losgatos-cats
Member Since 2011
Hello!
Last week, our 4 year old Bombay cat, Stinky, was diagnosed as diabetic and gave us quite a scare. We missed the warning signs and feel terrible about it, but are moving on with his treatment now. Stinky was in DKA when we took him to our vet and they had him for 3 days in intensive care with oxygen tent, nasal feeding etc. What an emotional time for all of us! He's been home about a week now and is making great progress and is showing more energy and behaving more like his old self every day.
He's been on 1u of Lantus 2x per day and is scheduled for his first curve testing this Thursday with the vet. We don't want to bring him. Our vet is awesome and we're very grateful for the care they gave Stinky, but we are hesitant to subject him to the stress of being at the vet all day and have read about elevated BG levels due to stress. Also, we feel leery of dosing him without a clue to what his actual BG levels are.
So that brings me here. I've read through several threads where the FDMB community have provided guidance and helped many newbs like us through the home testing process. We would be very grateful for some assistance!
First, we would like to purchase some home testing supplies ASAP and at least try to determine if Stinky will tolerate it. I've read about Accuchek and Contour as good meters. What would you recommend for a meter?
The next part, I'm kind of lost at... I can create a shared spreadsheet and hope to obtain BG readings and marked intervals. Is there a protocol or standard to follow?
Finally, (and this part makes me nervous) how do we manage Stinky's insulin dosage based on the findings of home testing?
Sorry for the long post, but I'm just trying to include as much information as possible.
EDIT: I forgot to include his current diet. Previously he was on dry Science Diet kibbles, but since he's been home he's been mostly eating freeze dried chicken, Gerber baby food because we want to reduce his carb intake while keeping his protein levels up. We would love to get him on some wet food but haven't found anything he likes yet.
Thanks,
Allen
Last week, our 4 year old Bombay cat, Stinky, was diagnosed as diabetic and gave us quite a scare. We missed the warning signs and feel terrible about it, but are moving on with his treatment now. Stinky was in DKA when we took him to our vet and they had him for 3 days in intensive care with oxygen tent, nasal feeding etc. What an emotional time for all of us! He's been home about a week now and is making great progress and is showing more energy and behaving more like his old self every day.
He's been on 1u of Lantus 2x per day and is scheduled for his first curve testing this Thursday with the vet. We don't want to bring him. Our vet is awesome and we're very grateful for the care they gave Stinky, but we are hesitant to subject him to the stress of being at the vet all day and have read about elevated BG levels due to stress. Also, we feel leery of dosing him without a clue to what his actual BG levels are.
So that brings me here. I've read through several threads where the FDMB community have provided guidance and helped many newbs like us through the home testing process. We would be very grateful for some assistance!
First, we would like to purchase some home testing supplies ASAP and at least try to determine if Stinky will tolerate it. I've read about Accuchek and Contour as good meters. What would you recommend for a meter?
The next part, I'm kind of lost at... I can create a shared spreadsheet and hope to obtain BG readings and marked intervals. Is there a protocol or standard to follow?
Finally, (and this part makes me nervous) how do we manage Stinky's insulin dosage based on the findings of home testing?
Sorry for the long post, but I'm just trying to include as much information as possible.
EDIT: I forgot to include his current diet. Previously he was on dry Science Diet kibbles, but since he's been home he's been mostly eating freeze dried chicken, Gerber baby food because we want to reduce his carb intake while keeping his protein levels up. We would love to get him on some wet food but haven't found anything he likes yet.
Thanks,
Allen