Newbie here with newly diagnosed furbaby

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Heather H

Heather H

Member Since 2017
Hi all! I'm a newbie here to the board! My cat, Frannie, was diagnosed January 9th as being diabetic. Had originally taken her in as she was always needing to use the litter box to pee and found she did have an infection, but think that they had called it something different than a UTI. They did blood work and found her sugars to be high there and did a blood draw to see how it was. It was at 329, I think it was. Started on Vetsulin the next day and a week later had to take her in to be observed to see how well she was taking to the insulin. It was still high, but the vet was happy with the numbers to continue to giving her 2 units daily in the AM. We're working on getting her off the dry food and gong strictly on moist, so at this time, am giving half can of Fancy Feast classic pate in the variety boxes (finishing off the chicken and beef one and have the seafood variety one yet to open) and giving 1/3 cup daily of dry food (4Health Grain Free Whitefish and Potato kind) until that is gone. Once the dry food is gone, will be giving one can of the FF food while I continue to look into other types of food to possibly give to her. I'm still slowly learning things again as things come up with her as not long after I had adopted Frannie, I had issues with the vet at what other issue she might be having. After switching to a different vet after a couple of months of frustration and getting no questions or concerns answered, I found out she has asthma. So it seems she's been hit not once, but twice with things. Have her asthma controlled with medication and have now added insulin to the mix.

I haven't yet gone through the board to read any posts yet.

This is Frannie.
 

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Welcome Heather and your pretty girl, Frannie! :) Please post any questions you have on the main health forum where they'll be seen by more people. One thing to clarify: I don't believe I've ever heard of an insulin called Vetech.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Welcome Heather and your pretty girl, Frannie! :) Please post any questions you have on the main health forum where they'll be seen by more people. One thing to clarify: I don't believe I've ever heard of an insulin called Vetech.
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Thanks for the welcome! I meant Vetsulin and mistyped! YIKES! I've edited it in my original post.

I've been going through some of the posts already. Both Frannie and I are going through the same thing as I am diabetic as well. I'm Type 2, but do not require any insulin, which is something I was going to mention in my original post and didn't think of it when I was typing.
 
Heather H said:
Thanks for the welcome! I meant Vetsulin and mistyped! YIKES! I've edited it in my original post.

I've been going through some of the posts already. Both Frannie and I are going through the same thing as I am diabetic as well. I'm Type 2, but do not require any insulin, which is something I was going to mention in my original post and didn't think of it when I was typing.
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Thanks for clearing that up. When you post on the main health forum please include this info:
  • Frannie's age
  • the insulin you're using and dose (I know you said it above)
  • what Frannie eats ( " " )
  • whether you are/will be testing her blood glucose at home and if so what meter you'll use
  • any other health issues/meds Frannie has.
This is the standard info we'll ask for so giving it up front will be easier for you.
 
JanetNJ said:
Wait, are you saying that you are only giving insulin once per day?
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Yes, only once a day per vets orders. Took her in on the 9th for another issue she was having (urinary issue of always trying to use the litter box, they said it was similar to a UTI, but don't remember them calling it that directly). That's when I found out she was diabetic. Then the 20th, had taken her in for observation and checking her readings twice (am and then again about 2) and they were both under 300 and the vet was happy with both numbers and she did well after the dose given there. The 20th was when I originally had an appointment for her yearly wellness visit and shot (rabies, even though she's strictly indoor).
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Thanks for clearing that up. When you post on the main health forum please include this info:
  • Frannie's age
  • the insulin you're using and dose (I know you said it above)
  • what Frannie eats ( " " )
  • whether you are/will be testing her blood glucose at home and if so what meter you'll use
  • any other health issues/meds Frannie has.
This is the standard info we'll ask for so giving it up front will be easier for you.
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Thanks for that info. I tried to look for that kind of info as well and could have missed it as well. I'll do that and put it in my signature.
 
Heather H said:
Yes, only once a day per vets orders. Took her in on the 9th for another issue she was having (urinary issue of always trying to use the litter box, they said it was similar to a UTI, but don't remember them calling it that directly). That's when I found out she was diabetic. Then the 20th, had taken her in for observation and checking her readings twice (am and then again about 2) and they were both under 300 and the vet was happy with both numbers and she did well after the dose given there. The 20th was when I originally had an appointment for her yearly wellness visit and shot (rabies, even though she's strictly indoor).
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If you post all this on the main health forum we'll weigh in. We use this forum to welcome people and put all the "stuff" on other forums.
 
Heather H said:
Yes, only once a day per vets orders. Took her in on the 9th for another issue she was having (urinary issue of always trying to use the litter box, they said it was similar to a UTI, but don't remember them calling it that directly). That's when I found out she was diabetic. Then the 20th, had taken her in for observation and checking her readings twice (am and then again about 2) and they were both under 300 and the vet was happy with both numbers and she did well after the dose given there. The 20th was when I originally had an appointment for her yearly wellness visit and shot (rabies, even though she's strictly indoor).
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Why in the world would it only be one a day? Then for the other 14-16 hours she will have high bg. That makes no sense. Are you very sure he didn't intend for you to do 1 u in the am and another 1 unit pm? That's the standard starting dose.
 
JanetNJ said:
Why in the world would it only be one a day? Then for the other 14-16 hours she will have high bg. That makes no sense. Are you very sure he didn't intend for you to do 1 u in the am and another 1 unit pm? That's the standard starting dose.
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Yes, only once a day. Here's a picture of the label from the box itself from the vets office. Couldn't get the one side of it where it says "IN THE" in the picture. And had asked several times over the various times of talking to them (vets and vet techs) as well.
 

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The reason that people are asking about the dosing is that, according to the manufacturer's instructions, the starting dose of Vetsulin is 1 unit twice a day. It's an insulin that has relatively short longevity in the body so by dosing only once a day, it's gone by evening and kitty's BG has no control for many hours until the next dose.
 
Heather H said:
Yes, only once a day per vets orders. Took her in on the 9th for another issue she was having (urinary issue of always trying to use the litter box, they said it was similar to a UTI, but don't remember them calling it that directly). That's when I found out she was diabetic. Then the 20th, had taken her in for observation and checking her readings twice (am and then again about 2) and they were both under 300 and the vet was happy with both numbers and she did well after the dose given there. The 20th was when I originally had an appointment for her yearly wellness visit and shot (rabies, even though she's strictly indoor).
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One thing that helps quite a bit if your kitty is prone to urinary issues is to add warm water to every wet food meal so that it becomes a sort of stew. The extra fluid helps flush out the bladder.
 
I also want to say that we all understand how conflicted you feel when you read info here that's different from what your vet has said. We live with feline diabetes here 24/7 and the cumulative knowledge and experience of the members is vast. I sincerely hope we haven't put you off asking more questions. :)
 
Kris & Teasel said:
One thing that helps quite a bit if your kitty is prone to urinary issues is to add warm water to every wet food meal so that it becomes a sort of stew. The extra fluid helps flush out the bladder.
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That's something I usually have done when I've given her the wet food. :)


Kris & Teasel said:
The reason that people are asking about the dosing is that, according to the manufacturer's instructions, the starting dose of Vetsulin is 1 unit twice a day. It's an insulin that has relatively short longevity in the body so by dosing only once a day, it's gone by evening and kitty's BG has no control for many hours until the next dose.
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JanetNJ said:
You might want to get a second opinion on that. Vetsulin only works 8-10 hours... Your cat will be left untreated a majority of the day. Is there more than one vet at this office you could talk to?

http://www.vetsulin.com/vet/Cats_DosingOverview.aspx
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Kris and Janet, this dosage was said by the one vet that saw her as her usual vet was completely booked the day I had called to get her in, so another saw her (who has seen her before with her asthma issue as well) and am sure he talked with her usual vet. I had also talked with her usual vet on the phone when I took her in for observation and double checked with the dosage and time to give it to her, which he said that was how I should give it to her. I had talked with the vet tech who called to see how she was doing and to let me know the results of the urinalysis that was done on Friday (the 20th) when she was in for observation to see how she was doing (and came back all clear) and verified even with her on it again and that will more than likely be going in again in like a month or so to check to see how the numbers are.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
I also want to say that we all understand how conflicted you feel when you read info here that's different from what your vet has said. We live with feline diabetes here 24/7 and the cumulative knowledge and experience of the members is vast. I sincerely hope we haven't put you off asking more questions. :)
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Yes, it is very overwhelming especially since she's already been through so much since I've adopted her and trying to figure out what was going on and having issues with the first vet I was taking her to. I felt I was getting no where in getting questions and concerns addressed then. That's why I switched vets to where am at now and I've LOVED them from the get go. They've taken time to explain many things to me with what she's going through and what to possibly expect and to look for and have given me confidence that I'm doing fine and making sure that things get taken care of when it's needed. Plus, I'm a diabetic as well. I'm not one that has to take insulin daily, but my maternal grandmother was as well as my dad before they both passed (today would have been my dad's birthday). One of my cousins had a diabetic cat as well, so know if I also had questions, I could probably ask her as well, but her kitty has passed, but can't remember how long ago. I am sure I'll be asking other questions, but I may also be a bit of a lurker as well and will read things that have been posted.
 
Heather H said:
Yes, it is very overwhelming especially since she's already been through so much since I've adopted her and trying to figure out what was going on and having issues with the first vet I was taking her to. I felt I was getting no where in getting questions and concerns addressed then. That's why I switched vets to where am at now and I've LOVED them from the get go. They've taken time to explain many things to me with what she's going through and what to possibly expect and to look for and have given me confidence that I'm doing fine and making sure that things get taken care of when it's needed. Plus, I'm a diabetic as well. I'm not one that has to take insulin daily, but my maternal grandmother was as well as my dad before they both passed (today would have been my dad's birthday). One of my cousins had a diabetic cat as well, so know if I also had questions, I could probably ask her as well, but her kitty has passed, but can't remember how long ago. I am sure I'll be asking other questions, but I may also be a bit of a lurker as well and will read things that have been posted.
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I'm glad you feel better about the treatment that Frannie is being given. We're here to help any time and feel free to lurk as much as you like.
 
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