newly diagnosed

Hi,

My 16 year old guy K.C. has just been diagnosed. We got the news 5 days ago. K.C. had become obsessed with water - and I do mean obsessed! We thought it a bit strange when over the past couple of months he started wanting to take showers with us. He would literally get in the shower with us! He then wanted the tap turned on all the time - if it wasn't he was yelling for it to be. His pee was out of control amd his breath was unbearable. Although he didn't seem or act sick we are about to move across country and more because of his age then anything wanted to have a vet take a look.

We took him on Sat and by Tuesday night had him started on Lantus - 1 unit twice a day and a new diet of Hills M/D food.

I knew nothing about diabetes before Sat and don't feel like I know a whole lot more now - other then that "my guy" has it and I am terrified. Our vet was not very helpful, he gave a long winded explanation of diabetes, gave us the prescription, gave us the food and told us to bring him back on the 30th so they could run a curve. The only truly good thing he did was direct me to this site. But there is so much information - I keep trying to take it all in but I don't know where to start and I usually end up turning off the computer and crying.

I have gotten a grasp on some feeding ideas, which is good becuase he is not loving the m/d and from what I have read Lantus seems like a choice. It scares me that I am giving him the Lantus but not monitoring him. The vet said it wasn't needed at this point. But I am terrified he is not getting the right dose and am constantly watching him for any signs. I am driving myself and K.C. nuts! So I feel like I should not listen to my vet and I should start monitoring him right away but if I am being honest I have no idea how to do it, where to look to find the info I need or even what I need to be monitoring....oh geez here I go crying again!

Any advice you guys can give on how I can get a handle on this so I can properly take care of my guy would be very much appreciated. I know all the information is probably here on the site but I can't get my head straight enough to find it so any point in the right direction would be great.

Thanks and sorry about my rant,
Tammy

 

Hi Tammy! I know how scary and overwhelming those early days can be. The good news is you know what it is and you are taking steps to treat it. And another thing to remember is while you want to do everything all at once to make your kitty better as quickly as possible, you don't really want to make too many changes all at once anyway or you won't know what is doing what. I agree that you want to try to begin testing the glucose as soon as possible so you know what is happening, but it's not really all that scary - just a step at a time. If you haven't looked at the demonstrations, you might want to check this one out - It's what I tried with Chase when I started and what I gave to the vets the first time I boarded him there. http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/ea ... chor144779

If you really need to talk to someone, I'll be up for another hour or so. Send me a message and I'll send you a private message with my phone number.

Take care of yourself first so you can take care of your baby!

Jeanene and Chase

 

Here is all the info, videos, pics........all on hometesting. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287

 

Something that I wish I'd known when I started was timescale. Some people tend to be in too much of a rush, causing stress. Others tend to be too timid and that causes its own problems.

So in my opinion and experience, here's a little recommended rough timescale so you can relax for a bit:


Diagnosis - 1st week - Begin insulin and prescription food, read and learn.
2nd -4th week -
Switch to low-carb canned food as possible, remove all dry food
Start testing glucose twice daily (within about 2-3 weeks this will get easy)
Run a few curves at home and get comfortable with the prospect
Begin adjusting dosage according to a protocol
2nd month - find the right dosage and begin tightening regulation
If right dosage not found by week 8, consider changing diet, insulin and/or protocol/strategy
3rd month - with any luck, dosage should be decreasing and remission may be a possibility


I hope this helps you relax ! The learning looks formidable at first but it's easily possible within the 4-12 weeks it usually takes to get things under control.

 

Welcome.. it is overwelming and terrifying.. there is so much information, nobody grasps it all at once and nobody expects you to.

Ask questions.. and we'll try to point you in the right direction.

Home testing: Very important.. your thoughts are bang on.. it's best if you have a good idea that the insulin is doing for him.

I'll try to start you off with a list of supplies.. to take with you shopping.. once you have them we can walk you through how to test on yourself so you can get some practice and understand and be comfortable with the process before going after your cat

I'm going to assume you live in the US for this list.. if you can let us know where you live specifically, it would be helpful:
Blood glucose meter
- ReliOn Micro is a popular one as it takes a small amount of blood and the test strips are relatively inexpensive - Can be found at Walmart
- Pretty much any meter is fine.. you'll want to find one that takes either 0.3 µl or 0.6 µl for tests (smaller is generally better), and consider the price of the strips more so than the initial cost of the meter..
Test Strips
- they are specific to the meter you get.. ask the pharmacist for help if it isn't obvious
Lancets
- I don't have much information for you here brand wise, I use a lancet device that came with my meter and I don't know if the relion comes with something similar, the pharmacist will be able to help you here, many people buy the individual lancets and do it by hand.. these are the things you will use to poke a small hole in the ear so that it bleeds a little bit..
Ketostix
- These are urine test strips used to test for ketones, it's very important, they will probably be behind the counter, ask the pharmacist
Polysporin/Neosporin
- For putting on the ear after the poke
Vaseline
- put a small dab on the area before you poke, it helps pool the blood
Freeze dried treats
- it's important to have diabetic safe treats to reward after testing.. any single ingredient freeze dried treat will do.. salmon, chicken, etc..
Wine/Beer/etc
- this is your reward after testing

Testing can be a bit challenging at first, but with practice it becomes really simple for both you and the cat. Not only will it help keep your cat safe, but knowing where he is at will hopefully help you to be able to relax some and be less upset.

It is manageable.. and we're here for you Tammy.

 

Good for you for getting a handle on this disease and learning what you can to help your kitty.

Yes, the learning curve is very steep, but it is pretty short, and in almost no time you'll feel very comfortable.

More kudos to you for thinking about home testing. A lot of vets feel it is not necessary... but I have found that it helped me as I had a lot more information. You also shouldn't be making any food chances unless you are home testing, because feeding fewer carbs can dramatically change your cats need for insulin.

A "curve" is when the vet tests the blood sugar every two hours to see how the insulin is acting within the body and how low the blood sugar drops before rising. This is very helpful information, and knowing that NOW as opposed to later will help you understand if the food you are feeding is adding to the problem or if you are giving too much insulin or too little.

When I started out with Em all those years ago I blindly shot and fed dry food. She did just fine on that for years. So I always like to remind people that as long as they do what they can do and do it out of love, it will be the right thing. Don't feel you need to do everything "right" immediately... because what ever you can do is the right thing.

Connie

 

HI Tammy and KC!! I'm so sorry you're here and i mean that in the nicest way possible.

I have read all the wonderful advice you've already been given and just wanted to hop and first welcome you and second, tell you how proud i am of you. I know it's scary and extremely overwhelming (i know because i was the exact same way when Molly was first diagnosed). You should be proud of yourself as well, you're doing absolutely everything correct, really. Keep learning and reading and don't forget to reinforce yourself too

Mind if i ask where you're located (just city and state or providence)? There may be someone in your area who can help you get started. When i first came here, a board member who lives nearby, Fleapunk, offered to help me. I was able to figure out how to hometest on my own but knowing she was there if i needed her made all the difference in the world to me.

You're doing great - keep us updated. -Michele & Molly

 

Hi and welcome to FDMB :mrgreen:

Best place to come to help your kitty.
You've already had some excellent advice.

Steve is 'bang on'. Mainly because your on an excellent starting dose (a lot of vets start kitties on 2 or 3 u which is often too high and hence people here urge to start testing asap)
1u is a good and in the main a 'safe' starting dose (lot less chance of hypo-too much insulin and scary to deal with)

Hometesting is definitely the way forward as well as switching to wet low carb food (under 10%. I prefer 5% as this is what kitty in wild would get as normal food source-mice)
It will give you the knowledge and power to make informed decisions about kitty's care.

Curves at vets aren't a great help, especially if kitty suffers from white coat syndrome. Lucky's bg would go up by over 100 points whenever she went to vets. Useless for basing a dosing decsion on.

Hills food is expensive too and much better commercially available foods on the market.
Fancy Feast/ Evo are 2 popular ones in USA. (I'm assuming that's where you are)

Keep asking questions. Lots of people here to help 24/7.

Lantus has shown excellent research results in terms off gettiong kitty's into remission (if used within 6 months of diagnosis. Kitty becomes diet controlled)
Levemir has also shown similar results as it's action is almost identical to Lantus.
Good luck :mrgreen: