Newbies looking for advice

I'll start off with a giant THANK YOU to all of you on this forum. My kitty Boots was diagnosed barely two weeks ago, and as always, I immediately turned to "Dr Google" for information, and found this site. Not only is it just a comfort to know there are so many others out there dealing with this challenge, but there is such an abundance of great information and anecdotes from you all, it has already given me tremendous guidance and a sense of comfort as we move forward.

So a little history: Boots is a sweetheart with a bit of a devilish side at times. He's been with me since 2004, and he was around 2 when I got him. From a medical perspective: he has been largely healthy overall, but had a diagnosis of Hyperthyroid back in 2011, which we successfully treated with radioactive iodine in-patient treatment at Univ. Pennsylvania Veterinary hospital. A few months back (late 2014) he started demonstrating a noticeably stronger appetite, complete with meowing for food and attention and constantly being underfoot. We put up with it (probably for too long) but took him to the vet last month after one particularly bad morning of upset meowing (as we tried to get a few more precious minutes of sleep) - just after we got up, he sprayed on a wall, which he has never done. We took him in that week, and they suggested an ultrasound (he has a very round belly) and bloodwork. The results showed nothing terribly wrong in the Ultrasound (slightly enlarged liver), but the bloodwork showed high glucose and he was given a diabetes diagnosis. (He clocked in at 407). Boots weighs about 13 lbs, down a little bit from his heaviest which was probably 2013-2014.

We decided with our vet to try the "Aggressive" treatment option as they call it, which I gather is NOT the low and slow approach, but rather the tight regulation approach with home monitoring and dosage adjustment. We started our first curve this past weekend. I'll get a spreadsheet posted ASAP. Basically, his starting numbers were right around 400. We started on 1.0U Lantus, and based on his readings Saturday AM, bumped to 1.5U which is where we've stayed since (today is Monday). Will be calling the vet tomorrow to discuss the readings thus far and to have her make a recommendation about dosage for the rest of this week until we can do our next curve next weekend.

Boots also has two lovely little ladies living with him - Polly and Emily - and they adore him, and vice versa.

So that's us! I look forward to picking everyone's brains and reading more about your experiences. My current question has to do with my Alphatrak2 Meter - I am about out of test strips from my starter kit, and the ones I ordered won't be here til later this week. I was able to get Freestyle Lite strips which I believe will work - at least I hope! But I guess I can post that question more specifically on another thread/post.

Thanks, everyone!

 

Welcome Megan and Boots, and Polly & Emily. We're like a big family here.
Where abouts are you located? I am in NJ and used UPenn Vet Hosp. when J.D. had DKA way back in 2005. He was diabetic from 11 to 20, and passed away last year in November (at around 100 years old - in human years).

 

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

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 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, which you have.
- 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!).