New to feline diabetes

I am happy to have found this support forum! Our chubby orange kitty was diagnosed with diabetes about a week ago. Our vet hasn't been much help, as she pulled out a checklist upon diagnosis and just started checking things off (buy an AlphaTrak meter, buy prescription vet-only diabetes food, etc...). I'm not unfamiliar with diabetes in humans and thought I needed to educate myself on feline diabetes. My biggest question right now is: We are making a run to Canada for insulin in two days - which should I get, Lantus or Levemir?? What is everyone's suggestions or experiences with these?

 

Ask this over in the lantus / levemir forum. I believe most who’ve used both would tell you lev has a gentler action but I think either one is a good choice.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-basaglar-glargine-and-levemir-detemir.9/

 

Welcome Shelly and your chubby orange kitty. I hope we get to see a picture of your fur baby soon. You are correct that there is a wealth of information here about feline diabetes that is going to help you with effective treatment for your cat. Please visit the FAQs forum HERE to begin learning about diabetes and treatment. Many members feed low carb Friskies pates and Fancy Feast Classics. You need to be providing a 10% or less carb content. Check out the food chart
http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf to see the differences in canned foods. www.catinfo.org is a wonderful resource about feline nutrition.

Have you begun home testing yet? It's the best tool you have to keep kitty safe and see how the diet changes and insulin treatment affect the blood sugar levels. We can help with any questions, concerns, how tos about home testing. I know it's a lot, and it can seem overwhelming having to take in so much information at first. But we are here to help in every way possible.
Best wishes going forward.