Hello

I’m new to the forum and not sure where to start with my questions for my sweet Zoe.

 

You may want to start with your Cat's name and yours. Tell us when your cat was diagnosed and if you know what the BG was and which insulin you are giving Zoe. Best thing to do is just tell us a little about your sweet Zoe.

Next step would be to set up your signature. That's the light grey text below my posts. To do this go to your name at the top right hand side of the page click and you will get a drop down box. On the left you will see signature. Open it and type some basic information. Cat's name, sex, weight and age. Type of insulin, type of test meter you are using, what you are feeding and any other medical issues Zoe may have. Your name if you like and where you are located, we have members from all over the world and sometimes it useful to know what time zone you are in. This just avoids us having to ask the same questions over and over again.

Are you home testing already? If not, we strongly encourage to do so and we can certainly help you with this if you need it.

Step after that would be to set up your spreadsheet. This records Zoe's BG levels and allows you to track your progress as you go along. It is an extremely useful tool and when linked to your signature we can all see it which is very important should you need advice on dosing etc. You will find instruction in "tech help".

We all understand that a diagnosis of diabetes can send you into a tailspin and it can be extremely overwhelming but you have found a group of people who understand completely what you are going through. This forum has helped me tremendously and kept me sane.. I'd be lost without it.

So big welcome to the forum and I look forward to learning some more about Zoe.

 

Thank you so much. I’m going to get Zoe’s readings uploaded. I’m only doing readings at injection time currently but I’m going to do a curve next Saturday so you all can help me determine if her dose is too high. Currently she’s on 2 units twice a day.

 

Welcome to FDMB Katrina and Zoe! Deidre (Jerry Dutchboy) already provided information that will get you started here, so members can jump in with suggestions and support.

Here's where you will find the spreadsheet instructions and also helpful documentation on understanding the spreadsheet grid: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/suggestions-tech-support-testing-area.6/

If you are testing already, you should always test before every injection to be sure it's safe to do so. Then if you get tests in at different times of the day on different days, as well as a before bed test at night, that is going to give you the same information over the course of days as a curve. Sometimes testing every 2 hours for 12 hours doesn't always work out well. You are right to be concerned that the 2 Units starting dose might be too high. A one time test at the vet for diagnostic purposes can be elevated due to travel and vetty stress, as much as 100 points.

Recommendations here are to begin at 1 Unit, test and see how the dose is affecting the cat. Visit the Lantus forum and begin reading the yellow tagged sticky notes at the top of the forum.

Diet is very important in effective diabetic care, and going forward we can offer suggestions to get Zoe on a low carb wet diet. Please post in the Main Health forum so that more members can meet you and Zoe, and address whatever questions, concerns and issues you have. This Intro forum is only the welcome mat and is not as heavily monitored.

Best wishes and looking forward to Zoe's progress on this new journey.

 

Thank you!