brand new, scared and overwhelmed

I have a 12 year old stray that has a heavy dose of Maine Coon or Forest Cat blood in her who was just diagnosed as diabetic today. She had been losing weight(she was a normal healthy weight before the loss) and was obsessed with spending all of her time at the water fountain. She is still pretty perky, but her coat is looking kind of gross and she just hasn't been herself. In addition to the diabetes, she has some kind of infection that will require a course of antibiotic. The vet is having me come in tonight to learn how to give her injections of insulin and I am really overwhelmed by all of this. In all honesty I was completely blindsided by this. I am concerned that we are jumping into the insulin thing so quickly and I'm terrified that I will overdose her or something. I'm trying not to get to ahead of myself, but I'm working full time, going to grad school part time, and taking care of an aging parent living 45 minutes away from me. I'm worried about leaving her home alone so frequently and being able to adequately manage this. I live out in the country and don't really have anyone to check in on her when I'm not here. Before coming to this site, I had talked to a few friends about her diagnosis and they all urged me to put her down, saying she's had a good life. This site is giving me hope that she and I might not have to part company in the near future, I'm still so overwhelmed and heartbroken though.

 

Welcome. It is good that yo want to treat. I live alone (apart from my cats and dog) and leave then without me for long period of time. Shots should be given every 12 hours but there is some leayway
Good insulin are the human Lantus and Levemir and the pet insulins ProZinc and BCP PZI. For those two human insulin it is best to get the 5 pack of 3 ml disposable pens via a 10 ml vial. Although per ml the vial is less expensive most cats will not use up a 10 ml vial before the insulin goes bad/becomes ineffective. The human insulin N/NPH is sometimes prescribed but only lasts 8-10 hours. Same for the pet insulin Vetsulin/Caninisulin.
Most of us here test or cats blood glucose at home using a human meter. We test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/
What are you feeding? A low-carb canned is best. No reason for a prescription food. Here is a list of commercial low-carb canned

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

Here is a link to home testing blood sugarshttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

 

Welcome to FDMB. Now take a deep breath! You have come to the right place. We all understand just how overwhelming and upsetting this all is right now but there is a wealth of information here and there are many people, like you, working full time, looking after aging parents, going to school or other commitments and still managing to care for their diabetic cats just fine. This takes a commitment from you and a little organization and planning but it can be done. Your main goal is to treat your cat and keep her safe and this site is just the place to get any help you need to do that.

Since you are off to the vet's tonight, I am just going to touch on a few very important points for you.

First of all, it's very important to home test your cat. This can be done with a human glucometer. Your vet may not have mentioned this to you as some vets do not think this is necessary or they don't think their pet parents will or can do it. If your vet did mention it to you, they may have recommended a pet glucometer. This is fine but pet glucometers are considerably more expensive to use so most people here use a human one and all the reference material available on this site is based on the use of human meters. Testing is not that hard. Most cats can be conditioned to accept testing within a short time and there are many of us who have cats that now come to get us at test time! We test before every shot and then try to get one or two more mid cycle tests in between.

Testing at home not only lets you know how kitty is doing but also can keep your vet expenses down. Many vets recommend bringing your cat in for regular testing called "curves". These can be done at home. Doing them at home will give you much more accurate readings as most cats have elevated glucose levels at the vet's, and sometimes those elevations are huge. Getting readings at home allows you to monitor and make dose adjustments more safely than relying on the vet's glucose readings. You can share your numbers with our vet by recording your readings on the spreadsheet available on this site.

The other thing you need to do is get your cat onto a soft canned low carb diet. Your vet may recommend some Rx foods but they are not necessary, very expensive and the dry foods they offer are definitely not good for diabetic cats. Regular retail brands like Fancy Feast pates or Friskies, if you are in the US or Canada, are excellent choices.

Last but not least, ignore those folks who tell you this is impossible and you should put the cat down. Those folks don't understand how easy this can be and what a wonderful bond we share with our sugar kitties!

Let us know about your vet visit tonight and ask any and all questions you might have. There is an immense amount of experience amongst the folks here and everyone is ready willing and able to help you in any way they can.

 

Hey there and Welcome to the best place you never wanted to be. I understand how overwhelming this is to you as it was to all of us when our cats got the DX of feline diabetes. You certainly have you hands full with your schedule but managing her diabetes can be done with some good scheduling on your part.

Do you know what her Blood Glucose (BG) was at diagnosis and what insulin she will be on?

Food is very important. We recommend a low carb WET diet under 10% carbs. I will link to you a chart that we use. The crbs are the third column form the left. Many use Fancy Feast, 9 Lives, Friskies, etc. This list can also be found inwww.catinfo.org If you are already giving insulin and you have not transitioned to wet, low carb cat food, be sure to test while you are transitioning. This is because by changing to low carb food, it could decrease your kitty’s number by 100 points or more by changing to low carb food, it could decrease your kitty’s number by 100 points or more. This chart is for the US, let us know if you are not in the states and we will provide you with the proper food chart link.

foodchart


Being concerned about overdosing her is a valid concern and we all home test our cats so we know what their BG's are before injection. Also, whenever you can get some more test in between the 12 hour cycle would be helpful. For a new diabetic, you do not want to shoot 200 or under. It is better for her to be too high for a day than too low for a minute.

Here are a couple of videos that will show you how to home test.

http://s106.photobucket.com/user/chupie_2006/media/testingear/sweetspot.jpg.html

Here is another good link on Home Testing:http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-home-test.htm

Meters: There are many meters. There is a pet meter called the Alpha Trak2 and human meters. Some use the pet meter because it is what the vets use so the numbers will match up. The meter and strips are expensive though. Most use human meters that can be purchased at any pharmacy. It typically reads a little lower than the pet meter but we have ways of compensating it. Many use Walmart's brand, Relion Micro or Relion Prime, because it only needs a tiny drop of blood. The Prime testing strips are ½ the price of the Micro.

Lancets: These are used to poke the ear to get blood. There are many different sizes (gauges). It is recommended when you are first starting out to use a 26-28 gauge. Also, it would be a good idea to pick up Neosporin WITH pain reliever to apply on the edge of the ears and don't forget to alternate ears.

Hypo Kit: Always good to be prepared for possible hypo events which means that your cat has reached dangerously low numbers. It can be fatal, hence, the importance of home testing and collecting data in a spreadsheet. In each of the Insulin Forums are stickie’s labeled Hypo Links. Please print and post on your refrigerator so everyone in your household is aware of hypo symptoms. You will want to create your hypo kit that would include and not limited to; extra testing strips, honey/karo/maple syrup, high carb food, medium carb food, vet information, etc

This is a lot of information for now. Please let us know if you need any question answered , we are here to help.

 

This all has been so helpful. When Freya was at the vet's office this morning her sugar was close to 500. She is an unbelievably loving cat that is a really, really poor patient and vet visits are hideously stressful and exhausting for her. The last vet she went to had a leather apron and glove protocol for her, so we ended up switching to a practice that lets her hang out under a towel and growl at everyone. When I went in tonight, they had me leave her at home rather than get her all worked up again and put her through a long car ride. I practiced giving a small saline injection to some poor cat named Sam that lives there( I thanked him profusely and gave him lots of love).
The plan that the vet has now is to get her on a better diet- I just went with the prescription food from there simply because it is easiest now with the way my life is moving, I figure we can get something cheaper and just as good down the road- get her on some antibiotics to clear out the bacteria that showed up in her urine and to start her on one unit of insulin twice a day. She wont get any insulin until tomorrow night because the pharmacy is closed now. After she gets through the antibiotics and has a week or so of injections under her belt the vet said we would re-evaluate what her needs would be insulin wise. She showed me how to check blood sugar on one of the diabetic cats living at the office, but said that right now she was most concerned with Freya getting the insulin and that the blood sugar testing could come later. I think her reasoning is that the insulin dose is low enough that she shouldn't end up in trouble and given her personality, it might be best to ease into how many times a day she's being stuck with something if she is going to have to accept this as a long term thing.
One of the things I am most worried about is dragging her through all of this for me, not her, and that she will be miserable. She has been a good buddy and companion the last 12 years and the last thing I want to do is put her needlessly through something because I don't want to lose her.

 

Glad that you got to practice shooting the insulin and that you had such a sweet little understudy. What insulin will Freya be on? And where are you located?

Feline Diabetes isn't a death sentence for our fur babies. A lot of cats that get well regulated go on to live long full lives. It is all very overwhelming in the beginning but you will find your rhythm with it all. We will be here to help you along the way.

About the food, some of the RX foods are actually higher in carbs than we would like to see a diabetic cat be on. Plus, they are expensive and many cats will not eat them. If that be the case with Freya, the vet should give you a full refund.

When you start home testing there are two pluses: 1. You will keep her safe and never shoot when she is all ready too low
and 2. You will save money by not having to take her to the vets for a curve which will only stress her out and the numbers that are recorded at the vet office will be elevated because of that stress. When the vet got 500 on her, she could have easily been 100-150 points higher due to stress.

Keep asking questions and we will help you along this journey. So glad that you have decided to keep your faithful buddy with you longer. Your are a good bean to your fur baby.

 

They want her to be on Lantus, and we're located in Western New York.
They absolutely will give me a refund for the food it if she doesn't like it. I got the wet food because I'd heard the dry food could be problematic and also because I could easily hide her antibiotic pills in it. The vet also recommended the meters and strips for people because the ones for pets are so expensive. She did tell me that Freya's sugar level told them that she is for certain a diabetic, but that stress most likely elevated how high her numbers were, which is why they didn't have me bring her back in tonight. I also know from taking care of my mom that healing from injury or sickness will raise sugar levels, so I am optimistic that if she chills out a little bit and gets the infection cleared up that her levels might come down to a less terrifying number. I am so happy that I stumbled over this community, it makes things seem less terrifying and hopeless.

 

Welcome to FDMB.

When you have a moment, could you add a few tidbits to your signature? It will help us give you feedback.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback. You are limited to 2hard returns, so separate pieces by | or -.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
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.

Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Always click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you have changed anything.

 

Your vet sounds like she is up to date, willing to work with you and taking Freya's personality into consideration when making recommendations all of which is a big bonus!

Does Freya generally not like to be held/handled, or is this just her reaction to the vet visits? My little sugar cat hates being picked up/held but is a perfect patient when it comes to her tests and shots. Reactions at the vet do not always foretell how a kitty is going to react to the bit of extra handling involved in testing. Does she object to you playing with her ears? While you get Freya's antibiotics going and start her shots, you could also start fussing a bit with her ears to get her used to you touching them and holding them for a moment as you would when home testing.

Was Freya on dry food until now? Switching over to the wet food can bring about a huge drop in glucose levels in some cats (sometimes as much as 100 to 200 points) and you already know that once the infection is cleared, it's likely her glucose levels will drop somewhat too. The glucose readings the vet took in her office were likely quite elevated from stress so if you are switching to a canned low carb diet, it would be wise to start home testing sooner rather than later. With stress out of the picture , the diet change and clearing up the infection may have a huge impact on her numbers.

 

Welcome! It's good to see a fellow upstate New Yorker. I'm located in Ithaca.

Your vet sounds great, and you're definitely on the right track with treatment!

When Bandit was diagnosed, I was living alone, working a full time job (with a 2 hour daily commute), a part time job, and going to grad school. But after a pretty overhwhelming first few weeks, I was able to get into a routine that worked. One thing I'd buy that you're definitely going to need would be an auto feeder--that way you can freeze a chunk of canned food and set the feeder to release it while you're out. I'm not gonna lie, it does take some creative scheduling to work around the 12 hour Lantus schedule with a busy schedule, but it's definitely doable.

When the right treatment (Lantus, dose adjustments via daily testing, a low carb, canned diet), your cat has very good odds of going into remission. You do have to put in a little extra effort despite having a busy schedule, but if you can get your cat in remission, all you need to worry about is keeping her on the right diet and testing once in a while to make sure she's still on track. Bandit's been in remission since 2010, and I don't regret a minute of the work or midnight tests it took to get him there. For the most part (despite a non-diabetes related illness recently) he has been perfectly happy and as healthy as any non-diabetic cat.

 

She is very, very vocal and will swipe at anyone that gets too close to her. She is not welcome at free shot clinics or the two local groomers we tried going to.
Yesterday at the vet, her sugar tested at 493, and the glucose in the urine was 1000. Last night, I switched to the purina DM wet food the vet gave me and put her on antibiotics, and after two doses, she seems like her old self again. Tonight was supposed to be her first insulin shot, but when I checked her blood sugar before she ate, it was only 248, so I didn't give her any. I'll check and see what her sugar is later if I can manage to see if it went up. The vet really didn't give me a lot of info on where her sugar should be or anything like that. Her plan was just to give her the insulin and worry about checking sugar later. Freya is one of those cats that is pretty incapacitated by a thundershirt, so if I put that on her, getting a glucose reading isn't that horrid.

I forgot to add the info to my signature so I'll add it here this time:
Freya is 11years 2months |diagnosed 14 dec 2015| purina DM canned food | lantus not yet started|
lives with 9 year old housmate

 

I agree that your vet sounds quite switched on to FD.

I see you've already discovered why home testing is so important, especially when you're transitioning a kitty to low carb food (and doubly so if the kitty's already receiving insulin). I suggest contacting your vet ASAP to tell them about the improvement in Freya's BG levels and to have a chat about insulin dose requirements now that she's getting less carbs in her grub. When you're testing, try to get the tests about 2 hours or so after Freya eats so that the readings are less likely to be influenced by food she has just eaten.

I'm glad to hear that Freya is already more like herself on the new food. All going well, she'll be looking and feeling much, much better very soon. Well done on getting the home testing nailed so quickly. You're a Sugar Dance natch!


Mogs
.

 

I agree with Mogs that contacting your vet to let her know how much Freya's numbers have dropped at home and discuss her insulin dose is in order.

I am so glad to hear you are testing Freya. And the thundershirt sounds like a wonderful idea although I have to admit, if she can be THAT unco-operative, I have to wonder how you get it on her!?! She must be a little Jekyll and Hyde. The thundershirt is an idea I've not seen on the board before! KUDOS for a great start!