TerriB & Harley New to forum - introduction

Just wanted to introduce myself. My 15 year old neutered male cat was diagnosed as diabetic in May 2009. I have done home testing from the beginning. We tried Vetsulin the first few months but with peaks too soon, we switched to Novolin N which worked immediately. Used it for 4 months, slowly reducing the amt needed. Dec 2009 thru Feb 2010 he needed no insulin. In March, with levels high again, we began trying to find an insulin that would work - first back on the Novolin N, then back with Vetsulin with no success. He's now on his 4th day on Lantus, so far with no drop in BG levels.

I've joined the Lantus support group, created the google spreadsheets (hopefully successfully linked in my signature) and am hoping to gain insight and get support here. I also changed to a new Vet in early April. I'm still working on reviewing all the info on the site.

Thanks so much to the people who put this together!

 

Hi Terri,

welcome to the group. Great that you learned to home test so quickly and sorry you had problems with the other insulins. Honestly, not surprised by that . Have patience and give lantus a chance. Be sure to read the "starred" stickies information at the top of that board. It is a great primer on lantus, everything from how to handle it - carefully, to do not drop, roll or shake and always keep it in fridge.

Since you are now on a great insulin and are home testing, let's talking about the third piece to the diabetic puzzle and that's food - what kind of food are you feeding Harley?

 

We are currently on Wellness Core dry (11% calories from carbs). When first diagnosed, the vet put him on Purina DM dry (13%). When his insulin dosage dropped toward the end of last year, I weaned him over to Wellness Core cans (4-6%) which he stayed on for several months. However, he was losing weight on it. He at first seemed to love it, but he was picky about the flavor. But after finding which flavors he liked, he still wasn't eating enough calories to maintain weight. AFTER his BG levels went back up and we were having to put him back on insulin anyway, I decided to go back to dry and chose the Wellness CORE. I chose it because of it's relatively low carb level (for dry) and because it is more readily available. We live in Texas, but spend many months in Colorado, rural in both places with limited Vet choices, so it's better if we use food I can get through retail stores. Having to find two vets in rural areas that know about diabetes, that I have a rapport with, that also carry the same food is difficult. He has stopped losing weight on the Wellness dry and he loves it.

 

Just keep in mind, that many folks on here will tell you to remove the dry food.

I will just say, be aware that it may be more challenging to regulate the diabetes due to dry food. And if there is anyway you can incorporate wet or even raw food into his diet, you will be much better off. Even inexpensive brands like fancy feast and friskies are fine to feed and easily found at petco, petsmart, walmart and supermarkets.

Also read this link from Dr. Lisa about nutrition and food and dry food especially:

www.catinfo.org

<<<<<getting off soapbox now>>>>>

 

No help....haven't used Lantus......just wanted to say that Harley is GORGEOUS! I love b/w kittes, especially long furred ones and then you add that mustach.........love your kitty cat_pet_icon

 

Thanks Hillary for your comments and the link. I did read that link when all this started a year ago and have carried Binky's food list with me ever since. This is why I had weaned him to canned before. We struggled with it for over 3 months, but with a weight loss from 12 pounds (healthy weight for his large frame) down to 9.5, I felt we needed to get some weight back on him. :sad: I may make another attempt at some point. For now, I add a small amt of water to the dry both for the moisture and for his aging teeth and he has a fountain water bowl. I also spoil him several times a day by putting him on the bathroom sink so he can drink fresh from the faucett. ;-)

 

Terri,

I don't know where I heard this, maybe on this board, but adding water to dry cat food is not a good idea as it promotes bacteria growth and is actually bad for the cat.

Also, dry food in no way helps keep a cat's teeth clean.

If you are adding water to soften the food, then honestly you are better off using wet food only. I add lots of water to the wet food - about 1/3 -1/2 can worth of water.

Just some more things to consider and please read the link on Dr. Lisa's website.