New and feeling overwhelmed

My Cookie was recently diagnosed with diabetes. She also has some unknown problem causing inflammation in the pancreas and my vet thinks that likely set off the diabetes. I have a ridiculous amount of meds, only 1 or 2 of which she will ever take, two different special diabetic canned foods (Science Diet & Purina) that she does not eat, over the counter Friskies pate that she does eat, insulin & syinges, and now a testing meter.

Just when I think I'm starting to get a handle on things, I suddenly don't, and the stress is overwhelming. I have a brain tumor that causes chronic nerve pain on my right side and stress causes the pain to flare up. So if you can imagine trying to hold the wee needle to stick the vein I can't even see in my cat's ear when my entire hand is burning, pain is shooting up my arm and down my side. It really doesn't go well.

I can see from reading the threads on this board that I should have come here the very first day. I am sure I would have saved some money. But at this point I think it would be enough to save my sanity! I have some specific questions, and things I've noticed , but right now I could really just use general encouragement.

 

Welcome. You are in the right place. Is your Cookie on insulin? If so, which one and how much of a dose?

You'll want to aim for low carb wet food under 10%. See the chart in this link: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Since Cookie has some inflammation going on in the pancreas, hopefully others here can help advise you in that area.

The ear poking looks like the worst thing we can do to a cat but it's not painful. In fact, a cat has few nerve receptors in his/her ear so the poking doesn't hurt the cat.
We have many wonderful tips and videos on the home page and in the forum to guide you.

 

You certainly have challenges. Perhaps starting slowly will give you confidence and relax your kitty. First, decide where you want to test. Some people like the kitchen counter, some between their legs, some on the couch or bed. Is there a place or level that would be easiest for you? Then take him there and play with his ears, give him praise and a treat he loves and let him go. Next add warming the ear. We used a rice sack - thin sock filled with raw rice, heated in the microwave until very warm. Warm his ears, praise, treat and release. Practice with the lancet on you or someone else till you feel confident. Then add the poke. If you get blood and he moves away, get it on your fingernail and test from there.

Good luck. Let us know how we can help

 

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.
- 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!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test.
- 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. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.

 

This hug is for you and this one Is for your kitty. We are glad you found us too. We've all been in your shoes and understand how overwhelming it all is especially at first. If it wasn't for the knowledgeable and kind people here, I would have probably lost my mind. Hang in there it does get better. Breathe. Smile. And know that you are not alone.

 

((((((((Kath))))))))

My cat, Saoirse, was diagnosed with diabetes and pancreatitis last year. I really do understand how utterly overwhelming it is trying to deal with both conditions at the same time - between the pilling and the poking it's miserable for both cat and person (and being in pain the way you are must make things so much worse).

It does get better. You're not alone with it now. We'll do all we can to help you both. (Cookie has an absolutely dotey little face. )

Although the major focus of this forum is feline diabetes, there are a number of us here whose cats have pancreatitis and we'll be able to help you with that, too. My cat's pancreatitis is quite well-managed now, but it did take time. I've learned so much from the other members here about how to treat it. I'd have been completely lost without their help and support. I hope that maybe I will be able to help you a little.

I've got chronic health problems myself and I'm about to pass out with exhaustion right now, but I will check in again tomorrrow to find out more about the difficulties that you and Cookie are encountering and to see what I might do to be able to help you. In the meantime, it would really help if you could post a list of the medications Cookie has been prescribed, and also the type and dose of insulin she is receiving.

In closing, here is a very useful reference on pancreatitis for you to learn more about it:

IDEXX Pancreatitis Treatment Guidelines

Catch you on the morrow.




Mogs
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Thank you to all for the kind words and support. Cookie is approx. 10 yrs. old. Have to use a best guess because she was feral when she first dropped into my life.
For insulin Cookie is on 1 unit of Lantus every 12 hours. Initially I planned to do a glucose curve at home but since it's been harder than I expected to do the testing I'm going to have the vet's office do it. I was good at dosing her with her insulin at first and she barely noticed but I must be getting worse because she's gotten jumpy, even made me stick myself this morning. :/
I've very little luck at getting Cookie to take many of the meds the vet prescribed: Clavamox, Denamarin, Cerenia, Budesonide, Ursodiol. She was okay at first with pill pockets but has gotten wise to them and turns up her nose at food if I hide any meds (even crushed) in it.
The vet had me try a couple different foods for diabetic cats - Hills and Purina. Cookie doesn't eat either one but she loves Friskies and I'd already found the food chart linked in this thread so I bought the Friskies listed as low carb, high protein and she eats those just fine.
I got the sense that she's doing better from her behavior but she had an episode of diarrhea the other night so I switched her to plain boiled chicken and white rice, that seemed to make a difference. I gave her regular food today, and her stools are looking a bit dubious so she'll be getting chicken and rice again tomorrow morning
She goes back to the vet tomorrow evening for a followup and will be staying the night so they can start the glucose curve first thing the next morning, as early as convenient for them. I really hate leaving her there overnight and miss her horribly, but I know they will take good care of her.

 

Lantus is a very good insulin to have Cookie on. You'll get a lot of good guidance from many expert Lantus users in the forum.

Keep in mind that the results from the vet glucose curve will likely be higher, especially if Cookie wasn't a happy camper and was stressed at being at the vet. If the vet glucose curve numbers were high, the vet may prescribe a higher than necessary Lantus dose. That is why home testing is so important. Do you have someone who can help you home test? Once you are able to home test, you or someone else can do the glucose curve at home. Perhaps a neighbor, friend, family member or vet tech can come to your house to help you do the curve. As hard as it seems, the poking and insulin injections do not hurt the cat at all. I thought CJ would grow to hate me when I poked her ears in the beginning but our bond has gotten closer and she now sits and waits to be poked! With practice, you will find what works best for you and your cat.

Great job on buying the low carb Friskies!

I am not sure if white rice is good for diabetic cats. I believe that is a high carb. A good solution for the diarrhea would be canned plain pumpkin--many here give their cats 1 teaspoon. Make sure you give plain pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. The diet change could cause the diarrhea but if it persists, let your vet know.

Let us know how the glucose curve went and how Cookie is doing.

A lot of cats don't do well with Clavamox. Bonnie always vomits that up. She does better with Amoxicillin. I mix meds in with food and if my cats won't eat it, I force it down with a syringe. You can crush and stir in Budesonide into food. I've never had luck with pill pockets. My cats think the pill pockets are toys and just play with it. It's a good idea to put the meds in a food other than the Friskies you are feeding so Cookie doesn't develop an aversion to the Friskies. Check the Cat Food Nutritonal Guide again for other inexpensive low carb options to mix Cookies' meds in. For CJ, I mix her prednisilone in some canned low carb Wellness food.

Was Cookie diagnosed as having IBD? Budesonide is given for IBD. Introducing a new, novel protein that Cookie has never had before, such as duck or rabbit could help with her IBD issues. Raw food is another option.

It will help if you put in your signature line (click on to your Profile, then Signature) when Cookie was diagnosed, insulin and dose she is on, meter you are using, food she's eating, any medical conditions, and medications so we don't have to ask you each time It will help other members know how to help you and Cookie better.

 

Does anyone know if white rice is a high carb? I am assuming is is.

 

Yes, rice is high carb. If you search online for a nutrient databas, you may find a table yo can use for reference (on my phone right now, or I'd get a link here!)

 

Rice, pasta, bread, and fruit are about the carbiest things you can have.

 

Some of our members used to use brown rice instead of white rice to help control kitty's diarrhea. Brown rice has a lower glycemic index and glycemic load than white rice. According to the chart I've linked below, Uncle Ben's converted white rice has an even lower glycemic index and glycemic load than brown rice.

Glycemic index and glycemic load for 100+ foods
from Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School.

 

Hi Kath,

Just checking in to see how yourself and Cookie are doing today. I'm very sorry for taking so long to get back to you.

Here are some resources to help you with testing and other stuff. I've included several links here for convenience so that you can find the links easily when you want to learn more. Take them one at a time, and dip in and out of them so as not to feel even more overwhelmed. To say it's a bit of a vertical learning curve is an understatement! Hopefully we'll be able to break things down into more manageable chunks for you.


Testing and Injecting Tips

Home Testing (with videos)

IDEXX Pancreatitis Treatment Guidelines

FDMB Primer on Pancreatitis

Nausea and Appetite (from Tanya's Site)

Pancreatitis (from Tanya's Site)


Feeding smaller, more frequent meals can help a lot with pancreatitis. You need to work the feeding times and amounts to the type of insulin you're giving Cookie. When you let us know which insulin we can help you with further feeding suggestions. Sometimes the right food is the one that a cat will eat and this applies even more strongly when pancreatitis and GI tract problems are in play. I'm in the UK but

Pilling can be very stressful. Where it's possible to crush pills and hide them in food. A drizzle of the spring water from a can of human tuna can help to disguise the taste. Being as matter-of-fact when giving pills manually can help (drive-by pilling as I call it). If you pretend to yourself that it's not such a big deal that can help you remain a bit less fretty and that helps the cat. Of course, some cats are easier to pill than others ... At the height of Saoirse's major pancreatitis flare last year I was feeding her tiny amounts once an hour, 24-7; and it was touch and go whether she would eat any given meal. I had to give her meds 10 times a day for a couple of weeks - and that was on top of giving her two insulin injections a day and home testing her BG to keep her safe. I won't lie to you: I spent most of that period panicked, tearful, and scared out of my wits; I was drowning on dry land.

What helped me to get through all that relentless poking, prodding and pilling was: to focus on what would happen to Saoirse if I didn't give her the necessary treatments; the wonderful support I received from members here; a great veterinary team; and, last but definitely not least, timed feeders (they're a godsend). Thankfully the treatments worked and Saoirse pulled through. It has taken a long time to find a food that she's really OK with (probably the most challenging aspect of pancreatitis management when the illness is chronic) but gradually we developed a regimen that works well for her. Things are much better now for me and my girl. All going well things will get much, much better for you and Cookie too.

I'd like to help you in any way I can. I am beyond grateful for the help and support I have received from other members here. It really makes the difference not being alone with this; doubly so when one is dealing with chronic health problems at the same time.




Mogs
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