Newly diagnosed. Help

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Heather and Gizmo

Heather and Gizmo

Member Since 2019
Hi everyone! My baby boy Gizmo was diagnosed on12/21/18 with a BG level of 519. The vet and I decided to try managing by diet first. I immediately took him off dry food. All the clinical signs, excessive thirst, excessive hunger, excessive urination and weight loss are pretty much gone. I have been home testing twice a day and the lowest number I have been able to get is 312, which turns out is really closer to 380. My alphatrak 2 reads about 70 points lower than an actual blood draw done at the vets. I have decided to start insulin. I will get the porzinc on Monday. I have noticed that Gizmo is not wanting to jump up on anything. I mentioned this to my vet because I am concerned about diabetic neuropathy. I read that hind leg weakness is the beginning sign. When I mentioned this to my vet they told me it is probably more vision problem than neuropathy. Can anyone give me any advice on this? Will the Prozinc help this? The vet has Gizmo starting off at 1 unit BID. I am worried that this may to high from what I have read on other posts. When does this stop being so overwhelming? Also, my cat is a grazer. I was told that he will be okay as long has he eats a minimum of 2 tbsp before I give him the insulin. Sorry if I am rambling. There is so much to learn and I don't feel I am getting enough info from vet. Any advice you can give would be appreciated.
 
My guy was diagnosed in November and I was completely overwhelmed. Now, two months later, I am far from knowing all the things I need to know, but my comfort level with the things I do know and need to be doing is truly astonishing (to me). Repetition is the key, for both you and your kitty. Look at my spreadsheet to see his progression just since November, then go find the instructions http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/ and set one up yourself. It is crucial to understanding what is happening with Gizmo.

If you removed the dry food that he was grazing on and made two or three main meals with small snacks in between, would that get him eating better, do you think?
 
Welcome! 1 unit twice a day is the normal starting dose for ProZinc. If there is neuropathy, getting his glucose regulated will definitely help with that. Some people also give their cats Zobaline. I have no personal experience with that.

A lot of us feed our cats multiple times per day and allow them to graze on left overs. When you are just starting out, it is recommended that you withhold food for two hours before your pre-shot glucose test so that the results will not be food-impacted. Then test, feed and give the shot. As long as he eats a little before getting the shot, it should be fine. Some people find it easier to give the shot while the cat is eating since they are distracted.

It would be helpful if you would set up a signature and a spreadsheet for recording your test results and doses given. When you want dosing advice or have other insulin-specific issues/questions, the ProZinc forum is the best place to post.
 
Thank you for all of your replies. After I took the dry food away I was leaving two plates with two different flavors of food out while I was at work (I was told by vet that he needed to eat 350 calories a day to maintain weight). Sometimes he would eat all of it by 6 pm when he was fed again, sometimes just half. He was given a shot of antibiotic a couple of weeks ago for a bladder infection. I think it has made him nauseous so he has not wanted to eat but that should be better by now, shouldn't it? This week I started coming home at lunch to feed him so I feed him one can of food at 4:30 am, one at 12:30 and one at 8:30. His lowest BG was 368. I am feeding him Fancy feast classic, Weruva's Paw lickin chicken and I tried feeding him duck but that really spiked his BG. Too bad because he loved it. I have been using Lisa Pierson DVM 's nutrition list that was suggested by many of you on this forum. He will eat more of his food if I sit there and hand feed him. If this is what I have to do then this is what I will do. My other concern is with the home testing. I have been doing this twice a day for almost two weeks but had to stop because his poor ears were very irritated and he did not want me touching him. He has lost some of the fur on his ears from me running them to get a drop of blood. It is harder to get from one ear than it is the other but I do my best to rotate the ears.
 
Heather and Gizmo said:
Thank you for all of your replies. After I took the dry food away I was leaving two plates with two different flavors of food out while I was at work (I was told by vet that he needed to eat 350 calories a day to maintain weight). Sometimes he would eat all of it by 6 pm when he was fed again, sometimes just half. He was given a shot of antibiotic a couple of weeks ago for a bladder infection. I think it has made him nauseous so he has not wanted to eat but that should be better by now, shouldn't it? This week I started coming home at lunch to feed him so I feed him one can of food at 4:30 am, one at 12:30 and one at 8:30. His lowest BG was 368. I am feeding him Fancy feast classic, Weruva's Paw lickin chicken and I tried feeding him duck but that really spiked his BG. Too bad because he loved it. I have been using Lisa Pierson DVM 's nutrition list that was suggested by many of you on this forum. He will eat more of his food if I sit there and hand feed him. If this is what I have to do then this is what I will do. My other concern is with the home testing. I have been doing this twice a day for almost two weeks but had to stop because his poor ears were very irritated and he did not want me touching him. He has lost some of the fur on his ears from me running them to get a drop of blood. It is harder to get from one ear than it is the other but I do my best to rotate the ears.
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If his ears are irritated you may be accidentally hitting the vein. Be careful to poke the edge instead. Many of us test 4+ times a day with no wear and tear on the ears.
 
No wonder his poor ears are irritated!! I thought I had to get the vein to get blood from his ear. Thank you so much. Do any of you use Vaseline before testing?
 
Heather and Gizmo said:
No wonder his poor ears are irritated!! I thought I had to get the vein to get blood from his ear. Thank you so much. Do any of you use Vaseline before testing?
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I don't but some do. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home. Here's where you want to aim.
D6118018-4E99-4D39-8D59-DF7254D5A120.jpeg
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Here's a still from the video showing how little blood you need with the Alphatrak... If you do hit the vein (we have all done it) just squeeze the cotton pad on the east a few extra seconds. If you notice any bruising you can put a tiny bit of neosporin ointment with pain relief on it. You can see my cats ears are in good shape despite being tested secretary times a day.

612AECE9-9C64-4D9C-89ED-6E9BFEC135D3.jpeg
 
You shouldn't really have to rub the ear to get it to bleed. The rubbing could be contributing to the irritation. Are you warming the ear before poking? It really makes a huge difference. Some people use a sock filled with rice that they microwave. I wet the corner of a cloth with really hot water and wring out the excess. I hold it to Mia's ear a few seconds before poking then use it to clean the area and apply light pressure after the test.
 
Sorry I have not replied sooner. I have not been able to get on her as much as I would like. I have taken all of your advice and his ears are looking much better. I am giving his ears a break and only testing him once a day until I start the Prozinc this Saturday. It has taken longer to get the insulin than I anticipated. Any suggestions on how to restrain in order to give the injection. He does pretty well with the blood glucose checks but I don't know how well he will do with the injections since I am going to be so nervous the first few times. I am working on trying to get the spreadsheet up and going before I start the injections on Saturday. I have the insulin now but I don't want to start giving it to him until I know I can be home with him to complete the glucose curve.
 
Hi all - My 13 y.o. - Punkin - was diagnosed in late August/early September. Tried high protein low carb diet first, which helped immensely at first, but after having to visit the vet three times in December, decided to start him on insulin injections (this past Wed.). The doc prescribed Humulin N, which I have not seen much talk of on this site. Also, my biggest question right now is how much food does he need to eat before I give him an injection (one unit)? We go back for a vet visit on Tuesday and I plan on being armed with many questions I had not thought of before. I had a talk with a vet tech who strongly urged two feedings a day only - coinciding with the injections. But Punkin has always been a grazer.

Any suggestions are appreciated - thanks so much and so grateful to have found this forum!
 
cc and punkin said:
Hi all - My 13 y.o. - Punkin - was diagnosed in late August/early September. Tried high protein low carb diet first, which helped immensely at first, but after having to visit the vet three times in December, decided to start him on insulin injections (this past Wed.). The doc prescribed Humulin N, which I have not seen much talk of on this site. Also, my biggest question right now is how much food does he need to eat before I give him an injection (one unit)? We go back for a vet visit on Tuesday and I plan on being armed with many questions I had not thought of before. I had a talk with a vet tech who strongly urged two feedings a day only - coinciding with the injections. But Punkin has always been a grazer.

Any suggestions are appreciated - thanks so much and so grateful to have found this forum!
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Please start a thread of your own on this forum so your question doesn't get lost in this person's thread.
 
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