Introducing Uno

Hi everyone - I'm very thankful to have found this group!

My sweet 10-year old part Maine Coon cat, Uno, was recently diagnosed with feline diabetes. We took him to the vet last week to have surgery on his ear. He did okay for the first couple of days and then started becoming lethargic, not wanting to eat or drink. I knew something was terribly wrong so we took him back to the vet and I'm so glad we did. Poor guy's BG was 700+ and he was having a severe episode of ketoacidosis. The vet was awesome and saved my sweet boy and he was able to come home yesterday He's on Vetsulin twice a day and I haven't had any trouble giving him his shots (did I mention he's a good boy?). I've switched him from free ranging dry food to Fancy Feast wet. I tried to get the flavors with the highest protein. No problem with the switch, Uno LOVES the Fancy Feast. So all in all, I feel very lucky As soon as our finances recover we are going to buy a glucose meter so we can test at home.

I have a question about feeding. Uno seems to be very hungry, which is pretty normal for him. Last night, about 4 hours after his dinner and insulin shot, he was begging for food so I did feed him a little. He seemed fine over the night and was very hungry this morning again. Is it okay for him to have snacks in between meals?

Thanks to everyone for the knowledge and support!

 

Welcome! You can feed him if he's hungry... Just no food at least 2 hours prior to the preshot test. Good job switching to the ff. Remember pate only.

How much is the dose

 

Welcome! You can break food up into multiple meals during the day and can leave leftovers out for grazing. Once you are testing, you do not want Uno to have access to food for two hours prior to the pre-insulin-shot glucose test, but it is fine for him to have access to food any other time.

 

Welcome! I have a Maine coon mix too. Aren't they just the sweetest cats?

I feed Cleo four meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime), plus a snack in the late afternoon. I tried giving her just two meals a day right after her diagnosis, because it's what the vet recommended. It didn't work out for us. Cleo is 16 years old and she's always been a grazer. I don't think she can change at her age. Anyway, she seems happier now.

 

Thank you for letting me know it's okay to feed him through the day Uno is getting 1 unit (U-40) of Vetsulin twice a day. I bought the fish flavors; seems they were the highest protein, especially the fish and shrimp one.

 

Thank you for the good information and support

 

They are the sweetest cats Uno is the vet office's favorite. Thank you for your post and support.

 

any of the ff pate flavors are fine to feed. You'll want to switch it up. Next step is to create a signature like the ones you see on all of our posts. Click on your name at the upper right and choose signature. Add info such as your pets name, age, date diagnosed, insulin type, and any other medical concerns or medications he takes.

 

Hi Uno's Mom and welcome. I am also a Maine Coon mix lover, they are good babies! I'm glad you are going to home test, and the sooner the better, as you are getting Uno on a low carb wet food diet.
When we transitioned Idjit to all wet food, his BG really lowered, and we caught him going into hypo just by chance one day. You see, we weren't testing him like we should have been, we were "shooting blind" (injecting insulin without testing before shots and during the cycle) and thankfully that one time we did. If you can manage, you can get a relatively inexpensive meter from Walmart, a Relion Confirm or Micro, some 26-28 gauge lancets, some testing strips. You probably have Vaseline and cotton balls or cotton rounds already in your home. You can use a rice sock (or oatmeal sock) warmed in the microwave to warm the ear to get a blood bead, and a folded tissue or napkin works as well as a cotton ball or round.
I remember very well how shell shocked we were at the cost of diagnosis and equipment and you had much more to deal with than we did. Poor Uno, poor you! I just don't want you or Uno to have to go through a hypo event too, it's scary.
You can take a look at this link to see what a hypo is and how to handle it, and also in the Index there are home testing links and tips. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/health-links-faqs-about-feline-diabetes.14/
I look forward to getting to know Uno.

 

Thank you, Idjit's mom. This is all new to us and a bit overwhelming. I'm so very grateful for the knowledge and support here! I was thinking the same about needing to test since we've changed Uno over to a low-carb/high protein diet. We are taking Uno for a glucose curve this week so that should provide some good info on how the insulin is working for Uno. And yes, we will get a testing meter asap.Thank you so much for the advice and support. Say hi to Idjit for us

 

Welcome!! I'm a bit of a newbie myself, but want to let you know that you have found the best place for advice and support and that frequent testing is an absolute necessity. There are people here that can answer any question you have ,and are so very willing to do so. When I first started with Jade, I had a few sketchy episodes with her and hypoglycemia scares and there were women here who (literally) stayed up ALL NIGHT LONG to walk me through what to do for her. Had I not found this site and only listened to my Vet, she probably wouldn't have come this far. You and Uno are in good hands!!

 

Idjit says Hi right back. I am so glad you are going to test. I have high hopes that Uno will be on the road to feeling better real soon. Please come on over to the Main Forum, post your questions and concerns. This forum is essentially the "welcome mat" at the front door, come on in and meet some of the best people you will ever know:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/
For information on hypos (print them out and get your hypo tool box assembled) and in the Index (all really good info) are home testing links and tips. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/health-links-faqs-about-feline-diabetes.14/