15 year old female newly diagnosed

Hello,
I wanted to say thank so much for this site. My cat Ash has been drinking and urinating more which I understand now are diabetes symptoms. When the vets said she had diabetes I was crushed but this site has made me feel more at ease. I'm trying to be informed as I can about this disease. I want to do the best for her but not make her miserable. I want to home test her but she doesn't like to be handled unless its on her terms. I'm also concerned about giving her the morning dose of insulin and then leaving her alone while I go to work. Though I'm sure that's an issue many members deal with.

Her full bloodwork and urine tests said she has diabetes. However when they tested blood from her ear with the meter it was 270. The vet said it wasn't that high considering she may be stressed from the visit. They didn't want to start her on insulin right away. They ran a different blood test that confirmed the diagnosis. So I'm taking her in tomorrow and I will know more then. In the meantime all the information on this site has made this diagnosis less intimidating. I'm glad to have learned there are so many people sucessfully managing this disease.

Thanks,
Chris

 

Hello Chris and welcome! If you have any questions just ask them in the health forum part.

 

Hi Chris, welcome to you and Ash. I strongly urge you to home test. It's the best way to keep Ash safe and to see how well the insulin and low carb diet is working. It's easy to do and we'll be glad to help you. Here's some info to get you started
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
If you have any questions post them on the Health Forum.

 

Welcome to FDMB.

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Editing your Signature

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Add any other text, such as your name | cat's name | date of Dx (diagnosis) | insulin | meter general location (city and state/province) any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.

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Do you know what test that was?
Was it a fructosamine test? That measure the "BG" average over the last two week. Just note that the results from the fructosamine is not directly compatible with BG value.

 

It was a fructosamine test. Thanks for the information I didn't really understand how that worked. Things are going ok so far. She is fine with the insulin injections and ok with testing most of the time. She's more skeptical of me because of the trips to the vet the past week. I don't think she has ever forgotten a vet visit in her life and holds a grudge. So anytime I go to leave the house she gets ready to run under the bed and avoid a vet trip.
The hardest part so far is the food. I'm trying to feed only lower carb canned food. In the past she would get Orijen dry food in the morning and canned food at night. Now she really wants her dry food. I bought various brands of wet food that are lower carb but she isn't excited about any of them. She'll eat some and then graze for a few hours. Won't eat it all like her dry food. I don't want to pick it up beacause I know she needs to eat for the insulin. If it wasn't for the food issue I would feel like we are making good progress.
Thanks for the welcome everyone.