Bella - diagnosed August 6 2019

[Bella's Mom]

Hi All,

My 8 year old Maine Coon cat Bella was just diagnosed over a week ago. She is on Glargine and taking 1unit twice a day after meal times. We just learned about at home testing and will be starting that soon. I just ordered an Alphatrak monitor thanks to some recommendations. We are located on Vancouver Island, Canada and our vet had use using Hills M/D Diet kibble and DM pate. Since joining we stopped using the prescription food and switched to Fancy Feast Pate and continued using Wellness Pate (as this is always what Bella ate for meals and it is under 10% carbs).

I adopted Bella at 4 years old and she was an abused rescue. She was 32 pounds at adoption and I have now gotten her weight down to a whopping 17 lbs! That's half of her body weight. Bella has been so good about her insulin shots but I am worried about doing blood glucose tests. I am also worried about trying to find a pet sitter as I cannot board her - she is fine at home alone but as an abused rescue she doesn't do well in new places without me and protests by not eating.

I have already learnt a lot from the Facebook group so I am looking forward to joining this site as well.

 

[Idjit's mom]

Hi and welcome to you and Bella. It sounds like you have already learned a lot and are on the right track with Bella. Bella is simply elegant, and definitely Maine Coon...being a fan (and slave of a M.C. mix) I can't help but marvel! They are such big cats..I usually don't complain much, until Idjit pushes my feet and legs over and claims most of the end of the bed in the night. I especially love those big round wonderful paws.

Please don't worry too much about learning to test, it is a process of practice and patience.. and even I and hubby learned how to do it. We can help in various ways with links to videos and many suggestions and descriptions of what worked for individual members.

Some members have posted about finding reliable pet sitters in our Off Topic and Community forum or appealed directly in the Main Health forum. We have many Canadian members from coast to coast, and perhaps some would have some ideas to offer.

So, going forward let's get onto the "housekeeping" chores. First, please create a signature so that we can see Bella's pertinent information whenever you post. Then set up the spreadsheet so that you can record all the testing and insulin dose data, and it is linked to the signature so we can see it too.

Setting up your signature (light grey text under a post). Here's how:
click on your name in the upper right corner of this page
click on "signature" in the menu that drops down
type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using and dosage amount /glucose meter you're using/what (s)he eats/any other meds or health issues (s)he has. You can add your name, and a geographic location (sometimes the country/time zone matters) Be sure to SAVE when you are finished.

Set up a spreadsheet like the one we use here. You will see how the trends and patterns emerge, and members can review his/her progress before offering suggestions or advice:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/

You can ask questions about testing, or diet or anything concerned with general health in the Main Health forum HERE. For more information about Lantus insulin and dosing, you can read very valuable information in the specific insulin support group HERE.

This is a wonderfully supportive community of members in all stages of the sugar dance, and we have long time experienced members to help with all aspects of feline diabetic care.

 

[(GA) Gypsy's Parent]

Welcome! You seem to be on the right track already! Bella is very pretty girl. You've done wonderfully getting her weight under control. I have been giving subq fluids to kidney cats for years with an 18 gauge needle, yet I was worried about home testing. It's not all that difficult! The ears don't seem to have any feeling as I have poked all the way through and the cat didn't budge. I had to learn to hold the tip of her ear because she would flick it and the nice glob of blood would go flying. JanetNJ, one of the forum members, has an excellent video about testing:

. It might take a while to get the routine down. The folks here have a lot of years of experience with sugar cats and are very supportive. You've come to the right place!

 

[Tina Marie (GA) and Jan]

Jaime,
Welcome to you and your gorgeous Bella. I hope to see you on the Lantus/Levemir forum.
I was a little slow getting my spreadsheet set up, and introducing myself, but I'm so grateful I did. The support here is wonderful and my Tina is getting better every day.
It's great that you have benefited from the facebook group. Wish I could hold Bella!