Newly Diagnosed 5 days ago

Hello,

My cat, Ballonee, was diagnosed with diabetes about 5 days ago. She is 7 years old. Throughout her life she had been a thin, but otherwise apparently healthy cat. Then I suddenly noticed she was acting very different. She was lethargic, listless, wouldn't eat. I brought her into the vet and it turned out she was in diabetic ketoacidosis and was diagnosed with diabetes.

It took a while to get her electrolytes, especially potassium, stable but she appears to be doing quite a bit better now. She was started on Lantus 2 units twice a day and her blood glucs went ridiculously low on that. So the vet sent her home with me the next day on Lantus 1 unit twice a day and her first night home, 3 hours after her second Lantus dose her blood gluc was 2.8 mmol. I then treated her for hypoglycemia but I couldnt get it to rise above 3.9 mmol. Eventually I brought her back to the vet and they discussed decreasing her insulin to 0.5 units twice a day.

The reason why I need to join this board right now is because I feel so hopeless and lost. I want to do everything I possibly can for my baby to save and help her but I feel like I'm hurting her soo much all the time with constant gluc checks and pokes and then half the time she is feeling ill because her insulin makes her crash so hard. I guess I just needed some people with experience to talk to and ask questions. My vets are not great about telling me what to expect or what this should look like... half the time they are just making it feel very hopeless. So I just feel lost.

Thank you for reading,
Spencer

 

Welcome! Sounds like you got here just in time. It is very overwhelming in the beginning, but it does get better. It is not hopeless. You will get lots of support and advice here. Post any questions you have on the Main Health Forum.

 

There are some wonderful people on this board. They know more about diabetic kitties than the vets do. Vets only get a few hours of training in diabetic cats. They get most if their training from representatives from pet food manufacturers. One of the problems we see here is vets starting cats on too large a dose of insulin. Posting on the Health forum is the best thing you can do.

I am so happy that you are testing her BG at home. That can save her life. Welcome.