Now what?

[Doches]

newly diagnosed 5 yo male Dexter has been at vet since last Tuesday. They began insulin shots twice a day and glucose level is down to 213 but he isn’t eating that well. I am supposed to go to vets at 3 today to hopefully bring him home and I guess will do diet monitoring and give shots twice a day. I have a friend sending me a glucose meter but won’t get it until later in the week and then the Vet wants me to take him back in later in the week to test glucose. I’m really nervous about

 

[Doches]

newly diagnosed 5 yo male Dexter has been at vet since last Tuesday. They began insulin shots twice a day and glucose level is down to 213 but he isn’t eating that well. I am supposed to go to vets at 3 today to hopefully bring him home and I guess will do diet monitoring and give shots twice a day. I have a friend sending me a glucose meter but won’t get it until later in the week and then the Vet wants me to take him back in later in the week to test glucose. I’m really nervous about

After picking Dexter up today from vet it is as if he can’t get enough food. I have the small Fancy Feasts Pate for him. Realistically how many should I give him at a time?

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Until he's better regulated, he needs to eat more than a non-diabetic would, so don't worry about feeding "too much" at this point.

Without insulin, no matter how much our cats eat, the glucose can't get into the cells, so they are basically starving. Insulin is the "key" and there are locks on all the cells....without the right amount of keys, the glucose just stays in the bloodstream instead of getting into the cells to nourish them.

How much does he weigh?

 

[Doches]

Thank you he’s dropped weight when we took him into vet he weighed 7,5 down from 12. Trying to get meat on him . He won’t touch the dry food the vet sent home- loved the fancy feast but looks like now 2 cans at a time 2-3 times a day. He’s been getting up at 2 am wanting more.

 

[ZulusMom (GA)]

Welcome, Doches! Please take some time to read the stickies at the top of this forum, especially regarding food. Fancy Feast pates are a very good option, and likely better than the dry food from the vet, which is often still too high in carbs for a diabetic cat. Like Chris said, don't worry about overfeeding at this point. Once Dexter's numbers become more regulated, his appetite should return to normal.

There is a lot of information here and in the insulin-specific forums. I know it can be overwhelming at first (definitely was for me!), but it becomes very manageable very fast.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

He is probably so happy to be home! Let the boy eat all he wants. If you will home test, you should not have to take him back to the vet for glucose tests. You should be able to provide your test results to the vet.

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

Thank you he’s dropped weight when we took him into vet he weighed 7,5 down from 12. Trying to get meat on him . He won’t touch the dry food the vet sent home- loved the fancy feast but looks like now 2 cans at a time 2-3 times a day. He’s been getting up at 2 am wanting more.

How good that he's eating, don't worry about how much he eats right now let him eat as much as he wants, you can leave some of the food out in his plate so that he can have it during the nigh, and I think it's actually better that he doesn't get any dry food take a look at this post

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...r-more-than-just-carbohydrate-content.175004/