new here

Hi

I am new here. 17 years ago I had a cat die of complications from diabetes and Friday I had one of my 14 year old cats diagnosed.

Vet says he has early kidney issues too, along with a heart that is inflamed and is too small and a grade 1 murmur. I have another 14 year old who is hyperthyroid and a third 14 year old who has problems we have been unable to diagnose so far, but treating hookworm (these have always been indoor only cats so who knows where that came from - tracked it in via my shoes maybe) seems to have helped.

Then I have 4 youngsters (my neighbor abandoned them). They are all healthy although due to being fired due to cancer I finally am letting the no kill shelter place the two littles which is breaking my heart because one of them is the most loving cat I have ever had but they are the youngest and should find homes more easily than the other two.

I was beyond floored at the cost of Lantis. Anyone know of a cheaper place to get it? I paid $257. I was glad to hear it can be used for 3 months despite what the pharmacy told me. Can't afford the glucose tester right now and I was surprised they charge so much for the strips - guess it is the jet ink, razor blade business model - make our money in the consumables so jack up that price. I have a gofundme for insurance for me (I have been without full time employment for a while, right now adjuncting and insurance costs are killing me - no medicaid expansion in this state) and almost feel like I need to create one for my cat! LOL

Anyway I will post elsewhere my questions about treating a cat with both kidney issues and diabetes since the nutrition recommendations are diametrically opposite.

 

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.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. You can find low carb, low phosphorus foods for CRF cats; and the protein recommendations have changed for the early stages-less restriction.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. Both Lantus and Levemir are much less expensive if ordered from a Canadian pharmacy such as Mark's.
- And home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the Arkray Glucocard 01 or 01 Mini, the WalMart Relion Confirm or Confirm Micro, or the Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!).

See the Feline CRF website for tons of good info.

 

Thanks for all that info. I have posted the medical questions in another part of the forum and appreciate your answers. Do you happen to know which monitors have the cheapest strips? I was rather surprised to see how expensive they were (although I recognize the business model - sell the machine cheap, get your profit from the required consumables and try to make those consumables non substitutable for another brand).

 

Many of us use the Confirm or Confirm Micro from WalMart aka the Glucocard 01 and Glucocard 01 Mini from ADW.