My Grandcat

Hello, i am Linda and my grandcat, Niccolo has just developed diabetes. He has very weak back legs. He is on 1 unit of Lantus right now. What food do you recommend we give him?

 

Hi Linda and Niccolo, welcome. Most people here feed a low carb canned food such as Fancy Feast Classic or Friskies Pate. Stay away from the ones that have gravy they are also high in carbs. My cat, Colin, also has neuropathy, weak back legs. For that he gets Zobaline,a form of B12, which can be purchased on the internet. or some people give B12 shots. It would be good if you could purchase a glucometer and begin testing Niccolo's glucose before you change his food. That way you can be sure that he's not getting too much insulin as a change to the low carb food can lower BG drastically.

 

You need to aim for wet/canned low carbs under 10%. Here's a chart; look in the third column (C); that's the carb column:

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

As Sharon14 pointed out, the Zoabline is excellent for diabetic neuropathy.

Home testing is a must when giving insulin. Shooting insulin without testing glucose levels first is like driving without seeing.

Many of us use inexpensive human glucometer. If you are in the states, a popular, inexpensive one we use is Walmart's Relion Micro or Confirm or strips. For lancets, any brand is fine. Starting out, we suggest 26 or 28 lancet gauges.

Here are some links to get you started on home testing. In the first link, first post is a picture of the "sweet spot", the area between the vein and the edge of the ear. That is where you will want to poke: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/testing-and-shooting-tips.85113/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

You are already on the right track with Lantus. We have a terrific Lantus group in this forum to assist you: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-glargine-levemir-detemir.9/

We are glad you are here. Welcome to FDMB!

 

Hi Linda and Niccolo and welcome. This is a great group of people who really know their stuff. See you around the forum.

 

Thank you all! Will buying a meter and strips be okay to buy at our local Walgreens? Does anyone here live in Portland OR?

 

Getting your meter at Walgreens is fine. I got mine, a Relion, at Walmart.

 

Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.

 

We have members all over the country and throughout the world. Many in Oregon I am not familiar with the meters Walgreens sells. The reason many of us like Walmart's ReliOn meters and strips is because the strips, the most expensive part of home testing, cost less than other brands. If a Walmart is not close to you, you could order from their website and have the meter, strips and lancets delivered to you.

 

You could put the word Portland in the Search box and go through the results to see if anyone lives in Portland.

 

Linda.. I live in portland Or how can I be of assistance??

 

Hi Linda,

I'm sorry to hear about Niccolo's back leg weakness. I thought it might help you to see how much Zobaline can help with neuropathy ...




BTW, if you need to get any blood work done for Niccolo, ask the vet to check potassium levels as an imbalance there can also contribute to back leg weakness. (It's also treatable.)


Mogs
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