Newly Dx'd Diabetic cat

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Ang

Member Since 2017
Glucometer? Which one?
Test strips for urine ketone testing?

He's on low carb diet now. Delay in insulin because online pharma screwed that up and never let me know of delay. Not happy, but I guess since we just changed diet perhaps waiting will show us better results from the diet change? Silver lining?

Meow is a 10 y.o. 14.5# DSH, Orange tiger [really kinda cinnamon?]
Such a moosh... I am hoping his sweetness will translate to easy to test/dose.
 
Welcome! And I'm sorry you have to be here! Silver lining: You won't find a move supportive place to be as you make this journey.

Any glucometer from your local pharmacy will work. many people use the Wal-Mart brand since it's inexpensive and accessible. You can also get a pet specific one like AlphaTrak which will more closely align with your vet's numbers, but it's almost $1/test strip and we go through a lot of test strips.

Here are some links to get you started:

The first one is to set up a spreadsheet to keep your data from home testing. Once it's set up, you just enter the numbers and the color coding happens automatically:

Spreadsheet

You'll see that most of us have a "signature" - some information in light color text to answer the most basic questions so we don't have to repeat the same information over and over. It also helps all of us with bad memories ;)
This information, once set up, appears every time we post.

Signature

And finally, a great video made by one of our members to help you start home testing once you have the things you need:

Video

Please ask as many questions as you have. There is a wealth of information here and many very caring and wise members who can help you out!
 
A lot of us use ReliOn Confirm or Micro from Walmart. You can also buy ketone test strips there. What was his diagnosis BG number? Diet change can have a significant impact on some kitties :)
 
I like the Alphatrak meter because it's the same one my vet uses. That being said it is expensive for strips. I decided the cost was with it.... Plus I was saving money by not having to go to my vet for curves. If cost is an issue most here use relion micro meter.


Make sure you ate feeding a low carb diet.... Prescription food is not necessary.... Most here feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods.


Welcome.
 
Vet recommended Lantus SoloStar.
Honestly I am the most frugal person on the planet, I buy all my clothes at Salvation Army so this all seems a bit.... WOW...
Then again I am a horsewoman too so... I really can not claim frugality, can I?

BUT with this, I see the advantage of doing things all juuuuuusttttt right, so that maybe we can reach Remission?
So today I got him a BG meter from CVS, on the recommendation of the Target pharmacist who said that it has the cheaper test strips that still use a tiny amt of blood
I also got the test strips for it, and lancets.

Seriously, my Vet needs to have a hand out a 'Buy this...' list. I feel like I remember 3 things and then remember the 4th thing I need an hour later.

His number was 419. I have no idea what that means. I know normal is like 179?

She has him in a diet of 292 calories of any food under 7% carbs, I have him on FF Classics of 3 and 4 carbs [from the Blinky list?]
He's 14.5ish pounds, but he IS a big cat... am I in denial that he's fat? Ok, yes maybe, BUT still he IS big too.... so I have no idea what her goal weight is for him [add that to my list of questions for her]

My Vet had some really helpful links she gave me to look at incl this Forum, so, I guess ya'll are famous?
Wouldn't ya' know the day before his Dx my son had a Social Studies project due and ran me out of printer paper and since I was sitting home awaiting the Lantus that never came... I have been furiously writing notes.... Well I finally went out and got some paper, so will now commence printing off reams of information. :bookworm:
 
Your vet sounds great! Lantus is a really good insulin that has helped many many cats here. Have you posted an introduction in the Lantus forum? You'll love the folks over there and they will be super helpful as you get all of this figured out.

Great job getting a test done already! That's fantastic! Different places list different "normal" ranges for a cat. I think the one I've seen the most is 65-120mg/dL. Losing some weight will hopefully have a really positive impact on your kitty's numbers. I was in denial about mine being chubby too. I thought he looked just fine. And when he lost weight at first I was so worried about him. But now he looks all svelt and handsome! ;)
 
Ok so obviously I am studiously reading... two questions:

Re: the Hypoglycemic risk... Meow is presently JUST on a diet, low carb, until the Lantus arrives.
Is he potentially at risk to go Hypo from that?
Should I maybe test him? I have not been trained by my Vet in testing or dosing [since the insulin has yet to arrive]

And Djamila... does your cat often sleep in the sink? Meow has been in the sink a couple times the last few days. He seems to prefer fresh water, so I stopper my bathroom sink and leave a little water in there.... Suddenly I realize I have not seen him for a while, I go looking for him, and I find him curled up in the now empty sink... is that something 'they' do?
 
Ang said:
Re: the Hypoglycemic risk... Meow is presently JUST on a diet, low carb, until the Lantus arrives.
Is he potentially at risk to go Hypo from that?
Click to expand...
Just diet change will not put him at risk for Hypo. No insulin injected = No Hypo. His body won't naturally put him in that state. :)
 
Lol...that picture is from when I first got Sam. He had been a street cat for a couple of years and was super scrawny and small, so the sink fit him well, and I think he felt safe there. Now he's a lot bigger and has grown accustomed to fluffy blankets and beds. However, a lot of cats do sleep there because they like that shape and it's cooler there.

Meow isn't at risk of hypo as long as he hasn't had an insulin injection.

However, it might be a good idea to go ahead and get a couple of tests. First so you know what his "natural" numbers are at home right now (they tend to be higher at the vet because of stress), and also so you get used to it before the insulin arrives and you have the extra pressure.
 
I'm so impressed with how well you are handling everything! If you need to order more lantus in the future, many here order it from marks marine pharmacy in Canada for about a third the price you pay in the US.

Normal cats not on insulin are about 68-150 on a pet meter or 50-120 on a human meter.
 
I happened to ask at Target today, and they had 2 singles they were willing to sell. Apparently they had an emergency and broke open a 3 pack.....
The other day while pricing it I called a couple local hometown pharmacies and then Walmart... and then Vet recommended Vetrxdirect and that seemed easiest :banghead:
So I never even called Target... and of course while there today didn't have an Rx and Vet was closed already for weekend.
Oh and it was $80.

LOL can you tell I read the 'sticky'd hypoglycemic sheets and freaked out? I need to go watch a nice relaxing happy funny movie.... and just chill. :nailbiting:
 
So, here's a silly question... I clean Meows cat box about every 12 hours... and I use clumping litter so I can see number of pees and volume.
The last 2 days, I could be crazy, but it appears he is peeing less volume. Ie since starting the low carb diet.
Possible? Positive?
 
Ang said:
So, here's a silly question... I clean Meows cat box about every 12 hours... and I use clumping litter so I can see number of pees and volume.
The last 2 days, I could be crazy, but it appears he is peeing less volume. Ie since starting the low carb diet.
Possible? Positive?
Click to expand...
Yep. There will be less as the numbers improve
 
Yes, and measuring water consumption and output are secondary monitoring methods for FD. If you look in @BJM 's signature, there is some information about it.
 
First thing I noticed when my kitty's glucose started getting better and going down was that he wasn't in the litter box every hour and his urine cakes were smaller. Of course at first I freaked out and thought that he wasn't peeing enough and he had a blockage! Found out later that this is a good sign. Anxiety can make you crazy sometimes, especially in the beginning. It did me anyway.
 
The opposite is also true - many of us realized our cats were diabetic when they started drinking a lot and flooding the litter box.
 
Yes, that was my first indication of diabetes when he was in the litter box every time I turned around.
 
That was my first indication as well, he was constantly messing with all the water dishes in the house [I also have 3 dogs]
My Insulin has FINALLY shipped yesterday, should arrive today, and hopefully appt. to learn testing and dosing tomorrow. So he will have been on low carb diet a week by then.
I am focusing on silver linings, and will use the fact that we have a week of diet change effect to see pre-treatment as the sliver lining in the Pet.RX.Direct mess.
 
Hi all, I am preparing for our appt. by printing out all the documents you have here that apply. As I read through them, questions are coming up about what is meant by acronyms and other 'abbreviations' used in the instructions so I thought I would put them here so ya'll can tell me what they mean as I go:

Blood glucose levels should at least be checked at pre-shot, +3, +6, and +9.
What is +3. +6 and +9???

 
Ang said:
Hi all, I am preparing for our appt. by printing out all the documents you have here that apply. As I read through them, questions are coming up about what is meant by acronyms and other 'abbreviations' used in the instructions so I thought I would put them here so ya'll can tell me what they mean as I go:

Blood glucose levels should at least be checked that's at pre-shot, +3, +6, and +9.
What is +3. +6 and +9???
Click to expand...
that's hours after the shot. So if you injected at 7am, +3 would be three hours later at 10am, +6 would be six hours later at 1pm, ect.
 
Good luck at the appointment! Diet made a very big difference with my kitty- so much so that he has been off insulin for over two weeks now.
 
LOL Janet... now, where did I see that? Cause I am lost. Again.

Is it me, I get so mind-boggled that I have to take a break after reading through each one of these things.

So if I am doing Lantus Low/slow protocol [my assumption] do I need to make a spreadsheet?

Lillie, thanks for the encouragement!!
 
Ang said:
LOL Janet... now, where did I see that? Cause I am lost. Again.

Is it me, I get so mind-boggled that I have to take a break after reading through each one of these things.

So if I am doing Lantus Low/slow protocol [my assumption] do I need to make a spreadsheet?

Lillie, thanks for the encouragement!!
Click to expand...
The spreadsheet is the best tool for us to track trends and see when dose adjustments are needed. If you have trouble setting it up we can tag someone to set it up for you.
 
Ang said:
So if I am doing Lantus Low/slow protocol [my assumption] do I need to make a spreadsheet?
Click to expand...

Yep, we ALL use the spreadsheet. Not only will you find it an extremely useful tool, as Janet says, but it makes it much much easier for people to offer advice and help if they can see all your kitty's doses and BG numbers laid out like that.

There really is a ton of information to take in all at once. Just keep working at it-- it helps to print out the key documents so you aren't constantly clicking around trying to remember where something is! Here is a really important one:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

(note that it even tells you to print it out!)

as well as:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/jojo-and-bunnys-hypo-tool-box.2354/

Print/read those before starting insulin. You hopefully will not ever be in a serious hypo situation, but it is much much much better to be prepared than not if you ever are.
 
D'oh!!! Just re-read the thread and realized you have already freaked yourself out with the hypo links so you know all about them! Well, anyway, it's still a good idea to print things out and get your "hypo kit" ready!
 
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