Vetsulin

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by Jill & Squirt, Feb 13, 2018.

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  1. Jill & Squirt

    Jill & Squirt New Member

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    Feb 7, 2018
    My vet did allergy testing on my Squirt because he has been pulling out his fur. One allergy is pork. Does anyone have experience with vetsulin and a pork allergy?
    The vet is supposed to be getting me information from the company, but I thought I'd check with you all.

    Thanks in advance!
     
  2. Tuxedo Mom

    Tuxedo Mom Well-Known Member

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    From the vetsulin webiste:

    http://www.vetsulin.com/vet/AboutVet_ProductLabel.aspx

    "
    CONTRAINDICATIONS


    Dogs and cats known to have a systemic allergy to pork or pork products should not be treated with vetsulin®. vetsulin® is contraindicated during periods of hypoglycemia."

    better choice would be either Prozinc or one of the long lasting insulins Lantus or Levemir.
     
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  3. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Anything else going on stress wise that might explain the hair pulling? I've seen it before in an abused cat we rescued. Or maybe mites or a very minor scratch that's gotten infected. Some vets go over the top making simple things more complicated than they need to be.
     
  4. Jill & Squirt

    Jill & Squirt New Member

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    No, he's been doing it since August. He pulls out the fur on his stomach and the inside of his legs.
    They did skin scraping to check for mites, tried him on prednisolone which of course is not good for diabetics either. But that did seem to work. He is allergic to a lot of grasses/pollens, feather mix, and pork, beef, egg, lamb, venison, banana, oats, squash, and pumpkin. Oh, and human epithelial cells. So he's allergic to me!
     
  5. Jill & Squirt

    Jill & Squirt New Member

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    Feb 7, 2018

    Thanks, we just got the results last night and the vet tried to tell me that it was probably fine....
     
  6. Jill & Squirt

    Jill & Squirt New Member

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    Feb 7, 2018
    Here is a picture of the missing fur
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    You've already done everything I could think of.
     
  8. Jill & Squirt

    Jill & Squirt New Member

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    Feb 7, 2018
    Well that makes me feel better.
     
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  9. Tuxedo Mom

    Tuxedo Mom Well-Known Member

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    What type of food are you feeding? Many foods have mixed protein sources which may include one or more of the proteins that Squirt has shown an allergy to.
     
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  10. Jill & Squirt

    Jill & Squirt New Member

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    He's currently on M/D which also has to change due to the pork in it. Royal Canin glycobalance contains none of his allergens, so I think we are going to use it. Yes I know canned food is recommended here. I talked to my vet about that and he was not on board with changing to canned only at this time.
     
  11. Tuxedo Mom

    Tuxedo Mom Well-Known Member

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    The Royal Canin glycobalance dry has over 30% carbs which is far far too high for a diabetic kitty. Foods ideally should be 10% carbs or less. Unfortunately the wet Royal Canin glycobalance, which is much better for carbs, contains pork by products. Not sure what other choices are out there that do not contain the substances that Squirt is allergic to. You might post a separate question on the Health Forum:

    http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

    asking what others might suggest.


    ETA: Finding a suitable low carb wet food can help with lowering the insulin requirements.
     
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  12. FurBabiesMama

    FurBabiesMama Well-Known Member

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    And this is the same vet that said Vetsulin is fine with a pork allergy? Just sayin'....

    Glycobalance is pretty high in carbs. I know of someone here who was able to drop his cat's insulin dose by half after switching from it to a low-carb wet food. There are other reasons for moving to wet food as well... http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...r-more-than-just-carbohydrate-content.175004/
     
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  13. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    I have a suggestion for the entire pet food industry. I'd gladly pay whatever it takes to make you put the same thing in the can as what the label says should be in there. Trust me everyone, I've been "on the floor" and seen what passes for food and I've been in boardrooms where the cost/benefit of this has been discussed.
    Has anyone ever looked in a can of shrimp/ocean fish? It's what falls off the conveyor belt onto the floor. The problem in this house is that the cheaper and more disgusting the food is the more they enjoy it. I just don't get it. :banghead: :blackeye: :(
     
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  14. Tuxedo Mom

    Tuxedo Mom Well-Known Member

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    Unfortunately the bottom line ($$$$$) outweighs health concerns. Almost 50 years ago I worked for a short time with a company that packaged coffee for use in restaurants. The floor were cleaned daily with dustbane...a chemical meant to control dust. Coffee was ground and came down from the hopper into different size bags onto a conveyor belt, but some inevitably broke. There was a large cardboard box at the end of the conveyor to "gather" the coffee from the broken bags. Some always spilt on the floor. At the end of the day the coffee from the floor ( with residual of dustbane) was swept up, put into the box and dumped back into the hopper so as not to "waste" any. It took me many, many years to drink coffee after that. I am sure the situations have gotten worse since that time :eek: Pet food is even worse since it is not regulated the same way as human food.
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2018
  15. FurBabiesMama

    FurBabiesMama Well-Known Member

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  16. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    I worked at the cow factory in the late 70's, made more than what minimum wage is 40 years later.
    Why is it okay to have 3 dogs and 5 kids stuffed in a Range Rover but more than 1 cat and you're a social misfit? We're going to be third class citizens no matter what we do.
     
  17. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    @nmveasey @Sharon14 @Kris & Teasel
    You're the only people I know with animals other than cats and dogs. Do you wonder what's in their food or is it not such an issue?
     
  18. Kris & Teasel

    Kris & Teasel Well-Known Member

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    Not a huge issue for a horse because most of the diet is hay. The pelleted feeds are also mostly hay-related ingredients with other plant based stuff added. The hay has to be good quality though - not moldy, dusty, etc.
     
  19. Sharon14

    Sharon14 Well-Known Member

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    Many hay farmers around here spray their fields with weed killers. Makes for pretty hay, but some residual poisons I’m sure. Also feeds are made from hay and grains like corn and oats and those are mostly GMO and therefore also sprayed with weed killers, etc. So, kinda like our food supply, unless you buy organic...
     
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  20. Kris & Teasel

    Kris & Teasel Well-Known Member

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    :confused::eek:!!
     
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  21. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Just when you think there's nothing you can do, feeling helpless. Anyone remember about five years ago in China there was a huge supply of contaminated infant formula that was knowingly put on the market. Capital punishment in China then was a firing squad and that's what they did with these guys. Or Romania and Nicolae Ceaușescu.
    In the movie 28 days I love the scene when the survivors scavenge the supermarket and find shiny apples, "Umm, thank God for irradiated food!"
     
  22. nmveasey

    nmveasey Member

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    Please excuse my tardiness to the party...
    Not really an issue with with the other animals, as they are not carnivores. A local feed mill, that I used to work at, makes the chicken and hog feed. I know what the ingredients are there. Haha... occasionally you hear about horse feed contaminated with cattle medications that are toxic to horses. Now with the new feed animal laws, you have to have a veterinary prescription to get those medications and every animal that eats that feed must be documented.

    There is a chance you may get a bad batch (ex high moisture corn was used, Alfa toxins present, etc) of feed, but there are classic signs that the feed isn’t good. Most people will recognize the problem and not feed it. If they do feed bad feed, the animal typically won’t eat it.

    As for the hay, my dad and I are hay producers. We do use restricted selective herbicides to produce a clean weed free hay. There are weeds out there that are toxic to livestock and we don’t want them in our hay. We have to document what fields these chemicals are applied to and how much is applied. If we sell the hay, have to inform the buyer of residual herbicide carry over into the animal manure. Basically, you can’t use that manure on your garden as it will kill any broadleaf crop. The herbicide doesn’t harm the animal in any way and chemical withhold times are followed.

    Hope this answer helps! I also hope everyone and their kitties are doing well! I have been a bit of a stranger lately due to life getting crazy.
     
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  23. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    No more herbicides here for your lawn but if they're so dangerous why can golf courses and cemeteries use them? Everything here is clay so that nice green lawn is just an artist's conception. We still have the glossy brochures from when this house wasn't even a hole in the ground. They portrayed lots of happy people with 100 year old oak trees in their 12 foot wide front yard, it looked like Happy Days but no Fonzie or Ralph Malph. Of course they scraped all the topsoil away first, good luck first time home owner!
     
  24. Sharon14

    Sharon14 Well-Known Member

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    I’ll say one thing about herbicides, then shut up. I liken their safety to cigarette smoke. You don’t develope cancer, lung disease or heart disease the day after you smoke your first cigarette. It’s after years of exposure and some never get ill at all. Having said that, I feed my horses hay that has been sprayed with Graze On, whose main ingredient is 2-4-D (yup, same as agent orange) and feed whose components are GMO and probably been sprayed with RoundUp. I also occasionally use herbicides especially on my fence lines. That’s pretty much all there is. Nichole, your laws are better than here where no farmer has ever told me they sprayed their fields, I learned about it the hard way. Sorry about the thread hi jack, Jill. How we got on herbicide use in horse hay from a question about pork allergy in vetsulin.....:confused:
     
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