New member - help & advice appreciated

Hi all, my 8 year old big black man cat Tommy was diagnosed with diabetes a week ago As you can see from the profile picture he's an adorable cat who's very greedy and a little lazy.

Since his diagnosis last week we have switched his diet to Hills m/d, both dry and canned as recommended by our vet. Also insulin twice a day with a syringe - as the days have gone on we're getting a little more comfortable with this, however, we're finding this to be a 2 man job - watched loads of vid's on YouTube but our fur baby doesn't seem to sit still like the cats in all the demo's do! I've done a load of Google searches in the last week to see if there's any alternative as my partner and myself are not always home at the same time due to work patterns. I've asked my vet about the insulin pen but they said that wasn't really an option for cat's? I've also searched online if there's a tablet alternative to insulin injections but haven't really got a clear answer? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated thanks, Laura

 

Hi Laura, welcome to you and handsome Tommy! The Hills m/d is often recommended by vets, but it’s actually higher in carbs than many cheaper over the counter wet foods (dry isn’t recommended at all for sugar cats) Please come to the Main health forum and tell us more about the problems you’re having. There are more folks on that forum to help. Please include what kind of insulin you’re using and more specifics about the trouble you’re having. I’m sure we can help!

 

Welcome to Tommy and his pet parents! You are definitely going to find answers to your questions as well as the support of a community of fellow cat lovers, and parents.

We ask that new members post questions, concerns and issues in the Main Health forum, where there is more traffic and members available to respond. Click the link HERE to go there. If you like, you can copy and paste your message with your questions into a new thread there.

Please look around the board, get familiar with the forums that are available here. Since you are very new to feline diabetes, the Getting Started and the Education sections on the Home page are a very good place to begin learning more.

If you will take a few minutes and create a signature, Tommy's pertinent information will be available with each of your posts.
Setting up your signature (light grey text under a post). Here's how:
click on your name in the upper right corner of this page
click on "signature" in the menu that drops down
type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using and dosage amount /glucose meter you're using/what (s)he eats/any other meds or health issues (s)he has. You can add your name, and a geographic location (sometimes the time zone matters) Be sure to SAVE when you are finished.

You don't mention if you are home testing or not. If you are, I would be happy to provide you with the link with instructions for the spreadsheet we use here to record dosing and testing data, as well as a link that explains how to understand the spreadsheet.
If you are not testing Tommy's blood sugar, we can provide information about how important this is to do, to keep Tommy safe and help you understand how the insulin is working for him.

We are glad you are here and we will help in any way we can. Best wishes going forward

 

Hi sharon, thanks for the reply- I've just copied my previous post on to the main forum. I've been a little confused with the dietary information- all the research I've done online the past week has suggested that it's best to try and remove dry food from his diet, however, the vet has suggested the opposite and we should try and aim for the hills or purina dry m/d food only?!

He was diagnosed last Friday and spent the whole day at the vets today to monitor him throughout the day- after a week on his new diet and insulin no change as of yet unfortunately.

We saw a different vet today who's advised that he needs a higher dosage of insulin than what we've been administering the past week- dose now is 1.5 Caninsulin twice daily. We're due to take him back to the vets for monitoring again in 2 weeks time- after reading some of the posts here I'm wondering if I should purchase a home testing kit and do this more frequently?

Thanks again
Laura & Tommy

 

Home testing is the best way to keep Tommy safe and see how well the insulin is working. It’s not hard to do and we’ll help you learn. As for food, here’s a great site about feline nutrition. https://catinfo.org/ I’ll look for your Main health Forum post.

ETA I don’t see your Health forum post...

 

I copied the post on to the main forum but it has a little blue symbol next to it - when I click on it it says awaiting moderation before being displayed publicly?- not sure how this works as I'm a first timer! Does it usually take a little time to update? Technology is not my strong point either unfortunately!

 

I’m technologically challenged as well! I’ll tag someone for help. @Jill & Alex (GA) ?

 

Laura, I can't answer about the Main Health forum post, but I say from experience that removing dry food/high carb wet food can significantly reduce a cat's blood glucose level. It doesn't happen all the time, but when we eliminated the high carb food from Idjit's diet, with less than ten days of insulin therapy, Idjit became a diet controlled diabetic. We were very fortunate, and diet does make a difference! Many vets are convinced by the so called prescription food vendors/suppliers. It's not even Rx food, you can order it off the internet.
When you feed the high carb food, then raise the dose of insulin you are creating a vicious cycle. It's just like giving a human diabetic sugar donuts and then a shot of insulin to bring down that high blood sugar. Not very productive or healthy.
If you home test, you won't need to take Tommy in for a day long curve, saving him the stress of travel and being at the vet, and saving you a nice chunk of change. We all learned (some new members are in the process of learning right now) and you will know, real time, just how the insulin is working, and if the blood sugar levels are going too low or too high. It's really important to always test before giving an injection, we weren't instructed to do that at the vet, and one day I just happened to test Idjit in the middle of the day. He was dropping low and I had to take action to prevent a hypoglycemic event.
We will help, we have been where you are.

 

Thank you so much for this info-Our vet hasn't mentioned testing prior to the injection at all! Or home testing- I've done a few searches though re home testing and unsure if I should be purchasing a cat specific kit or not? Lots of the article's/ videos I've found have recommended using regular testing kit's available from pharmacies? That's fab that you've managed to control idjits diabetes with diet- crossing my fingers that I can eventually get Tommy into remission- not sure who's more scared of the syringe me or Tommy! What food are you feeding edjit? I'm in Wales (UK) hopefully can still order online! ☺

 

Hi Laura
I was reading through the posts on your thread and was just about to post asking if you are in the UK when I saw your last reply saying you're in Wales! Welcome to the board! There are a few of us in the UK but we're in the minority so when you need to know stuff like foods or where to get diabetic supplies, try to remember to say where you live, otherwise the replies you'll get aren't always relevant.

Hopefully Jill will sort out the technical issue and get your post on the Main Health forum. This intro forum is the welcome mat for the board as a whole; the main forum is where most people will go to see questions.

Good luck! I had a Tommy too (the kitty in my avatar). Beautiful boy.

Diana

 

My apologies, Laura. Your post was held in Moderation for approval. We've had a lot of trouble with people posting 'spam' so our Administrator tightened up our filters in an effort to keep them out. Every once in awhile a new member's post is tagged for approval. Thank you for your patience and welcome to the FDMB! Your post is now visible on the Health Forum.