New saying Hello

Today my 9yr old Phoenix baby just got diagnosis with diabetes. After he began vomiting and losing weight I got concerned so off to the vet we went. He took the vet like a champ me not so much nervous beyond belief. So I'm here for support and to have some questions answered once I can wrap my head around things.

Trickie83

 

Welcome to the message board, 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. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference.
- 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.

 

Phoenix is on 4 units of prozinc as of right now we see the vet in two weeks to see how things are going and as for his diet we will be discussing that on that same visit. Also how does one take a blood read from a cat?

 

Welcome to the FDMB! Here's a link to some good info on testing your kitty's blood glucose: Hometesting Links and Tips
And here are the tips for using ProZinc: Protocol for ProZinc/PZI
I encourage you to join us on the Prozinc/PZI forum - we're a small group, but everyone's very supportive, and we've been where you are right now: Trying to jump on the learning curve to effectively treat a diabetic kitty. Home-testing isn't hard at all once you get the hang of it!

We recommend you test before every dose. Although some vets don't encourage people to do this, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense: Would you give a shot of insulin to a child without first checking thte blood glucose #? Of course not. So that's the best way to approach it to keep your kitty safe and out of a hypoglycemic event. (Please read through the info re: Hypoglycemia on our FAQ page, and it's a good idea to put together your little "hypo kit" so that it's at the ready should you ever need to steer your kitty's BG# up with food.)

The standard procedure is: Test BG, then feed and shoot the insulin. When you're new at this, we don't recommend you shoot your kitty with ProZinc if his pre-shot BG# is under 200. We have a little saying around here: Is better to be too high for a day than too low for a moment. Our cats can handle a high glucose number much better than they do one that is too low.

If you have any doubt about whether or not you should shoot the insulin, please feel free to post on the Main Health forum as well as on the ProZinc forum (that willl maximize the number of members who will see your post). I'm assuming your vet has you dosing every 12 hours, which is standard procedure with ProZinc. One other thing: You'll want to avoid feeding in the two-hour window directly prior to your cat's dose time - as you don't want your pre-shot BG test # artificially raised due to food.

Can you tell us what the blood glucose # was for Phoenix when he visited the vet and was diagnosed? It would be really great if you could start testing his blood glucose as soon as possible, as 4 units of ProZinc is a pretty hefty starting dose - it's really very important that you know what that blood glucose number is before you shoot the insulin. And as BJ (@BJM) said in her post above, many members here use inexpensive human glucose meters that are available from Walmart or Target.

Incidentally, many of us have had the same experience you just did: Not finding out our cats were diabetic until they began losing weight and/or suddenly vomiting. (That's how it started for my cat, too.) So you're in very good company here --- & we're all committed to helping you get Phoenix well-regulated. Again, welcome to our "Clan of the Sugar-Cats!"

 

Is that 4 units as 1 shot, or 2 shots of 2 units, or 2 shots of 4 units?

If it is 2 shots of 4 units, that is a very high starting dose.

Just in case it is that last one, or the glucose comes down more than expected, here are our guidelines for How to Treat Hypos.

 

Welcome! 4 units is quite a high starting dose. I really would recommend getting a glucose meter and testing before giving that much insulin. As BJ said, it could cause a hypo event, which is something that is very scary and dangerous for your kitty. Would you consider learning to test at home, and until you can, reducing the dose?

 

it's 2 units twice a day 4 units total. Is that still a high dose?

 

It is higher than we suggest. We like to start with one unit twice daily, test at home to see how the dose is working and raise it slowly if and as needed.

The trouble with vet testing is that most cats are stressed at the vet (strange people who are NOT the mommy, strange food and noises and other animals) and stress raises blood glucose levels. Then doses based on those stress induced numbers (sometimes 100+ points or more) can be too much insulin once the kitty is home. Tests at home are more accurate, and of course much cheaper.

Check out the pages Robin gave you, study the videos and watch the info. We'd be happy to help you learn how to test.

 

Hi Trickie83,

Just checking in to see how you and Phoenix are getting on. Is everything going OK?


Mogs
.

 

Welcome you and Phoenix to FDMB. Agree with all that even 2 units seems high to start off with. We typically start off with 0.5 or 1.0 units and increase from there based on the pre-shot test and the mid-cycle test. Here is some additional information and holler if you have any questions.

Good Reading: This is a must read. It is an excellent 18 page informative document that covers feline health and nutrition. Don't take short cuts and read it all. www.catinfo.org Also read other postings and their spreadsheets. You will learn a lot more from others.

Home Testing: Here, we all home test. It is mandatory to understand how your kitty is reacting to the insulin and the dose. You will want to test before each shot and some additional test in between the 12 hour cycle. Another reason to home test is to keep your kitty safe. Find a place in your home where you will always perform the test and give lots of hugs before and after testing. There are many videos showing you how to test. Hometesting Links and TipsHere is a picture of where you test on your kitty. http://s106.photobucket.com/user/chupie_2006/media/testingear/sweetspot.jpg.html

Here is another good link on Home Testing:http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-home-test.htm

Meters: There are many meters. There is a pet meter called the Alpha Trak2 and human meters. Some use the pet meter because it is what the vets use so the numbers will match up. The meter and strips are expensive though. Most use human meters that can be purchased at any pharmacy. It typically reads a little lower than the pet meter but we have ways of compensating those lower numbers. Many use Walmart's brand, Relion Micro, Relion Prime or Relion Confirm. The Micro and Confirm only needs a tiny drop of blood but the strips are a little more expensive than the Prime. The Relion Prime meter needs a little more blood than Micro and Confirm. They cost around $15 and the strips are around 35 cents each.

Lancets: These are used to poke the ear to get blood. There are many different sizes (gauges). It is recommended when you are first starting out to use a 26-28 gauge. Also, it would be a good idea to pick up Neosporin WITH pain reliever to apply on the edge of the ears and don't forget to alternate ears.

Spreadsheets: Our spreadsheet instructions are here. If you look at the signatures of the members here, you will see a link to their kitty’s spreadsheets. We keep track of all our tests. This is basically a place to collect data and help you to determine patterns, doses, etc. It also aids those that may be helping you to better understand your kitty.

Food: There are many reasons why we are here but one is due to feeding dry cat food which is high in carbs. You will want to consider changing your food to wet, low carb food. It is recommended to feed food that is under 10% carbs. Here is a list of cat food to choose from food chartyou will note that the food with fish are lower in carbs however it is recommended that you only give fish once a week due to its mercury content. Many use Fancy Feast, 9 Lives, Friskies, etc. This list can also be found in www.catinfo.org If you are already giving insulin and you have not transitioned to wet, low carb cat food, be sure to test while you are transitioning. This is because by changing to low carb food, it could decrease your kitty’s number by 100 points or more. One last thing, many of us add water to the wet food so your kitty is getting plenty of water to flush out the toxins and to keep them hydrated.

Hypo Kit: Always good to be prepared for possible hypo events which means that your cat has reached dangerously low numbers. It can be fatal, hence, the importance of home testing and collecting data in a spreadsheet. In each of the Insulin Forums are stickie’s labeled Hypo Links. Here is one: How to Handle a Hypo. Please print and post on your refrigerator so everyone in your household is aware of hypo symptoms. You will want to create your hypo kit that would include and not limited to; extra testing strips, honey/karo/maple syrup, high carb food, medium carb food, vet information, etc.

Ketones: Diabetic cats are susceptible to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). It is best to buy testing strips that will measure (if any) ketones in the urine. One brand is Ketostix which can be found at Walmart or any pharmacy. You will want to test periodically unless you continue to get high numbers, then it is suggested to test more frequently. Ketostix typically costs around $10.

Treats: It is always nice to have treats available for your kitty especially when testing or when they decide not to eat. I like using Pure Bites. I have found it at Petsmart and other pet stores. It is freeze dried and the only ingredient is the meat i.e. chicken, duck, etc. If your cat likes it, then I would go to the dog section where it is cheaper than the cat package. It is bigger chunks but no problem in breaking it up. Another option is to use Bonita Flakes. There is a link here somewhere that has a list of low carb treats but I don't have it right now.

Injections: Most folks here use one of these main insulins; Lantus, Levemir and Prozinc. Two hours prior to your insulin shot, you will not want your kitty to eat. Then you will test and then feed. It is best for your kitty to eat a little before your shoot. I shoot while he is eating. The reason why you do not want your kitty to eat two hours prior to your test is because food elevates BG numbers. So you do not want to dose based on a food influenced number. Here is a link on how to give injections.http://www.felinediabetes.com/injections.htm