Good news for Toes!

Hi all,

Toes went to the vet for a glucose curve and the vet was stunned to see his levels go down to normal within a few hours of his insulin. At one point, he even dipped a little too low and they had to give him some glucose! He has only been on prozinc for 1 week, with his levels in the 500's when we first discovered the diabetes. The vet has greatly lowered his insulin and thinks he may even be able to be diet controlled (he is on Hill's m/d). He will be rechecked in 1 week.

Thanks for all of your great information!

Erin

 

That's great that Toes' BG seems to be improving. Especially great that the low BG was caught and the dose lowered, but it really would be mcuh safer for Toes if you were hometesting him yourself. What if the dose is still too high? What if it's too low now? With hometesting, you could be constantly gathering data -- data that can help your vet determine a safe yet effective dose. You wouldn't have to pay for your vet to curve your cat, which would save your cat a lot of stress. (stress that often makes the vet readings inaccurate anyway.)

Have you checked out the FAQ, and the Health Links which has links to hometesting videos, slideshows, etc. The hometesting supplies can be very reasonable, especially if you have a Walmart nearby. (meter $9, strips $22, lancets $5) I know it can seem daunting, but we will do whatever we can to help you.

ALso please check out the the great feline nutirition site at catinfo.org, and check out low carb canned food on the Janet and Binky list. You are paying a lot of money for the Hills m/d, no doubt, but you are not getting quality ingredients. From http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-fel ... anned.html :

Pork By-Products, Pork Liver, Water, Corn Starch, Powdered Cellulose, Soy Protein Isolate, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Calcium Carbonate, Guar Gum, Locust Bean Gum...(vitamins etc)

Corn is very inappropriate for cats. And cellulose? It's essentially sawdust, and it's there as a very cheap filler. You can save money buying something like Fancy Feast, Friskies, etc. And for less or maybe the same money, you could be getting much better quality food... food that has real meat. Foods like Wellness, Evo 95% meat, Weruva, Soulistic etc. Food that would truly help your cat, which is a carnivore and really needs meat to thrive. It's the difference between feeding a sick person junk food and healthy food.

Hope you don't take all this as a downer or criticism. It's not meant as such. Most of us have been exactly where you are now. But there are things that you can do to keep your cat safer, and feed your cat better -- and all for less money than you are spending now. Learn about the disease, learn about nutrition, learn about homesting... all this will help you help your cat! And we are here to answer any questions.

laur

 

Hi Laur,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I do plan on hometesting-I recently ordered a meter but have not received it yet. You must understand, it has only been a week since Toes was diagnosed, so I have barely had time to wrap my head around all of this! As for the food, I will look into changing it eventually, however right now he is doing so much better, I don't want to make any more major changes. I certainly would like something cheaper and healthier for him. I am just so grateful that he is responding so well, when I thought it would take weeks or months to regulate him.

Thanks,
Erin