Newly diagnosed

Hi, I'm Sandy. My cat Macy was diagnosed with diabetes today and I was referred here by someone on the IBD kitties facebook page [my other cat has IBD].

I'm just trying to get a handle on the things that I need to do to best care for Macy as we adjust to the diagnosis.

thank you! Hope I am putting this in the right place.

 

Welcome to FDMB!
Yup, you're in the right place.
Here's where you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about you and your kitty, plus what you're feeding, what insulin and dose, and any other issues you're having. And, when you have a moment, please add some of those details to your signature. It will help us give you feedback.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback. You are limited to 2 hard returns, so separate pieces by | or -.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as your name | cat's name | date of Dx (diagnosis) | insulin | meter general location (city and state/province) any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.

Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

 

Hello and welcome.

 

Thanks, BJM & Scoobydoox! Macy was having symptoms of a UTI so we took her to the vet and they found a lot of glucose in her urine. Her blood glucose was "450+" this morning. The veterinarian said that we need to start her on insulin and gave her 2 units today. She said we're to give her 2 units daily, so we picked up the insulin [vetsulin] and the syringes today.

She suggested the AlphaTrak glucose monitor, so I ordered that from Amazon and it should be here tomorrow. She said the goal is to keep her in the 200 range.

Regarding the food, the veterinarian said she should try Royal Canin Glycobalance, so we took home a bag of that and 1 can [just to see if she will eat it]. Do you happen to know if the Glycobalance smells weird normally? It has almost a metallic/blood smell to me, very different than any other food I have bought.

Unfortunately, our cats absolutely won't eat wet food or home cooked, at least so far. Pixie, our other cat, has IBD and we have tried virtually every canned food known to man, raw food [freeze dried and radcat], and home cooked food using Alnutrin and Food for Life additives and they just won't eat it. I will keep trying. Oh, and we normally free feed them but I guess that will be stopping. Veterinarian said to ease into the set feeding schedule by starting with ~3 times per day just so that it's not too big a shock to Macy's system.

I saw the section with information about how to test the blood, which was helpful. For some reason I was thinking I would have to prick her paw every time, so she has already benefited from this site.

That's about it--I don't know enough to know what I don't know at this point, so I will be visiting the site frequently.

thank you,
Sandy

 

Welcome to you and Macy! There is alot of wonderful information here, and the people are just wonderful. Don't be afraid to ask any questions you may come up with

 

Pop into the Vetsulin section and download the user guide. One important note is to feed and then wait 30 minutes before you inject (shoot) the insulin. This is because the insulin hits hard at first and may drop the glucose quite fast; the food helps buffer that drop.
Also, you should be dosing every 12 hours, not once a day as no insulin lasts 12 hours in the cat. Is that what your vet is having you do?

 

Actually, that is one among my list of questions to ask her--she told me to give 2 units once daily. I thought maybe I transcribed it in my notes incorrectly, but I just looked at the insulin bottle w/the prescription label and it says give 2 units under the skin every 24 hours. As I was reading the forum I started realizing that the dose she gave me doesn't seem consistent with what others were reporting that they administer, so I popped back over here to ask a question and saw your note. I am thinking maybe I wrote down the dose wrong and then someone in the office transcribed the dose incorrectly in the prescription in one of those perfect storm kind of things.

[edited to remove request for spreadsheet, found it in Sarah Smith's signature, thank you!]

I've just been reading the Vetsulin section of the forum and am currently terrified, but I have the user guide open and am reading it now. I am thinking I should take the weekend to get my diabetes sea legs and try to start the insulin maybe Monday?

 

Glad I could help Sandy Something may have got transcribed wrong on the prescription since vetsulin will not last 24hrs. It probably should have said 1u every 12 hours? I would call the vet and make sure, but vetsulin will not usually last a full 12 hours. Cooter was back on the rise after by hour 4, he was doing 1u twice a day, part of the reason I asked to switch him to prozinc. Hes getting a few more hours before rising right now on it. I know its very overwhelming, we just started this journey a few weeks ago. Once you start testing and get a routine it will start to settle down a bit. Its still sort of crazy here, but definately smoother then 2 weeks ago If you need any help with the spreadsheet, dont hesitate to ask, theres alot of folks willing to help!

 

Hi Sarah,

Cooter is adorable, glad he is on the right track! I take it prozinc lasts the full day? That is good to know. I'm just trying to remember to breathe. I felt similarly not up to the task when my other cat Pixie was diagnosed with IBD and pancreatitis and we are making it through that intact, so I think I just need to keep reading and asking questions.

Regarding the spreadsheet--the reference ranges for Macy's labs are different than those posted in the spreadsheet. I've never used a google spreadsheet before so I wanted to ask if it is all right if I update the reference ranges to match her lab report. I renamed it to a different name so I think it's okay for me to change it, but....

sandy

 

Breathing is very important Sandy, you can do this! The awesome news is Pixie andMacy obviously have a mom who loves them and is willing to learn everything she can to get them better The lab ranges were different then my printout as well, but close enough I didnt change it. It shouldn't affect anything on spreadsheet if you decide you want to though. It's just more of a reference page so you can track numbers from what I've seen. Once you've downloaded it, it is on your PC/Tablet/whatever you are using so its yours to tweek as needed

 

Forgot to hit this point, sorry. The prozinc doesnt last all day unfortunately, but does last longer then the vetsulin. Some cats do good on vetsulin, some on prozinc, some on lantus. It will just be a matter of starting Macy out and seeing how she does with it

 

If you wait to start the insulin, getting the home testing going and possibly changing to low carb over the counter food will be easier when you aren't concerned about the insulin impact on everything.
I would start with 1 unit twice a day, rather than 2 once a day, given that the Vetsulin does not last 24 hours. It is possible your vet is easing you into this with 1 shot a day, but it won't give good glucose control.
Evo Cat and Kitten dry and Epigen 90, found at specialty pet stores, and Young Again 0, found online, are both low enough carb that they might work for you. You'll want to check the ingredients to see if they'll work for your cats, and if so, do any food transitions slowly (about 20 % different food each day or two. Note that the Young Again is fed in smaller quantities so the cost per serving is actually similar to other dry foods.

 

Welcome, Sandy and Macy.

If you're holding back on the insulin till Monday, pick up some Keto-diastix (or similar urine test strips) to test Macy's urine for ketones every day. It's something you need to keep a check on anyway, but doubly so for cats who aren't currently getting enough insulin. (For info: trace ketones = contact vet straight away for advice on how to proceed; higher than trace ketones = take cat to vet immediately for emergency treatment to flush the ketones out of the system.)


Mogs
.

 

Thanks very much , everybody. I have been reading the site to try to get the basics down--I have several questions--before I post them here, I wanted to ask if it is preferable for me to post them on the main health board or am I still in the introductory period?

Sandy

 

Hi Sandy, welcome to you and beautiful Macy. You can post you questions on the main health forum.

 

Thanks, BJM! I have tried Evo C&K before but with my IBD kitty. Likewise, I currently have two different kinds of Young Again in my pantry and I am pretty sure Macy likes at least one of those pretty well[they smell like old McDonalds french fries to me]. I remember Young Again had a formula specifically for diabetics [at least, I think they did], so I will have to double check and see if that's what I got. And thanks a million for the advise re: the insulin dosing, too. I am so glad I was sent to this site because I wouldn't have known that it doesn't last all day otherwise. I have to say, I had a little meltdown last night after realizing I could have overdosed her giving her 2 units at once.

 

I'm a "newbie" too. Haven't started insulin yet but she seems much better just since changing her diet. This really sucks and the stress is awful. Just thought I'd let you know you're not alone in this unknown territory!

 

When you change the food at the same time as starting on the higher side of a starting dose, it is possible to overdose - but you didn't do that.
Just in case, here is the FDMB write up of How to Handle a Hypo.