Brand new diagnosis - feeling quite lost

Hi all,

My sweet Bella was just diagnosed with diabetes on Monday. Over the last several weeks she was drinking water excessively so I finally decided to bring her to the vet last week for a “senior panel”. After which, I received a call Monday morning confirming diabetes. I immediately took her in to learn how to do the injections the same afternoon.

Since then, I’ve attempted to switch her food and have successfully given her 4 injections.

But, she’s barely eating and when I came home today she was definitely off. I called they vet and they suggested bringing her in but I wasn’t able to at the time - nor was I comfortable giving her any more insulin. The vet OKed not giving her the injection tonight and to bring her in first thing in the morning.

Here’s my question - can a diabetes diagnosis be wrong? The dr said her BG was 320, as of last Wednesday when they tested her. I’m so concerned that the insulin + not eating enough is going to kill her and it be my fault.

I gave her a bit of Karo syrup after speaking with the vet tonight, and by about 10pm, she’s acting more alert and normal than she has since her first injection.

I don’t think she’s in to the prescribed food from the vet so I’m going to try getting some Fancy Feast instead. She’s very particular when it comes to food, but isn’t even eating her regular stuff now. She’ll take a few bites and walk away. Usually by the time I wake up or come home from work about 1/2 her food is gone, but she’s typically always cleaned her bowl.

Should I be having an alternate convo with my vet tomorrow about an improper diagnosis? Or is it likely a food + insulin unit regulating issue?

I’m terrified I’m hurting my girl and making her sicker. Any advice or guidance would be great!

 

Hi I'm no expert by any means, I'm fairly new myself. Are you home testing, or just giving him what the vet tells you to give. It's critical that you test at home to make sure it's safe to give him insulin. If you can post how many units the vet told you to give, what type of Insulin, Wet food is the best for diabetic cats, yes Fancy Feast Classics are a good choice, carbs should be under 10 percent.
Have you read any of the information on the forum yet, they are very very helpful.
Whatever insulin you are giving you can also post in that specific forum.
It would be helpful to fill in your signature, name of your cat , when she was diagnosed, type of Insulin, how many units, what type of food , any type of information, so members can see it. I hope your visit with the vet tomorrow morning will give you some answers

 

if you're switching food, particularly from dry to Fancy Feast, the easier way to do it is to switch the food FIRST .. since you've already started the insulin, make the transition relatively gradual .. and -- curiosity -- which Fancy Feast are you feeding her? some of them are wonderful for cats presumed diabetic (the classic pates), some are too high in carbohydrates

there are other cat foods that are great too -- you'll see at the top, a link to Dr Pierson's food chart, there are many foods to pick from that are 10% carbs or less

the excess water drinking does sound like diabetes -- sometimes if that's the only indication, it can mean that your cat could be controlled with change in diet and minimal insulin .. the only way to tell is to test before any injection -- that's really pretty crucial this early in your journey -- any test done at the vet clinic is likely to be affected by stress, and score higher than any test you'd do at home

let us know the details (there is a yellow sticky that tells you what it's good for us to know) and we can do a better job of advising, based on what is happening to you and your sugarcat

welcome!

and yes, every single one of us knows, understands, and went through, that confusion, worry, feeling of wanting to do the best yet not knowing exactly what to do, and feeling alone -- you are NOT alone, we are all here for you

 

First and foremost you need to take a deep breath.
Welcome to a fantastic forum. Everyone here knows how overwhelmed and scared you feel, we all felt like that when we got the diagnosis.
You don't need prescription food, its not a good option for diabetic cats. FF classic pates are a good option. Are you feeding any dry kibble? If you have any of the prescription food left you should be able to return it to the vet for a refund. You can always say the cat won't eat it. For diabetic cats you need to feed food that is below 10% carb. There is a wonderful list by Dr. Piersen here on the forum that lists most cat food that is readily available.
Are you home testing?. It is important, despite what the vet may tell you, so you know what your cats blood glucose level is and whether it is safe to give insulin.

Not to increase your stress levels but there are a couple of things that you can do in order to get the best from this community. Do these when you can, no pressure.
1) could you please set up your signature. This is the light grey text you see underneath my comment. To do this go to your name at the top right hand side of the page. Click on it and you'll see a drop down box. On the right you see signature, click and fill in some details. Cats name, sex age and weight, date of diagnosis, type of insulin, type of test meter you are using and any other medical issues you cat may have. Your location can also be useful. There is a character limit so abbreviations are fine. This just avoid folk having to ask the same questions over and over. This signature can be edited as you go along and as things change. Don't forget to save.
2) when you start to home test, please set up the spreadsheet we use here. You will find the template and instructions under "tech help"

I'm not too experienced to give you advice on what I think may be going on but hopefully others will come along to help. You may want to change your thread title to read ? New - need help..this may attract more eyes.

 

Thanks for explaining this, you did a way better job than I did

 

I went through this same experience 10 days ago. Drinking and peeing, her coat was dry and the vet said she was constipated. I started her on insulin and read how important it is to switch to wet food and started trying various foods from the list. While Gypsy was never a huge fan of we food and was on a mainly dry diet, she really liked the prescription wet m/d and I switched her immediately. Her BG numbers plummeted. I'm now trying to start over, recalibrate and get some curves and understand her cycle and get her onto a stable dosage and routie. Keep reading and learning and you'll gain an appreciation for how difficult it can be to manage diabetes. The help here is amazing!

 

How is Bella today and how did your convo go with the vet.