Another newbie :)

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Lesley & Cheekyface

Lesley & Cheekyface

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Hello everyone, just introducing myself to the board.

I'm VERY new because my 6 year old grey tortie, Cheekyface, is right this moment on IV fluids at our vet surgery, having her ketoacidotic systems flushed after a blood test taken last night came back with a BM of 24.9.

She wasn't showing anything approaching the symptoms she should have been with that reading, but I had a horrible suspicion a fortnight ago when she started eating like a horse and drinking more (litter trays needed to be changed more often too; that was hard to pin down though because I also have a 17.5 yo male with early CRF and he wees a lot), plus she'd lost weight. That was hard to pick too because she's been on a diet anyhow, but when the vet weighed her last night she's lost nearly 900gm since 28 February--after a slow loss of 200gm over the previous 6 months. AGH!!

I'm probably not as petrified of this diagnosis as the average person, because I'm an ex-nurse and both of my parents plus my brother are diabetic...but Cheeky's a jumpy, nervous girl at the best of times and the next few months are certainly not going to be easy on either of us.

I'll be doing a lot of reading here and on the FD website, that's for sure.

Lesley xo
 
Just wanted to say welcome to the very best place to be for FD parents. I have only been here a few months myself, but make full use of the site, it is a fantastic resource.

And, when you have questions, make sure to ask. Everyone here wants to help as much as we can!

Debbi and Saatz :-D
 
Welcome to the site!! I am pretty new too... this site has been an amazing source of help and support for Willy and I!

I hope your kitty is OK :cry: When you find out what's going on, make sure you update us! There are lots of very knowledgeable and experience people here that can help steer you in the right direction (support groups, setting up a spreadsheet and profile, answering questions)!

Stephanie and Willy
 
Lesley, there is an old time member in your area. I will send her an e-mail and hopefully she will be able to getin touch with you. Her name is Glenys.
 
Thanks, peeps, for the welcome and reassurance.

Cheeky is staying overnight at the vet's because she's still being 'flushed', but the last word is that she's calm, relaxed and turning her nose up at food.

I'll be bringing her home tomorrow after my "Feline Diabetes 101" session with the vet at noon, once consulting hours are over, then the fun will start.

Meanwhile the old boy has been doing laps of the house and backyard looking for her confused_cat , it's sad.

Lesley xo
 
Welcome! This site is the BEST! My Maisey is a very skittery girl, and we made out fine with testing and shots. The first week was rough, as it is for most, but then much easier. Warm ears are important to testing, makes blood flow much better, so stick is easier. The needles now are so fine that Maisey never even knew when I was giving her a shot. There are lots of links to how to test, which is VERY IMPORTANT. Changing to all wet food is most important and there are great links to help you make informed choices. HUGS to you and the kitty clan.
 
Hi Lesley, Welcome to the club. I'm in Melbourne but have made great friends with a South Australian lady thru this web site. She is 300ks north of Adelaide on a sheep station (her family owned it for generations). She brings Oscar to Adelaide from time to time. She was lucky in that Oscar was very quickly regulated after learning everything from FDMB and changing to Lantus from Caninsulin and changing the diet to no dry. Sadly Oscar now has CHD. She's doing everything she can and enjoying him till the end. He is free of diabetes though. ;-)

My kitty's records are not up to date. We are home testing still but haven't entered results into his spread sheet for ages. WE've been home testing for a year and now I have enough understanding to use the results to adjust things without keeping record but I should enter the results just the same. My boy went great for a while and was all but off insulin then his numbers flew up and have stayed up since January! Can't work out what the problem is (nor can vet) but just keep giving him appropriate insulin believing he is one that won't ever come off it. I don't mind the regime as what choice is there? I suspect pancreatitis. Recently found a butcher who grinds rabbit and bone together for him and he's going along well on it. He's hyper allergic to tinned food and beef and various other things. He's peaceful on rabbit - no itching, scratching and pulling his fur out. Yaaaa!!

I don't read here much - though I should find out about pancreatitis. Very helpful site. PM me if you want to contact me.

Marilyn
 
Hello Lesley & Cheekyface!
I am very new myself and I will tell you, this is the BEST place to be! I have learned so much from here and everyone seems nice, informative and support from you know where!
My Bean girl was dx on 4/20 or so, and we have found with low carb food, she will not require any shots at all! GOOO BEAN, but she will be a sneeky partner and get some dry from my other 2 girls and her numbers will go up....
My strongest advice could be to TEST BEFORE YOU SHOOT INSULIN...as I did not one nite,and she went to a low of 26! I learned my lesson and never never shot a DROP without testing first! Bean girl made it thru that awful nite and with all the help from this site (you know who you are), she made it!
Welcome and great thoughts to ya.....
 
Hi Ohbell and Marilyn, cheers for the hellos :smile:

I found this place 5 minutes after the vet called me on Friday morning to give me the news, and since then my head hasn't stopped spinning. Yesterday was exhausting because I only brought Cheeky home at 1pm and was in a state of nervous collapse until injection time at 8.30pm. Thanks to Stephanie and Willy (in particular; everyone I've met so far has been very kind) I've been able to inhale, take a BIG step back today and make plans.

Cheeky goes in to the vet again tomorrow to do her first 12 hour curve. She'll be stressed, yes, and no doubt her readings will be inflated, but she'll be with people and safe. This early in the game I'm just as glad I won't be at work biting all my fingernails off worrying if she's having a hypo when there's no-one here to see.

I shopped today and bought an Accu-Chek Performa with a Multiclix collector (only because it's a 'First Time' kit that has everything in it including test strips: if she can't handle that lancet, I'll buy the SoftClix setup separately. My Pharmacy membership gives me 20% discount and the costs are totally within my range so I can deal with the double-up. I have a very understanding boss and work is very quiet atm, so I'll ask if I can drop to half-days for at least this first week, so that I can have more daylight time to get both of us used to home testing--and to see if I'm able to leave a controlled amount of food out for grazing. Having a CRF geriatric as well makes these things VERY interesting!!

I'm takin' it one day at a time and we'll settle down soon, I hope.

Lesley xo
 
I am sure you will have this whole thing sorted in no time. Keep us informed no how it's going.

marilyn
 
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