another overwhelmed newbie

I hope I'm doing this right! Anyway, just popping in to introduce our family. Two humans and six cats family. The oldest kitty, Lucy Llewellyn, just started on her insulin yesterday, once a day Vetsulin. I gave her the injection today, first time for me. I can do this. I have been reading and researching until my eyes are sore and now it's all mostly swirling round in my head non stop, but I think eventually I can get a handle on it when it stops feeling like a crisis. Just very worried all day whether the insulin is best for her, the food is okay, how is she reacting, etc. Maybe when we get her situated indoors (she's been an outside cat) then I can slow down the brain tornado and focus on one thing at a time. I'm trying not to overreact and change everything in her world all at one time. Deep breaths, right?
All of our cats are strays or ferals learning to be loved, so I don't know how old Lucy is. She was an adult when she found us, a big sweet tortie. She has to be at least 18 years. I feel like she is so fragile and I'm afraid of making things worse for her with my ineptitude.
Well, I don't need to natter on forever. I'm thankful that there is a place to look to for information and understanding.

 

Since you're already giving insulin, focus on learning how to home test the blood glucose. This will help keep your cat safe.

You will need an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart ReliOn Confirm (takes tiny blood drop, meter and strips are inexpensive)
Test strips for the meter - start with at least a pack of 50
Lancets - 27 gauge starting out.

And while you're working on that, other assessments you may wish to make are in my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools.

 

Where do you live? That will help us give recommendations on meter etc.

One thing at a time though - she has already started the insulin. So bring her inside and start home testing. Then once you have a handle on that we can work on a diet change depending on what she is currently eating

Wendy

 

@BJM, thank you for the advice, and for pointing out your signature links, those will be very helpful. Making a shopping list for tomorrow.

@Wendy&Tiggy, we are in OKC area. Should be no problem to find appropriate meter and strips. I have been reading about testing blood glucose. Vet said bring her back in two weeks but I don't like that so I will try testing at home. I have been working on getting her on lower carb food for a week before she started insulin, but I don't want to make any more diet changes now that she's on insulin, until I'm able to test glucose.

I will feel better when I can see that she is feeling better, I hope soon.

 

Ok great!. So heres a US shopping list and testing tips https://docs.google.com/document/d/13c_CPZVKz27fD_6aVbsguadJKvjSrSAkD7flgPPhEag/pub

Getting started shopping list
1. Meter ie Walmart Relion Confirm or Micro.
2. Matching strips
3. Lancets - little sticks to poke the ear to get blood . new members usually start with a larger gauge lancet such as 28g or 29g until the ear learns to bleed. Optional - lancing tool.
4. Cotton balls to stem the blood
5. Neosporin or Polysporin ointment with pain relief to heal the wound
6. Mini flashlight (optional) - useful to help see the ear veins in dark cats, and to press against
7. Ketone urine test strips ie ketodiastix - Important to check ketones when blood is high
8. Sharps container - to dispose of waste syringes and lancets.
9. Treats for the cat - like freeze dried chicken
10. Karo syrup/corn syrup or honey if you dont have it at home - for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast
11. A couple of cans of fancy feast gravy lovers or other high carb gravy food- for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast


Whats her current diet? (food brand type?)
Wendy

 

You should also consider changing insulins. Vetsulin usually does not work well in cats and also insulin is usually given twice a day. Lantus, Levemir, PZI & ProZinc are better insulins. They last longer in a cat's system and do not have the steep drops that short insulins like Vetsulin have. Lantus & Levemir are human insulins. If your vet prescribes either one of these, ask for a prescription for the pens instead of a vial. Because the pens are packaged in smaller quantities (you get 5 pens), they actually last longer and you will be able to use almost every drop. With the vial you will end up throwing a lot away because it has become ineffective.

PZI & ProZinc are pet insulins. These can be ordered through your vet's office.

All of these are good insulins for cats and they usually respond well to them.

 

@Wendy&Tiggy,
Lucy doesn't enjoy canned food but she is eating a little anyway. I have got her some fancy feast classic and some other types from Binky's list that are low carb. I give her as much as she'll eat twice a day, which is not much more than a tablespoon.
Of course she prefers dry food and before going on insulin she preferred Purina cat chow. A week ago I got her some Blue Buffalo Wilderness dry, since it has no grains or gluten and is high protein, this as a step away from the Purina she was eating, but she still wasn't eating much so I supplemented that with some Purina just to get food into her. She has lost a lot of weight and can't afford to not eat.
The vet of course gave us Science Diet dry. She seems to be okay free feeding all day on a little of both the science diet and wilderness, and I have removed the purina from her options.
At this point I'm not making any more diet changes. She's getting less carbs than before, and still probably more than she should, but I need to know that her insulin is working properly with what she's eating now. Since she was prescribed insulin while she was eating a lot of carbs and with BG >350, I understand this is a bad time to try to drastically reduce carbs.
She's also going to have some big stressors, moving inside and having to share space with another cat. It's a lot for one old lady to deal with in a week. Kitten steps.

 

Unfortunately grain free doesnt always mean low carb so you will likely need to transition her to a low carb wet and off the dry once you start home testing.

But move her indoors first. BTW I had a cat I moved indoors.. took months before she stopped making a run for the door or trying to escape.

Wendy

 

Cats, go figure! Yeah, I know grain free isn't carb free, but it seems better over all than what she had before. The upside is that all the cats are getting a diet transition, now that I'm more aware. And unlike Lucy, they like canned food and have been eating that anyway. They just have to accept some adjustments to their dry.

 

Hi Julie (hope that's your first name) and sugarkitty Lucy L and welcome.

I'm Deb, the tuxie pictured to the right is my sugardude Wink.

Binky's food list is out of date. We refer people to this more current food list, by vet Dr. Lisa Pierson. It was just updated after extensive work in September 2012.

There are also some great transitioning tips for cats from dry to wet food on Dr. Pierson's site, catinfo.org. I used most of these tips, to get my dry food addict Wink, to switch over from dry to wet food. Got him into remission (OTJ, off-the-juice) pretty quickly after that diet change.

Keep up those "kitten steps". You're right, too many changes at once for your old lady Lucy to deal with so take it one step at a time.

 

Deb & Wink, Thank you so much for the updated food list! I figured Binky's was out of date but was struggling to find something current. I had found Dr. Pierson, but hadn't yet stumbled on this list. I also do appreciate the link to transitioning. Very good info. Lucy is doing well, getting her appetite back and eating more, which is a relief as she had dropped a lot of weight. She's gradually eating more canned food each time it's offered, and I'm just happy she's eating something and getting her strength back.
Wink is a handsome fellow! We have a little feral tuxedo Manx coming around for food. He's quite a piece of work! There is just something special about tuxedos.
Thanks again Deb, all help is appreciated here. It's so time consuming to comb the internet for hours and hope to find the proper information. It means a lot to have some helpful pointers!