Ulysses S Cat- diagnosed yesterday

Hi everyone! Thanks for invaluable information provided here. My not-so-big-anymore guy, Ulysses S Cat was diagnosed yesterday. Our big indication that something was off was that he had dropped from 22 lbs to 12 lbs within 2 years. He's a got some ragdoll/maine coon so he's always been a big fluffy guy and it's been on our radar. Even with trying to limit his diet, we could only hover around 18/20 lbs so he got blood tests yearly because he was so big and unfortunately, we had to skip a year of tests due to issues with our other cat Finlay (who has some sort of seasonal trigger that causes asthma attacks) and what do you know, he finally got it.

He's always loved water and has a healthy thirst so it took us a while to notice how much more he'd been drinking (also, his brother developed a scary near blockage so we were spending a lot of time looking at the litter box and noticed it wasn't BOTH of them making that much urine.) But he was feeling too bony for my liking and into the vet we went on Saturday and got the first result back Monday.

We went back to the vet yesterday and my vet put him on 2 units of ProZinc (his numbers are in the 500s) and I've given him two of his doses already. We're going back in two weeks for a checkup and my vet agreed to show me how to do monitoring at home so we can limit the stress on him and his little brother, since stress can increase his likelihood of a urinary episode.

He's always been on wet food with a small amount of kibble at night (old habit he insisted on) and I'm worried that when his brother went on Rx food and we just started giving them both the same kibble, it might have pushed him over the edge. I just looked it up and it's 43% carbs!!! So now I'm feeling a bit guilty that we may have pushed this along. Thankfully, his wet food he loves is pretty high in protein and low in carbs so we're going to work on weaning him off dry (using his old brand which was only 12% carbs) and in the meantime, the bad kibble will be up on the counter he can't reach, where Finlay eats in peace

So that's us! Thanks for letting me lurk until I made this post

 

Welcome Stacey and Ulysses S. Cat. I love his name. Don't waste time feeling guilty, you didn't know what was going on. But now you have the chance to learn how to take care of him and learn what effective diabetes care is.

I'm glad your vet is supportive of home testing. However, you do not have to wait to begin. If you have a Walmart in your area, you can pick up a ReliOn Prime meter, and 50 strips for about $20. A box of 26 or 28 gauge lancets is another couple of bucks. We have videos and tips so you can learn how to test today, or tomorrow. Most of us learned from watching videos and from tips that other members offered.

I would not want to inject insulin without testing first, just to be sure that the blood sugar is high enough to "shoot" and helping to prevent a hypoglycemic event.

Right now, you have no idea how the insulin is affecting him. A usual starting dose is 1 Unit, and the larger dose of 2 Units might be too much, as BG (blood glucose) can be elevated by travel and vet stress. Testing at home now is going to let you know, right now, just what is happening and keep Ulysses safe. If the dose is too high it can be reduced and then, if needed, increased gradually by 0.25 U so you don't bypass the best dose for him. Most vets increase by whole units and we have seen better results with increasing in smaller increments.

You have already created your signature, and that's terrific. Since you are going to home test, you can set up the spreadsheet and begin recording insulin and testing data. You will see how the trends and patterns emerge, and members can review his progress before offering suggestions or advice:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/

We also have a Prozinc insulin support group forum HERE, with a great beginner's guide with appropriate and valuable information.

The FAQs forum has an Index with varied information and the very important HYPO information with a Hypo Toolbox that hopefully you will never need, but if you do - it will be ready and waiting. I didn't have one and really panicked when Idjit started showing me low BG one day when we were just starting out.
Please read the New? How You Can Help Us Help You! document. I know, lots of reading, but it's all going to provide you with the tools you need to help Ulysses.

This is a very supportive community, and we will do everything we can to help while you are learning the sugar dance. Going forward you can post general health questions and concerns in the Main Health forum, and insulin and dosing questions in the Prozinc forum. We also can offer some information to help Finlay with the urinary issues, as some of our sugar cats have also dealt with those conditions. Very good article at the top of the Main Health forum dealing with just that HERE, and we also refer to www.catinfo.org about feline nutrition.

Best wishes going forward

 

Hi Stacey and Ulysses S. Cat. You have found a wonderful forum and know that everyone here will help you along with the FD dance. As lou mentioned you really don't need to wait for the vet to show you how to do BG testing. There is a plethora of instructional videos on U-tube and an excellent one here on the forum. I taught myself via these videos and once you've done it a couple of times it gets easier.
Anyway a big welcome and we'll see you around the board.

 

Hi and welcome. Just looking at your spreadsheet.
Can you get one more test in to see if Ulysses S. Cat (great name) is heading up or down?
I'm heading off to bed. If the number is lower than the +6 75, please post in the Main Health Forum.

Just in case they are needed, here are the Hypo links.

• How to treat HYPOS - THEY CAN KILL! Print this Out!!
• jojo and bunny's HYPO TOOL BOX

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/

And if you can start to get preshoot tests, that would help a lot. The preshoot number tells you if your cat is high enough to give insulin.