New to the forum

Hi everyone.
My 10yr old black short hair domestic female cat, Mika, was recently diagnosed with diabetes. Initially I was devastated and overwhelmed. After tons of research and finding this forum, I first changed her food from dry to wet. She's now on Crave, with 42% protein and practically no carbs. She likes it, thankfully! Next I ordered an AlphaTrak meter from Amazon and I'd been dreading testing her since I ordered it. She's been on the new food for about a week and today I tested her blood with the AlphaTrak for the first time. My first attempt didn't go well and I was about to give up but I decided to try again and was successful. I was able to draw blood at the first little stab. She was at 292 before eating. I rewarded her with her breakfast and as she ate, I administered her first insulin shot. I'm so happy and relieved! I'm hoping it will get easier each time.
Thanks for all the information and suggestions I found here!
- K

 

Welcome! It sounds like you are off to a good start.

 

Welcome to the board. It does get easier with practice. As soon as you have time, get your spreadsheet going so that you can track all the tests, and if you have questions or concerns, other members can take a look before advising. Here's a link on how to create and understand the spreadsheet: SPREADSHEET
One thing we learned was to reward every BG test with a treat, whether successful or not. Keep up the good work!

 

Thx! Will do.

 

Welcome K and Mika!
It does get easier. My Fabby got so used to my stabbing her ear that she purred and drooled for her treat after the ear test. I kept the zero carb treats in her test kit so if I picked up the test kit, she came runnin, and drooling. Lol.

It's been a couple days since your first post. Are you finding it easier?

Glad you found this resource, and welcome again!

 

Well done!!! A preshot under 300 this early in the game is great! Try get a mid cycle test around 5-6 hors after the shot to get an idea of how low she's going.

 

Well we started off great and the next day was a disaster... didn't get a meter reading or to give her the insulin shot because we both became so overwhelmed with everything. She wouldn't let me come near her. She was hissing, biting... it was pretty awful. So for now, I've decided to cut back on the meter readings and just giver her the shots which don't seem to be as stressful. I'm fully aware of the dangers involved in shooting blind and I do intend to start up again in a couple of days. It just got to be too much for both of us and we needed to take a step back and simplify things, at least in the very beginning.
K

 

Thank you. What kind of treats to you give? I need some that are appropriate for a diabetic cat. Thanks!

 

Thank you! What treats do you use?

 

Freeze dried treats like cat man do are OK... Or Bonito flakes (dried fish). Of course fresh meats like chicken. I give small amounts of deli meats (boars head) without fillers. Cat nip

 

Thx Janet! I remember watching your video as I prepared to test. Has C.C. always just sat there for the BG test? Mika is NOT that kind of cat!! LOL I have to straddle her... the whole process is super stressful for both of us. :-(

 

HI, I just took a look at Mia's chart and i can't believe how much better her numbers got when she switched to the new drug. Mika just started prozinc. Does the vet think Mia just responded better to the Levemir? Would love to hear a little about it. Thx!

 

The first couple weeks she didn't like the tests... Then she started associating the test with a treat and she was chill. It doesn't bother her. I always say I'm so fortunate it was her that's diabetic and not one of my higher strung cats.

 

On ProZinc, if we got to a dose that her nadir (lowest point in cycle) was good, she still stayed too high too much of the time. If I raised the dose from there, it would cause her to go too low at nadir. Mia was also a very 'bouncy' girl, so if she went lower than her body liked (even if not too low), she would often bounce up into higher numbers then stay rather high and flat for a couple of cycles. Her curves were just too 'deep' on ProZinc. I gave it 9 months. She did get to the point that she was considered regulated - at least based on a fructosamine result - but she was still too high too much of the time for my liking, and things were still a little volatile.

Based on my research, I wanted to try Levemir. It's funny that you ask 'does the vet think Mia just responded better to Levemir?' The vet really has had nothing to do with it. When I told the vet I wanted Levemir, she was not even familiar with it. She did some quick research on her own to confirm that it is used for cats, then she gave me the prescription I asked for. I handle Mia's testing and manage her dosing. I just take her in for blood work and to check in every 6 months. Depending on how things go between now and her next visit (November), I may be talking to the vet about changing that to annual visits.

Cats respond differently to different insulins. ProZinc is a good insulin, and it may be the only one you ever need for Mika! You should make your way over to the ProZinc forum with any questions you have or just to snoop.

 

I used Fancy Feast single ingredient treats in Salmon. (So it was only Salmon, no carbs). My favorite reason for these treats (besides Fabby liking them) was that they were individually wrapped. That meant I could take out 4 and put them in her testing kit for the day. So for all Fabby knew, her favorite treats came from the testing kit. The kit was associated with happiness. That association made it so much easier for me, and her.
I saw you are straddling Mika for testing. Yikes. But right now... what ever works! I'm glad you're making it happen. It does get better.
I sat cross legged on the bed and set Fabby in my lap. Her back legs (the most dangerous part of her) were on the actual bed in the hole my legs crossed made. Her front paws (which I trimmed regularly) were on my thigh like it was a ledge. I put the kit right in front of her face so she could see her treats sitting there in the kit. She would let me poke her ear pretty easy. At first she would move her ear at the last moment, lol. But we both got better about it. Also when she was lap sitting it was easier to pet and maintain that she stayed there with pets if needed.

Take in all the info offered here and keep what you can use and do the best you can do. Remember to give yourself a treat too on the successful pokes. You deserve it!