Introducing Tribble

Hi all. My ~8-year-old cat Tribble (pictured in my avatar) was diagnosed with diabetes last Tuesday; he had lost three pounds in about a month, and then his annual blood work showed high glucose ("over 400," though I still don't really know what's normal and how that's measured, etc.) He didn't have ketones or any other apparent side problems besides the weight loss, and we moved pretty quickly into a starting insulin prescription (1 unit of Lantus twice daily) and trying to entice him to eat more wet food when he's always hated it.

I feel overwhelmed, but not as panicked as I was when the doctor first told me it could be diabetes--at least now I think it's manageable. But I'm worried about future financial issues because I'm between jobs, and overwhelmed by what there is to learn. And dealing with other humans is difficult. My partner's family, who we live with (Tribble and I moved in almost 5 years ago), was long opposed to putting their cats on a feeding schedule, which I wanted to do so I could stop Tribble from overeating their food and help him lose weight and be healthier. Now that he has diabetes, they're going along with it begrudgingly out of necessity. But I feel guilty that I couldn't manage to work it out earlier; because maybe if I had he wouldn't have diabetes in the first place. But my partner is supportive, as are several friends, and Tribble's doctor is awesome.

But yeah, that's where we are now. Direction and support are appreciated. I look forward to learning more.

 

Welcome Ev and Tribble. He looks like a real sweetie. There is lots of information and support here to help you take care of Tribble, and hopefully feel a little less overwhelmed. Are you also home testing his blood glucose levels? If you are changing his diet to low carb wet food, that can lower his glucose level, and you want to be aware of that to keep him safe. I encourage you to post questions in the Main Forum, more eyes to see and respond to your concerns.

 

Welcome. We are here to support you and tribble. (Star Trek fan? Lol)

Normal bg is 68-150, so he is quite high, but not uncommon for a diabetic cat.

You can still free feed WET food (no dry), just no food at least 2 hours prior to the preshot test. If you are not yet testing we can help you learn to do that so you can keep him safe and find the ideal dose. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.


If you have any specific questions write on the main health forum where more eyes will see it.

 

When I saw the title, I was going to ask this, but Janet beat me to it.

Welcome!

 

Welcome

 

Whoa, I didn't realize that I would only get one alert. Thank you to everyone for replying and welcoming me/us. Yes, I like Star Trek, but when I named him (in high school) it was a throwaway name because he was... not my favorite out of his litter. (But don't tell him that. I'm so glad I ended up with him! But I wish I had taken kitten pictures.) I'm not home testing yet, but plan to; I'm getting him used to me messing with his ears and stuff. Anyway, I'm going to poke around the forum and read a bit, and then probably post some questions later on. Thank you all for the encouragement.