Diagnosed Today

Our 8 year old male, indoor cat named Crook, was just diagnosed this morning as diabetic. His blood glucose was 395. Our vet prescribed Novolin N as the insulin, and started him at 2 units, twice a day. We just gave him his first dose around 9 pm this evening. We have 3 other indoor cats and all 4 cats have always been on dry food, but I did a little research this afternoon and decided to switch Crook to wet food. We bought sample box of Friskies Classic Pate and he ate about half of a 5.5 oz. can before I gave him his first injection. I’d love to have all of our cats on wet food and hopefully in the future we can make a total switch, but we hadn’t ever done it mainly for financial reasons, and ease of using dry food. I’m trying to keep an eye on him to make sure his blood sugar doesn’t bottom out. I don’t have a glucometer, my vet never even mentioned me getting one. He just wants me to bring him back in one week for another blood check.

I’m definitely going to be reading over this forum so I can get as much information as I can. Crook is our only male cat and he started having seizures a little over a year ago with no apparent cause that we can find. The vet checked him back in April and other than his seizure activity, he was otherwise pretty healthy. His blood glucose was slightly elevated that trip (I don’t remember the number) but the vet attributed it to the stress of the vet visit. I now wonder if that was the start of his diabetes. We didn’t notice the signs until September. My husband & I went on vacation for 6 days, which is a huge change for our cats. I tend to be gone off and on but my husband is retired and stays home with the cats almost all the time. He hasn’t been away more than a day or so in the 8 years we’ve had our cats. My brother stopped by daily to feed the cats and clean the litter boxes, but when we got home, I could tell that Crook was noticeably skinnier. I honestly thought he had grieved with us being gone and just hadn’t been eating. I was praying that with us being back home, he would rebound. The weight loss did seem to stop until the past month. All of December it seemed he was losing more weight, including muscle mass. We also noticed he was constantly at the water bowl and was urinating frequently. So far, he hadn’t urinated outside of the box but I was afraid that was coming. His appetite had decreased though which scared me. I finally was able to make it to the vet today and he confirmed my fear of him being diabetic.

I know this is going on to be a huge change for my husband and me, and of course for Crook, and even the rest of the cats. Crook is the most lovable of all our fur babies and when he first started having seizures, I was so afraid we would lose him. Now, this has happened has made my fear even worse. Although I have to say, he hasn’t had a seizure that we’ve witnessed since July so that is a good thing. Hoping maybe the seizure have gone away and now we only have to deal with the diabetes. I’m really hoping that switching him to wet food and starting him on insulin might just allow him to go in remission. I can hope & pray for that anyway. If anyone has any advice specifically for us, please feel free to give it. We can use all the help we can get. Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome! Lots of good info and people here that will help you to help your kitty. I am new and still struggling myself but am glad for all of the support here.

A more experienced member will respond to give you more direction on where to go from here. They monitor the boards frequently, although this board is for introduction and main health board is where you want to post future health questions going forward as it is watched more closely.

I would like to let you know one thing though. Changing the food to low carb is definitely good, you just need to be careful if doing at the same time as starting insulin because the food by itself will bring sugar down some as will the insulin. Possible the insulin should be adjusted lower while tranistioning food at the same time. 2 units 2x a day might be too high of a starting dose when factoring type of insulin, diet change, cats weight, etc. Others that know more about this can help you figure the best way to do this safely for Crook so he doesn’t drop too low.

I will message someone directly to advise you on this if I don’t see someone respond here soon.

 

Hello CrookMom!

My 8yo male, Riker, was just diagnosed a few weeks ago after exhibiting many of the same symptoms you described. I know that overwhelmed/terrified feeling well! Just know that you are in the right place. The experienced members of FDMB have offered us great advice and encouragement, and I know they'll do the same for you.

Even though it seems scary, the faster you can start testing blood glucose and get Crook switched to a low-carb diet, the faster you'll be on your way to regulation and maybe remission.

One thing I wish I knew before I started ordering things on Amazon like a madwoman: Human glucose meters are totally acceptable and will save you money in the long run. Initially, you'll be testing several times a day, and strips for the "pet meters" are much more expensive.

Good luck. You've got this!

 

Welcome! This is the introduction forum so I'll ask you to copy and paste your post on the main health forum where I'll answer at length. The forum moderators have asked periodically that we give advice on that forum or one of the insulin specific forums and save this one for greeting new members.

 

Welcome

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome, you are in the right place to learn how to help Crook feel better, and to manage his diabetes treatment.