Some Questions

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Kim Page

Kim Page

Member Since 2016
I am interested in how safe is it to use the Paw pad to get blood from? I would like to rotate areas. What is the best way to clean the area and can anyone recommend a lancing device that does not make a clicking noise to use on a cat and where to get it from please?

My baby was diagnosed a couple of weeks ago and I am gradually changing his diet to low carb
Nature's Variety wet & dry Cat Food
now first to make sure he needs insulin.

His reading at the vet was 380, one week later 263 and tonight 299 (I had a hard time getting blood, had the runs earlier and he just ate a lil)

The CD my vet gave me said glucose can fluctuate between 100-300. So What are normal reading for a cat that just ate?

Also, does anyone know if the cat treat Temptations OK for treats once in a while, are they low carb? If not what is the best most tempting store bought treat? He does not like my chicken....lol. He likes canned tuna a lil but loves temptations.

Thank you all for your help with my newbe questions. I have driven myself nuts trying to learn what is best reading for hours and still not sure of the best way to handle all this on a limited income.
 
We generally think a cat is regulated if they are in the mid to lower 200s at preshot and in lower 100s or double digits midcycle, but above 50 on a human meter and 68 on a pet meter (those numbers are on the edge of hypo range). We consider a cat in remission if they range from 40-120 without insulin for 2 weeks.

If he likes fish, he might like bonito flakes - dried fish flakes. They are low carb.

It sounds like you are working as fast as you can to learn how best to help your kitty. :bighug:
 
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So if he tests below 300 to 120 without insulin for 2 weeks he does not need to be on insulin?
 
I think Sue mis-typed......we consider them in remission if they stay between 40-120 for two weeks without insulin

I also don't think the Natures Variety dry is low carb....there are only 2 kinds of kibble that are low carb and Natures Variety isn't one of them. Only Young Again....and I can't remember the other one right now are low carb dry foods
 
freeze dried treat are a good treat as they are generally 0 carbs-1 ingredient
there are tons of variety
pure bites
natures variety
orajen
primal
stella and chewys

some are freeze dried raw and can be used as food as well.
:bighug:
 
Unfortunately I don't think any low carb ones are like temptations.

I second the Bonita Flakes but buy them at an Asian grocery store they are much cheaper there.
 
You can use a lancet 'freehand' for the ear pokes. That would resolve the clicking problem.

Temptations are definitely a no-no. Saoirse loves them, too, but she doesn't get them any more. She now loves the diabetic-friendly freeze-dried chicken treats I give her instead. Hopefully your kitty will like some of the low carb treats suggested above. :)

Kim Page said:
... still not sure of the best way to handle all this on a limited income.
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If you let us know which country you're in and which meter and insulin you're using then members from that country should be able to give you plenty of hints and tips about where to get insulin and test supplies at good prices.
Kim Page said:
Thank you! Are any of them like temptations :) :cat:
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The freeze-dried protein treats I use are essentially little cubes of dried meat. They have a bite to them but they crumble fairly easily. They're a darn sight healthier than the Temptations and most cats really, really like them. If anything, I think Saoirse actually prefers the freeze-dried treats.


Mogs
.
 
Chris & China said:
I think Sue mis-typed......we consider them in remission if they stay between 40-120 for two weeks without insulin

I also don't think the Natures Variety dry is low carb....there are only 2 kinds of kibble that are low carb and Natures Variety isn't one of them. Only Young Again....and I can't remember the other one right now are low carb dry foods
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Hi Chris,
Chris & China said:
I think Sue mis-typed......we consider them in remission if they stay between 40-120 for two weeks without insulin

I also don't think the Natures Variety dry is low carb....there are only 2 kinds of kibble that are low carb and Natures Variety isn't one of them. Only Young Again....and I can't remember the other one right now are low carb dry foods
Click to expand...

I read it is low carb. I am trying to find the source. I also has written the company to give me the carb info on all of their products. I hope they do. I will check into young again because my cats are not eating much right now. Do you know the carbs in it and is it grain free?

Is FF grain free? I thought the carb count like mid levels for FF. Thanks. :cat:
 
Some FF are higher. When people recommend FF here they are talking about the classic pate style ones. Those are low carb, FF with the word gravy in it are not. The pates are grain free I'm not sure if all of them are as I don't fed mine that. (with 3 cats I refuse to buy a food that only comes in 3 ounce sized cans)

Young Again is Grain Free the other low carb dry foods are Wysong Epigen 90 and Evo in the US although Evo has recently had a recipe change that may have made their carb count higher.
 
Kim Page said:
Do you know the carbs in it and is it grain free?
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They say it's zero carb, but we have it figured at about 5% carb ....but it's VERY expensive stuff and it seems like I've heard a lot of people have had the same problem we did with it lately....we got the samples which the cats loved, but when we paid for the whole bag (about $50 for 8lbs) the cats refused to eat it.

One very important thing to consider too is that ALL dry food is dehydrating and with diabetic kitties, it's important to keep as much water in them as possible to help protect their kidneys. Diabetes doesn't kill our cats....usually it's kidney failure, cancer or something else totally unrelated to diabetes.

Also, "Grain Free" is just the latest buzz words in the pet food industry....it does NOT necessarily mean "low carb"! They just replaced cheap rice, corn and wheat (things we all know as grains) with cheap potatoes, sweet potatoes and tapioca starch.....all starches that break down into the exact same carbs that rice, corn and wheat do

If you can get your cat onto a low carb canned food like Friskies pates, Fancy Feast Classic (which are pates) or 9-Lives pates, you're going to be doing him a huge favor in getting his diabetes under control and possibly headed toward remission.
 
Chris & China said:
They say it's zero carb, but we have it figured at about 5% carb ....but it's VERY expensive stuff and it seems like I've heard a lot of people have had the same problem we did with it lately....we got the samples which the cats loved, but when we paid for the whole bag (about $50 for 8lbs) the cats refused to eat it.

One very important thing to consider too is that ALL dry food is dehydrating and with diabetic kitties, it's important to keep as much water in them as possible to help protect their kidneys. Diabetes doesn't kill our cats....usually it's kidney failure, cancer or something else totally unrelated to diabetes.

Also, "Grain Free" is just the latest buzz words in the pet food industry....it does NOT necessarily mean "low carb"! They just replaced cheap rice, corn and wheat (things we all know as grains) with cheap potatoes, sweet potatoes and tapioca starch.....all starches that break down into the exact same carbs that rice, corn and wheat do

If you can get your cat onto a low carb canned food like Friskies pates, Fancy Feast Classic (which are pates) or 9-Lives pates, you're going to be doing him a huge favor in getting his diabetes under control and possibly headed toward remission.
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Chris...
I think the confusion over the 0 or 5% carbs is this-( I was recently on a low carb diet and learned this)
The YAOC is almost 5% fiber-
what I learned on my low carb diet is that if it say for example if something is 10 carbs and fiber is 8% then the actual digestible carbs are only 2% -
just subtract the fiber from the carbs and you will get the actual digestible carb count.
I completely agree wet is best.
:cat:
 
Shaak used to enjoy temptations as well. I began trying to get her to eat pure bites in early Feb. She did not like them, would sniff and walk away. However, I kept offering them to her a few times a day and within about two weeks she was eating them and now about 4 weeks later she looks forward to them and enjoys them.
 
Good to know. Thanks Chris! I may actually pick up some of the dog version and see if they would like it since they do still eat a little bit of kibble per day.
 
For the paw stick, I never was able to draw enough blood from Diego's big oad in the back to routinely do testing there. When I tried, I bought a box of alcohol swabs and would swab his foot with it before I lanced it. I did use the lancing device for this. For whatever reason, even the highest setting with a 26 gauge lancet didn't produce more than a micro drop of blood. I guess he has callouses on his feet tht hinder my efforts. So I stopped and just do his ears now, which I free hand.

If you do continue to use his foot as a testing site, be sure to put some neosporin on that site every time without fail. Helps with healing and reduces the off-chance that he would develop an infection from walking around on it.
 
ja9390 said:
For the paw stick, I never was able to draw enough blood from Diego's big oad in the back to routinely do testing there. When I tried, I bought a box of alcohol swabs and would swab his foot with it before I lanced it. I did use the lancing device for this. For whatever reason, even the highest setting with a 26 gauge lancet didn't produce more than a micro drop of blood. I guess he has callouses on his feet tht hinder my efforts. So I stopped and just do his ears now, which I free hand.

If you do continue to use his foot as a testing site, be sure to put some neosporin on that site every time without fail. Helps with healing and reduces the off-chance that he would develop an infection from walking around on it.
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I also failed at drawing enough blood on my babies paw pad. I thought I had it and then it wasn't enough. I'll try again tomorrow because it's so much easier there if I can actually get enough blood.
 
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