Diagnosed Today

Hi my sweet 15 year old girl was diagnosed today with diabetes. They gave me ProZine Insulin to give her twice a day and changed her food over to Royal Canin wet food. I feel very confident in the care our vet is giving her but the financial side of things is daunting and I have another cat that I have to keep away from this expensive food so I can have enough for her and to see how much she is eating as well. At the moment I have her food and water set up in my bathroom where I can have more control over our boy eating it. Also this is so overwhelming since this diagnosis is brand new to us. I am glad I found your website and I hope that I will learn a lot from you all and will be able to share our experiences as well.

 

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Hi and welcome to you and your extra-sweet girl! Pretty overwhelming, huh? It was almost four years ago, but I remember the vet walking in the room saying "Bob has diabetes..."
I thought "WHAT???"
You're in a great place! Full of generous, experienced people who have, or have had, diabetic kitties. All who would be happy to help in any way we can.

If you've poked around much, you might have learned that there are 3 big things we are "big on".
1 - appropriate insulin and appropriate dosing (Good news is that the Prozinc they gave you is one of the insulin types that we consider to be great for cats!)
2 - appropriate diet - we're strong believers in a low carb canned diet. I've seen many folks join lately who are feeding Royal Canin canned.

Did your vet explain why he recommends that food? Most of us feed non-prescription canned pate style food that we can find on the shelves of the grocery store. That saves lots of money if you can do it. And that may solve the problem of your other kitty decided that a "diabetes diet" is now the greatest thing in the world. I fed Bob Fancy Feast classics and my other guy, Mullet, got to share the feast. ​

3 - Home testing of blood glucose - we advocate home testing using (in most cases) a human glucometer. Did your vet mention that as an option? It saves lots of $$$, because it eliminates the need for future "glucose curve" testing at the vet's office. You can test at home and share the data with your vet.

This is overwhelming at first. The site is sort of huge and there is more information here than any one person can soak in. I've been around four years and I haven't cracked the surface!

Try to come up with some basic questions you need answered. And in the Feline Health forum, you can ask one, two, or twenty questions that you will get plenty of answers to.

You found a great place to be.

Carl

 

Hi Carl! Thank you for the warm welcome. Yes I feel overwhelmed but more worried than anything at the moment. I just want to see my baby feeling better. The vet never explained why that specific brand of cat food, she only said she needs to be on a no-sugar diet. But I have to say I'm so glad to hear that there are less expensive options, whew! I will also invest in a glucometer for sure. Honestly this sounds a bit scary to me as I'm completely ignorant on how and where to get the blood from Boo. I know there will be something on here for me to learn how. I'm sure it won't be any scarier than having to give her her first shot in the morning either. I'm confident though that I've found the right place for help to begin our journey.

 

No sugar = low carbs, so your vet is on the bandwagon. Good!

Testing sounds like a big deal, and at first it is if you've never poked a kitty with sharp objects. But in no time both you and Boo will have no trouble with it. As far as how and where you get blood for testing? The edge of her ears is the location. Does she like (or dislike) having her ears rubbed?

 

She's likes the part where her ears start on her head. She's very laid back so hopefully it won't be too difficult.

 

I saw you mentioned that "in the morning" she'll he getting her first shot?
Curious as to what her blood glucose was at the vet, and what dose they are starting her with?

Oh, and what did she eat prior to being diagnosed? Was today her first day on the Royal Canin?

 

I took her yesterday for the initial visit and blood/urine test. The vet called me this afternoon and only said she is diabetic but I don't recall a range or number. She asked that I bring her in this evening so they could show me how to do the injections. Tomorrow morning she will be getting her first shot from me. I believe it's only 1 unit of insulin. Before her initial visit yesterday she was on Purina One dry cat food but the vet said to go buy wet and add water because she was dehydrated. And this evening was her first time eating the Royal Canin. After reading some of the posts I really would like a copy of her test results.

 

Test results are good data!

One unit doesn't sound unreasonable. Some people come on for the first time saying "the vet said to start on 3 units" and our eyes kind of bug out.

The reason I asked about prior diet - not sure what the carb value is for Purina One dry, but suffice to say "high". Just dumping that out of her system and going with low carb canned is going to have a positive effect towards lowering her blood glucose.

 

I pray so. It breaks my heart that I may have made her this way.

 

Don't go there! I had no clue cats could even get diabetes, and every cat I've ever had ate the same stuff (junk) that Bob ate for their whole lives. Who knew it wasn't good for them? Not me. Yet Bob was the only one out of a couple of dozen who developed diabetes.
But my current "only", Miss Polly, will benefit for the rest of her lives by what I learned from being blessed with having Bob.

 

You're right! I had no idea either. Thank you for all of your help and encouragement this evening.

 

You are very welcome!

 

The good news is that by changing the diet to low carb food, you may drop the glucose level 100-200 mg/dL and may reduce an insulin dose by 1-2 units, although each cat is different (ECID). If you catch the math, you discover that the food change may be enough to not need insulin, or only need it for a short time. Amazingly enough, the cat's pancreas has the ability to heal somewhat. Pretty cool, since they're still trying to figure that out for humans!

 

If you have ANY questions before giving Boo insulin in the morning, by all means post on the Health forum and ask for help.
Carl

 

My husband is the best! He gave Boo her first injection and said she didn't even flinch!

 

Can someone please tell me where the spreadsheet is? Every link I've clicked on doesn't work.

 

Maybe this will assist you. And make sure you are logged in.

Using the spreadsheet grid will help us give you better feedback. Instructions are here.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.

 

Ok Houston we have a problem. I made the pouch and injected my baby but I felt it on my fingernail that was holding the pouch. Did I go through her skin on he other side? Honestly I don't know how I really felt I had it. Do I need to re-dose?

 

No re-shot.
You don't know how much went in and could unintentionally overdose.
It happens to most of us at least once.

 

Ok, thank you! You guys are such a blessing to have. I'm so glad I found you all. I personally am having an issue with being able to get enough skin for a pocket. I do not want a repeat of just a moment ago. Any suggestions?

 

Where are you shooting?
Any place you can pull up a fold of loose skin works. I go around the lower, back shoulder as Gracie seems OK with it.

 

Same place as you.

 

Try just sort of rolling the skin, as opposed to picking it up.

Have you checked for dehydration (see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for 2 ways to do so)? That can make it more difficult.

 

She was dehydrated a few days ago and I as thinking the same thing. But my husband has no problem with it. I will experiment again without a needle and just see if it's me or she's dehydrated.

 

Short or long needle? I prefer the short, as otherwise I sometimes stab myself and they can bend.

 

Short

 

Are you pulling the skin straight away from the body, sort of perpendicular to the plane of the skin?
Some times, folks lift it vertically, which may not work as well

 

Perpendicular..I had to leave which I hate so early on in this and having the issue I just had. As soon as I get back to the house I will practice again and make sure she isn't dehydrated either. I have noticed she was really into the food they gave her and I would put water in it to help hydrate her but now she doesn't seem to be as impressed with the royal canin. She doesn't seem to be drinking as much water as well.

 

As the insulin works, the food eaten can actually get into the cells to provide energy and the cat is no longer starving to death despite eating enormously.

 

Things went so much better today! She was more herself today and even played a little I'm a very happy kitty momma!

 

Boo's vet just called and said that she does have hyperthyroidism as well. is it odd that my cat was diagnosed with diabetes hypertension and hyperthyroidism all around the same time? The vet said she's not overly concerned because these are all treatable. But I am concerned because she is now on 3 meds. Where did this all come from?

 

The hypertension may be secondary to the hyperthyroidism; blood pressure goes up with the body is running hard.
There is some speculation that what we feed may be causing some of the issues. It is definitely a fact that feeding high carb diets to an obligate carnivore can, over the long haul, result in problems managing glucose levels. Every time someone new here switches to a low carb canned diet, we get reports of a drop in blood glucose betweeb 100 to 200 mg/dL and a drop in insulin needed of 1 to 2 units lower.

 

So is Friskies Classic Pate ok or do I need Friskies Special Diet Pate? Also what about Fancy Feast, just pate?

 

Because of the high blood pressure, I might go with the Special Diet as it supposed to be kidney friendly.
The Fancy Feast Classic Pate may be OK, though they tend to be high in phosporus, which may not be good if there is any kidney impairment (another thing which may cause high BP, at least in humans)