New to this group....need help please

My cat Anya has been diagnosed with Diabetes since June and I just found this website. After posting to here last night I now realize that I have no idea and very concerned on how I am handling this with Anya. I think I am going to start from new today and hopefully will get better at this as I go. I have her on 3 units twice a day (per vets orders) but from what people are telling me that might be to much. I found out that I am also not testing nearly as much as I need to and I am going to change that also starting today. If anyone has any tips to offer me that would be great.

I have her on wet food fancy feast but I might have to change that to another brand it may not be working all that great but she is SUCH a picky eater I am just happy she is eating the food I give her.

Thanks in advance everyone for all your help.

Jen :YMSIGH:

 

Welcome Jen. I am so glad you finally found this site. We can help you.
I won't advise on dose, but others stopping by later, will help you with that.
I use Janet and Binky's Food Charts http://www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.htm to choose canned cat food according to the carb percent. I usually feed the fancy feast that are 5% carbs or less, and the Friskies that are 8% carbs or less. I actually printed out the chart, and took it shopping with me. Hope this helps a little.

 

Thank you so much any and all information helps me out. i am just over whelmed and trying to soak up all the info I can.

Jen

 

Welcome Jen
It sounds like you have done a lot already with Anya. You are testing and feeding her wet food.
I think you will be very happy that you found this great place.
Do you have a spreadsheet or a log that you keep with Anya's numbers? That would be helpful in deciding which dose is best.

 

Hi Jennifer

Welcome to Lantus Land! Wow, two newbies in the same hour! We got our work cut out for us....
can you answer some usual questions?
What does Anya weight?
Any other health issues?
What is your schedule like in relation to shot times and availability to gather data (spotchecks)?

I just finished replying info to Kathy/Bert, so to make it easy on my sore fingers :lol: I'm gonna copy and paste some of the same info I gave Kathy.

Please read thru the links in the main Health Links page:
The main health links page from the FDMB, includes Dr Lisa's Feline Nutrition (lots of good info on feline nutrition, the benefits of a low carb diet, the drawbacks of dry food, transition your cat to wet food and Janet & Binky's Food Charts that will help you select a good low carb wet food diet for Bert:

viewforum.php?f=14

Just a little tip, sometimes you will have to try a few brands of foods, kitties can get picky, so a good idea is to select a few from Janet's food charts, over time, your cat will like one better than the other.
You got a good head start by already feeding wet food.
You'll want to select "old list" from Janet's link and look up fancy feast, some flavours are higher carbs than others, the chart will tell you.
The standard is about keeping it under 10%.

You'll want to read the information stickies up above, including this one "New to the Group" which also includes an example of a typical curve:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=157

Also, you'll find information on how to post in this forum, every day, each cat gets their own thread(condo), so every morning you would open a new topic, that is your condo for the day. You will need to link the previous days thread, that makes it easier to go back and see what kind of day Anya had.
Each time you have a question or need to update us on Anya, you reply to your last post in that thread, and that thread gets bumped to the top.
Same if someone replies to your thread. So there's no need to open a new topic each time u have a question, just stick to one thread per day. Have a look around at other threads/condos and you will get the idea of how others post.


Here in Lantus Land, we follow the Tilly Protocol, most vets do not and will start on a higher dose. Here we like to start low and go slow, that way you don't miss Anya's ideal dose.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581

http://www.tillydiabetes.net/en_6_protocol2.htm

As for collecting data, your BG tracking, you will need to head over to the TECH forum, there u will learn how to set up a spreadsheet (ss for short) with Goggle Documents. How to set up a profile and how to add an "avatar" (pic) of Anya. Again, take a look around other condo's, click on SS links others have, you'll see what the spreadsheet looks like, don't panic if you see some with a lot of data! Some people test a lot here, and some test less, it depends on your schedule and your availability to gather tests. However, the more data you get, the easier it is to offer dosing feedback.

Here in Lantus Land (LL for short) we encourage spotchecks, whenever you can get them! This will help build up your data and others can see how Anya is doing on Lantus.

I was telling Kathy, the other newbie, how it will get overwhelming, lots of info to take in, so take your time, keep us posted and you'll be fine!

Others who are experienced on dose feedback will be along to talk to you about that. Hope to see you posting often!!

 

Ok, I just took her blood and she is at 242 but it is right before I am supposed to give her a shot. I have started my spreadsheet today.

jen

 

Will you be home this morning to monitor with spotchecks?
What did you decide to start with?

 

it really does seem like a good idea to start over at 1 unit every 12 hours but before you do please pick up some ketone test strips at your local pharmacy. they cost about $16 and are good for 6 months. whenever you cut the dose substantially it's important to test for ketones to make sure you're not giving too little insulin. did she test positive for ketones at any point?

UTIs. Noted you mentioned recurring UTIs. did your vet discover them via cystocentesis (needle inserted in bladder to withdraw urine) and C&S (culture & sensitivity test)? some vets guess it's a urinary tract infection and just give a broad spectrum antibiotic but it's important to determine exactly what kind of infection/bacteria we're talking about, which is what the cysto/C&S do. otherwise, the wrong antibiotic may have been used so the problem wasn't resolved.

wanted to make sure to get more info on the UTIs, because if she has eating problems and a possible infection we don't want to give too little insulin, even tho most kitties start at around 1u every 12 hrs (1 or 2u are common starting doses). ketones are expensive to treat. (good idea to check out what Dr Lisa has to say about UTIs, too, on her nutrition site: http://catinfo.org.)

Dose History/Testing. By what increments did your vet raise the dose? did he/she go up by half a unit or a full unit each time? how often did he/she raise the dose? just checking to see how fast you got to the 3u dose.

don't want to see you testing up the wazoo at first, but please test every time you shoot insulin. initially it would help to test at around 5 hrs after insulin a few times and then do spot tests at different times when you can, just to see overall how she's doing on the lantus dose.

Food. Regarding the food, purina recently changed some of the ingredients in fancy feast when they changed labels, so my cats have started being picky about some varieties. that might explain anya's pickiness about it too. you might want to buy a few different brands to see which anya likes better. Wellness grainfree chicken is probably one of the best quality canned foods out there and is low carb, as is EVO for cats and kittens. there are cheaper low carb brands too like some of the friskies and nine lives flavors that FDMBers feed their cats as well. they're all on janet & binky's food charts.

Meter. I recommend the Contour meter highly. at times pharmacies offer a full rebate on the Bayer Ascensia Contour so you could get it for free with your vet's prescription. i buy 100 contour strips on eBay for about $30 so as far as i know it's the best deal out there. sometimes i can get the same deal on One Touch Ultra strips (and full rebate on the one touch ultra or one touch ultra mini), so if it looks better to you you might want to pick one of those up. check the sunday paper coupons for full rebates on these meters.

i know there seems to be a lot to learn at the beginning, especially coz ALL of us are so stressed when our cats are diagnosed with diabetes, but you will be a champ in no time and will be amazed at how easy it becomes. getting a spreadsheet and posting your cat's daily numbers and letting us know how she's doing/acting will really help us help you make sure she's doing okay with her diabetes treatment. welcome aboard!

 

Jen, you've found the absolute best place to be on the net for FD. Simply the best. And yes, you're overwhelmed, because this is all new, and it takes some doing and getting used to it to get all the pieces together. And even then, you'll feel overwhelmed. LOL. And that's all right. It's the way it is, so it has to be all right, you know? Testing more often is a good way to actually see the insulin working. Yes, it's expensive. But it's also really important to have an idea what happens with the insulin in Anya's body. And what I've found is that the more regularly I test, the better Esse behaves for testing...LOL.

I mainly popped in to lend support...I was going to say something profound, but I forgot what it was. :mrgreen: Just wanted to extend a welcome and a hug and say "well done" for finding this place and wanting to help Anya with her diabetes. I also wanted to say read through the abbreviation list, so when we start talking in code, you'll know what we mean.

Best-
Michele

 

I will be home until noon to do checks. I started off with 2.5 units.

 

When anya was first diagnosed he started her at 2 units and has gone up .5 units at a time. I have lowered for today down to 2.5 until I can get the strips to test for keytones. I have to read up on that on the website. Not really sure what that does. I will post my spreadsheet a little later today when I get some time.

 

If u can get a spotcheck around +2 or +3, that would be great. That's 2 hours after shot or 3 hours after shot.

 

Can someone tell me where I can find information on ketones? How to test etc?

confused_cat

 

Hi and Welcome. You've gotten great advice already from peeps so I am just simply going to welcome you to the Board and say that you are now in the best possible hands you can be in for the home care of your lovely Anya.

 

Just stopping in to say hi....Hi!! drinking11 And to reiterate that you have found THE best place to help you and Anya. Diabetes is definitely a treatable disease....my Morris has been insulin-dependent diabetic for going on 10 years.

Feel free to ask any question...there will be plenty I'm sure, but someone will surely know the answer....or know where to find it.

Again, welcome!

 

start with these links...u can find the Ketostix at any pharmacy, usually around $8-$10 or so...

http://www.felinediabetes.com/ketones.htm

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Ketoacidosis

http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... ?8,1299632

 

Welcome to Lantus Land Jen.

Here is some info on ketones from the FAQ's - http://binkyspage.tripod.com/faq.html#ketones

They are test stips that you simply place in your kitties the urine stream and the pad on the strip changes colors according to the level of ketones present in the urine.

 

Hi Jen,

I'm also just stopping by to say hello and welcome. This is a wonderful place to be and a treasure as far as data and collected experience. You'll certainly learn a lot. If you want some encouragement, check my Basil's ss (link below) and see how things have changed since we began here and went to the Tilly protocol. All them purty blues and greens!

 

saw that others gave you links.
here's another pretty good one. she's talking to human diabetics but the explanation is very good and applicable to our kitties too when they don't get enuf insulin: http://www.myfreestyle.com/fs/d/en_US/50.110:110/ketones (what she's saying about Type 1 diabetes does not pertain to cats)

to use the ketone test strips, you either use tongs or something to hold the test strip under the urine stream when your cat pees, put a ladle under to catch the pee, or dip the strip into the puddle in the litter when they pee, before they have a chance to cover their pee up and before it soaks thoroughly into the litter. you can swirl a little bit of litter in water and dip a ketone test strip in beforehand to make sure that the litter itself doesn't give a false positive for ketones. with cleo, i wait til she starts peeing, then dip the test strip in. she generally does not stop peeing if i catch her right after she's started. i put a ladle under there to catch the urine, then dip the ketone test strip into the ladle.

using the test strip helps you catch a ketone situation right away if the dose is lowered substantially. the sooner it's caught, the cheaper and more successfully it is to treat.

if she possibly has an infection, it's even more important to test for ketones if you're lowering the dose, because they can be more prone to ketones with an infection going on.

 

Welcome Jen and Anya!!! :razz:
This is the BEST place to be for dealing with FD....we have been here since August and have been helped so
much by the wonderful people here. There is much to read and learn in the beginning...but it does get better.
Take a deep breath and read.... :lol:
Hope you will post every day and keep us updated on Anya's numbers and how she is doing....so happy that
you found this board.... :thumbup

 

I took her BG and it is 222. I took it at +3. I will take it one more time right before her next shot (I work the rest of the time) and hopefully it will be a little lower if not there is always tomorrow.

Jen

 

Hi Jen
Welcome to the board.
You are on the right track here and have terrifc advice so far.
I just wanted to stp by and say hi and we will be watching for you daily condos.
I think of myself a a "newbie" but I have been told that I could graduate to a "midbie"
Good luck. We will be watching for you.

 

HI!!! And welcome aboard! I am no expert - but can pass on that the help you will receive here is the best, from very knowledgable people, caring people. You are off to a great start, no worries!

So - welcome to Lantus Land. You and your kitty are now in the best of care.

 

Jen,

Welcome to Lantus Land (LL). Sami and I have been here for about 3 weeks and it was the best thing we could have done. Thanks to the help and guidance of everyone here Sami is showing signs of improvement.
What I found most helpful was to read other condos and look at other spreadsheets. Even though every cat is different (ECID) I still got a lot of valuable information by doing this on a daily basis. I don't have time to read everyone's condo, but I do try to follow the same few every day. Stick around and you will see Anya improving in no time.