Hi, my cat Osiris was just diagnosed

So, Osiris was just diagnosed this afternoon, and I'm going in tomorrow to learn how to give him his insulin shot. Osiris is 10 years old, and an absolutely wonderful cat. I just wish I had realized that his weight loss was something more serious earlier. Hopefully things will get better. Thanks for being here everyone!

 

Welcome! What a great name. We'll be waiting for a picture.

We urge you to

Feed wet, lo carb catfood. Find out why on this website written by a vet: http://www.catinfo.org It makes an enormous difference. My cat's blood glucose levels came down 100 points overnight after changing from dry to wet.

Hometesting. We figure we wouldn't give our children insulin without testing their blood glucose levels first. We do the same for our cats. Here's a great site explaining how it is done: http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/bgtest.htm

Insulin. Lots of people have great success with slow acting insulins like Levemir and Lantus. Our mantra is to start low (.5 to 1 unit twice a day, 12 hours apart) and go slow (with increases).

There is alot to learn; it is a steep learning curve at first. But we have all been where you are - scared and unsure. This is a treatable disease. You can do it! We will help!

 

Thank you! I was reading Egyptian mythology at the time and it just fit him.

That's exactly what my vet said (minus the web site, but still). Low carb and wet food. I'll definitely be switching my cats to wet food as of tomorrow. I'll definitely bookmark the sites though.

For some reason I can't get my avatar small enough for it to fit, so I'll just give you a link to a picture of Osiris http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/ ... 0_0080.jpg Please excuse the crummy picture quality. I'm not very good at picture taking. XD

I'm not sure which type of insulin my vet will give Osiris, but I'm sure it'll be good for him.

Thanks for the help!

 

Hi and welcome to FDMB.

When your cat is first diagnosed with feline diabetes, the emotions can be overwhelming. Don't worry, that is normal and we have all been there. However, of all the illness that could affect your cat, feline diabetes is one of the most managable. You will find a lot of great information on this site. Sue has given you some great advice and I just want to add some more info.

Food - as Sue said, wet & low carb food will help in managing your cat's diabetes. You do not need prescription food - no matter what your vet says. Most cats will not eat it anyway. Many of us feed our cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies canned foods.

Hometesting - This is very important to learn and will help immensely in regulating your cat's blood glucose (BG) levels. Plus it will prevent you from giving insulin when his BG levels are too low and causing him to become hypoglycemic.

Insulin - There are some great insulins available that most cats seem to respond well to. Lantus, Levemir, BCP PZI and Prozinc are longer acting insulins and work great in regulating your cats diabetes. I do recommend that you do not use Vetsulin and if your vet prescribes it, ask for one of the others listed. There is a FDA warning out on Vetsulin and some pets have experienced problems because of the issue.

FDMB - As you may have started to figure out, we are a great information resource as well as place for encouragement and support. Whenever you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask them. Like I said, we have all been there and most likely, someone here will have the answer you need.

Lisa

 

Do not worry about setting up your Avatar, etc. right now....best to focus
on helping Osiris...who is very handsome, by the way.

Sounds like your vet is reasonably up-to-date on Feline Diabetes. Wet food recommendation..

By the way, where are you (city,state).

 

Thanks for the extra info. I've heard good things about fancy feast and diabetic cats s so I'll have to try it if the prescription food doesn't work out. I'm very nervous about home testing, but if I practice hard enough I'm sure to get it right. As for the insulin, I'm sure my vet will prescribe the right type as it's a just for cats facility. They've been very good with my kitties.

Definitely focusing on Osiris right now, I was just messing around briefly with the avatar. Btw, thank you for the compliment! I'll be sure to pass it on to Osiris.

I'm in North Carolina at the moment. The cats seem to like it, so that's good.

 

Oh, he is beautiful. I think I have seen someone post a site like shrinkyourpicture.com (Maybe someone else will have a better URL.) It has to be really small to fit.

Try this site for kinds of Fancy Feast: http://www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.htm . Janet has done all the work for us and calculated the carb values for foods. We try to stay under 8% carbs. With Fancy Feast, that means no gravies.

Be waiting to hear which insulin you get. One trick is to shoot when he is face deep into his food. Oliver never even noticed if we gave him the shot while he was eating.

 

Welcome!

You've already gotten a lot of good advice, so I won't repeat it.

Osiris is a real cutie! (He looks a lot like my Linus.) I cropped and resized your photo so it will fit as an avatar. I haven't tried attaching a photo to a post yet, so hopefully this will work. nailbite_smile If it does, then you can just save it to your PC, then add it as an avatar.

 

Lots of helpful articles on the main site http://www.felinediabetes.com

 

WELCOME, this forum is a great place to gain knowledge and really learn how to manage feline diabetes. By doing just a few things each day (that really won't take up much of your time at all), you won't need to worry about losing your precious cat, not where feline diabetes is concerned.

There are three key factors to managing diabetes: food/nutrition, home testing and insulin

1) Feline Nutrition: Now, as far as diet - definitely dump the dry food (if you are feeding any) and if the vet recommends purchasing prescription food like DM just say "no thank you". ALL cats, and especially those with diabetes, do best on a species appropriate diet that is high in protein and low in carbs. Dry food DOES NOT fit that bill and DM food, even canned, just really isn't that great as far as quality. Most here on FDMB feed low carb/high protein canned, raw bought from a pet store or they make there own.

Here great links, one is to a food chart put together by one of our board members that breaks down the carb % and protein % of most of the commercial brand foods. You want to keep the carb % below 10% and around 7% is great. The other link is to a site by a vet "Dr. Lisa DVM" ... who also posts on this board from time to time ... there is in-depth info. there about many things, including nutrition and how to make raw food.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=115

The good thing with feeding your diabetic cat this way, is that it is ALSO good for any non-diabetic cat too. All your cats can safely eat the same food without worry and it may save you some costs and headaches of having to do separate feedings and keeping track of what they are eating.

2. Home testing: It is impossible to convey the value of testing your cat's BG (blood glucose) level at home. Some vets will "suggest" this, but most won't even mention it. They will send you home with insulin and an amount to shoot and maybe some instructions about hypoglycemia (blood sugar dropping to a dangerously low level).

Well, the thing is, human diabetics don't EVER give themselves insulin without checking there BG to make sure it is safe to do so, so why shouldn't it be the same for our kitties. Here on FDMB it is. You will notice that the vast majority of people here test their cat's BG at least 2x/day (before giving each shot to make sure the level is safe enough) and periodically at other times to see how the cat is responding to the current dose. We use a human glucometer, test strips and lancets - which are all very readily available and easy to use.

Our kitties get lots of love and treats for "putting up" with this and most of them actually come out to be tested on their own 'cause they want those treats . Here is a collection of great links that "Carolyn and Spot" pulled together about hometesting. See what you think ... it truly is the best way to not only keep Your cat safe but also really get a handle on this disease and help him to live a healthy life with FD (feline diabetes).

Carolyn and Spot's Hometesting Links: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287

3. Insulin: There are several types of insulin available. Many people, myself included use Lantus or Levimer both of which are great insulins. They are gentle insulin and given twice (BID) per day in 12 hour increments.

Please read up on the insulins available, here is a link to the Insulin Support Groups:

viewforum.php?f=5

However, one caveat and again this shows how these three things are inter-related:

If you are feeding dry food or even a high carb food, BEFORE removing these foods, please make sure of your insulin dose as it will most likely need to be reduced, so as to avoid a possible hypoglycemic situation due to the removal of the dry/high carb foods that will lower the BG’s and reduce the amount of insulin required. Again, another reason why home testing is important.

I know this all seems like a lot, and that's because it is ... there is a learning curve here. But as long as you are determined and keep at it, you will have it down before you know it and you'll be seeing the results in Your cat' overall health and happiness. Ask all the questions you can think of - that's why we are here!

Also, if you haven't done it yet, take the time and fill out your profile. It will help when others come on and read this. Also, let us know where you live - city/state as there are probably people in your area who can provide on the ground support and help you to learn home testing, etc.

 

I'll definitely try to go with Fancy Feast (printed out the list that has the good quality food on it). My vet definitely recommended that I do home testing as well. I think I got lucky when I found my vet. They seem to know what they're doing very well.

Edit: Thank you Wendy & Tiger for the avatar.

 

Welcome to the best website ever. And what a handsome boy! Sounds like you have a vet that will work with you. Good! Get your baby on the right food, read all you can on this site, test often and you should have great results. Check out other cats SS to see that your cat's numbers are just that, his numbers. Just when you think you have them figured out, he'll change them on ya! Lots of good advice given already, so I won't recap

 

This does look like a great web site. I came back from the vet with some food. I'll see how Osiris likes it, and if not, then we'll go with fancy feast. I think I'll be able to give him his insulin with very little trouble, he was a very good boy when I was practicing at the vet's office. I'm getting the insulin and other things I'll need tonight. Thanks for all the great information!

 

Please let us know all the details

What food you are feeding now? Are you just switching to wet? Maybe try that before starting insulin. What are his initial numbers at the vet? Many cats respond well to switching to low carb wet food and some do not need insulin for very long, if at all. flip_cat


Did the vet give you insulin yet? What kind are you giving and how much....please start low. Remember, Insulin is not based on cat's weight.

 

What kind of insulin are you getting and what is the starting dose.

Really, The low-carb flavors of Fancy Feast are better than the vet prescription food...better
quality ingredients.

Some cats will eat the vet Rx food for a couple of days, then start refusing it.

 

I'm feeding a mix as of today, part urinary tract health food (can't remember the brand) and the prescription diet (DM I believe). So we'll see how he adjusts to that. I'm not really switching to wet as they've had a mix of wet and dry food over the last little while. I never asked about the initial numbers at the vet, but apparently they were high enough that the vet didn't think that it was caused by stress. We're starting him on 1 unit of insulin (Lantus), so no worries there. It's a very low amount. We'll see how he adjusts to the insulin. By the way, he did very well with tonight's dosage, he didn't even notice that I was giving him his shot. So I'm very proud of him right now.

 

It'll be interesting to see if he will stay with the DM. It's liver based and most kitties get very tired of the taste within a few days. Also, it isn't any better than Fancy Feast or Friskies or Wellness, and it is so much more expensive.

So now that you have 2 of the legs of the stool (insulin and food) when can we start nagging you to hometest? Now, I hope! It is vital to know how the insulin is impacting him, at home in normal circumstances. Here's a start: http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/bgtest.htm

 

Lol. As soon as I'm able I'll get a home test kit. It just depends on whether my parents will help me buy a meter or not. I hope they will. I definitely want to start home testing him by Saturday of next week.

 

Well, we can help. Go up to the top of the Health forum page and choose the Free insulin kits offered by Cindy and Mousie. Cindy will send you a free meter with some strips and other stuff you will need.

While you are waiting for that to arrive, you can pick up a ReliOn meter at Walmart pretty cheap. Then you would have two - one for back up.

 

Thank you for the offer. I just called my dad, and he said that they'd help with the cost of the one touch ultra, which is great, as that's the one the vet recommended (I found it on Walmart for a pretty good price, so I think that should be fine. Thanks again though.

 

What a great name! I love mythology!

I only have one comment on meters, really quick! I used a OneTouch for almost a year and thought it was pretty good. The strips do require a bit more blood than some others out there and the strips could be really picky about sucking up the blood properly! I changed over to an Accu-Check Aviva when Tobias came out of remission and I LOVE IT! Less blood needed and sips the blood right up! Just throwing that out there. Both the Accu-Check and the OneTouch are a bit expensive on test strips so keep a good eye out on EBay for deals!