Switching food, need dosing advice

I recently adopted a diabetic cat; she was diagnosed in September. The shelter had her on Royal Canin Glycobalance, but that seems too high-carb to me, and it's very expensive. I want to switch her to a low-carb commercial diet, probably Fancy Feast or something similar. The shelter had her on a dose of 3 units of PZI. I haven't been able to start hometesting yet (although I'll be starting before I switch her food), but her BG levels at the shelter were around 150 at her nadir. When I switch her food, should I lower her insulin dose to start? I don't want to risk hypoglycemia, obviously.

 

First of all, great job adopting a diabetic. That is truly a selfless act. As for the dose during switching, part of that will depend on your schedule and how much you can monitor. For now I would suggest setting up a spreadsheet so you're ready to go with testing. Then take a few days to collect data before making the switch. Once we see some of the data we'll be better able to guide you through the switch. And of course, make the switch over gradually, not all at once. That will keep her stomach from rebelling.

 

Thank you so much for adopting that baby! Diabetics have a hard time finding homes and I'm so glad you gave her one! I think you will want to drop the dose some when you switch food and be sure you're home testing...as Djamila said, a bit of data can help us help you figure out a good dose!

 

I wanted to send this earlier but was at work with just my phone. Here is the link to the handy spreadsheet we all use here. It automatically color codes and makes it super easy to find patterns and figure out how to help you kitty.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

If you would like some help getting it set up, we have some pros here who can do it for you, so just holler if you'd like a hand!

 

Thank you, Djamila! I've got the spreadsheet all set up and ready to go; I'm just waiting for the test supplies I ordered to arrive, since I wasn't able to find them locally. I'll report back as soon as I have some data. Thanks for your help!

 

Yeah! One last step....



When you link it into your signature, we can all see it. How is Mari other than needing insulin? Any other health issues?
Anything that's concerning you? Any funny stories?

Did you order a pet-specific meter, or a human meter (either is fine, just curious)

 

She's doing great! She came out from under the bookshelf where she was hiding very quickly and is getting into everything. Probably the most fearless cat I've ever met. Our two giant greyhounds didn't even faze her. Other than the insulin, she's healthy and happy and very snuggly.

I ordered a human meter, the Relion from Walmart.

 

That's great to hear she's adjusting so quickly!

Just to clarify, is she actually using PZI, or Prozinc?

 

Wow that’s great that she’s so fearless! My 3 would hide forever if they saw a greyhound...they run from the doorbell even if it’s just on TV!!

 

Sorry, yes, it's Prozinc. Thought they were the same thing.

 

I did too for a long time. There are some articles that indicate there may be slight differences in how they work, although the dosing "rules" are the same either way, so just wanted to check since I'm curious to see a PZI kitty. There are threads from folks back around 2012 and before that were using it, but I haven't seen one currently.