My first post

Hi all! I am joining the world of kitty diabetes! Early July my 14 year old cat Loki was diagnosed. He had started peeing on the floor, losing weight and having very flaky fur. He is currently on 2 units of prozinc - I do home testing, but not many times per day.
I have always given my cats wet food - with dry free feeding.. i'd love to stay free feeding, I bought EVO 12%carb food hoping that it would be enough - but his sugar levels aren't improving. Last week we changed him to 2 units from 1 - he had a reading that was so high on the alphatrak that it just said HI! yikes! Today after his wet food and shot, 2 hours later he had a 312 reading (i picked up the dry food after the shot)- I was excited as it was the lowest he's had since i started. His coat is looking better too - so there are improvements, but the BG i still so high!

Here is his spreadsheet- if anyone has words of wisdom! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14xzHsejhVQdMTegi1edXEU9lV-Q-BMfQHZmJ18BRwiA/edit?usp=sharing

Also- how much wet food do you guys feed each day? I have 2- one year old cats and Loki... one of my kittens doesn't care for wet food. Luckily Loki loves it - but i'm not sure how much to give if we cut out wet food completely. BTW- we used FF classic (used to use FF various forms.. but swtiching over to just classic)

 

Hi. Welcome! Are you taking up the food two hours before your pre-shot test? (You mentioned taking up the food after the shot.) My understanding is that the food should be taken up 2 or 3 hours pre-shot so that the results are not impacted by them having eaten (which makes BG higher). I still give my cats dry food for grazing, in addition to their wet food meals. I give them Young Again Zero Mature which does not have the carbs - 12% sounds high to me, especially if you allow him to eat as much as he wants of it.

 

Those numbers are really high. Please do not take offense at me asking this, but is the code set correctly on your AlphaTRAK? I was just reading a thread on another site a couple of days ago where someone ended up realizing they did not have the correct code (the one for cats on their current container of testing strips) entered into their AlphaTRAK. So, I just thought I would mention this.

 

Welcome and good job on doing home testing.

To get good data it is prudent to test before each shot...with no food on board for at least 2 hours before the preshot test. Also it would be very helpful if you could get at least one PM mid cycle test...around +4 hours after the shot would be a good time, if you are able to do this. Prozinc is dosed according to what the preshot is AND how low (the nadir) that dose drops your kitty.

If you have not already read these here are a couple of links that help you understand how Prozinc works and approaches for making dosing decisions:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...prozinc-pzi-insulin-for-diabetic-cats.164995/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/protocol-for-prozinc-pzi.165103/

 

Very good point!! Always best to cover all the possibilities.

 

yes, the code is 07 and pops up on the alphatrak each time.

 

Anytime you open a new container of test strips always check to see what the code is on the test strip container and make sure the code matches on the meter. It can change between test strip containers. I have had 23 different code numbers for test strips, but I don't remember seeing or hearing about anyone with 07. That was the old coding number used with the original AT meters before the AT2 meters came out. Just to double check that 07 is the code for kitties on the test strip container.

 

I picked up the dry food this morning so I could get accurate testing through the day.. since loki tends to be a snacker, he'll nibble here and there. But I will plan to not put it down at all today and over night so tomorrow's morning test will be without any dry in his system.

 

It is the code on the test strip container. The number for dogs is 05 and cats is 07 - 07 was also the code on the last set of test strips that I had as well.

 

Just a thought that may or may not help. The AT2 meter will read high when the battery is starting to peter out even though the replace battery icon is not yet showing a problem. Assuming your meter is new, you still have no idea of knowing if the battery is defective or it's been sitting on a shelf for awhile. I'd change the battery and see if that makes any difference to your readings.

 

The code on my current strips is also 7 (My last one was 38.)

 

It is brand new, but I'll check into that.. I think i'm going to try doing the control solution and see what that says.

 

@ Tuxedo Mom I questioned the 07 awhile back too but it's right! We currently know of 6 cat codes......07, 08, 37, 38, 92, & 93.

 

I just did a control test and it was 141.

 

Can you get young again at the pet store? The EVO was the lowest I could find.

 

YA is only available online. There is also a new food out called Dr. Elseys Clean Protein that is low carb (about 5% I think) and that I believe is available at some retail locations.

 

No, you have to order it online. I received mine pretty quickly. (Warning: It is expensive.)

 

With knowing you have the right code, the meter is new and the control test shows good, that takes the meter out of the equation. The next areas would be the food....type and carb content and when the last time you had a complete bloodwork/urinalysis/exam done to rule out any possibilities of other issues or dental work being required. If a kitty has any sort of infection it can cause the glucose levels to be high and make it difficult to bring them done.

Just running through the "list" to see if anyone can pinpoint any issues that are causing such consistent high numbers.

Also it would be good if you coudl fill out a "signature" that will show below your name when you post with name of kitty (and yours too if you wish ) date of diagnosis, type of meter used..pet meter..type of food fed, type of insulin used and a link to your spreadsheet. That way anyone else reading your posts will have all the pertinent information and won't have to ask each time.

 

He had a full bloodwork/urinalysis done in July when he was diagnosed.. nothing else seemed off.

 

Hi and Welcome!

Hmmmm...and you've been feeding FF classics, correct? Those should be low enough carb. I know you said you're going to cut out dry to see if that lowers the numbers, and it definitely might!

To set up your signature: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/. Just in case you need.

 

Hi Shannon and Loki, and welcome!

That's great that you're wanting to cut out dry food. There are a couple of dry foods that are low enough carb, but dry food is bad for cats for a whole bunch of other reasons too, so even if the carbs are okay, it's really best to keep it out of their diet.

I free feed my cats using a combination of wet canned food, and raw food. It took awhile to get them off of the dry food as they were both quite addicted to the crunchies, but we finally made it. It really is okay to leave wet food out for them to eat throughout the day. I add a couple of tablespoons of water to the food to keep it from drying out too quickly. If it's really hot, I'll freeze the food, and put out the little frozen pucks of food, along with some fresh food. Then the food that thaws during the day is still safer later into the day.

It's great that you've already started home testing. I'm so sorry to see that Loki is getting a lot of high numbers, but as you get that kibble out of his diet, those should start to come down at least a little bit.

Let us know what questions you have and how we can help!

 

Welcome Shannon and Loki!
Just posting a quick hello and not to be discouraged, the first 2 months my boy had similar numbers and a spreadsheet covered in red and black. If you haven't already, pick up some ketone test strips and start testing weekly, unless he is prone to ketones (like being DKA before) which case you'll want to test more. I'll add some more later when I can re-read and not repeat too much of what has been said