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My name is Carol and I have a diabetic cat named Chica who was diagnosed last March. We have not been able to get her condition completely under control as her glucose levels are high and her doseage is 4 units and she weighs only 9 lbs. she used to weigh 12 but then she was overweight. She is a small calico cat with green eyes. I just found out about this site recently and am happy I did because I need help. I have 5 other cats. Three are from my husband who passed away 5 years ago and 2 are from one son who went to College and the other became allergic to his cat and his daughter is allergic also. One of my other cats had pancreatitis and is sick now too and no one knows what it is. She first presented with extreme congestion just in her nose and eyes were draining then her face swelled up and her tongue was lavender. My Vet gave her a steroid shot which cleared up her congestion and drainage from her eyes but her face got more swollen. So I am dealing with this on top of my diabetic cat Chica whose back legs are not working properly. Instead if walk on her paws she is walking on her whole back legs and my Vet says that's from poor circulation and a side effect of diabetes. And since all the cats use the different litter boxes it is difficult to test her urine. I have six litter boxes. I also just found out that I need to change her to gluten free Fancy Fest cat food however that is a bit prohibitive because of the small can size. Does anyone know if there is a cost effective alternative? All my cats are now on can food except at night I give them some dry food with the exception of Chica. Also does anyone know anything I can do to help Chica get full use of her back legs?

 

Here is a list of low-carb canned.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-less-than-8.94685/
So Friskies ones are included and is more affordable than FF.
What insulin are you using?
Most of us here test our cat's BG using a human meter and record the BG, dose and other info in a spreadsheet. For making the spreadsheet see:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/


Without BG value before shots and periodically between shot (preferable every two hours) it is not possible to give you instructions on dosing. maybe you missed the optimum dose.

 

She is on Vetsulin and I didnt even know about home testing. I have been feeding her Friskies because I have to buy so much that was all I could afford due to having to buy the insulin and syringes. The true track meter was recommended with the pin. How often should I test her each day?

 

Meters with True in the name may not do well indicating higher numbers, leading to a false impression of good glucose control.

That said, test before you shoot and don't shoot below 200mg/dL until you have mid-cycle data showing it is safe. When possible, get 1 or more tests between shots in the +4 to +6 hours post shot, when the lowest glucose, or nadir, is likely to happen. This helps you see if the glucose is being managed optimally.

Vetsulin/Caninsulin often wears off around +8 to +10 hours in the cat; it was developed for dogs which have a slower metabolism than cats do.

 

Here are @BJM's very helpful Glucometer Notes, which will let you know when it is safe to give insulin and when it isn't.

Here is a link to the Hometesting FAQ page, which will help you get started hometesting and then hopefully getting your cat better regulated.

Many of us here use ReliOn confirm or micro meters from Walmart. They are reliable and well rated for accuracy. They are inexpensive at $15 for the meter and a box of 100 test strips is $35. (The test strips are what become the largest cost over time. You only buy the meter once, but you need to continue purchasing test strips. These test strips are very inexpensive.)

The food link that @Larry and Kitties sent to you is a good start. (The full food list that those numbers are pulled from is here: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf ). As far as gluten free cat food, I'm not aware of a list, but there must be one somewhere. Does anyone know of other cats with gluten issues? Maybe they can jump in.

I'm sorry I don't have any advice for helping Chica with her legs. I hope that maybe getting her diabetes better regulated might help with that. Maybe someone else here knows something more about that too.

 

Chica may be showing signs of diabetic neuropathy. Methyl B-12 can help with that. Zobaline is in a form specifically for cats. You can also get it on Amazon.

 

Low potassium may cause weakness in the legs. Did the vet check her blood electrolytes? If you don't know, please contact the vet and ask, as low potassium can cause potentially fatal problems. If it wasn't checked, please get it checked asap.

 

I have read on the feline diabetes site that fancy feast CLASSIC is a wheat gluten free canned food.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/glutenfree.htm

I just returned from a locally owned pet store and found a canned food called BFF which is also grain and gluten free.