She has diabetes

[LTS3]

The dry food is for leaving out when you know you will be gone awhile. It's tough to keep wet food around all day for nibbling purposes to keep the blood sugar up if you don't mind it that is the best thing to do.

I would not leave any dry food out. Some cats are super sensitive to dry food and even just a few pieces can cause a spike in blood glucose levels.

Canned food can be left out all day in a programmable timed feeder. I used the PetSafe 5 compartment one for my diabetic cat. Diabetic cats should have a meal or two to snack on during the day to help maintan their blood glucose levels, kind of like how Human diabetics should have small healthy snacks a few times a day.

Maybe instead of dry food you can leave out a little freeze dried raw food instead. Freeze dried raw is crunchy like dry food but a lot healthier and low in carbs.

 

[racn1320]

Any ideas on a dry food that is best for her,if i cant get her to switch,without buying the prescr dry food??? The ladies at cvs said the pen with the pen needles is extremely easier to use on her. My cat gets stressed easy,so thats why i chose the easy way i guess,they said i can use the dial,it would be set at 2. I dont doubt what your saying at all,im in overload on this and just want to make sure i dont overdue and come home to her being gone.

 

[racn1320]

do you keep insulator refridgerated all the time?

 

[LTS3]

 
do you keep insulator refridgerated all the time?

Yes, keep the insulin in the fridge. Not in the door, though, because the insulin will get rattled around and the temperature tends to fluctate there.

Most people don't use the SoloStar pen the way it's supposed to be used because the pen needles tend to be too short for a cat's skin. And you can't measure a half unit dose or quarter unit doses. With insulin syringes you can can fine tune the dose more precisely for your cat. There are people on the Lantus board who actually measure their cat's dose by each drop

What is your cat's starting dose on Lantus? 2 units twice a day? It's generally recommended to start at no more than 1 unit twice a day. Insulin can pack a punch so you don't want to start too high and risk a hypo.

 

[ankitty]

 
Any ideas on a dry food that is best for her,if i cant get her to switch,without buying the prescr dry food??? 

My understanding is that, a lot of carbohydrate needs to be added to make dry food and high carb is causing diabetes in cats. 

 

[racn1320]

yea she has it for 2 units twice per day,i thought about just setting dial on 1,Ive heard to much is worse then not enough. I just hope when i go tomorrow for them to show me how this is done and these pen needles work. If not i can buy needles  and still use container?

 

[hexiesfriend]

Since your cats blood sugar runs high you don't need to worry about it. 2 units is small mine was on 4 in the am and 5 in the pm. The vet probably started at 2 for a reason it important to get the blood sugar to something not too high. 400 is very high. Your cat is probably feeling a lot better now. For the majority of her life mine ran at 250 glucose. Not great but not in danger. If you are worried about hypo keep some Kyro syrup around. You will see the signs right away. To avoid any issues alway give the insulin after you feed her.

 

[LTS3]

You can use a red Sharps container to hold used insullin syringes and pen needles, even used lancets and test strips when you test your cat's blood glucose levels.

 

[racn1320]

Where is this syrup available at? If she overdoses ill see it right away? My plan is to get up,leave very small amount of dry food out overnight,that way she ate and give her a shot and leave some wet food out while im at work. You all have been great with my ongoing questions,just want her around with mke for many more years!!

 

[hexiesfriend]

It's Kyro corn syrup you can get it at the grocery store. Get the light one. It probably won't happen but if she is going into insulin shock she won't be able to get up and may have small siezures if it happens get some Kyro syrup and put it on her gums and then take her to the vet ASAP. Again this shouldn't happen if you give the insulin with food. If you put out the wet she'll probably go straight for it and you can give her the injection then. You can feel safe leaving her wo worry.

 

[racn1320]

Thx for the list,im on it this weekend to get some,if i want to compare do they list the carbs under 10% on the can or is that something you have to look up online?

 

[cocheezie]

Depends on the cat food company. Most do, some don't. And just when you find something that works, the formula might change. Do read the labels and print out the chart and take it with you. 

Karo syrup is corn syrup.

 

[ankitty]

I found this list helpful.

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

 

[jiazzi]

Yep, Karo syrup is what you want to get.  Along w/ the great advice received here, it looks like you're also getting a lot of great responses at the feline diabetes board now.    

One thing that is a space saver if you don't have much counter space is a sharps clip.  A sharps clip cuts off the used needle tips and safely/permanently stores ~1,500 the needle tips for $5-$10!  I bought it right before kitty ended up going into remission so I never got to use it but conceptually - it is awesome.  Will save you $$s and counter space.  

No need for prescription diet food there are many low carb canned foods out there.  My cat went into remission by going on a low carb/wet food diet but I was very lucky.  If you absolutely must, there are some dry low carb diets that has helped other diabetic cats that would not eat any wet food.  The ones I know of are on the pricy side however: Young Again Zero Carb (it actually has max 5% carbs) and Epigen 90.  Young Again is $50/8lbs bag and I think Epigen's about the same.

And the dance begins!

 

[jdollprincess]

Diabetes is certainly an overwhelming diagnosis, my advice is to read as much info as you can and don't hesitate to call your vet with any questions or concerns. You def wanna keep Karo syrup on hand because low blood sugar is very dangerous. It's certainly a good idea to check blood glucose at home if you feel comfortable. Also did your vet mention anything about using urine test strips to check for ketones in the urine?

 

[LTS3]

 
Where is this syrup available at? If she overdoses ill see it right away? My plan is to get up,leave very small amount of dry food out overnight,that way she ate and give her a shot and leave some wet food out while im at work. You all have been great with my ongoing questions,just want her around with mke for many more years!!

It's Kyro corn syrup you can get it at the grocery store. Get the light one. It probably won't happen but if she is going into insulin shock she won't be able to get up and may have small siezures if it happens get some Kyro syrup and put it on her gums and then take her to the vet ASAP. Again this shouldn't happen if you give the insulin with food. If you put out the wet she'll probably go straight for it and you can give her the injection then. You can feel safe leaving her wo worry.

The band name is Karo (not Kyro) and it's just corn syrup. You find it in the baking aisle of any supermarket. Use the "light" one, not the "dark" one. Honey will also work to raise blood glucose levels. For "mild" hypo, you can give high carb canned food (dry food takes too long to kick in). The Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers line works great. Junky Science Diet also works.

Hypo symptoms can be very subtle (like meowing) or very obvious (seizures). Here is a reference sheet that you should print out: http://www.felinediabetes.com/hypogly.htm With some cats the only way you will know if the blood glucose levels are too low is by doing a blood glucose test. I tested my diabetic cat once and he was at 38 mg/dl just 3 hours after testing over 300 and given insulin

My cat had no symptoms at all. I called the vet and quickly got some high carb gravy Fancy Feast into my cat and tested him every 15 minutes until he was at a more normal level. The vet didn't need to see my cat that day but did lower the insulin dose a little.

 
Thx for the list,im on it this weekend to get some,if i want to compare do they list the carbs under 10% on the can or is that something you have to look up online?

Use the food chart I posted earlier: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf Also check out the FelineDiabetes.com board and ask there for other good low carb brands to feed.

 It's certainly a good idea to check blood glucose at home if you feel comfortable. Also did your vet mention anything about using urine test strips to check for ketones in the urine?

Agreed. Testing blood glucose levels at home is definitely an important part of managing your cat's diabetes

You do not need to pay the vet $$ to do a curve which will be inaccurate since a stressed out cat will have artifically high blood glucose levels.

I never tested my diabetic cat's urine at home but it is something that a newbie should learn how to do. The presence of ketones in the urine is a sign of a serious condition called diabetic ketoacidosis which needs immediate vet treatment. It is not something you can treat at home. Sometimes the breath will smell like nail polish remover. You can buy KetoStix or KetoDiastix at any pharmacy. Both will work. The only difference is that Ketostix only tests for ketones while KetoDiastix tests for both ketones and the presence of glucose in the urine. All diabetic cats have some amount of glucose in their urine so don't pay attention to the glucose reading.

If you haven't already, please check out the FelineDiabetes.com message board. You can get more detailed help and support from experienced members there than you can here on TCS.

 

[jiazzi]

I'm walking through the baking aisle at Target and picked up some light Karo corn syrup but for a completely different reason: English toffee! It's $2.46 in case you're wondering.