means a little less insulin when you are not there to monitor as closely. Many folks do this.

Providing a mid day snack is no problem however the Blue Buffalo dry food is high in carbs (around 30% if I checked the right formula) and not a good choice. The only dry food options with less than the recommended 10% carbs would be EVO Cat & Kitten Turkey kibble (available in specialty retailers or online) or Young Again Zero (available only online). That said, changing to a lower carb food mid day should be done with a lot of caution because decreasing carbs can cause a substantial lowering of BG levels and lead to a need for a reduction of the insulin dose. With Vetsulin, this is even more important as it is a faster acting insulin so monitoring during any food changes is of paramount importance to keep Abby safe.

Was there a reason for changing from Lantus to Vetsulin? Lantus does require a more consistent shot schedule than Vetsulin and I am guessing this may have been an influencing factor in that decision. There is also ProZinc which is a little more flexible than Lantus but is a longer/less rapid acting insulin than Vetsulin so might be another option given your schedule.
 
I am located in the Lincoln/Omaha, Nebraska USA area. I looked up the store locator for EVO and found a retailer near me that carries it. Both of my cats are very picky, but I will give it a try, thank you! :) They only reason for the change from Lantus to Vetsulin was Lantus doubled in price and I asked my vet if there was another option.
 
Hi Carol, you can also order the Evo from chewy.com, it's a little cheaper there. ProZinc insulin worked great for us as my schedule was pretty wonky when we started this journey. Don't feel like you're being a bad mom, we all have to do the best we can with what we've got. Coming here will help you a lot! :cat:
 
Thank you so much for that, and for all of the posts on here, both in direct response to me on this thread and that I have the pleasure of reading on here about others. I felt so so awful after the unexpected work trip where I couldn't find anyone for the second half and had to just leave food out. Abby just kept meowing at me after I got home and scratching at the fridge where her insulin is. I was up several nights stressing and trying to figure out what to do. This has helped much. Thank you so so much <3
 
The EVO kibble arrived and my cats love it!! BOTH OF THEM!!! I have gone through so many struggles finding a kibble they both like and this one they both love right away!! Ah, I'm so glad! Many thanks!! :) :)
 
Since you've changed the kible to a much lower carbohydrate level, it is very important to see how low the glucose is going now. A test around +3 or +4 hours post-shot should be above 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer and above 68 mg/dL on a pet meter. Going any lower runs the risk of hypoglycemia, which can be fatal.
 
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