Newly Diagnosed 6 y/o Tim

My 6 year old cat Tim was diagnosed with diabetes last week. Yesterday he spent the day at the vet doing a blood curve and was prescribed 2 mg of Lantus twice a day. They also gave us a bag of Hills m/d dry food and some cans of Hills m/d to transition him on to. From what I've been reading I see that the dry food is not recommended. I wonder why so many vets prescribe it for diabetic cats? My vet also didn't mention anything about home testing, but I have just ordered a blood glucose monitor online after reading that this is the best way to go.

It's been a little frustrating reading recommendations for things we can't get in New Zealand. If only I could go out to the local Walmart to get a glucose monitor! After doing quite a bit of research I went for the Caresens one, which is the one most commonly available here (it is funded for diabetics).

I wonder if anyone in New Zealand can recommend the best / cheapest food? I know that Friskies Pate is one that they do sell here which is on the recommended lists. Also is there anywhere that the insulin can be purchased that is cheaper than getting it through the vet?

We are a little concerned that the vet bills are going to add up very quickly. Should the home testing decrease the number of times he would need to be seen by the vet? They have him booked in for another blood curve next week, and have indicated this will need to be done quite regularly at first and then at least every 3 to 5 months.

 

Welcome to the FDMB! This is the best place you never wanted to be!

I don't know how updated this list is, but one of our members put it together with foods and supplies in Australia and New Zealand

Absolutely!! My own cat never went back to the vet for her diabetes after we got the original script for the Lantus. I listened to the people here who deal with this disease 24/7/365 instead!

Well, they make money off it for one thing....Also, vets get very little training on nutrition in school and what little they do get is paid for by the pet food industry. Once they're in practice, the pet food salesmen come in all the time with their fancy charts and graphs and convince them how they need to be feeding their expensive foods. Working vets just don't have the time to do the research on the prescription foods. They figure it's already been done (and it hasn't).

Lots of great info on Dr. Lisa's "Feeding your cat....know the basics of feline nutrition" website

 

Welcome Raewyn and Tim. I'm glad you have found this site and can get some information to help you out. I am tagging the one member that I know of in NZ @PussCatPrince - GA . Hopefully M will be able to direct you to sources for a better diet and supplies.
Both the Hill's Dry and canned DM are too high in carbs for our sugar cats. You can return unopened cans, and the dry food, even if opened, Check that bag for the return guarantee. (I just told them Idjit didn't like it) You can find low carb alternatives with better nutrition, the Friskies pate being one.
I'm so glad to hear that you are going to be home testing. It's an important tool to keep Tim safe, help prevent a hypo and see how the insulin is affecting his blood sugar levels.
Please create your signature so that Tim's information will be available when you post.
1. Set up your signature (light grey text under a post). Here's how:
click on your name in the upper right corner of this page
click on "signature" in the menu that drops down
type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using and dosage amount /glucose meter you're using/what (s)he eats/any other meds or health issues (s)he has. You can add your name, and a geographic location (sometimes the time zone matters)
2. Another thing that will help us help you now that you are going to be BG
testing at home is to set up a spreadsheet like the one we use here. We can all see it and look at it before offering advice: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/
Check the FAQs forum for critically important info about Hypos. You want to be prepared just in case. Scroll through the Index, look at what is pertinent right now, for example http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
Post questions and concerns in the Main Health forum so that more members can see and respond: HERE
There's a lot to learn at first, but you have made a great beginning. Let us help!

 

Thanks for the welcomes and links. The Australian & New Zealand food and supplies spreadsheet is very useful. Mostly Australian I think, but many of those cat food brands we have here too. I'm glad to see our usual brand of canned food is suitable, though in the loaf version rather than the gravy version we usually get. Unfortunately we already opened the dry food, so not sure what to do with it now.

I have looked at the spreadsheet and will link to it when I get the meter and start entering data in it.

 

I was able to return the Hill's dry food to the vet for a full refund here in the States, there was a satisfaction guarantee on the bag. We had opened the bag and had begun transitioning Idjit from his regular dry food to the Hill's, when I learned it wasn't any better. I wasn't satisfied because it wasn't good for him, I just told them he wouldn't eat it. No more was said. Check the bag to find the guarantee, then call the vet. You can use the money to buy food that's good for him.
It might be helpful to you to go ahead and set up the spreadsheet, so if you have any trouble with it, you can get some help before you need to start entering data.
Just another note, you can do your own curves and save vet costs and Tim the stress of the visits, which can raise the blood sugar anyway. Start getting Tim used to the process of testing now. Choose a testing station, where both of you are comfortable and there is good lighting. Rub or warm his ears, give him a low carb treat and let him go. Idjit loves a couple of pieces of plain boiled or baked chicken. Do this as often as you can and then when you get the meter and strips, you will have already let him know that this is ok to do.

 

Thanks. Having read about the dangers of hypoglycemia I think I might feed him some of the dry food, as well as the canned food at the moment. It worries me a little that they started him on 2mg of insulin since 1mg is the usual starting point. He is a big cat, but he's also underweight at the moment. It will be hard to monitor him for signs of hypoglycemia in the middle of the night. They mentioned he wasn't eating at the vets, which made them a little unsure of what the dosage should be. I'm sure they'd err on the side of caution, but still... When I get started on the testing I think I will feel more comfortable about an exclusively low carbohydrate diet. He is a pretty chilled cat so I am hopeful he will take ok to the testing. That's a great tip to get him used to the idea now though.