New Diabetes diagnosis

Hello, my baby Scrabble was diagnosed with diabetes tonight and I am in total shock. He is overnight at the vets getting tests to determine his insulin levels. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. I am so devastated by this news!

 

It's ok! I know it is really overwhelming at first. What symptoms caused you to take him in? What all did the vets say? Did you hear anything like "ketones"? How old is Scrabble and what does he eat? There is a LOT you can do. This is manageable. Don't worry too much (easier said than done, I know).

 

Scrabble is 13 and a half years old. I noticed over the last couple of days that he was drinking and peeing a lot and didn't seem totally himself. I was afraid that it was diabetes. I currently feed him a can of wet food (friskies) that he shares with my other cat Sabrina who is almost 10 years old, and always have a bowl of dry food availiable and of course treats and occasional people food. Didn't hear anything about ketones at the vet. Have been reading up on the internet since I got home and am pretty overwhelmed with all the info out there. It seems I need to change his diet to canned only? I worry about the insulin!!!

 

Hi! I'm pretty new here too, but I can tell you coming to this board was the best thing I could have done for my cat and my peace of mind. Try not to be too devastated I'm new to the world of diabetic cats, but when I was a teenager, we had a diabetic dog who lived eight great years after her diagnosis, and she wasn't diagnosed young. There's hope and there's so much more help now, not to mention hometesting for blood glucose levels, which sounds scary at first but makes everything so much more manageable and understandable.

Read around a bit and take a deep breath

 

You have come to the right place for help. There are a lot of folks here anxious to help you, and there is a lot you can do to help your kitty. Welcome! :smile:
It would really help us if you could tell us about him, his age, weight, symptoms, what he eats, any other medical conditions, what insulin your vet is starting and what dose.
It would REALLY help you, help him if you spend time here reading the newbie stickies. Many kitties have been able to feel better and even go into remission following advice from this FDMB.

We are looking forward to hearing more from you! confused_cat

 

I posted above what he eats and his age. He weighs 14 and a half pounds. He is a big cat, not fat. He was peeing a lot and drinking a lot and that is why I took him to the vets. He is at the vets now (staying overnight) so they can do the blood work up on him. I will not know until tomorrow morning what the vet is going to put him on as far as insulin. I am concerned in reading this about his diet and how I can change it and how it will affect the insulin. I feed him one can of wet food per day( Friskies) and he always has dry food availiable which varies usually Friskies. He also gets treats and people food sometimes. He has not health problems. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Welcome! Arnold was dx last week and I've learned so much here already. You'll be well prepared when you go pick him up tomorrow to talk to the vet. I was smacked in the head w/ this when we went in w/ him and just nodded my head, paid the bill and went home completely confused and uneducated. I've learned a lot and even switched vets since.

 

A key way to have less anxiety about insulin is to learn to hometest. Most cats adapt admirably to it (in fact, most do not seem to care as long as they get a treat.). It will give you the confidence to know what is going on with blood glucose levels at any time and will help you learn how the insulin is working. There is a sticky note on the board with LOTS of tips and videos. Any human meter will do. It does NOT have to be a special animal one. Many of us use the Relion Micro from Walmart as strips are less expensive, usually handy to get and take a very small amount of blood. That's great he has no other health problems. It makes it easier to manage. Yes, you will probably want to adjust his diet, but it can really cause drastic changes along with the insulin, so you might want to get good at blood testing before you switch totally so you can tell if you need to reduce your insluin dose at all.

 

Do you know if they are starting insulin tonight?
If they have NOT started insulin, you can try to remove all dry food from his diet as soon as possible. Be sure to retest glucose after a few days off dry food, because his insulin needs will change.

If they have started insulin than you need to learn to test his glucose before you change his diet, so you can moniter his bl glucose levels, and intervene if they fall too low. Hypoglycemia is an emergency that you need to be prepared for (read permanent stickies)
Since he is used to eating canned Friskies you will need to increase the number of cans he eats. Dry food has more condensed calories which you will need to replace. Friskies is Ok but the rice in it isn't great, Search for Janet and Binky to find a list of low carb food.

Some diabetic cats have a serious condition which can be detected through ketones excreted in their urine.
Ketodiastix or ketostyx are available without a prescription at any pharmacy window. Directions are on the bottle. Basically you dip the strip in fresh urine and it tells you whether your kitty is excreting ketones. Ketones are a serious emergency and need vet help immediately. Some folks collect pee with a ladle, others are able to run it through a stream while he's going, some put plastic wrap in the litter box. you just need a drop. If you get positive ketones, you are off to the vet without delay....

Home testing glucose is crucial. Many folks seem to like the Relion meters available at Walmart (without a prescription) and the strips are more reasonable than most. Look for stickies/videos in the forum that explain tips for successful testing. It really isn't hard. You want to test his blood a minimum of before every shot. and occasionally collect data every 2 hours to see what is really going on, or at least as often as possible. When you get numbers, post them as : +1, +2, +3 etc hours since the last insulin injection, rather than clock hours (we cover every time zone) There are posts in the tech forum to put up spread sheets linked to your signature so everyone can see his readings.

Regardless which insulin your vet uses, be sure to learn about it (duration, nadir, onset) http://www.Prozinc.us has useful videos and FAQ which will help you learn injections etc.

Sorry, it 1 AM here so I'm done. :shock: Others will check on you as well

 

I believe they are going to start him on insulin tonight. I feel as though this all happened so fast that I am trying to catch up with everything! Ugh! I hope I am able to do the tests. This is all so scary!!!!

 

It's not a race, slow down. Go for a walk. you can do this. lots of us (all of us )felt the same way. Be sure later (tomorrow, next day) when your head isn't spinning, re read this and your other post. Lots of good info. You can' t learn it all in a week, certainly not in a night. (((((((hugs)))))) cat_pet_icon

 

3 last things,
the unfortunate thing about testing at the vet, is that BG levels are typically higher, maybe much higher, than you will see at home. This is another reason home testing is so important. Many vets don't see the benefit and charge a lot of money to "do a curve"

If you need more time, ask your vet if you couldn't try removing dry food first, learning to home test without insulin on board, and get yourself in a good state to begin this journey. He may have a valid reason why its important, but it wouldn't hurt to ask him.

Beware if the vet tries to sell you Vetsulin, which had a recent product alert. Vets have been advised NOT to start new patients on it by the FDA and the company, however a few recent newbies have been given it.

Nancy

 

Talked to the vet this morning, cat is doing good thank God! I am supposed to pick him up at 5! I asked him his opinion on home testing and he said he didn't advise it because it can cause more stress for you. I think I would like to do home testing though because I want to be as knowledgable as possible! He will not be using vetsulin! I asked about changing his diet first and home testing but he said my cat is a type 1 diabetic and needs to go on insulin right away. Thanks to all for your advice, I will keep posting and am sure I will be on here often to figure out how to manage this! All help is greatly appreciated!!

 

hey there, good morning!

up to the upper left of the page you should see something like "1 new message". click on that and it will take you to your inbox where you should see a message from Sherry & Squirt. She said she can help you with testing. She's helped a few peoples up that way and her and her husband are wonderful people.

 

I did see the message from Sherry and am going to call her today, didn't want to call too early! Thanks for getting me in touch with someone. It will be nice to talk to someone else about this rather than the vet!

 

How the heck does your vet know that your cat is a type 1 diabetic?

 

Um don't know, that is what he told me by what his blood glucose was at? How do you tell what type of diabetic your cat is? I am still very new with this disease so I am unsure what it all means

 

you cannot tell by that at all... I believe, but am not certain, that you'll know if you are testing and your cat responds to a change in food, for example. Type 2 diabetes is treated by diet and insulin, and some type 2 diabetics can be managed by diet alone, just as with people. Type 1 diabetes requires insulin.

If you haven't yet, you need to read the faq - the link is in a 'sticky' near the top of the list of threads in this forum.

Jen

 

Glucose levels at diagnosis have nothing to do with the type of diabetes. I would love to hear what your vet is basing his diagnosis on,

 

i hear you have a testing date so I thought i'd go ahead and share some testing tips and tricks, including videos, so you can get a head start

here's a bunch of compiled information
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287

and a couple closeups
http://s138.photobucket.com/albums/q270 ... 0_0827.flv
http://s138.photobucket.com/albums/q270 ... 0_0826.flv