New to the party

Hi all,

Newly diagnosed diabetic with idiopathic hypercalcemia( since 2014) and elevated liver enzymes ( 2011, 2017, 2019) I worked in Veterinary medicine for 11 years and I have to say ...when I got the diagnosis I was really angry and sad. I had never been really talked to about the dietary needs of cats and the pitfalls of dry kibble. I had never really been told that as he aged diabetes would be something I'd need to have in the back of my head. I've been feeding C/D ( cans AM and PM - dry for lunch/ snack) for a year and I just feel let down and stupid. I do full bloodwork and a urinalysis every year on my guy and don't think I would have caught the diagnosis if not. I barely noticed he was PU/ PD until I started cleaning the litterbox every day. Took me a week to put it all together
* sigh *
Anyways, the prince is on one unit of Lantus every 12 hours and down to twice a day feedings- which has been tough because he likes his lunchtime and I'm worried he isn't getting enough calories in. I'm shopping for an appropriate food- keeping in mind the things I've learned recently about carb content and the impact of phosphorus on kitties. Still working on a spreadsheet but honestly- I've cried every day since his diagnosis day. Sometimes I have to set down the insulin dose and leave the room to get it together before I dose him. It just feels hopeless. I look at him and I think - " I did this to him"
His moods is better and after 5 days of insulin he's not PU/PD so that's good. BGs are still 300- 400s before dosing and with my 12 hour work shifts- his AM dose has been 45mins- 1 hour late :/
Work in progress.

 

Welcome. Some of us did not clue in immediately either. The litter box is a good diagnostic of feline diabetes.

We can help get the spreadsheet set up. Just let us know.

Food charts can be found here.
FAQS can be found here.

Feline diabetes is a steep learning curve but will become second nature very quickly. We can help you with that. Come over to the Feline Health Forum and tell us more.