Looking for support in Akron, Ohio

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by saraj, Mar 30, 2015.

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  1. saraj

    saraj Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2015
    Hi everyone!

    My kitty Talula will be 12 on April 20th and was diagnosed with diabetes on 2/5/2015. She has also had a UTI the entire time since diagnosis. We are currently in our 4th round of antibiotics. She has endured 4 BG Curves at the vet's office and countless urine cultures and specifications. We started at 1 unit of NovolinN BID and after all the in office tests were up to 4 units BID 2 weeks ago. Completely frustrated with all of this (and $1200 in the hole with no real results, positive outcomes, or understanding of this disease) I decided to educate myself!

    I have done endless amounts of research in the last 2 weeks; literally every spare moment I have has been dedicated to finding out how I can best care for Talula.

    We have mastered home BG testing! I got her off Purina UR dry (which she had been eating for 6 years due to 2 surgeries to remove struvite stones). I switched her to the wet canned version of Purina UR which I now realize is still too high in carbs for a diabetic. This change was made in the very beginning of my research and I figured it was better than doing nothing. My vet did advise me to reduce her insulin to 2.5 units BID when we made the food change. I'm not clear how she came up with this amount, but thank God we did because in the last week, Talula had 2 hypo episodes that I caught (one BG was 50 and one was 38). I was able to rectify both by giving small amounts of food and rechecking every 30 mins to make sure BG was climbing. In the meantime, I have purchased a couple varieties of Fancy Feast Classic, but have not switched her yet because I don't know how to determine insulin dose based on BG tests with the new food. I also don't know if I should wean or just go cold turkey, I've read about both ways, but still don't know how to do insulin off BG readings. I'm hoping that I can get help with this by posting here.

    My other concern is that I now also realize that the NovolinN is not the best insulin choice for cats. My work schedule only permits feeding and testing every 12 hours (I can test as much as needed on my days off though) so I need to find an insulin that works more in this time frame/is longer lasting than NovolinN. I am also wondering if I should change insulin at the same time we begin the food change? I'm nervous because it seems like a lot of new variables and like I probably need to take a week off work to monitor her and watch everything...

    The other thing that would be great is if there is anyone out there that is in my area (Akron, Ohio) I am not getting much support from my vet and have called 6 other local vets beginning with the question "what type of diet do you recommend for diabetic kitties?" As I'm sure you all can guess...Hills, Royal Canin, dry, prescription, $$$...
    So needless to say, I have not been impressed with any of these answers.

    Thank you in advance so much for your help and support! I am so looking forward to getting this under control and giving Talula the best care I possibly can!

    Thank you,
    Sara
     
  2. BJM

    BJM Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2010
    Answered on your intro post here.
     
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