trippopatamous

My male cat Tripp was diagnosed on Friday and I just brought him home yesterday. I took him in for what I suspected was a uti. Well it was and after keeping him overnight and monitoring him and doing bloodwork they called me and said he was diabetic. We adopted him a year ago. He was found in a friends shed and she brought him to vet. He had to have half his left ear and tail removed from frost bite. Well I heard about him and adopted him. Sweetest thing ever. Anyway he was thin and gained about one pound in year but showed no signs of diabetes or else I would have had him to the vet. Now I guess that was a symptom. In a way I'm glad he had a uti so that he was diagnosed. Also, vet that treated him for frostbite and got him better for adoption was not my vet practice. That practice said he was about 2-3 years old. My vet thinks he closer to 10? Based on his teeth decay. I don't care how old he is he's staying here with us. Will his advanced age effect his prognosis with diabetes. Vet didn't think so.

His sugar is still 336 after being on 1 unit of lantus Twice a day for four days. He is on purina DM which I fought because he was on wet food to begin with no dry and it was good quality. Wellness, hounds and gatos, daves. I told vet I would only keep him on DM until sugars started coming down then we would discuss. Ingredients on label are scary. I test with the Alphatrak. I check one day a week three times a day. Vet said it can take weeks to get low reading ? May have to raise it.

My question to everyone is how long has it taken for others cats to show good numbers and what canned foods have worked for you. And, how often does everyone else test glucose?

He's acting normal. I think he's taking this totally better then I am. I just want him to be ok.

Sorry I have to be here, but glad I found you all. It gives me hope.

 

Hi welcome to you and Tripp. The best food for a diabetic cat is a low carb wet food. Most of us feed Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies Pate or 9Lives Meaty Pate. Is the Purina DM dry? The dry is way too high in carbs. There is a Purina DM wet that is fine, but pricey. I'm glad you are home testing Tripp's glucose that's very important. We all test before every shot and try to get at least one more test around the nadir, when the insulin is at it's peak, so we can see how low the dose is taking him. If you decide to take Tripp off the dry and feed wet only, please make sure you are testing his glucose, because the change can drop his BG and he may need an insulin dose change. Again welcome and we'd love to see a pic of Tripp!

 

Hello, just wanted to say I have a civvie named Tripper (Trip for short). Welcome you will get lots of support here.

 

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.

 

Welcome ..

 

Tripp is on purina DM wet food only. Before diabetes he was on wet only except for orijen dry as treats. I will upload a picture soon. I'm not good with computer things at all.

What does nadir mean? I quess something to do with levels? I test tomorrow first thing in morn, four hours later and then hour before his evening dose.

We named him Tripp because in the nicest way I can say it, hes not all there? But I mean that in the most loving way possible. He's a teddy bear!

Thank you all

 

This is Tripp

 

Tripp is a handsome boy ..

 

Hey there, he is adorable and one lucky kitty that he has you. The nadir is the lowest point in the 12 hour cycle that the insulin takes the Blood Glucose down to. You might want to post in the Lantus and Levemir forum so those peeps can help you as they are the experts with that insulin and I am not sure when nadir is for Lantus as my boy is on ProZinc. Also could we get you to set up a Spread Sheet so that you can post your numbers to help you see patterns and trends and for the peeps that will be helping you with doses. If you click in my signature you will see SS and will be able to see what it looks like. It isn't hard, it just looks hard. I will link the instructions on how to do it. If you have trouble, someone can help you set it up ( I had to have help as I am a computer mo-mo)

How to create our spreadsheet If you need help, just ask.

Here is an explanation of how the spread sheet works.

AMPS is the AM Pre-shot test (always test before shooting to make sure they're high enough to give insulin)...then the U column is for "Units" (how much you gave)

The +1, +2, +3, etc are for how many hours since shooting...so +2 is 2 hours after the AM shot, +9 is 9 hour after, etc.....Since we're all over the world here, saying "he was at 148 at 8pm" doesn't tell us anything...we need to know how long since his last shot

At the end of a 12 hour cycle, it's PMPS time! (PM Pre-shot) and the whole thing starts over

 

Welcome to FDMB! Tripp is so handsome. You have come to the right place for support. There are a lot of caring and experience folks here. You will be given a whole lot of information and at first, it will seem very overwhelming however in a couple of weeks, things will start falling into place.

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. So glad that your vet prescribed you Lantus. 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