Looking for Cheaper Options

Hello! I am new to this forum. My name is Heather. I am currently living on disability, and with my cat just being diagnosed with diabetes I am looking for cheaper options. I did apply for help from Diabetic Cats in Need organization for help and received an email. I hope they can help, but I don't want to put my eggs all in one basket so to speak.

I wanted to start treating Misty right away, so I did end up buying all my supplies from the vet. I believe that I may have been in over my head. I feel as though I am not educated enough to care for my cat, so I am doing the best that I can. I give her dry food (the vet said that I could just set out for her while mixing it with her old food) and wet food. The canned food is 5.5 oz and I give her 1/4 twice a day. Both are Purina Diabetic Diet DM. I don't know how much to feed her.

As far as food goes Misty has to be on a high protein, high fat, and low carb diet. My vet encouraged me to find one that also has l-carnitine or arginine. She has a very high glucose level (484 the last time she was tested). Right now I am not testing her, as my vet wants me to come back in 2 weeks to test her. I did tell them that I wanted to test her at home eventually.

If I do get help from DCIC I will have certain requirements to follow. They would be supplying the food and supplies that I would need. I would have to change her vetsulin and food. Though I did look through their extensive list and found a few brands that might work. Evolve is at the top of the list. It had everything (minus arginine) that Misty needs.

I am sorry for the long post. I seem to have many questions.

 

Hi Heather!! Welcome to the FDMB!...This is the best place you never wanted to be!

The D/M is too high in carbs for a diabetic cat, so I'd take it back and get a refund. Just tell your vet that Misty won't eat it. It has a guarantee so they should refund your money.

Most of us feed plain old Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pates.....they are both low carb and fine for diabetic cats (and a lot cheaper than any of that "prescription" food!)

At first, you really can't over-feed. A diabetic cat is actually starving to death because without insulin, the nutrients in the food they're eating can't get into the cells. Think of insulin like it's a key.....and on every cell in the body there's a lock....without enough keys, no matter how much your cat eats, the nutrients can't get in so the cells starve.

As you start to get better control over the diabetes, she won't want or need as much food.

DCIN is a fantastic organization. I'm a case manager for them! As long as you qualify (which it sounds like you do), we'll provide insulin, a blood glucose meter, strips for the meter and at least a 1 time supply of syringes.

We all look forward to helping you and your "extra sweet" Misty!!

 

Aww thank you! Unfortunately the DM food is all that Misty has for now. I am still very confused as I hear different things from my vet and others that have diabetic cats. The vet tells me that Misty needs a "special" diet. I gave them a list of canned foods recommended by DCIN, but they really didn't look at it. I'm not sure what food to get her as I don't know what I am doing. I am severely overwhelmed. Will Fancy Feast Classic be enough? Will the DM food damage Misty?

DCIN is fantastic. How long will some supplies be given? Sorry for all the questions. This is all new!

 

Not exactly but it's higher in carbs than Fancy Feast is and the ingredients are pretty lousy. Look at the label....it says "Dietetic", not "Diabetic"....they were forced to change the name because it doesn't actually do anything to treat diabetes!

Look at the ingredients....there's absolutely nothing special and matter of fact, some pretty stupid things if you want something low carb!

Poultry by-product meal, soy protein isolate, corn gluten meal, soy flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols, corn starch, animal liver flavour, calcium carbonate, phosphoric acid, fish oil, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, DL-Methionine, taurine, choline chloride, powdered cellulose, salt, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite. A-2561

Compare to Fancy Feast Chicken:

Chicken, poultry broth, liver, meat by-products, fish, artificial and natural flavors, tricalcium phosphate, guar gum, added color, salt, MINERALS [potassium chloride, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, potassium iodide], taurine, VITAMINS [thiamine mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin E supplement, niacin (Vitamin B-3), calcium pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Vitamin A supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (Vitamin K), pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), riboflavin supplement (Vitamin B-2), Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin (Vitamin B-7), folic acid (Vitamin B-9), Vitamin D-3 supplement], sodium nitrite (to promote color retention).

Look at the first ingredients....ingredients have to be listed in order, so the FF has chicken as it's first ingredient.....the DM has "poultry by-product meal".. It is made from grinding clean, rendered parts of poultry carcasses and can contain bones, offal and undeveloped eggs, and feathers that are unavoidable in the processing of the poultry parts.

Just like human diabetics need to eat a low carb diet, so do our cats. If they continue eating a high carb food, they'll need higher doses of insulin to combat the extra and their chance of remission is lower.

We will provide insulin as long as you need it. We hope that people will be able to afford their own syringes and test strips at some point, but if you really can't, we'll continue to supply them too.

If you end up on Lantus (which is our most recommended insulin), you can get 100 syringes for $12.58 at WalMart.

The meters we send use the same strips that are used in the Relion Confirm or Micro meters at WalMart too. The strips are $35.88/100

 

Chris has given great info--I just want to add that vets who don't specialize in cats and particularly diabetic cats have less knowledge than people like Chris and others on this forum. I spent $1000s of dollars and learned the most of what I know here on this forum.
Testing was something critical for us--I had 1 vet actually tell me to stop testing..Thank goodness I didn't listen to her as my boy has roller coaster ride with is bg.

 

Welcome to you and your furbaby. I was in your position once. I believed everything my vet said, although she did tell me the special food was too exspensive and really wasn't ideal for diabetics. The people on this board eat live and breathe diabetes 24/7. They helped save my girl. Home testing is the safest way to help Misty with finding a good dose.
Humans don't dose without checking their blood glucose level, neither should we give our kitties without checking.
DCIN has helped me on serval occassions, can't say enough good things about them!
Sometimes we just have to nod our heads to the vet who doesn't get alot of training dealing with diabetics. The people here know everything you need to know, just ask away.
Once again welcome. Hope we can help you help Misty.

 

Hi Heather and Misty!

Harley and I are newly diagnosed as well. We are also struggling with our vet who doesn't know too much. He didn't want us testing at home and he prescribed a twice a day insulin for only once a day. I composed an email just questioning these things and then letting him know the facts through research I found and also letting him know that I have started home testing because I could not get myself to give him an injection without testing his levels in fear of bottoming him out (we are just starting so I don't know how realistic that is, but it is a fear when you are blindly injecting). So I hope it goes smoothly when he responds! Also I am a little overwhelmed with the food as well. I was sent home with a $40 bag of D/M as well and a $35 case of wet D/M, to only be told it probably isn't the best. I figured for right now we are going to use it, until we get regulated and a schedule with our vet - I want him to understand I am an active care giver and not just one who is expecting my vet to do everything, just like you sound you will be an active care giver as well! So I figured once we get on a good schedule and come to the end of all the D/M food I will start looking and switching Harley over.

This is certainly a new ride, isn't it!? I am just glad we both found this form.

 

You are a wealth of information! Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I was so lost after I heard Misty had diabetes. I have begun to suspect that my vet is not all that knowledgeable on her illness. I gave her Fancy Feast Classic Patte this morning. Does it matter if the wet food she eats has l-carnitine or arginine? My vet did recommend that though neither of those things were in the DM diet? So that has me a bit off. I just want Misty to be healthy as possible.

 

Chris definitely is very helpful. I felt overwhelmed when my vet was throwing all of the new information at me. It felt like they just wanted me to spend what little money I had on the food. I think I will try to return it. I am glad that you did not listen to your vet! I guess sometimes they just mean well, but might not know a lot.

Thank you!

 

Hi Robin and Harley!
I feel like I do not instinctively trust the vet. I am glad that you wrote him an e-mail! I hope he looks at it, and can take some things away from it. Home testing does sound like it is the best. Being anxious, it sounds daunting. However, I do not want Misty to get stressed out by having to go to the vet for testing. I have been giving Misty insulin with only one testing. I was led to believe that I should wait two weeks. Who knows, I hope that I will gain more knowledge as time goes on.

The food thing is all over the place. Doesn't that suck? Spending all that money on food that might not be the best. I made the decision to switch over to Fancy Feast Classic Patte. That's just me though. I still will feed her the dry food for now. Harley is in good hands! You will have to let me know what your vet says. I am still weary about switching foods, but I just can't afford it. Good luck to you Let me know how things go. I will do the same.

 

Thank you! Wow, I can't believe that she actually admitted that. I just learned that DM food was specifically for diabetic cats. I was disappointed. I have been giving Misty insulin after a testing at the vet. She had a very high glucose level (484). I will be going back in two weeks. I have been giving her 1 unit of vetsulin twice a day. I definitely want to start checking myself. I am glad that DCIN has served you well! That gives me hope.

 

I've never heard anybody else say their vet recommended those so I think it's not worth worrying about, but I also think you could probably get those supplements on Amazon or at a health food store to add to food if you really wanted them.

I would!!….take that money and use it to buy some more Fancy Feast classics or Friskies pates!

Really....as soon as possible you need to get her off of all dry food. I understand it seems cheaper, but if you end up using more insulin because it's so high carb, you're really not saving much (if any) and Misty's health could suffer.

Another option for food that's totally acceptable is Special Kitty pates from WalMart….they are less than $1 per can (and those are the big 12-13oz cans!)

 

Hi Heather and Misty!
Glad you are on the forum and seeing first hand how everyone cares, supports and offers knowledge.
I guess the only thing I could think to add: be very careful taking away the carbs until you are testing.
My own experience, I did exactly that. I should have tested before adjusting foods as my girl went into remission with 3 weeks of removing hi carb.
I was learning to test tho, but still shooting insulin. I almost lost my girl from being too low.
So, just be careful and lets get you on board with that testing!
Welcome and you are in Pur-fect hands now

 

I was doubting switching her, I will keep her on the DM diet for now . It's just confusing as to what I should do and not do right now. I still think I should listen a little more to the vet until things get settled. At least with the food. Thank you for the welcome!