Hi All who remember me! It has been years since I have posted. My "Meena" 17-18 years old I suspect has diabetes. She goes to the doctor Monday for bloodwork. Since it has been so long since Noisy was here I was wondering about insulins people are using. Noisy used to use Lantus -- which took him into remission. I have missed you guys. D
Hi! Welcome back! I am new, so I am afaraid I do not remeber Noisy. I hope Meena does not have diabetes, but if she does you know the forum will be here to help you out. I have used prozin before, and am now using Lantus, which I amuch happier with. However, if you want people's opinion of which insulin to use, you may want to post in the general feline health forum, because in this particular corner of FMDB we are all lantus or Levemir users.
Hi D, You were here before my time, but welcome back anyways. Lantus remains a firm favorite with many, for many cats it has the duration that allows you to get them well regulated and with a fair wind OTJ. I don't know if Levemir was around when you were here with noisy, similar to Lantus, in that it is a depot insulin, it is later in onset+4 (instead of around +2) and nadirs around +8 to +10 (instead of +6ish) some CG find it offers a longer duration. One of the advantages of it over Lantus is that it doesn't sting when you shoot, so you'll find that a lot of high dose kittys make the swap to Lev. Although some cats do notice the sting of lantus even at low doses so it benefits them to. Have you managed to test Meena yourself yet? Nice to see you stop by.
Hello and welcome. I remember a few posts by you the first year I was here. Beans here use both Lantus (or Basaglar biosimilar) or Levemir, which was around when you were last here. Many people in the US buy the insulin from Marks from Canada, for considerable cost savings. More info here.
Thank you all! I tried getting a BG yesterday without success. I borrowed a meter from a friend. Geez I just couldn't get enough blood out of her ear. I know the rice trick and a few others. I think it is me who is out of practice not to mention Meena is not an easy cat to test. I could test Noisy as he was walking by me and he wouldn't miss a step. After I get blood work back from doctor and see numbers I'll start with Lantus and can switch/or not later. What BG meter do you all suggest. D
A lot of folk use the Relion prime, strips are cheap and it's easily available at walmart.(I haven't used it) I use a freestyle freedom lite, and an SD code free (european thing) The nice thing with the freestyle freedom lite is it requires a tiny sample so really handy if kitty is not a big bleeder, it's my back up meter, (strips for this are pricey here in spain), when I leave George with the petsitter she uses the freestyle, she finds it much easier, because although George is really good when I test him, he plays up when she does, with the small drop required she finds she can usually grab a BG at the first go.(my other meter requires a larger sample and she finds this trickier) Just had a thought, is Meena on a LC diet already? If not you might want to think of changing that before starting the insulin... There's a new list from compiled by Dr Lisa, linked below, in case you need to look up carb content https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/links-to-food-charts.174182/ https://catinfo.org/chart/index.php
Thank you -- she is definitely not a bleeder. I'll go with the freestyle freedom lite. The meter I borrowed was "Onetouch Ultra 2" I did get a small drop of blood but it didn't draw up into the strip far enough for a reading. My initial suspension that she may have diabetes was her high water consumption. She acts pretty normal except needing to drink sooo much. Glad to hear Dr. Lisa is still here! Since Meena has lost some weight I've been giving her a medium carb diet. I can't get her to eat the low carb yet she has always been thin from kitten to 17 yrs old. Plus "Spitty" comes along and eats her food-- I have tried moving her feeding spot to try and trick him but not long after there he is. She was a HIGH jump girl -- she'd get that look in her eye like "can I make that shot?" and yep she can. Maybe on insulin she can regain her height level -- Spitty doesn't jump so problem solved. If diabetes is confirmed I will hit the low carb ASAP. I may have to mix some medium carb in and reduce the mix. I'll check out Dr. Lisa's new list.
Increased water intake for her age, and weight loss may also indicate some stage/progression of kidney disease. Might be worth asking for them to run an SDMA test as well with the regular labs and urinalysis. I like my Freestyle Lite because it uses a small blood drop. I have the one touch ultra 2 and don't like it at all. It needs 3x more blood , I could very rarely get a sample without error. Sending positive vetty vines.
I'm now one of the longer term members who's still here and I definitely remember you and Noisy! (I'm assuming you know that Jill crossed the Bridge about 1.5 yrs ago.) Christie's suggestion re. an SDMA is a good one. It's a newer test that is predictive of kidney problems. It's typically run with a general blood panel if your vet sends labs to IDEXX for analysis. Remember the trick of scraping a drop of blood onto your fingernail if the strip isn't sipping it up easily the first couple of times.
Before my time, but welcome back! Once a member, always a member Best of luck to you on the new journey!
