New to the board, advice seeking

hello all. I decided to join this group because I am at a loss of what to do. Last night I had to bring my kitty Charzard to hospital and they found that he had diabetes and needed to be admitted immediately. At first I was relieved it was diabetes and not terminal but I have found out quickly all of the actions that must be taken and I have never been so stressed. I emptied my bank account last night to have him treated and kept at the facility. I now have him back as he responded very well to the insulin and fluids but I don't know how I am going to afford the follow up appointments and on going care. We have our second child on the way and just adds to the financial problems. It seems like it has already taken a toll on my family as my fiancé is heartbroken that we will not be able to go on vacations or trips with our children because the insulin shots must be administered every 12 hours. I keep saying we will work it out but how? It's not just asking someone to feed your kitty and be on there way. It would need to be someone you can trust and is able to administer a needle. I feel in one day my perfect family, Charzard included is falling apart and I don't know how to stay afloat. He is such a great cat and has been like a best friend to me Sorry for writing a book I just have a lot of emotions running through me right now

 

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

Many of us have been overwhelmed at first. We have found ways to keep costs down, find appropriate pet sitters or boarding so we can have a life, all the while keeping our sugar cat as healthy as possible.

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!).

 

Hi John and welcome. I know it seems overwhelming but you have come to the right place. Take heart - I don't know much about Charzard (what a great name!) but the folks here will see you through. My girl was diagnosed about a week and a half ago and we are getting into a rhythm. Two options for the shots - it's possible that Charzard could go into remission or you could find a pet sitter who could administer shots - they are really easy once you get on to it. I highly recommend the home blood glucose monitoring - it will save you so much and also help better manage Charzard's diabetes. I am a single working mom with a zoo for a household and a young daughter -- you can do this!!

 

Welcome John.
You are having all the normal overwhelming feelings we all have been thru in the beginning.
It is a steep learning curve at first but you have all of us here to help, we've been where you are and we all love paying it forward.
You can do most everything yourself for FD. You really only need the vet for the prescription, some vets encourage this and some try to do it all for you ( they aren't used to anyone willing to work for their pet)
You don't need to do curves at the vet.... you don't need to do fructosamine tests.... that's just expensive and unnecessary because you can do it yourself and share the info with your vet if he wants to monitor your progress.

The first step is to start testing and get a human glucometer like BJM mentioned.

 

Welcome to the board. You are in good hands here. You, like everyone else here did, are going through a flurry of emotions and worrying about how you are going to handle this. That worry comes from the unknown. In no time at all, you will wonder why you were so worried.

I am on my own and wondered how I would ever be able to take another vacation much less have a social life (not that it's wickedly exciting ) but many of my friends live out of town, so I can relate to your concerns.

As everyone else has said, you can deal with this economically and keep your vet bills to an absolute minimum (yrly shots). Sure it takes a little planning, organization and obviously committment but it's much easier than you think. You will get into a routine and it will all become 2nd nature in short order.

There is all sorts of information available on this board regarding diet, testing, shots and lots more. The folks here are nothing short of amazing. Many are experts who have been helping others for years so they know their stuff and can answer any questions and provide guidance to help you look after Charzard.

You might be pleasantly surprised as I was, to find friends or neighbors who will be more than willing to learn how to care for Charzard so you can get away. There are many other options for finding that "get away" help but for now you just need to take a deep breath and try to take this one step at a time.

 

Thanks for the responses. Other than peeing in a bag Charzard seems to be doing okay. Our litter box is upstairs, maybe he doesnt have the energy to climb up? They want to set a follow up appointment next week and I know one of the things they were going to do was a glucose curve. Can I skip this first appointment and do it at home or is the first time recommended at the vet because of other testing that may need to be done?

 

Also do you only let them eat twice a day? They told me the insulin can only be administered after a meal and the schedule we are on right now I can't give him a shot for another 3 hours but he is hungry. I gave him a really small amount of wet food to try to hold him over until 10 where I can give him a full plate. Is that the right way to go about it?

 

John, normally we want them to have no food two hours before their shot, so that food isn't influencing the glucose level at shot time. Are you home testing, or did the vet discuss that with you? I didn't have my Shiloh get a curve at the vet. I started testing the day I got the diagnosis. What kind of insulin is Charz getting and how much? What do you feed him?

 

Hi Rhonda this is our first real day and the vet is supposed to call this morning to make a plan. so at this point I am not testing but am going to pick up a ReliON confirm this morning as others have posted that is a must. For food the hospital said for the time being keep him on the friskies pate he usually has until the vet can supply a diet. He is on Lantus and at 2 units every 12 hours. I saw Rhiannon had mentioned curves can be done at home but wasn't sure if it is better to have the first check up done by the vet.

Thanks for the support it is making me feel a little less stress and Charzard seems to be a happy boy.

 

Good morning John,

Ok let's get you started.

There are many different types of insulin, some longer acting, some shorter. Can you please let us know what kind of insulin Charzard was given and the dose of insulin at each shot? This will help us give you advice specific to your situation.
Also have you changed Charzard's diet? What are you feeding him?

If you look at the bottom of our previous messages, you will see we all have some information in grey that includes a summary of information about us and our sugar cats. These tidbits, are very helpful for folks to provide advice and you won't keep getting asked the same questions over and over. We put insulin, type of glucometer, diet, weight, age, etc in our signatures.

If you look over on the upper right side of your screen on the dark bar you will see your screen name. Click on that and go to the option "Signature" on the drop down menu. Click on signature and type in this information. When you are done, remember to click the SAVE button at the bottom of the screen. It only takes a minute or two and makes sure we all have pertinent info to work with. You just have to remember to update your signature when and if you change anything.

Many vets suggest twice a day feeding. We believe that allowing kitty to have some food throughout the day is better for the pancreas.

The caveat to this goes back to my first question re: what kind of insulin you are using. Not that you can't give Charzard some little snacks between meals, but if you are using a faster acting insulin, it is important that he eats a decent meal before his shots.

As for the glucose curve, you can keep costs down by doing the curve yourself at home. This entails buying a human glucometer. Often you can get one free when you buy the testing strips for the meter. If you can let us know where you are located, we can try to help you get the most cost effective meter as well. Testing is easy and we can help you learn to do that too! You want to get a meter that requires a very tiny sample of blood.

One of the main reasons we like to do our own curves is because most cats hate the trips to the vet and this can cause their glucose levels to be elevated during vet curves. You will get much more accurate information doing the curves at home. Many vets do not suggest this because unfortunately doing curves is good for their bottom line!

I presume Charzard has never peed inappropriately before. With diabetes, the body tries to remove the excess glucose through the kidneys and this leads to excess peeing. It may be that Charzard just could not hold it. Diabetics can also develop bladder infections. Either way, the problem can be solved. As he gets insulin and the glucose is under better control, the glucose spillage will stop and the accidents should stop. If he has a bladder infection, a short course of antibiotics will deal with that. In the meantime, maybe you could put an extra litter box on the main floor so Charzard doesn't get caught short.

 

Hi John,

I guess we cross posted. Given the insulin you are using, you can free feed Charzard or split his meals up throughout the day but just make sure he is eating well and give him a little more at shot time. Lantus is a slow acting depot insulin which means it works slowly. We usually start our cats off on .5 to 1 unit twice daily . What does Charzard weigh? 2 units is not a high dose but it's a little higher than most of like to start with. There are two different protocols we use here. One is to Start Low and Go Slow and the other is Tight Regulation. You can read up on those a little later. For beginners the Start Low Go Slow lets you get up to speed and develop a routine and get both you and your cat comfortable with how the insulin works in your cat. Later you can decide whether to continue with SLGS or switch to TR.

 

One other thing John. You DO NOT need an expensive RX diet from the vet. BJM provided a link to food information above. I am in Canada so I cannot comment on what you are currently feeding Charzard for sure but I think it is one the of the recommended foods on that list. If so you are already way ahead of where many of us were when we started our journey.

If you want to placate your vet, get a can or two of the Rx food to try it and then return all but one can saying Charzard won't eat it. I hope your vet doesn't recommend the dry RX food but again, you can open the bag, pretend you tried it and then return it to get your money back.

See we told you we had tricks to keep the costs down!

 

Linda thank you for the help. Got my signature updated, that is such a good idea. He only weighs 7-8 lbs right now which was something that did cause the doctor concern and they would like to see that go up a little. Hopefully having his glucose levels maintained will help. He was a dry food cat in the past but we weened him off that so he was having wet food morning and night and we had half a cup of dry food out during the day for both cats. We have now taken that away completely. I have been watching him like a hawk and he seems his normal self, limping a little on his back leg but that was where the blood was drawn so might be a little sore. Been great so far with the insulin, I have to assume it won't always be this easy

 

Hi John,

If Charzard is being good with the injections, you should have no trouble doing home testing. You are already 50% of the way through the hardest parts of this so give yourself a pat on the back. Charzard is in good hands.

Sounds like Charzard is a tiny little guy. I assume he has lost some weight from his former self? That is one of the signs of diabetes. Once his glucose gets more regulated, he will probably pack on a wee bit of weight so be patient.

The usual starting dose of Lantus is about .25U per kg. of weight which would calculate out to about .75u twice daily for . If I were you, I'd be inclined to try to convince your vet to start at .5u or 1 unit at most. All cats are different but until you know how he reacts in his home environment, it's better to be a little low on the dose than too high. Cats can get huge elevations of their glucose in the vet environment so it's not unusual for vets to start a little higher than we suggest. If you get a glucometer and do home testing, then you will get a good idea of how Charzard is doing and after a few days (around 3 or 4 days) you'll have a good idea whether the dose is too low or just right or too high (which at .5 u is not likely). Every cat is different but starting off slow gives you a chance to get into a routine and get Charzard used to testing. Getting into a routine particularly for Charzard helps to ensure the stress levels are low and readings are accurate. It helps out us humans too.

Also if he was eating dry food, the change to a completely soft diet may lower his glucose as well so again, starting slow is the best route till you see how the diet affects his numbers. Some cats are affected by dry food more than others so making small changes at a time is easier to monitor.

I hope Charzard is just sore from the blood draw. Not to alarm you but cats can develop neuropathy from the diabetes and it often affects the back legs. The good news is that it's not painful and can be treated with Vitb12 (there is one just for cats) and as he gets regulated it should go away. Unlike humans, our resilient little critters deal with this disease much better than dogs or humans. They do not generally get any long term affects when treated.

If you are going to home test (highly recommended) since you are in the US, I think the most economical glucometer is the Relion (probably spelled that wrong) Micro from Walmart. The pharmacist at Walmart or Target can help you with that. Any meter is fine but make sure whatever meter you get takes a tiny drop of blood. It's the strips that cost going forward so check the price of the strips for whatever meter you are considering.

There is an abundance of info in the Health/FAQ's section and you can browse there at your leisure for more tips.
Keep asking questions and we will do our best to help. So far you get an A+.

 

This is so true! John - here is a link to a free online "curve generator" - Basically to do a curve, you

1. Take the first morning "pre-shot" Blood glucose reading. Enter this on the website I have linked to
2. Every 2 hours, take another reading and put the values in, also noting with an X what time you gave the shot, what time Charzard had a a meal
3. At the end of DAY 1 (12 hours) hit "submit" and it will create a graphed curve for you and your vet.​

I actually took readings every hour from 4 hours after the shot through 7 hours - you don't have to do this - even just every 2 hours for 12 hours it helps you and your vet better understand how the insulin is acting in Charzard's body. It doesn't matter that this site is for a different insulin, and the website keeps no personal data - it just makes a nice graph you can see more easily what is going on. You can print this or email it to your vet.

FYI I just took Genghis in for a check up today and the vet loved having the glucose curve done already - he didn't even charge me for the visit. Sure helped my wallet out!

About feeding - if you're not at home and can't feed him, I don't think there is any trouble letting him snack. I take whole tins and freeze them, then leave out pucks for her to snack on during the day. Basically his body is starved for nutrients so for sure he will feel hungry a lot of the time - folks here and my vet have all said there is no issue doing that for most cats. You probably don't even need to freeze it - it won't spoil even if left out for the day.

You are doing great so far!