New diagnosis

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Nicola belshaw

Member Since 2015
hi my 18 1/2 year old cat has just been diagnosed with diabetes. He isn't a healthy cat to start off with as he is also hyperthyroid. It's alot to take in.
 
Hello Nicola, nice to meet you. My cat was only diagnosed a few weeks ago . I'm sure there'll be people along soon who're more experienced than me to give you support & advice.
 
Absolutely! We've all been there.

Some slow deep breathing may help you feel more in control.

There's lots you can do to manage your cat's health.
 
Thanx guys it helps that others have been through what I am about to go through. I know it will be a long journey which starts when he gets his first insulin on Friday.
 
Try practicing on a piece of fruit with water in the syringe to literally get a feel for it. It'll help you feel more confident, too.
 
Once you get over the first one and start getting more experience, it'll seem like old hat in no time.
 
The needles are so small it's actually really easy. I was worried too when I had to start Rosa on insulin last week but she doesn't even seem to feel it. Once or twice she's given me a 'what are you doing' look, but there's no pain reaction from her at all. Even if he doesn't like it just for a moment, that moment's discomfort is better than him getting more and more sick - it's only for a few seconds a couple of times a day. I've found if I talk to Rosa as I give the injection she's more relaxed and not wondering what I'm doing. The more relaxed she is, the easier it seems to be to grab a bit of loose skin which makes it much easier to give the shot. I don't worry too much about location either - if she's laying down and the only skin I can get to easily is on her flank just in front of her back leg, I'll go with that rather than move her around to get her scruff.

I've not stabbed myself with the syringe yet - just one of the lancets. And a while ago a sub-cutaneous fluid needle for our older cat...that one stung a bit - it's a lot bigger!
 
manxcat419 said:
The needles are so small it's actually really easy. I was worried too when I had to start Rosa on insulin last week but she doesn't even seem to feel it. Once or twice she's given me a 'what are you doing' look, but there's no pain reaction from her at all. Even if he doesn't like it just for a moment, that moment's discomfort is better than him getting more and more sick - it's only for a few seconds a couple of times a day. I've found if I talk to Rosa as I give the injection she's more relaxed and not wondering what I'm doing. The more relaxed she is, the easier it seems to be to grab a bit of loose skin which makes it much easier to give the shot. I don't worry too much about location either - if she's laying down and the only skin I can get to easily is on her flank just in front of her back leg, I'll go with that rather than move her around to get her scruff.

I've not stabbed myself with the syringe yet - just one of the lancets. And a while ago a sub-cutaneous fluid needle for our older cat...that one stung a bit - it's a lot bigger!
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LOL , I've stabbed myself twice .Sometimes Squiggles notices when I inject her, she whips round & glares at me , other times she doesn't ! I've wondered about doing her injection elsewhere, but I'm nervous of sticking the needle in muscle .
 
I might just have got lucky there. Rosa's always been one of those cats who seems fairly loosely put together if that makes sense. So she does have loose skin in a few places (actually more of it in quite a few areas than she has on her scruff which is fairly tight for some reason). As long as I'm sure I'm only getting skin, I'll go for it to save disturbing her. The vet said I could move the shots around if I needed or wanted to so I haven't worried about it too much.
 
The bit I'm not forward to doing is trying to get sox to pee when I want him to so I can check his sugar levels. He usually goes when he wants not when I want.
 
You can get non-absorbent litter but it's expensive. I've seen other people here recommending putting aquarium gravel in the litter box as that's non-absorbent too of course. I've not tried that myself but it would work for sure and is most likely cheaper. Easier by far than getting him to pee on command!
 
Hi Nicola

Just checking in to see how things are going. Testing the urine should be pretty simple. I know my cat always goes for a pee when he gets up so I just follow him into the room and stick the strip under his bottom as he is going. It is likely that you will still see some sugar in his pee as he has only just started the insulin.

May I ask what insulin you are using and what the dose is?
 
manxcat419 said:
I might just have got lucky there. Rosa's always been one of those cats who seems fairly loosely put together if that makes sense. So she does have loose skin in a few places (actually more of it in quite a few areas than she has on her scruff which is fairly tight for some reason). As long as I'm sure I'm only getting skin, I'll go for it to save disturbing her. The vet said I could move the shots around if I needed or wanted to so I haven't worried about it too much.
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You're lucky if Rosa's got plenty of loose skin , I try & move the injection site round a bit, so Squiggles doesn't get a sore patch.
 
Nicola belshaw said:
The bit I'm not forward to doing is trying to get sox to pee when I want him to so I can check his sugar levels. He usually goes when he wants not when I want.
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As April said, try getting some aquarium gravel, although you might have to wash it first. It's very similar to those expensive little packets of plastic beads they put in wee testing kits ! The gravel's much cheaper as well.
 
If you're going to test urine on a regular basis, note that you'll need to wash the gravel each time or it will contaminate the results.
 
phlika29 said:
Hi Nicola

Just checking in to see how things are going. Testing the urine should be pretty simple. I know my cat always goes for a pee when he gets up so I just follow him into the room and stick the strip under his bottom as he is going. It is likely that you will still see some sugar in his pee as he has only just started the insulin.

May I ask what insulin you are using and what the dose is?
Click to expand...

Well let's see. Saturday he decided he was going to cross his little legs and not go until after I went out. Today was fun and games. He went into the litter tray I got out of bed he got out of the tray. Got back in bed and he went in tray. Opened bedroom door and he jumped out of the tray again. Then his cat pal jinxie decided she would have fun with him. He got in tray she ran down corridor he jumped out of tray. This went on for a few minutes till I got a sample. The stick didn't really change colour at all. He has been prescribed Caninsulin 2.5ml. 40iu/ml 1 unit 2 times a day to start with.
 
Insulin is dosed in units, not mL, is the 2.5 mL a container of some sort?

Because 2.5 mL * 40 units per mL would be 100 units, which is unlikely for a cat.
 
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BJM said:
Insulin is dosed in units, not mL, so he getting 2.5 units.
2.5 mL * 40 units per mL would be 100 units, which is unlikely for a cat.
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I just copied what it said on box. But it is just 1 unit to start with then will be increase over time.
 
I think we have gotten confused maybe. I read it that Nicola was drawing 1 unit on those syringes.

Nicola could you just confirm it is the 1 unit you are drawing up to twice a day. Thanks :)
 
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