Fedya - Newly diagnosed - 11 years old

Hello everyone, we're new to the forum. Pretty recently my 11-year-old baby boy, Fedya, was diagnosed with FD. It kinda came as a shock to my dad I and we're still getting accustomed to everything. A couple of weeks ago we took him to the vet because his paw was really bothering him so they ran some tests and everything was pretty normal, gave him a steroid shot after concluding that he had a small amount of dermatitis. So, they sent us home and told us to return in about 7 to 8 weeks and so we did. Towards the end of those 8 weeks though, Fedya began drinking and peeing A LOT. My dad and I knew that for him this really wasn't normal, so when we took him to the Vet and told him the symptoms, he said there was a good chance that he has diabetes. Unfortunately, my dad and I were hopeful that he didn't have anything like that because to us, it seemed impossible that in such a short amount of time he could become diabetic. We were sadly mistaken, and he was diagnosed. We have switched him to Purina DM and feed him every about 1/8th of a can every 3 hours.

Fedya is a pretty big and sturdy cat, he's very strong and extremely smart. He was weighed to be around 14 pounds but he has lost a little weight. Obviously, he is overweight. When we came home we started him on 1U of Lantus every 12 hours and closely monitored his UG with dipstix. We are committed to a TR protocol. We slowly have increased his dose to 1.5U every 12 hours, but getting his UG is not really a problem anymore. Getting his BG has been an absolute and total nightmare though. We were able to get it once in the morning on his ear and he barely noticed and got a reading of 379 mg/dl. Pretty high right? So when we tried again in the middle of the day to get data to establish a curve it was just BAD. Holding him down didn't work, having one of us hold him while the other pierces his ear didn't work, he just keeps squirming away. It's not so easy to just hold him down and get his blood he's pretty big and strong. He knows how to wriggle out of situations and every time we try to come near him and get it again he just runs away. My dad and I are really struggling and we don't know what to do. We really need to be able to get his BG if we want him to get into remission. If anyone can give us suggestions and advice we would really appreciate. Sorry, this was so long, thank you for the help!

 

Unfortunately steroids can cause diabetes in cats ):

I definitely know your struggle with home testing! Sophie is not a big cat, but she fought me for the longest time and she is a biter! What finally worked for me was not struggling with her. I would just let her go when she was upset, and instead starting bribing her with treats. She gets a treat before I test and a treat after. It also helps to get them used to the process before you try it all at once. So start by rubbing his ears and give him a treat. Another time click the lancet pen (if you use it) and give him a treat. Then hopefully he will start to associate it with good things!

 

Welcome to the group. You have found a wonderful forum of caring, experienced and generous people and have taken a giant step in getting Fedya healthy again. Sarah has given you great advice, I would choose one spot that is comfortable for you and has good lighting and make this your test spot. It can take time before Fedya will become accustomed to testing but with patience you can get there.
I would read all of the sticky's on the lantus board, I know its a lot of information and can be overwhelming, but knowledge is power. Ask as many questions as you have, no question is dumb, it's how we all learn. You may want to set up your signature with relevant information so you don't get asked this again and again. To set it up go to your name at the top right hand side of the screen. This will then give you a drop down box and on the left of this box you will find signature. Fill in the information like name, weight, diagnosis date, Insulin type, dosage, and the meter you are using what you are feeding Fedya any other medications or health issues and where you are located or time-zone. There are a limited number of characters in the signature so you may want to abbreviate some.

You may also at some point want to set up the spreadsheet (for when you start to get BG tests in) to do this you will find instructions under Suggestions, Tech Support. It is an invaluable tool for everyone here and we all use it to track progress and see how dosing is helping etc. Without knowing Fedya numbers the experienced members will not be able to advise you on dosing

FD is a very steep learning curve but it is also very rewarding to see the progress. I know how scared and overwhelmed you and your Dad must be feeling but we've all been there and once you start to learn it can be very empowering.

Best of luck to you, your dad and Fedya. Hope to see you on the lantus board.

 

Thank you all for the great suggestions! I'll be sure to update with the BG progress and hope to see more advice on other boards.

 

How is the testing going? Are you still struggling? I can't really help you as I am lucky that Jerry is very cooperative. There are a number of members who have tips and tricks. You may want to post on the general feline health board or the lantus board and ask for help with testing. You will probably get a lot of input.

 

I’m very impressed with how quickly you’ve taken to everything! Only diagnosed a week ago and you’ve already switched to wet food and are committed to home testing. It can definitely be overwhelming at first, but you’re already doing great. Fredya is in great hands!

 

Testing is actually going quite well now! We have successfully reached an understanding with Fedya and he no longer resists when we need to collect blood from him. Thank you so much for the help it really made things easier with him

 

So glad its going well. Great that you got your signature set up. How about the spreadsheet? Did you find the information? If you have any problems just post and some of the more tech savvy members will help you out. It is an important tool.
It's amazing how quickly the fur-babies get use to things. One other thing, you may want to put where you are in the signature, there are members all over the world. I actually need to add mine, just realised I don't have it either. Oops.

 

Yes I just got around to using the spreadsheet and figuring it out how it works. I'll include it in my signature as soon as I fill everything out! Thank you so much

 

Fabulous, great news.