June 18th, 2009 - 25 Comments
How To Test Your Diabetic Cat’s Blood Sugar At Home
You can monitor your diabetic cat’s blood sugar at home using a glucometer — the same over-the-counter device used by human diabetics. Hometesting can save your cat’s life! For more information on this topic go to felinediabetes.com
Duration : 0:4:36
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Mark…excellent …
Mark…excellent video! Please consider producing more ‘how-to’ videos, i.e. administering injections, etc. This was way more helpful than all other vids I’ve watched, including Cornell University vids on feline diabetes. Thank you so much.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
This is a great …
This is a great video! Thanks! My cat has diabetes too… I didn’t know it was as common as it is…
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
My diabetic cat, …
My diabetic cat, Buster (who looks like the cat in the video), has been receiving insulin for over four years. Thanks ONLY to testing! I wasn’t able to test the ear, but I the large pad on his back feet. Doesn’t bother him a bit. Cats are unpredictable when it comes to regulation, so testing WILL save their lives.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Simple if you …
Simple if you understand feline diet. Begin with an ideal feline diet: by Calories (not weight), about
6% from carbohydrate, 47% from fat, 47% from protein.
Then raise fat a little (not too much or you hurt the pancreas) and carbs a little (not too much or blood sugar goes out of whack). So try for perhaps
10% from carbs, 60% from fat, 30% from protein. That’s Wellness, for example. Google Janet & Binky’s list to find calorie analysis of most commercial foods. Good luck!
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Catch-22 with cat …
Catch-22 with cat food: Low carb for diabetes, yet for his renal disease, vet said low protein diet was best. Any suggestions?
Thanks! ~Carole
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Our 16 y/o Babycat …
Our 16 y/o Babycat was diagnosed yesterday with feline diabetes and we are now giving him insulin until the vet can test his dosage levels on Monday. Babycat’s blood sugar level was 500 POINTS OVER NORMAL. Is this an uncommonly high level? Should I be scared? I am also looking for the right cat food for him - we were appalled when we checked the labels of the so-called healthy dry food he’s eaten all these years. Mark, Thanks for this video. We’ll do this! ~Carole
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
My cat has just …
My cat has just been diagnosed with diabetes, my brother is diabetic and has a monitor and lancets. I have been worried about my cats (Miffys) BSL as she is hungry all the time, I have a feeling that she my be too high. Thanks for the demo as I will check her level tomorrow.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Hahahahaha THIS IS …
Hahahahaha THIS IS AWESOME man keep up this awesome vids..
Good luck little kitty! you are lucky
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Do you test Buddy’s …
Do you test Buddy’s BG before every shot? And he still has gone hypo?
I just started my cat on insulin this week. He got ketoacidosis and spent 3 days in a clinic. It’s been a tough and overwhelming week for us both. He’s improving but is still very lethargic and way underweight.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Mark, thanks so …
Mark, thanks so much for demonstrating the home testing procedure. My 6-year-old cat, Stripes, was just diagnosed diabetic 3 weeks ago. Thankfully, my vet is supportive of me monitoring him at home, as well as initiating a raw chicken diet for Stripes. I figure, if my aunt could get off insulin bu losing weight, eating right, and exercising, Stripes has a shot at it if I get him off all the carby kibble, and feed him what nature intended him to eat. The vet agrees that it may just work.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
My cat, Lucy, was …
My cat, Lucy, was just diagnosed as a diabetic. She is on Porcine insulin 2units qam & pm. Her reading last Saturday was 439! My vet does not believe in aggressive regulation. We are so worried.
After watching your video - I think I have the confidence to try it myself. Lucy gets so stressed out going to the vet.
Thank you for shedding light on a subject that is so foreign to most of us.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Hey everyone, it …
Hey everyone, it was 4 years ago this month that the cat featured in the video, Buddy, was diagnosed diabetic. He is a very happy, healthy diabetic cat! When he’s not hunting field mice, plotting to steal his companion cat’s dinner, or positiioning himself on my desk so that I can’t work, he gets his one unit of Lantus insulin twice per day after his blood tests. He throws us an occasional hypo which is why hometesting is so very important. Best regards, Buddy & Mark
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
No doubt, Jason! My …
No doubt, Jason! My other (non-diabetic) cat is a tasmanian devil. Treating a lap cat is a lot easier.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Interesting… I …
Interesting… I always wondered how some animals would react to testing and injections.
I bet some cats and dogs are hard to inject and test.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
My kittie pooky is …
My kittie pooky is also diabetic. I just found out 2 weeks ago. I noticed that if I held a small flashlight to the inside of her ear I could get a very detailed look at the patterns of veins. The light has to be right but this will help you know where your cats veins are. Hope this helps.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Stress can make a …
Stress can make a cats blood sugar rise, she should talk to her VET about getting something to take the stress out of the travel days
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I give the insulin …
I give the insulin shots when my diabetic cat is either eating his breakfast, or dinner. I put Merlin up on a small counter top, wait till he has started munching, pull up a bit of skin near his neck and slide in the needle. He is too distracted by food to object to the shots!
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Depending on your …
Depending on your machine and where in the world u are from.
im 22 and im a type 1 diabetic ( discovered 2 months ago ) our reading has to be between 4 - 8
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
for humans it’s …
for humans it’s between 90 and 130 I guess it’s the same for cats
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Okay, Mark, it …
Okay, Mark, it worked! Zarley didn’t sit still (he normally doesn’t like his ears touched anyway). Also, I made the mistake of using a lance-it pen (Zarley has long hair on his ears) and the clicking was driving him crazy as I attempted to “aim” it, so I used a lance-it as you showed in your video and it worked!! He flinched a bit (so I need to be more gentle next time, but I’ll learn). I tested him and got a reading!!! THANK YOU AGAIN!!
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Thanks! Buddy is a …
Thanks! Buddy is a very pretty cat!
My cat Fireball was diagnosed with diabetes on Nov 12th and we just got our glucometer today. This was VERY helpful. We were able to draw a bit of blood, no problem. However, he didn’t want to sit still as well as Buddy. Maybe with practice…
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
THANK YOU for …
THANK YOU for posting this! My cat was just diagnosed with diabetes and I’m going to the vet tomorrow to get my insulin instructions! Buddy is BEAUTIFUL!
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Thank you Thank you …
Thank you Thank you Thank you!! I tried & tried & couldn’t figure out where to get a good test site on my cat, Tough Guy. You should give this video to vet offices!!!!!!!!!!
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
haha my cat would …
haha my cat would eat me if i ever tried to poke her with a needle.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
This isn’t really …
This isn’t really related, but my friend has a diabetic cat and she wants to take her abroad, an I wanna ask if anyone knows if a diabetic pet can travle ona a plane at all? It would a be a great help if anyone knows XD