Newly Diagnosed

Hi, all. I'm Veda and I have two sweet tabby brothers. We've been through a lot, including losing our housing while I was dealing with my Lupus. All of the stress and forced moving from a home with a beautiful backyard and room to play and climb, to a tiny rented room, now finally to our own apartment, toom a toll on my kitties. Both gained weight and now one is diabetic.

In January Luna was diagnosed as being in the verge of diabetes, so I switched both from their high protein foods to the Hill's diet. One has gained weight (it has a lot more carbs!) and the other has lost 4 lbs. Now, Luna has progressed into needing insulin. We just started and I'm doing my best with it, while working full-time and running home to be sure he gets his doses 12 hours apart. Also, still trying to balance my Lupus, work, exercising both cats and now the insulin.

I'm hoping to learn from everyone here. Any advice on how to manage two cats (Eazy only grazes and will not eat only twice a day) when they have different needs and your schedule/space won't allow for separation? How do you manage the schedules by yourself, while working and such? Feeling quite overwhelmed.

Thank you for reading this.

 

Awww, your little tigers are cuties

So, okay--I can't offer a lot of help. Gypsy just got diagnosed a week and a half ago. But the people here are great.

I'd recommend switching off the Hill's. Firstly, if you look at CatInfo.org in the section about prescription diets (https://catinfo.org/#Prescription/Therapeutic_Diets) you'll see that they're pretty much high-priced crap. Gypsy's on Fancy Feast classic pates. Other folk feed Friskies and Tiki cat. Also on the Catinfo.org site is a link to a database of foods--you want something under 10% carbs, preferably 40% protein, not fish. That will help your wallet out too

And, lastly--I'm so sorry to hear about your lupus. I got diagnosed with it about 5 / 6 years ago. If you haven't looked into it, I'd suggest taking a loot at keto diets. A good book to start with is The 30-Day Ketogenic Cleanse by Maria Emmerich. My lupus also sent me into the realm of a diabetic and I was on two types of insulin for a while. On keto, I'm off insulin, I'm in remission for lupus. Your mileage may vary, but I do hope you look into it.

Anyway, hang in there. Plenty of people here will help you. {{{HUGS}}}

 

Welcome Veda! If you look at the link below, the 3rd posting by me, you can read some info on getting started. Setting up a Spread Sheet and Signature will help other members get to know your Kitty. BTW: the photo of 2 kitties in the grass is lovely.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-in-town.201016/

 

Welcome

 

Welcome Veda. You will find the information and support you need here. I'm sorry to hear that you and your fur kids have been having a rough time.
After you get your signature set up, I suggest you start posting in the Main Forum, where there are more eyes to see and you will get more responses. Click on this link: Main Forum
This forum where we are is essentially the Welcome mat on the front porch and not all members can look in as often as they would like. You have not said if you were home testing or not. Home testing will let you know how the insulin is affecting your kitty's blood sugar, especially if you are going to be changing to a low carb wet diet (best for both your cats). We switched Idjit to all wet low carb, his BG went down dramatically and we weren't testing like we should have been. We were also shooting blind (not testing before injecting insulin). That's not a good scenario. He had a mild hypo (low BG) but not dangerous, I urge all new members to home test to avoid just such and occurrence. Sometimes it is critical and dangerous.
If you change food to Fancy Feast and Friskies pates, and not buy the expensive Hill's foods from the Vet (you can return that for refund) that offsets the initial expense of a human meter and testing strips from Walmart. Home testing does not have to break the bank, and the peace of mind knowing you are keeping your fur baby safe is priceless.
We are here to help you.