Hello, I'm a new diabetic kitty mommy

Hello Everyone,
I just wanted to introduce myself, maybe let off a little overwhelmed frustration, but mostly just say hi.
9 days ago my 6 yr old (youngest, Munchkin, Munch or Munchasaurus) was diagnosed as Diabetic. She went to her first glucose test yesterday and it's improved quiet a bit. Currently she is on 2 units, twice a day. Munch is handling it well. Doesn't mind the shots, and scarfs down the food, which I'm learning I need to change again to EVO or something similar instead of the Purina DM. We are waiting on kidney/uninary results, which should come in tomorrow.
Pebs (Pebbles, 14) is having more issues with all of the changes and I'm struggling to balance it all. She's eating less, peeing in places other than the litter box and very distant. (None of which were issues until this last week). So I have my hands full.
Anyway, it was comforting to find a community where I can talk with others. I'm looking forward to learning a lot.
Sincerely,
Reagan

Welcome Reagan, Pebbles and Munchkin. Glad to see you've already started reading posts. Start at the top panel and read when you can. Everyone here is ready and willing and able to help you out in this journey. Food makes a big difference and so does testing. Vets don't always encourage testing, but it really empowers you. You learn where each dose takes your kitty and the more you learn and test the easier this dance becomes. :YMHUG:

Morning Reagan (well it is here in Australia LOL) and welcome :smile:

I'm just a one-week newbie myself and at this point can only give you hugs and support, and that's what this board is all about, I'm SO glad I found it last week when I was panicking and overwhelmed. It's absolutely the best place to be, you'll get all the support and advice and information (I've printed nearly a ream of paper) you could ask for here.

It sounds like our circumstances--and even the date of dx--are very similar, young female FD, older cat shitty at the upheaval in routine, a full-time job to hold down and no other hands in the house to help out. It gets better, it really does. I'm almost sane this Friday, as compared to last week :lol:

Hope to see you here again soon.

Lesley, Cheekyface and Bodie xox

Have you seen the amazing food lists compiled by Janet and Binky? Here's the link - http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html

Most people choose a food that is between 6 and 10 in the carb column. There are many to choose from. And yes, canned is the way to go. It is extremely difficult to regulate a diabetic cat that continues to eat dry food. If Tony eats so much as 2 or 3 kibbles I can see a spike in his bg. I don't feed dry, but he occasionally feels cheeky enough to check out the eats at the neighbour's barn, and I can tell every time!

Have you begun home testing yet? I know it feels a bit overwhelming (ok - a lot overwhelming) but this is really the key to knowing exactly how much insulin your kitty needs. Tests done at the vet are expensive and nearly always high because of stress. Non-card treats are the key, and may help Pebbles with the routine change as well. I use roasted dried chicken from Petsmart - its in the dog section and seems expensive but a little goes a long ways. I hope that someone else will post the link to the best home testing videos - I don't have them handy at the moment.

In no time, you'll be an old hand and offering suggestions to new diabetic moms. It happens to all of us!

Welcome! Yes, it can feel overwhelming at first, but like others have said, it does get better. I agree that diet change is essentisl, however, you should not just switch unless and until you are home testing. Switching to a low carb wet food WILL bring Munch's bg down, and shooting 2u when he don't need it could prove to be fatal. Not trying to scare you, just want you to know.

Tell us a little more about kitty.
What insulin are you using. Are you home testing? That's really the most important thing. Would you like some help, advice and guidance in learning how to test?
It's really not bad once you get the hang of it.
I'm sure others will be along shortly to give a big **WAVE**, but have fun reading the stickies at the top. LOTS of helpful info there. If you have any questions, we'll be right here for you!!


Angela & Callie Mae cat_pet_icon

Thank you for the welcomes everyone!
Right now we are currently in the middle of switching Munch from all dry Science Diet (I had no clue that wasn't good for them :sad: ), too all wet, (Currently Pruina DM, it's what the vet gave me-I know I need to get her on to something higher quality, just not sure when I should make that change.) Thank you for the food link, also. Pebs is healthy and well so I'm trying to determine if I should switch her from the dry Science Diet to something different, but I think if I do too much, we'll be in a lot of trouble with Pebs. I know, at the bare minimum, I want to add some wet to her food so she doesn't feel left out. At 14 though I'm told to watch the Protein. So I feel slightly lost.
Munch is taking Lantus. We started last week at 1u twice a day and now we are at 2u twice a day. Last week her BG was 491 and on Wednesday she was at 389. The vet seemed to be very impressed with that, but we didn't get to discuss a lot. They had an emergency come in with another pet. Her fructosamine level is at 780 (Tested at DX). They told me we won't test that again for a month or two? The vet says he isn't sure Munch will ever be able to come off the insulin, although that is the goal. Munch handles the shots really well and has adapted to the changed feeding schedule. Before the last visit she had started to get more active, which any activity is a vast improvement. Since Wednesday (Urine test/Upped Insulin) she has become more sedate again. The vet visits are very stressful for her and I'm trying to figure out what is stress from the visits and whats side effects. She scares easily, and honestly she does not feel comfortable around anyone other than me. So when the techs take her away its close to traumatizing for her. (I rescued Munch from a farm at roughly 6 weeks old, Pebs was adopted from the Humane Society when she was 2.)
I would gladly love any info on home testing/Lantus/what I should be looking for in activity/personality changes. Also any tips on keeping both kitties, healthy and happy would be greatly appreciated. Also, we will be moving to a new home soon so I'm concerned that there will be another rather huge upheaval for them in such a short period of time...Sigh. Later this weekend I will be able to devote a good amount of time to reading the forum & stickies. Looking forward to finding some info/support.
Thank you all again!

First off welcome,

Secondly as far as switching both kitties to a different diet. I personally have 11 cats (all rescues) and only one of them is a diabetic, everyone here eats what my diabetic eats. Just good old fashioned Friskies pate style canned food. Not only is Maxwell (my diabetic) now 7 months off insulin, all my non-diabetics have improved greatly from the diet switch. they are lean, sleek and have some of the best coats I have seen on cats in a long time. In fact when we took our youngest male in to be neutered I had the vets oohing and ahhing over how beautiful his coat was since he shines like satin. Getting everyone off the dry food was the best thing we could have done for our furry family and it also gives us the peace of mind that we don't have to worry about Maxwell getting into forbidden foods.

As far as home testing goes, while it looks easy (and it is) in the videos it can be a little frustrating in the beginning, but it does get easier, until it becomes like brushing your teeth. http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287 there are lots of info and videos on hometesting here. And we have tons of tricks and tips to help you work out what works best for you and your cat. And we would love to teach you how for a number of reasons. 1) it is absolutely the best way to keep your baby safe while on insulin, 2) you are going to get truer numbers without them being inflated by vet stress and 3) keeps more dollars in your pocket because you can run your own curves at home and then take those in to the vet or like I do, just email Maxwell's spreadsheet to them. In the 8 months that I have had Maxwell my vet has yet to see him in the fur as a patient, there has been no need to go (except when we went in to give a home testing demo). He was already neutered, up to date on his shots, and already on Lantus (since he was adopted as a diabetic).

Mel, Maxwell and the Fur Gang

PebsNMunchsReagan said:

Right now we are currently in the middle of switching Munch from all dry Science Diet (I had no clue that wasn't good for them :sad: ), too all wet, (Currently Pruina DM, it's what the vet gave me-I know I need to get her on to something higher quality, just not sure when I should make that change.) ...We started last week at 1u twice a day and now we are at 2u twice a day. Last week her BG was 491 and on Wednesday she was at 389.

Click to expand...

Hi Reagan!

Ok, so this is very, very important. Switching from a dry diet to a wet diet can significantly lower your cat's insulin needs, so it's very dangerous to do a diet change while shooting 2u. Especially if you're not testing at home. Most cats do not need much more than 1u on a low carb wet diet.

To hometest, you just need to go out and get a glucose meter that takes a small sample, strips, and lancets. I've found 26g lancets work the best when you start out. Walmart sells the Relion Micro, which is a great meter to start with and the strips are pretty inexpensive. I use the Accu-chek Aviva, which I got at Target. Here's more information about home testing:http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287

If you're hometesting then I would say you can do the diet change, because you will most likely need to cut that dose in half. Some cats even don't need insulin at all once they go off the dry.

I thought I posted here yesterday but I must have goofed. Cedric was diagnosed last month. I changed his food (can & dry) to grain fee, high protein, low carb, and cut back the dry to 1/8 cup 2x per day, and giving him 2 3oz cans per day. The can's were too mcuh (and quite expensive - Wellness & Blue Buffalo Wilderness), so I went with using the 5.5oz cans and dividing them up. On the 19th, i gave him the 1/8 cup dry in the am before I left for work. When I got home, i was going to give him another 1/8 cup later before I went to bed, but I forgot. Friday I got frazzled, I think by his testing numbers (see my spreadsheet below I started home testing him a few days after he was diagnosed) and forgot to give him dry again. Note his numbers were in the 100 range on the 20th & 21. He has not had any dry food since the 19th. On Sunday the 22nd, his Bg readings were in the normal range, he has not been above 100 since last Saturday and has not had insulin since Saturday (a week) b/c his numbers are coming up normal. Part of it is the change in diet to the grain free, etc; part of it is more exercise, as we just moved into the townhouse I bought so he has more space, stair and a hallway he loves to charge down...; part of it is the lack of dry food calories I guess.

The nice folks here were pretty adamant that I take away his dry...I did and look what happened. Please make sure youare home testing him if you do this though. You don't want o OD him (or her, sorry, I am used to saying "him" since I adopted Cedric in 2006).

Good luck and welcome!

Hello Reagan & Munch!
Welcome to a great family of feline love! There is so much information here, not only on diabetes, but other things as well...Great ideas, advice and hugs!

I wanted to just express again what everyone is saying about home testing.... share my wonderful, but scarey story with you about testing... Lori sent me a starter kit after Bean was dx...around the first of april... her original number was 406 i think, and we started off with 1 unit 2x day.... I was not testing.... 1 week later, we went to the vet, she was 500 or around there, and he up the dose to 2 units 2x day.... I had aready found this site, and did not do the 2 units but did increase by .25 to .50 more.... still NOT TESTING... After about a week, with the test kit in hand.... nervously one evening, I did test Bean... this was approx. 2 hours after a 1.25 or so shot. She was only 26!!!!! Long story short, I had LOTS OF HELP from this wonderful place along with one of the members on the phone with me for 4+ hours, trying to get Beans numbers back up!!!!

I had only taken up the dry food the day before! However, I was not testing her with the dry down either, so I have no idea what her numbers would have been with the dry still left out.

I would like to say, just like everyone else, please please test your baby! I was sooo scared to hurt her little tiny ears, afraid she would hate me forever...even after I found us our 'special' spot, special treat, loving, cuddling and trying to prepare her (ok me) for testing..... I was still so scared of it... UNTIL that nite.....NOW, I will NEVER EVER shoot her without one!
If I had done what the vet wanted me to in the first place and never got brave enough to test, my WONDERFUL Bean would not be with me today! What a terrible loss!

And even on a happier note, I have been testing 2 times a day with lower numbers, actually the right numbers, to where we have even went to testing 1 time a day, to every other day and just resently skipped a few.....NOW the funny thing is, this scares me NOT to test! lol!!! who would have thought! - but her numbers stay great (as long as I do not catch her in her sisters dry - long story). I do have a spreadsheet that I have updated yesterday that shows - NO INSULIN!!!!! - Just watching her become herself again, playing like no other, gaining some of her 3 pounds that she originally lost is great! And only because she is eating low carb food, treats and no mommy food anymore! What a treat to have my sugar baby!!!!

Sorry for the long post, but I have not had much time to read, write or respond lately.....Again, WELCOME
Mommy to sugar Bean, Civvie Slappy and my new found heart patient Gumpy!