Feeling sad

Hi eyeryone, my baby boy Harry (10yrs old) has just been diagnosed with diabetes this week. Started his insulin injections 2 days ago. I am finding the whole 'needle giving' experience very frustrating! I hope it gets easier soon. Thanks for listening!

 

Hello my name is Julia and welcome to the most wonderful place you never wanted to be in. It would be helpful to all of us to help you help Harry. If you supplied some information like what type if insulin, how much what are you feeding Harry and if your home testing. There are lots of wonderful people here willing and able to help and suport you through this thing called the sugar dance. but welcome to FDMB.

 

Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. It also may save your cat's life.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.

 

Good Morning! Your Harry is a sweet looking young man! Yes, feline diabetes can be very frustrating. I was so sad and overwhelmed about 1 month ago myself, that I went looking for help (as you have done) and I found this site. It has changed soooo much for me, and Tucker!!
If you are willing to step a bit further out of your comfort zone, for the sake of your beautiful Harry, YOU and Harry will be navigating this disease alot better and much easier.
The people here are dedicated, experienced and extremely supportive. We are a community!
PLEASE post again SOON. Let us know your questions and how YOU and Harry are doing today. You can't and needn't do any of this alone.
I can promise you, it will get better in a very short time if you TRY. ( For your Harry) He needs your help, and you can get it here!!
Looking forward to hearing from you.
-Brenda

 

Hi and welcome!

Harry is a handsome boy! I can only echo what others have said - my girl Genghis was diagnosed a little over a month ago and I will say with the help and support of so many experienced people here, what started out a bit overwhelming gets easier and easier.

Feel free to post your questions over on the main Health board - there are tons and tons of very friendly, knowledgeable, and supportive people to help you through this.

Melanie and Gang

 

Hi Gweedlejuh, Feline diabetes is very treatable and manageable with home testing (checking blood glucose with a glucometer), switching to a low carb canned food diet (see nutrition chart in my signature line below) and getting excellent guidance from wonderful members here on insulin dosage and more.

Welcome aboard. We are glad you are here.

 

Hello to you and Harry, I am fairly new to this and also was worried about injections, but it really does get easier. Before you know it, you will be a pro! There are a lot of good links here for videos and also on Youtube. They helped me a lot. You will do fine, just remember to breathe. Good luck and remember they will help you here with any concerns and questions!