Hi *newbie alert*

*Deep breath*

Hi, my name is Karen and I have a recently diagnosed diabetic cat called Thomas (phew)

We are in sunny Lancashire in the UK

Tom (or Thomas Joseph Clynes on a 'naughty day') was diagnosed 2 weeks ago after the noticeable weight loss, peeing where he shouldn't, excessive drinking and constant hunger.

He is 8 years young.
He has a sister of the same physical, but not mental age
They are both house cats with a luxury 'catio' that even the dog is jealous of.

He is on 1unit of caninsulin, twice a day.
I have successfully transitioned him from a dry & wet food grazer, to a fully raw diet of 2 meals a day.
He takes his shots like an actual dude.

I am currently looking into getting a glucometer so will be, potentially, asking a few silly questions. So prepare yourselves!

 

Welcome Karen! There are no silly questions so ask away, preferably on the main health forum where more people will see them.

 

Thank you.

Will do, just wanted to do the intro thingy first

 

Welcome Karen from another UKer (sunny but VERY cold Surrey!). My diabetic cat was called Thomas (Tom or TomTom) too, and he also had a sister (using past tense because this is some time ago).

Sounds like you've made a good start. Please ask ANY questions that come into your head, no such thing as a silly one. The support of people on this board is invaluable. Let us know how you get on with your search for a glucometer, or if you need any help choosing one. To start you off, several people here use the CodeFree (good value, starter kit and extra strips available from Amazon) and the One Touch Ultra (strips usually available at a good price on ebay). If a query is about supplies or food, it is best to make it clear you're in the UK as the vast majority of members here are in the US and sometimes assume that others are.

If you can, create a "signature" for yourself and Tom so people can see basic information - insulin, dosage, other health issues etc) at a glance.

Best of luck!

Diana

 

Welcome to the forum Karen. You are definitely on the right track for your Thomas. The food change is very important and once you start home-testing you will be able to see how the treatment plan is progressing. There are a number of UKers who use Caninsulin and their help and advice will help you to make this journey much easier for you and Thomas.

You can post more questions either on the Health Forum:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/


or on the Caninsulin/Vetsulin Forum:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/caninsulin-vetsulin-and-n-nph.19/

 

hi Karen,

I'm from Cheshire originally (well near Warrington which used to be Lancashire). My Angel was also diagnosed at age 8 and thanks to everyone here had over 2 years of remission. I don't know how Thomas travels but there is a trial at the RVC for newly diagnosed cats, Angel was on that. If it's at all practical I recommend it. Also most people seem to find that prozinc is better than caninsulin, that's what got Angel in remission and he's back on it now.

I used the codefree meter until I got a free alphatrak, it was fine.

Once you start hometesting it's a good idea to do a spreadsheet with the numbers. I use the conversion chart http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-convert.htm and put in the American numbers (pls make sure both values are set to whole blood, I messed up at first this time round and got weird numbers).

Everyone here is so lovely and helpful, they have been my lifeline at times.
Cassandra and Angel x

 

Hi Diana

Many thanks for the lovely welcome.
I'm going to take some time reading through past comments and checking files etc. As it's all quite overwhelming at the moment!
The obvious priority, is the glucometer.

Thanks for the heads up about the signature, this kind of forum is all new to me (am a whizz at Facebook tho haha)

 

Lovely welcome, thank you
I don't know where or what the RCV is sorry? Tom doesn't particularly travel well.

The glucometer is my primary at the moment. How did you manage to wangle a freebie? I need this skill lol.
Once I get the glucometer, I'm sure I will be annoying everyone with required assistance for spreadsheets etc. So stand by

 

Thanks for your lovely welcome and information

 

Hi Karen. Welcome to you and Thomas from another UK denizen.

RVC is the Royal Veterinary College. The feline diabetes clinic is in Hertfordshire. Here's an article (slightly old but still informative) about some of the work they're doing. (The FD clinic has a Facebook page but I don't use FB so can't give you a link.)

http://www.rvc.ac.uk/News/PressReleases/pr1311-feline-diabetes-clinic.cfm

Keep taking the deep breaths; they help a lot!


Mogs
.

 

When you have a moment, could you add a few tidbits to your signature? It will help us give you feedback.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback. You are limited to 2 hard returns, so separate pieces by | or -.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as your name | cat's name | date of Dx (diagnosis) | insulin | meter general location (city and state/province) any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.

Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Check my signature for some useful info.

 

Someone else advised this too, and I will get round to it asap. This kind of forum is new to me, so just finding my way.
Thanks for the help/info

 

Thanks for that. Will have a read

Yes! They do. I thought I 'had it' but it's all quite overwhelming. Not being dramatic about it..honest lol.

 

Preaching to the choir, Karen; so many of us arrive here in a complete heap. You're in very good company!

Be sure to shout out loud for things you need assistance with; the Feline Health board tends to have more footfall so post any questions or worries you have there and we'll do our level best to help you.




Mogs
.

 

Thanks Mogs. Really appreciate that.

 

hi Karen,

I got the free alphatrak and a years food and diabetic supplies when Angel was on the RVC trial. It helped so much. I can't remember if the codefree glucometer comes with a lancing device, but if it doesn't, I have the lancing device from mine. I couldn't really get on with it too well, but you're more than welcome to it, I've never been the best home tester in the world so I'm sure anyone else would be fine with it. If you do need it, pm me your address and I'll pop it in the post. x