My baby Pepita was diagnosed on 03/03/2016

My baby Pepi was diagnosed with diabetes the beginning of this month and ever since I have been overwhelmed by the whole situation. I'm doing my best and working on taking away the dry food it's a process with her as she is a very picky eater. When diagnosed she was at 392 and was gradually dropping we started with 1 unit twice daily and a week after this dose the vet adjusted the dose to 1/2 a unit twice daily and the numbers started rising again, at peak she was around 400-450 again I talked to vet and he adjusted the dose once more to 3/4 of a unit and currently she's between 300-350 at peak and sometimes a little higher. These last two days though I had to give her dry food at night as she refused to eat and my vet said that she needs to eat before or right around the time she gets a shot, is it possible that the last 2 days she was higher at peak because I gave her they dry kibble? I read all the information on pro zinc and have a decent understanding of how it works. However my vet said to only test her twice daily before the shots no testing in between, should I be testing in between those 12 hours?? and also regarding the food my vet said the best bet for food is the prescription diet but the ingredients in the food are just horrible. I didn't read them when I first got the food I was in too much shock but once I got home and took the time to see what's in it I was mortified. I immediately started my own research and have been feeding her wet food from wellness and weruva and the dry food (which I'm doing my best to transition away) is called orijen. She used to eat Fancy Feast but my vet said that it was the equivalent to feeding her McDonalds however she couldn't recommend any other food beside the prescription gunk they want me to feed her which I refuse.
I would appreciate any input or advice regarding my baby and thank you in advance for any replies and help!!!

 

Hi Evelyn and welcome to you and your Pepita.

Great to hear that you're home testing! Your instincts are good, Evelyn: you do need to test between preshots to determine how effectively the insulin is working to help regulate Pepi's BG. You need to know both the preshot (to determine whether it's safe to give insulin) and also do mid-cycle checks (to determine both safety and dose efficacy).

There is quite an active insulin support group board for Prozinc users where you'll be able to get help and advice specific to your insulin type. Here's the link for you:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/

The main Feline Health board is the ideal place to ask general questions about all aspects of cat health (including questions on diabetes and food, etc.). If ever you need help in a hurry and the Prozinc ISG board is quiet, Feline Health is a good place to post because it typically gets more traffic.

FYI many, many FDMB members feed their diabetic kitties Fancy Feast with great success. Wellness and Weruva are popular, too.

I am on the same page as you with the prescription foods. Recently my civvie had a digestive upset and she was put on Hill's i/d pouches: I was desperate to get her to eat something and she was having problems with all of her normal foods (vomiting, diarrhoea - clear for pancreatitis - cause of upset unknown despite testing of blood and faeces). My little Noodlebug had never ever had a day's sickness before in her life. Her diarrhoea persisted for weeks. Even the addition of a weapons grade probiotic didn't help. In desperation I transitioned her off the Hill's Rx diet and back onto her normal grub. Her poops started improving from the moment I started reducing the amount of the Rx food in her diet. As soon as it was out of her system her poops returned to normal.


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Thank you for the welcome and information I really appreciate it!! I am reading and gathering as much information as I possibly can it just seems so overwhelming in the beginning that I don't know where to start and I find myself being all over the place which doesn't help which is why I'm slowly trying to take this one step at a time. I'm happy to hear that your snuggle bunny is doing well and I couldn't agree more that the prescription food is awful I don't understand why vets push it so much when there are so many better alternatives. What saddens me though is that when I asked my vet about other food options they couldn't tell me anything which made this situation more overwhelming for me. I'm very happy to have found this forum and a community where other people understand one another and are able to guide each other as we do our best to take care of our dearest fur babies.

 

It's a common problem. Welcome to the club.

The learning curve is steep and overwhelming at first but as you learn more and develop a routine that works for you and Pepita things will get a lot easier. In the meantime, be sure to shout for help when you need it.


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