Introducing Disco NoFurNo, 15y, MN, Sphynx

10/25/2019
Hi Group,

Hope I'm posting my intro in the right place in the right way, it's been a while since I've joined a new group!

I have been in the veterinary healthcare profession since 1972 and just retired and moved back to Oregon with my 3 IBD cats, and my oldest, Disco, was diagnosed with diabetes on 10-22-2019 and he is my first diabetic cat. While I am knowledgeable in veterinary care, even I am a bit overwhelmed with all the details, especially as I am not working in a practice now with feline-centric help at my fingerstips, but know that will smooth out with time and this groups support.

Disco's had his bi-annual senior labs, which includes a GI profile and his BG was 427 with glucose spilling into his urine. Gi results should be back today. I recently moved, about 2 months ago, and my 3 cats have been confined to a bedroom as I am staying my mom until my new home closes on November 1st, but I noticed he was drinking more and urinating more, but was active and eating and social, so I thought it might be the begininnings of age-related kidney disease, but alas, no. My new Vet recommended starting him on Vetsulin and getting an AlphaTRAK to test at home, and we started insulin this morning.

That's our Intro entry in a nutshell!

Warmfelines,
Teri and Disco NoFurNo

 

Welcome to you and your kitties! Diabetes can be a very overwhelming diagnosis, but hopefully the resources here will help you feel a bit less stressed

Kudos to your vet for recommending home testing! We have a very helpful spreadsheet that we use here to keep track of all the readings. Here is a link to it with instructions if you would like to set one up!

www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Please feel free to post any general questions you may have in the main forum, and visit the Vetsulin forum if you would like some more info or help with that!

 

Welcome to the best place you never thought you would be.

It would help if you make a signature (basically a synopsis that can be read quickly).
Creating a FDMB Profile
Editing your Signature, Profile, and Preferences

Also, we are fairly data driven here. If you could set up a spread sheet, that will help in seeing patterns and it is good to have the data accessible and all in one place.
FDMB Spreadsheet Instructions
Understanding the Spreadsheet/Grid

Vetsulin is a rather harsh insulin for cats. (There are gentler insulins available.) Vetsulin can drop a cat fast.
Here is the basic information on Vetsulin. Beginner's Guide to Vetsulin

Both the AlphaTrak and human meters are used by caregivers on the forum. The two meters are not comparable. On an AlphaTrak, the take action number is 68.

This is only the Welcome Forum. Please start posting in the Health Forum where more eyes will see your posts.

 

Welcome Teri and Disco! He is so cute. Almost 3 months ago, I too thought that my cat, LT (Long Tail), had kidney disease so I took him to the vet and found out it was diabetes. Now, I have a diabetic dog, but knew that it's so different from feline diabetes that I joined this group. Like others have mentioned, setting up a FDMB Spreadsheet for recording Disco's BGs, will help others to help you . My biggest suggestion is to make sure you put Disco on a low-carbohydrate wet diet - the Fancy Feast pates and Friskies pates are used by many members. Kibbles and prescription diets are too high in carbs to be feeding our diabetic cats.

 

There are a number of people here who are balancing IBD and diabetes. And they like questions.

 

Welcome Teri and Disco. This board is a treasure trove of information and a very supportive community.
Congratulations on the new home, it's exciting and also a lot of work, isn't it? I hope you and the kitties settle in nicely and enjoy the new homestead!

 

Welcome to FDMB!!

We have a number of members, especially from Europe, who have vets that start their cats on Caninsulin (or Vetsulin in the US). As the name implies it was an insulin developed for dogs. Many members end up switching insulin because Vetsulin offers limited duration given a cat's metabolism. You might want to take a look at the AAHA Guidelines for Diabetes Management for Dogs and Cats. Cutting to the chase, they recommend either Lantus or Prozinc for cats.

A wonderful resource for feline nutrition, especially regarding carbohydrates, is the website developed by Lisa Pierson, DVM on feline nutrition. On the navigation bar, she has a list of most of the canned foods that are available in the US along with their nutritional information.

Once you feel settled in, please introduce yourself and Disco over on the Health board. Likewise, once. you've got a spreadsheet set up and are ready to start this sugar dance, you can take a look at the appropriate Insulin Support Group.

And please, ask questions. We love questions!!

 

Welcome