Newly diagnosed, and bit stressed!

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Darin

Darin

Member Since 2021
Hello! Just 3 weeks ago, our oldest cat Tangie was diagnosed with feline diabetes, which is frightening, seeing as we can’t explain it to her and what we’re trying to do for her.

We also have three other cats in the house, Cruise, Gracie and Toby. As you can imagine, feeding has become interesting, trying to keep a diabetic cat from eating everything in sight is a job in itself.

Our vet had us begin insulin two weeks ago and today we did our first at home blood test which didn’t go well and the numbers were not good. So insulin has been increased, and we’ll go another week to see if we can see some improvement.

We’re a bit overwhelmed, and could use advice on glucometers, what’s everyone using? A bit of calm, as the testing is not nearly as easy as the insulin injections...and any and all good advise is accepted! Please and thank you
Tangie’s dad...
 
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Hey there Tangie's dad, you've come to the right place! There will be more people coming to greet you and assist as well, but we have two diabetic cats in our household. It was definitely a struggle in the beginning for my wife and I. We currently use the ReliOn Prime from Wal-Mart if you're in the US, it's pretty cheap and sticks are not very expensive.

Not to fret, there will be a lot of information coming your way, it will feel overwhelming, but I promise, you will get through it! This community is a great source of information, some of which I have even shared to our vet. The cats will love you no matter what, I've poked and prodded both cats countless times, and they continue to come back for snuggles and pets.
 
Another thing to look into is setting up a spreadsheet for daily tracking, along with your signature in case any one needs access to your information in a pinch.
 
Hi! Easiest way to deal with food is to feed them all the same thing. Most people are feeding fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. I feed weruva foods.

I use an Alphatrak but most on here use a human meter. Walnart's relion Prime is a popular choice to use. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.

Diabetes is not a death sentence and they can live long healthy lives. Glad you found us!
 
Welcome, Darin and Tangie!

It's great that you've already got going with home testing. Here are some helpful resources:

Home testing links and tips

Testing and injection tips

The best tip of all - especially in the early days - is to warm the ear far more and for far longer than you'd ever think would be needed.

Also, here's a great post on getting started at FDMB:

How you can help us to help you

As Peter says above, there is a really steep learning curve but we're here to help you every step of the way so keep asking questions. There is so much that is new right now, but it will all become quite routine and familiar much sooner than you might think. :)


Mogs
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  • Welcome Darin

  • when you get a chance ,It would be helpful if you can set up your signature so we don't have to ask you the same questions over again. Members will look at this first . Members would have to look up your previous posts to see what insulin you are using
  • It appears after each post in gray, look at mine,



  • On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature. This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
    • There is a limit of two lines which may include two links; you may separate pieces with commas, dashes, | etc. This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
    • Add any other text, such as
    • Caregiver & kitty's name (optional)
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
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Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.


tap on your avatar where it says your name ,then hit profile page ,tap on that ,then go up to the very top, upper right hand side and tap on your name ,it will bring down a drop box, tap on signature, the signature will be under settings, tap on the signature then and you can start to add what I posted above, make sure you hit save ,
Welcome to the best place you could ever be and an awesome group of people
You can also add where you live in your profile, not your signature

This is at the bottom of every ones post in gray
 
Most of us use the Relion Prime human meter or the Relion Premier from Walmart
Prime is 9 dollars
17.88 for 100 test strips
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets they will make bigger holes
You can use a lancing devise but most of us just use the lancet freehand
I feel you can see better where you are aiming
Cotton rounds to put behind the ear when you poke, just in case you poke you finger
Then hold it on your kitties ear for about 10-20 seconds to stop the bleeding, press gently
You will be doing a lit of testing in the beginning so at least you can run to Walmart and pick the strips up.
Look at the lancet, you will see one end of it points upward. Use that side when poking
the ear
 
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Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up
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6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
 
Always have med and high carbs and honey on hand in case Tangie ever drops too
low and you need to bring her BG up to safe numbers

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs




Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs
 
You’ve got all the info you need and more already! I’ll just add that I use an old sock filled with rice that I nuke for 30-40 seconds to warm up Minnie’s ear. Whatever works but I find it easier and it stays warm for a while so I can keep pressing it against her ear if it needs to get warmer again. Good luck!
 
JanetNJ said:
Hi! Easiest way to deal with food is to feed them all the same thing. Most people are feeding fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. I feed weruva foods.

I use an Alphatrak but most on here use a human meter. Walnart's relion Prime is a popular choice to use. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.

Diabetes is not a death sentence and they can live long healthy lives. Glad you found us!
Click to expand...

thanks for the advice! We have gone to feeding them the same diet, the problem we’re having is with Tangies recent diagnosis, all she wants to do is eat and drink everything in sight...trying to curb that until her glucose levels are brought under control has been a bit of a challenge for all four cats, and us as well, but it’s a work in progress.
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
You’ve got all the info you need and more already! I’ll just add that I use an old sock filled with rice that I nuke for 30-40 seconds to warm up Minnie’s ear. Whatever works but I find it easier and it stays warm for a while so I can keep pressing it against her ear if it needs to get warmer again. Good luck!
Click to expand...
I only need to microwave my rice sock for 12 seconds to have it warm enough.
 
Is
Darin said:
thanks for the advice! We have gone to feeding them the same diet, the problem we’re having is with Tangies recent diagnosis, all she wants to do is eat and drink everything in sight...trying to curb that until her glucose levels are brought under control has been a bit of a challenge for all four cats, and us as well, but it’s a work in progress.
Click to expand...
Uncontrolled diabetics often need extra food. Also you could add extra water to her food.
 
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