Hello from me and Baloo!

Hi there! I want to say first how thankful I am these boards exist... Baloo was diagnosed 2 weeks ago and I've been stressed ever since! :shock:

Our brief history together started when my mom and I adopted him from a local shelter last June where he had been for TWO years! Between his looks and his name, I couldn't resist and so after a few weeks of deliberation he came home with us. At 18 pounds and the ability to stretch all the way up to the counter, he was definitely at risk for diabetes from the start. He started having health issues (at the time the vet said it was folliculitis, although I suspect this may have been the first sign of his diabetes... In which case there's a WHOLE boat load of guilt I have to deal with!) last December, which prompted me to start looking into what he should be eating... He was on low carb/high protein for a little while, until he started losing his appetite and we had to go back to Iams wet food. Finally, two weeks ago he had a curious hiccuping/vomiting incident which put me into a panic and sent me and him straight to the vet, where we were told he has diabetes.

Phew! Sorry for the long history there! Anyhow, he's still off the charts according to urine testing, and we are ever so slowly bumping up insulin until that strip stops turning brown!

I probably should have joined these boards before I started freaking out, but better late than never, right? Once again, thank you so much for this place being in existence!

 

Welcome to you and sweet Baloo. As you read on the site, we'll see we have a protocol that has helped thousands of cats into regulation and sometimes, remission.

We have had great success with wet low carb food. A vet explains the reasoning here: www.catinfo.org

We like mild long lasting insulins like Lantus, Levemir or ProZinc.

We test at home, just like we would with our 2 legged kids. We want to be sure the dose we are planning on giving is safe.

If you have any questions, just ask. It's always helpful to read other new diabetics threads.

 

Welcome aboard!
One of the things we stress around here is the importance of home Blood Glucose testing. It's very important to test our kitties' blood sugar number before every shot, to make sure that it's safe to give them insulin. I wouldn't give myself insulin unless I knew it was safe, so why treat my kitty any differently? You can use a human glucometer - they are plenty accurate for the ranges that we're looking for and they are MUCH cheaper then any pet-specific meters. You can pick up the ReliOn brand Confirm or Micro at Walmart. They are both inexpensive and the testing strips are the cheapest around. There are a number of videos on You Tube that can show you how to test, as well as articles here and elsewhere. Depending on where you live, there might even be someone here in the area who could come over and show you how to do it.

Make sure you read the sticky post about How to Treat HYPOS. This is very important, potentially life-saving information - especially if you are dosing without any blood testing. Low blood sugar (or insulin overdose) can kill your cat a lot faster than high blood sugar will.

There are a lot of knowledgeable people here, with lots of useful lists and articles and suggestions. They've been very helpful to me.
What insulin are you using? What's Baloo's dose?
Breathe. It's going to be alright. Keep breathing.

 

I know this board "stresses" the importance of home bg testing, but I am still unable to do this. Kitty doesn't like it, runs from me and no matter how hard I've tried, I still can not get blood out of his ear. My husband will do it sometimes, but prefers not to. I've discussed this with my vet and she is very understanding. Do you think I'm going to kill my kitty by giving him insulin shots without testing every time? I love him and want to do the best for him, but this is just something I can not seem to do! I am watching his food intake, behavior and urine. He seems fine now. He is now on 2 units of Prozinc in the morning and one unit at night. :YMSIGH:

 

I think you are doing the best you can at this moment, pteacher. You are monitoring as best you can. I hope you will continue to work on getting him ready for testing - taking him to the same spot a couple times a day, maybe warming his ear, giving lots of praise and treats and then letting him go. Once he gets used to this routine, maybe you will be able to add the poke in.

I would watch him carefully, know the signs of a hypo and take him in anytime he seems to be acting unusual (disoriented, yeowling, acting as if can't see etc)

We want to help in any way we can. We know you have tried; we hope you'll try again. And we will always emphasize the importance of testing to new members, because we have seen it save so many kitty's lives.

 

Don't beat yourself up over it! Home testing keeps them safer, but even with home testing, you can end up with a hypo or DKA situation. There are plenty of cats out there whose owners only start testing after years of treating blindly (usually due to a hypo or DKA scare). There are plenty of cats out there whose owners have never tested and they can live long lives. They might not ever get into remission or they might not be as healthy as they could be (i.e. because the dose is consistently too high or too low, causing bounces and high numbers), but home testing is not some magical wand that you wave over a cat and they become immortal. It is simply another tool to help you help your kitty as best as you can. If the best you can do at the moment is use secondary monitoring tools, then that's fine!

Remember, Rocky was just diagnosed 3 weeks ago, which isn't very long when it comes to a chronic, life-long illness like diabetes. Home testing is important, but sometimes it takes longer for it to happen. So, take a deep breath and realize that you already know how to home test in case of an emergency situation and now it's just about practicing it enough until it becomes easier and that simply takes time.

Something you might want to try is breaking the testing process down into individual steps:

• Get your testing supplies set up in a nice testing spot
• Warm rice sock or equivalent
• Find Kitty
• Get Kitty into test position
• Warm Kitty's ears
• Play with Kitty's ears
• If using a lancet pen, click pen next to the Kitty's ear a few times
• Get test strip ready
• Poke ear
• Poke ear again if no blood the first time
• Poke ear a third and final time if there is no blood
• Get blood on test strip
• Release Kitty and give a treat (both to Kitty and yourself ;-) )

Then, for your next test time, focus on only the first step: getting your testing supplies ready. Find a spot where you want to test the Kitty (if you don't already have one) and turn that into your "testing environment." Sit there a moment and reach for your tools and see if they're easily accessible or if you might need to change the way you're sitting or even re-arrange some furniture. Focus on that and mime out the motions of testing as if Rocky were sitting on your lap. And you're done.

The time after that, heat up the rice sock. See how long it takes in the microwave to become warm enough but not too hot. You can use your own forearm to test (as you would with a baby's bottle). Is 15 seconds better than 20? Or is 20 seconds perfect? Maybe 25? Go to the test spot and mime the testing actions again.

Third time, find Rocky and bring him to the test spot. You're still not going to test him yet. Just bring him there and sit with him for as long as he'll remain still (even if it's only a few seconds). Practice this step as many times as you need to. Find a position that is agreeable for both of you. Feed him a few treats to get him to stick around longer.

Fourth time, use the sock on Rocky's ears. Rub it along his body, under his chin, across his head, anywhere he'll let you. Feed him plenty of treats.

Fifth time, start playing with his ears, bending them this way and that way and finding out which angle might work best for you to see the "Sweet Spot" and doesn't irritate or annoy him too much.

6th, 7th, etc...

First time you attempt to poke, only poke once and see if you can get blood. If you can't get blood, then it doesn't matter because that's not what this step is about; that comes later. Right now, it's just about the poking. If you get blood, then consider that as a pleasant surprise but don't stress yourself on getting it on the test strip in time. If you do, even better, but it's not important at this stage. Each subsequent time you "test," poke only once until you feel comfortable poking a second time. Then proceed to the "poke twice" step.

...I'm sure you're getting the idea now, but basically try to approach testing as a long, leisurely journey where you have all the time in the world. Remove the urgency from it. Tackle each step individually until you feel comfortable with it and then proceed to the next. Go at your own pace, your own speed. Don't rush yourself or Rocky. There is no pressure to "get it done now" so give yourself the time you both need to "get it done right."

 

KPassa - I love that sentence: "Remove the urgency from it" I need to follow that advice!

Welcome Baloo!