Just diagnosed today

My 5 year old little boy kitty, Bibbles was just diagnosed today with diabetes. Just got the call from the vet. I have read through some posts here and am so happy I landed here. Going to vet later today to learn everything we need to do. Coming here I feel like I am one up on the vet and want to make sure we get started on the right stuff. This will be quite a journey but I'm up for it.

 

Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir.
- And home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!).

 

Thanks, BJM.
I will post later and run by you what our vet says....over the phone he said diet won't make a difference...but from reading posts here...I think it can.
Since we haven't started insulin yet, would it be good to change diet now?

 

Before getting on insulin, changing the food is much easier. Change about 20-25% per day to avoid GI upsets.
A low cost option is Friskies pates; I feed the Turkey and Giblets. There are many others listed at Cat Info
Changing the food has resulted in drops of anywhere from 100-300 mg/dL for folks here and may reduce an insulin dose 1-2 units.

 

Hi Sandi and welcome. I'm a newbie here, like you. Let us know what the vet says but yikes, it's a bit disconcerting that he would say diet won't make a difference. I don't have all the information your vet had about Bibbles, but as far as I know diet can play a huge role in the management of diabetes, particularly in cats (and humans - my dad is Type II diabetic and I've seen what certain foods do to his blood sugar levels!). If you haven't already, I'd seriously question the vet's reason for stating what he did about Bibbles' diet.

 

Hi, talked with the vet yesterday, it was my misunderstanding with the vet about diet. So all good with that. We have started Lantus insulin very low at 1 unit every 12 hours, and the vet did say to change diet. Bibbles was a free eater with dry food out all the time. The vet said to switch the dry food to Hills MD and keep it out as usual but add wet food feeding at specific times. My cats love the wet food, Bibbles has a brother Luis, so switching won't be a problem. I am going to slowly stop with the dry food altogether over this next month. Going to walmart today to get a glucose meter to start monitoring. Thanks to everyone for your comments, keep them coming it's nice to know Bibbles has many humans and fur friends looking out.

 

Hi Sandi - that's a huge relief that your vet is good with a diet change.

I've been feeding Fancy Feast, certain classic varieties are good low carb and cheap! I tried higher end but my girl turned her nose up at it. There are some great resources here on diet - I've switched my crew over to wet, though my boy Picasso is a crunch junkie but I"ll keep trying.

Good luck with the meter - it was pretty daunting at first but we just finished a week and it's going surprisingly well. All the best to you and Bibbles! Keep us posted on his progress and check out the spreadsheet - I find it a great tool to get an idea of how Genghis is doing.

 

When monitoring do you test before they eat or after they eat. I know it's before insulin but don't know if it's before or after they eat

 

If you are talking about preshot, I test before feeding, so that the number isn't influenced by the food. I believe that is the right way.

 

Testing:
1) Always test before giving insulin to make sure it is safe.
For now, your no shot level is 200 mg/dL on a human glucometer (230 for pet-specific); this will lower as you collect data around the middle of the cycle to know how low he is going.

2) Mid-cycle tests between shots - whenever possible, test around the nadir (lowest glucose level between shots) for your insulin, to see how low he's going. For Lantus, this often falls between +5 to +7 hours after the shot. Some folks do this on weekends or set a clock for the middle of the night to get this test done as it helps determine dose adjustments. This number should be at or above 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer (68 mg/dL for pet-specific).

3) a before bed test is helpful in determining if you need to break out some higher carb food and steer the glucose level or go to bed with some peace of mind. Steering means giving 1-2 teaspoons of high carb gravy, waiting 30 minutes, and re-testing (repeating as needed) to make sure the glucose stays above 50 mg/dL.

 

Thank you so much for this info. I tested this morning before shot time and Bibbles was at 174. No shot given. How soon should I test again after his breakfast? And at what level should I give shot? Last night before insulin he was 290, gave shot, tested 4 hours after and he was at 68. Then this morning like I said he was at 174.

 

If 1 unit of Lantus on the first shot brought him down to 68 mg/dL, the dose is too high. I say that because the effects of Lantus accumulate over the first 5-7 days, then level out.
Since Lantus works best on a fairly strict 12 schedule, don't shoot until this evening at a time that would be convenient to do every 12 hours.
If he is over 200 mg/dL, you might give 0.5 units.

Can we get you started using our grid to record your glucose tests? It will help us give you better feedback. Instructions are here.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.

 

Thank you so much..I will work on the spreadsheet. About midday his number was at 245. I will wait till tonight to give insulin and lower the dose to 0.5 unit. What would be a number that I would give 1 unit again?

 

Never shoot below 200 mg/dL until you have mid-cycle test data showing it is safe, are posting in the Lantus forum where you can get experienced eyes giving you feedback.
You adjust the dose based on the nadir (lowest glucose post-shot) and the protocol you are following for Lantus. Read these over and pick one to follow:
Tight regulation
Start Low Go Slow