Zobaline, Diet Change, Overwhelm and Guilt

Hi,

I'm so thankful this forum is here. I'm Michelle and our sweet baby princess cat (a cat forum is the only place where I would admit to calling her that) is Nala.

I'm feeling a vent coming on - so here's my main question: Does anyone know of a good alternative to Zobaline?

Amazon is selling it for almost $30 and I see other places selling methylcobalamin for humans for half the price. I know the ingredients matter, so would prefer to get a referral for another and less expensive brand.

I've been lurking here since Nala was diagnosed about three weeks ago. She is on prozinc, 1 cc, twice daily.

I have so much guilt over her diagnosis. She was on dry food for years and I didn't know the signs for diabetes. I feel she was diabetic for a long time and I didn't get her to the vet soon enough. Guilt. I've taken her to two vets in my area, and after doing research - both of them seem so ignorant of treating. I was told to start her on two cc's of PZI. After two days of dosing, she became lethargic and that ended up in a hospital stay to stabilize her. But neither doctor told me about home testing - I had to tell them. The vet I'm going with now had to do research on the right monitor and of course recommended Alphatrak. I knew from research human meters were likely as good - but because I feel negligent with Nala's care - I now don't want to take any possible shortcuts. But the vet prescribes to test only at the 6-8 hour mark and not before I give her the shot!

AT is expensive. Those stupid strips cost $55!!! I've switched to making Nala's food - since she turns her nose up at every wet food I've brought home. She likes it hardcore carnivore and will eat chicken. I don't grind or serve totally raw, but follow the recipe over on catnutrition.org and Dr. Pierson's catinfo.org. Now I'm worried my cat isn't getting enough nutrients. I research and buy low carb can food here and there, but so far - she won't try any of them.

Nala has neuropathy, her legs have been getting progressively weak, and the vet just says that is just part of the diabetes (which I already knew)- so it *may* get better. Well I'm freaking out about how she's walking now. FREAKING OUT!! She can only go a few steps without laying down. I read about how methylcobalamin does wonders, but when I just called to check with the vet if I should give it to her - I spoke to another dr. in the office who thinks my cat's weakness may be arthritis and cats with diabetes only walk on their hocks!

I'm tired, angry, worried about my fur baby, and I might develop diabetes because I'm over eating because of the stress. There is soooooo much conflicting information. I shouldn't have to educate someone I'm Paying for good advice on how to care for my animal. I've paid for vet visits, medication, new food, supplements, testing equipment -- I have spent more on this cat than I spend on myself. I love her and will do anything but I'm wearing thin emotionally and financially.

And I really don't like pricking her little ears. I'm starting to dread the hour when I know I have to do it.

Thanks if you've read this far. Thanks for feedback.

 

Hello Michelle and Nala

I'm very new to cat diabetes too - my kitty Largo was just diagnosed in the beginning of the month and I did my first ever home-testing this evening only to find that the reading was frighteningly (at least to me) high.

I live in Norway so I don't know much about the food or medication available in the states, but just wanted to let you know I feel for you and your furbaby and I can relate to what you are going through.
Hopefully you will soon get some good advise from the great people on this forum - they've already been a great support for me for the few days I've been on here.

And I think guilt is something everyone has to deal with after having their cat diagnosed like this - we've been feeding our kitties dry food from the Vet for all the years we've had them, with just a pouch of Whiskas wet food for daily variation thinking that was the right thing. Now I've had a steep learning curve in regards to cat nutrition and feel so guilty for having given them crappy, inappropriate food all their lives.. Also, after Largo was diagnosed we left the kitties at a cat hotel for one week while we were abroad - the cat hotel is run by a Vet, we've used it for many years and the Vet insured us that he could take care of Largo's insulin and special feeding regime - and still when we came home his blood sugar was still way too high and he'd lost weight I felt like the worst mom ever and still feel guilty over that too.

My heart goes out to you both! Wishing you and Nala all the best in the world!

 

hi Michelle and Nala,

I call my oldest girl (cat, 18), Lianna, baby princess too!! Like you I'm new, my Angel just got diagnosed 29th May. One thing I've learnt is that it's really important to test pre shot, can't understand why your vets would tell you otherwise. I test pre shot and then try to test at at 4.5 hours which is the lowest point for the insulin Angel is on. Still getting used to it and it usually takes me 2 or 3 goes to get a decent drop of blood, but he is so good. I press the cotton wool against the other side of his ear and that helps.

I can't help on the zobaline, but as for the monitor it may be cheaper to get a human one where the strips are cheaper. And maybe it's worth trying to research vets in your area, you may find one who specialises in diabetes. My vet has supported me in my decision to home test, and also showed me how to use my glucometer and compared the readings to the alphatrak (human ones read lower but most people on this forum use them) A decent vet should also be able to tell the difference between neuropathy and arthritis too.

hugs,
Cassandra, civvy baby princesses Lianna and Cera, and sugar cat baby prince Angel.

 

Methylcobalamin, with no added sweeteners, is what you want. Any added flour is such a tiny amount that it doesn't matter when given with a meal. If in the US, search for the Vitacost brand.

Most of us use inexpensive human meters with pet-specific reference numbers. The Arkray USA. Glucocare 01 or o1 Mini from American Diabetes Wholesale aka the WalMart ReliOn Confirm or Confirm Micro is a good choice for using a small blood drop and inexpensive test strips.

Neosporin ointment, not creme, applied to the ear a minute or two before testing, then wiped off well, reduces the annoyance of testing, helps the blood bead up, and improves healing. Be sure to blot firmly with a tissue or cotton ball for a minute or so after testing to reduce bruising.

 

BJM thanks for that info. I'll have to get some neosporin ASAP. I'd used Vaseline the last few times which worked well.

Sweet angel and Nepthaphis - thanks for responding. We all will get through this with our fur babies. They will thrive!