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SunshineKitty

SunshineKitty

Member Since 2015
Hi, I'm Michele, live in Florida with my hunny and our four furkids - one large dog and 3 cats.

I just got the call from my vet yesterday with the diagnosis: Diabetes. I'm shocked, upset, and have so many questions.

How could he have had this disease and me not know about it? What could I have done to prevent it? What happens now?

Jackson is a 7 year old cat, was a bit overweight but otherwise in good health. I took him to the vet because he wasn't jumping as well, they diagnosed slight arthritis but that's all. I also mentioned his constant begging for food but since he didn't have any other symptoms of diabetes, the vet didn't think that was possible. I asked to have the blood work done anyway, and lo and behold..here we are.

I'm feeling so guilty, had thought (and been told) that his appetite and begging was a behavioral issue, and our vet was pleased to see his weight loss this past visit. I thought I was doing all the right things - good food, lots of love & attention, etc. etc. Now this.

I'm overwhelmed and my emotions are all over the map. I'm going to the vet today so they can teach us how to administer the insulin, don't know what else to expect except that life is definitely going to change.

I'm so glad to have found this forum, thank you in advance.
 
I'm new here, too, and like you I was shocked and feeling guilty that my 12-year-old kitty was sick and I had no idea. But she was displaying no symptoms. I only took her in because she has a recurring eye situation and we ran blood tests because we hadn't done so in a couple of years. It was a big surprise to find out her blood sugar was 500+. You will find lots of information and support here. My Kali is very wiggly and I was terrified about giving injections to begin with and convinced that she would never tolerate me handling her, but over the last few weeks we have both become more comfortable with it. Just wanted to tell you that it will get better even tho it will probably be up and down for a while and most importantly it is not your fault!! Best wishes from Nora and Kali.
 
Hi Michele and I am glad you found this forum too. When my cat first got diagnosed, I felt the same way. It can be overwhelming at first but the good news is, you can learn a lot from this site.

First, the weight loss is from the diabetes. And the not jumping so well can be from neuropathy caused by the diabetes. There are medicines that can help with that so ask your vet about that. Also Methyl B12 over the counter can help. I am so glad that you insisted on a blood test. Unfortunatly a lot of vets are just not that well versed in Feline Diabetes.

Since your cat is going to go on insulin, we highly recommend you home - test his Blood Glucose especially before you inject to keep you kittie safe. The last thing that you want is for your cat to go into a hypoglycemic event which can be very dangerous. In each of the forums are stickies with hypo information. Please read so that you will be informed and even print out the symptoms and hang inside a cabinet door so that you well prepared in the event.....

There are many meters for testing. There is a pet meter called the Alpha Trak2 and human meters. Some use the pet meter because it is what the vets use so the numbers will match up. The meter and strips are expensive though. Most of us use human meters that can be purchased at any pharmacy. It typically reads a little lower than the pet meter but we have ways of compensating it. Many use Walmart's brand, Relion Micro or Relion Prime, because it only needs a tiny drop of blood. The Prime testing strips are ½ the price of the Micro. Here is a link for you to learn how to test him.
http://s106.photobucket.com/user/chupie_2006/media/testingear/sweetspot.jpg.html

Please ask if you need help, there is a learning curve and we can help you with tips.

Food is the next thing. If your cat is on dry food, ditch it. It is very high in carbohydrates and you need to get kittie on wet food that is under 10% carbs. While you are making this transition, it is EXTREMELY important for home testing because with this change the blood glucose can go down as much as 100 points. The vets try to sale you a RX food for diabetic cats and most are very high in carbs. Many of us feed Fancy Feast CLASSICS, not gravy lovers as that one has lots of carbs. Also 9 Lives and Friskies but check out this food chart when selecting your food to make sure it is 10% and below. Not all the 9 Lives, Fancy Feast, and Friskies are 10% and under so look on the chart to guide you. If your cat is only eating dry at this time you want to transition slowly to prevent GI upset. You want to keep fish once a week because of the heavy metals in fist.

Theses are the two most important things right now and we can help you with setting up a Spread Sheet to enter you cats Blood Glucose (BG) daily. But for now, I don't want to overwhelm you. What helped me learn more was to read a lot of the post here. If you look in my signature you will see SS, click on that to see what it looks like. Don't get overwhelmed, we will help you with that. OK?

After you go to the vets today, post again with the insulin you vet RX, hopefully it will be will be a gentler one like ProZinc, Lantus or Levemir.

Take a deep breath, we are all in this together and will help you. :)
 
nora said:
I'm new here, too, and like you I was shocked and feeling guilty that my 12-year-old kitty was sick and I had no idea. But she was displaying no symptoms. I only took her in because she has a recurring eye situation and we ran blood tests because we hadn't done so in a couple of years. It was a big surprise to find out her blood sugar was 500+. You will find lots of information and support here. My Kali is very wiggly and I was terrified about giving injections to begin with and convinced that she would never tolerate me handling her, but over the last few weeks we have both become more comfortable with it. Just wanted to tell you that it will get better even tho it will probably be up and down for a while and most importantly it is not your fault!! Best wishes from Nora and Kali.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much, Nora (and Kali, too)! I think this forum is going to be a lifesaver for me, and therefore for Jackson as well.

I think the vet tech said Jackson's level was 400-something, maybe 449? I was in such shock, and didn't even have a paper or pen nearby. I'll know more today.

Thanks again!
 
SunshineKitty said:
Thank you so much, Nora (and Kali, too)! I think this forum is going to be a lifesaver for me, and therefore for Jackson as well.

I think the vet tech said Jackson's level was 400-something, maybe 449? I was in such shock, and didn't even have a paper or pen nearby. I'll know more today.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Hey, me again, keep in mind that when Jackson was at the vets, he was stressed and that makes the BG even higher. That is another good reason to be home testing and running your own curves so that you get a realistic number rather than an inflated one from the vets office.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Hi Michele and I am glad you found this forum too. When my cat first got diagnosed, I felt the same way. It can be overwhelming at first but the good news is, you can learn a lot from this site.

First, the weight loss is from the diabetes. And the not jumping so well can be from neuropathy caused by the diabetes. There are medicines that can help with that so ask your vet about that. Also Methyl B12 over the counter can help. I am so glad that you insisted on a blood test. Unfortunatly a lot of vets are just not that well versed in Feline Diabetes.

Since your cat is going to go on insulin, we highly recommend you home - test his Blood Glucose especially before you inject to keep you kittie safe. The last thing that you want is for your cat to go into a hypoglycemic event which can be very dangerous. In each of the forums are stickies with hypo information. Please read so that you will be informed and even print out the symptoms and hang inside a cabinet door so that you well prepared in the event.....

There are many meters for testing. There is a pet meter called the Alpha Trak2 and human meters. Some use the pet meter because it is what the vets use so the numbers will match up. The meter and strips are expensive though. Most of us use human meters that can be purchased at any pharmacy. It typically reads a little lower than the pet meter but we have ways of compensating it. Many use Walmart's brand, Relion Micro or Relion Prime, because it only needs a tiny drop of blood. The Prime testing strips are ½ the price of the Micro. Here is a link for you to learn how to test him.
http://s106.photobucket.com/user/chupie_2006/media/testingear/sweetspot.jpg.html

Please ask if you need help, there is a learning curve and we can help you with tips.

Food is the next thing. If your cat is on dry food, ditch it. It is very high in carbohydrates and you need to get kittie on wet food that is under 10% carbs. While you are making this transition, it is EXTREMELY important for home testing because with this change the blood glucose can go down as much as 100 points. The vets try to sale you a RX food for diabetic cats and most are very high in carbs. Many of us feed Fancy Feast CLASSICS, not gravy lovers as that one has lots of carbs. Also 9 Lives and Friskies but check out this food chart when selecting your food to make sure it is 10% and below. Not all the 9 Lives, Fancy Feast, and Friskies are 10% and under so look on the chart to guide you. If your cat is only eating dry at this time you want to transition slowly to prevent GI upset. You want to keep fish once a week because of the heavy metals in fist.

Theses are the two most important things right now and we can help you with setting up a Spread Sheet to enter you cats Blood Glucose (BG) daily. But for now, I don't want to overwhelm you. What helped me learn more was to read a lot of the post here. If you look in my signature you will see SS, click on that to see what it looks like. Don't get overwhelmed, we will help you with that. OK?

After you go to the vets today, post again with the insulin you vet RX, hopefully it will be will be a gentler one like ProZinc, Lantus or Levemir.

Take a deep breath, we are all in this together and will help you. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you so much!

We have another kitty, Lucifer, who was diagnosed with Pancreatitis last year. Since then, all of our cats have been on a prescription diet (Purina EN), both canned and dry food. I understand that now we'll only be using the canned food which is fine. They'll get accustomed to no more "free feeding" eventually. The vet tech said that food will still be fine for Jackson.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Hey, me again, keep in mind that when Jackson was at the vets, he was stressed and that makes the BG even higher. That is another good reason to be home testing and running your own curves so that you get a realistic number rather than an inflated one from the vets office.
Click to expand...

That makes a lot of sense. My dh is asking about the accuracy of the lab tests, I think he wants to think that perhaps Jackson's not as "bad" as they think. I hate to burst his bubble but with having other symptoms..sigh..
 
SunshineKitty said:
Thank you so much!

We have another kitty, Lucifer, who was diagnosed with Pancreatitis last year. Since then, all of our cats have been on a prescription diet (Purina EN), both canned and dry food. I understand that now we'll only be using the canned food which is fine. They'll get accustomed to no more "free feeding" eventually. The vet tech said that food will still be fine for Jackson.
Click to expand...
You will want to check the purina En out on the chart to make sure it is 10% and under.
 
First of all, welcome to FDMB. We can all relate to exactly how you are feeling. Like you, many of us missed the signs initially and then felt guilty. Cats are so good at hiding symptoms and some changes are so subtle that they are hard to pick up on especially when there are other cats in the house. One of the first things many people notice is excessive drinking and peeing but when there are 4 cats, who knows who left what in the litter box? Don't beat yourself up. You're on the right path now and that's the important thing here. Take a deep breath and take this one step at a time and you will find it's not hard to deal with. It takes a little organization and commitment, but you'll get into a routine and things will improve faster than you can imagine right now.


SunshineKitty said:
I don't see the Purina EN listed, am I looking in the wrong place?
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The EN is a formulation for gastrointestinal issues and the dry food is about 20%. I believe the usual Purina food vets recommend for diabetics is Purina DM. which is slightly lower in carbs but still higher than ideal. Was the EN suggested because of tummy issues with your sugar cat or the others?
 
You know now and that is what counts. The cat being hungry, begging, large water consumption and large output are symptoms very easily ignored by themselves. But put them all together and it's diabetes.

You will be just fine with managing it once you learn. You will learn quickly. It's nice your DH is willing to learn and help. This way if there is ever a time you can't be there he knows what to do. My Smokey got into trouble because my father didn't know he was diabetic. When my mother's Alzheimer's got worse Smokey wasn't getting his insulin at all and my father was just giving him 1/3 cup dry food twice a day. Surprised Smokey survived the year.

Stay calm and breathe. Keep telling yourself "I can and will do this"! And you will. You will have support and help at all times any time day or night someone is here.

There is a lot of information here to read when you can. I'm still reading and re-reading daily.

Let us know how you make out today.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
First of all, welcome to FDMB. We can all relate to exactly how you are feeling. Like you, many of us missed the signs initially and then felt guilty. Cats are so good at hiding symptoms and some changes are so subtle that they are hard to pick up on especially when there are other cats in the house. One of the first things many people notice is excessive drinking and peeing but when there are 4 cats, who knows who left what in the litter box? Don't beat yourself up. You're on the right path now and that's the important thing here. Take a deep breath and take this one step at a time and you will find it's not hard to deal with. It takes a little organization and commitment, but you'll get into a routine and things will improve faster than you can imagine right now.



The EN is a formulation for gastrointestinal issues and the dry food is about 20%. I believe the usual Purina food vets recommend for diabetics is Purina DM. which is slightly lower in carbs but still higher than ideal. Was the EN suggested because of tummy issues with your sugar cat or the others?
Click to expand...

Yes, it's for our Lucifer, who was diagnosed with pancreatitis last year.
 
@SunshineKitty we have all been in similar situations as you are. That initial feeling of being overwhelmed will get better. The people here have lots of experience and they know what they are talking about!

As it was said above by Bobbie and Bubba, home testing is EXTREMELY important no matter what anyone may tell you. There is a ton of good information on here for you to read and lots of youtube videos to watch as well that are very helpful. Don't be afraid to ask anything here, if you don't ask then you cant get help.
 
SunshineKitty said:
Yes, it's for our Lucifer, who was diagnosed with pancreatitis last year
Click to expand...

A multi cat household with two having specific dietary needs, will make diet a bit more challenging but with some research, you may be able to find something they can all eat. Canned food is recommended for your sugar kitty and your other cats without health issues. Is Sunshine your sugar kitty's name?

As Bobbie pointed out, RX food are not the only option and in most cases, not the best or easiest on the pocketbook but in this case, you may not want to mess with Lucifer's diet if he is staying well on the Purina EN. Whatever you decide to do diet wise, transitioning slowly is the key to success.

Let us know how your vet appt. went today and keep asking questions. There is a amazing amount of knowledge and experience amongst the folks on this board so don't hesitate to come here for anything at all.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
A multi cat household with two having specific dietary needs, will make diet a bit more challenging but with some research, you may be able to find something they can all eat. Canned food is recommended for your sugar kitty and your other cats without health issues. Is Sunshine your sugar kitty's name?

As Bobbie pointed out, RX food are not the only option and in most cases, not the best or easiest on the pocketbook but in this case, you may not want to mess with Lucifer's diet if he is staying well on the Purina EN. Whatever you decide to do diet wise, transitioning slowly is the key to success.

Let us know how your vet appt. went today and keep asking questions. There is a amazing amount of knowledge and experience amongst the folks on this board so don't hesitate to come here for anything at all.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much, again, to everyone. The appt went better than anticipated. We only met w/the vet assistant today who was very helpful, knowledgeable and answered all of my questions.
Jackson is the name of my sugar kitty, I used the Sunshine Kitty name because of where we live, Florida. :)
He's being given Prozinc, 1 unit, twice daily. His glucose numbers (hope that's the proper terminology) was 492 at diagnosis.
They feel that the Purina EN is fine for now, and even some dry food which I know is not recommended here. They want to see how he does and be prepared to change his diet accordingly. No more free feeding, no more "snacks." All kitties will be getting meals now, morning and night, much more regimented than they are accustomed to.
I gave the first injection tonight while Jackson was eating, as suggested. He wasn't thrilled about having his meal time disturbed and it was a bit stressful but overall not as bad as I thought it would be.
So, whew, we got through that! He'll go back next Tuesday for a follow-up glucose test.
 
SunshineKitty said:
Thanks so much, again, to everyone. The appt went better than anticipated. We only met w/the vet assistant today who was very helpful, knowledgeable and answered all of my questions.
Jackson is the name of my sugar kitty, I used the Sunshine Kitty name because of where we live, Florida. :)
He's being given Prozinc, 1 unit, twice daily. His glucose numbers (hope that's the proper terminology) was 492 at diagnosis.
They feel that the Purina EN is fine for now, and even some dry food which I know is not recommended here. They want to see how he does and be prepared to change his diet accordingly. No more free feeding, no more "snacks." All kitties will be getting meals now, morning and night, much more regimented than they are accustomed to.
I gave the first injection tonight while Jackson was eating, as suggested. He wasn't thrilled about having his meal time disturbed and it was a bit stressful but overall not as bad as I thought it would be.
So, whew, we got through that! He'll go back next Tuesday for a follow-up glucose test.
Click to expand...
It does get better. New routines are tough on everyone, including humans!! I'd like to get my kitties on 3 meals per day, but they were used to feeding on demand of small meals (I'm retired so I could indulge them) and I'm still wondering if that might work best for Kali's diabetes (they say that works well for people with diabetes but who knows?). But since I don't want to feed very much dry, I can't really afford to open umpteen cans of wet and have them not finish them and they don't like the food after it's been refrigerated even if I warm it up. We live to serve them! LOL
 
Hi Michele, glad the vet appointment went well, and proZinc is a nice gentle insulin, that 's what I use Go to the ProZinc forum and read it to get familiar with how it works. Wondering if you gave anymore thought about home testing now that you are going to be giving insulin; it's very important. Not trying to nag you BUT, last night my cat, Bubba went down to 50 which is the start of hypo. If I had not snagged a test at 4 hours after his shot (or +4 the way we say it for everyone to understand since we are from all over the world here at this forum) I would not have caught it and it could have resulted in a tragedy for me and Bubba. I steered his numbers up by giving some medium carb food. You will want to go to the ProZinc forum and look at the Stickie for Hypo and read it and print it out and keep it somewhere you can find it fast like inside a kitchen cabinet door. If you were to get a meter , test strips and lancets before your next vet visit, you can have them show you how to do the testing. And any questions you have, we can help you with. There are also great videos links to watch. Keep in mind that at the vets office for the glucose curve for his Blood Glucose (BG) Jackson will be stressed and his numbers are going to be higher than they really are. Most of us here do our own curves because of that. Then the dosage will be according to what he really is, not artificially high numbers due to stress at the vet's office. One more example, last night as my cat was having a hypo event, a newbie posted and was going to give 4.5 units of vetsulin to his cat as per the vet. That's a big dose! We encouraged him to home test. He was going to wait till Saturday to get the meter and we convinced him to get it sooner, he went out, got the meter, tested and the cat was in a normal zone, NO shot for that cat and this morning the cat is still in lower numbers and did not get a shot. Believe me I know how overwhelmed you are , we have all been there. But the testing is so important prior to shots to keep your cat safe. You will not want to give insulin to Jackson if you get a reading of 200 or below on the meter. Think of this way too, a human diabetic would never give themselves insulin without checking their BG first. Okay, off my soap box. We are here to help each other. :bighug::):cat:
 
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nora said:
It does get better. New routines are tough on everyone, including humans!! I'd like to get my kitties on 3 meals per day, but they were used to feeding on demand of small meals (I'm retired so I could indulge them) and I'm still wondering if that might work best for Kali's diabetes (they say that works well for people with diabetes but who knows?). But since I don't want to feed very much dry, I can't really afford to open umpteen cans of wet and have them not finish them and they don't like the food after it's been refrigerated even if I warm it up. We live to serve them! LOL
Click to expand...
So true, we sure do live for them! Our new food routine went well this morning and they were hungry from not being able to nosh all day & night, so they even ate the re-heated canned food! Small victories! ;)
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Hi Michele, glad the vet appointment went well, and proZinc is a nice gentle insulin, that 's what I use Go to the ProZinc forum and read it to get familiar with how it works. Wondering if you gave anymore thought about home testing now that you are going to be giving insulin; it's very important. Not trying to nag you BUT, last night my cat, Bubba went down to 50 which is the start of hypo. If I had not snagged a test at 4 hours after his shot (or +4 the way we say it for everyone to understand since we are from all over the world here at this forum) I would not have caught it and it could have resulted in a tragedy for me and Bubba. I steered his numbers up by giving some medium carb food. You will want to go to the ProZinc forum and look at the Stickie for Hypo and read it and print it out and keep it somewhere you can find it fast like inside a kitchen cabinet door. If you were to get a meter , test strips and lancets before your next vet visit, you can have them show you how to do the testing. And any questions you have, we can help you with. There are also great videos links to watch. Keep in mind that at the vets office for the glucose curve for his Blood Glucose (BG) Jackson will be stressed and his numbers are going to be higher than they really are. Most of us here do our own curves because of that. Then the dosage will be according to what he really is, not artificially high numbers due to stress at the vet's office. One more example, last night as my cat was having a hypo event, a newbie posted and was going to give 4.5 units of vetsulin to his cat as per the vet. That's a big dose! We encouraged him to home test. He was going to wait till Saturday to get the meter and we convinced him to get it sooner, he went out, got the meter, tested and the cat was in a normal zone, NO shot for that cat and this morning the cat is still in lower numbers and did not get a shot. Believe me I know how overwhelmed you are , we have all been there. But the testing is so important prior to shots to keep your cat safe. You will not want to give insulin to Jackson if you get a reading of 200 or below on the meter. Think of this way too, a human diabetic would never give themselves insulin without checking their BG first. Okay, off my soap box. We are here to help each other. :bighug::):cat:
Click to expand...
Thank you..I am giving some thought to the home testing. I did speak with the vet about it and at this point they don't feel it's necessary but I also understand the reasons you all give here. It's a lot to absorb so for now I'm going to take it slowly, see what happens at Jackson's appointment next Tuesday.
 
SunshineKitty said:
Thank you..I am giving some thought to the home testing. I did speak with the vet about it and at this point they don't feel it's necessary but I also understand the reasons you all give here. It's a lot to absorb so for now I'm going to take it slowly, see what happens at Jackson's appointment next Tuesday.
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I understand about it being a lot to absorb, we all get that for sure. I don't want to add anymore to your anxiety plate, it's just that I would feel remiss if I didn't share all that I have learned to help you help Jackson. One way to learn and absorb all you can is to read through the forum and it's incredible what you will learn. We are here for you Michele; please ask all you need to know. Someone is always on the forum. Keep us posted as to how you make out on Tuesday;s appointment. :cat:
 
Check my signature link Notes to Share for an assortment of useful links, including Secondary Monitoring Tools. These tools provide you with additional ways to evaluate your cat. The key ones at present are ketone testing 9urine or blood) and dehydration checks as that may happen more easily with poor control of the glucose levels.
You should start noticing reductions in thirst and hunger and in urination and defecation as the glucose becomes more controlled.
 
A quick update: I have already noticed some subtle changes in Jackson. I didn't think he was urinating much before but apparently I was wrong because the litter box is not nearly as dirty! So it seems he wasn't peeing often, but in a larger amount. I'm also seeing a bit more activity, he seems more engaged and not just sitting in the kitchen waiting for the next meal. Maybe I'm imagining it, but he seems less anxious.
All 3 cats are having a little bit of trouble w/the end of free feeding. Two meals a day is a big adjustment for them, and they have been waking us up in the wee hours begging for food. It's getting better, though; the first night it was at 1 am, this morning it was 4. I feed/medicate at 6 am and 6 pm.
Now I'm concerned about them eating and drinking enough!
 
It really is hard on the civies, mine still wake me up at all hours. I started feeding more small meals through out the day and giving them a bedtime snack, sometimes they'll let me sleep until 5 then. On days I work they get 3 meals, otherwise 4.
 
SunshineKitty said:
Thank you..I am giving some thought to the home testing. I did speak with the vet about it and at this point they don't feel it's necessary but I also understand the reasons you all give here. It's a lot to absorb so for now I'm going to take it slowly, see what happens at Jackson's appointment next Tuesday.
Click to expand...

I really hope you'll start the home testing right away, I don't understand the vets that say it's not neccesary. It makes me wonder if they had a diabetic child if they'd give insulin without checking the BG first!?
 
Mogmom and Goofus said:
It really is hard on the civies, mine still wake me up at all hours. I started feeding more small meals through out the day and giving them a bedtime snack, sometimes they'll let me sleep until 5 then. On days I work they get 3 meals, otherwise 4.
Click to expand...
Oh, I didn't think feeding more times per day was an option!
 
Mogmom and Goofus said:
I really hope you'll start the home testing right away, I don't understand the vets that say it's not neccesary. It makes me wonder if they had a diabetic child if they'd give insulin without checking the BG first!?
Click to expand...
I am not sure, but I've spoken with 3 friends this week who have diabetic cats and none have home tested.
 
SunshineKitty said:
Oh, I didn't think feeding more times per day was an option!
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I only feed mine 2 a day, sugar Bubs and civvie. I couldn't find his nadir, (the lowest point the insulin takes him a cycle) with 3-4 meals a day. There is a controversy over how often you should feed a diabetic cats. Some believe it is better on the pancreas with several small meals more than 2 meals a day and others believe (like myself ) that cats are not grazers, cows are. Cats are carnivores and in the wild, they might have one high protein meal a day (a mouse ) and that sustains them till their next meal. If you cat has other medical issues, ie kidney or pancreatitis then you should feed several small meals a day. Once you are home testing you can try both ways and see which way his numbers are the best.
 
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Bobbie And Bubba said:
I only feed mine 2 a day, sugar Bubs and civvie. I couldn't find his nadir, (the lowest point the insulin takes him a cycle) with 3-4 meals a day. There is a controversy over how often you should feed a diabetic cats. Some believe it is better on the pancreas with several 9more than 2) meals a day and others believe (like myself ) that cats are not grazers, cows are. Cats are carnivores and in the wild, they might have one high protein meal a day (a mouse ) and that sustains them till their next meal. If you cat has only medical issues, ie kidney or pancreatitis then you should feed several meals a day. Once you are home testing you can try both ways and see which way his numbers are the best.
Click to expand...

Jackson (sugar kitty) has no other medical issues but my other cat Lucifer (6 y/o) has pancreatitis. Jackson is the largest/heaviest cat, big boned even if he weren't overweight, and he eats his meals perfectly, barely a crumb left over. Lucifer and Jezebel (12 y/o) leave a little bit so what I was considering is giving them those last bites before bed to tide them over. I'll just have to feed separately since Jack will not be pleased at being left out.
 
SunshineKitty said:
I am not sure, but I've spoken with 3 friends this week who have diabetic cats and none have home tested.
Click to expand...
Those that don't are inviting disaster. If I wasn't home testing Bubba would have crashed on my Tuesday night and a hypo event can be deadly. Why flirt with danger. It's an easy thing to do and it also helps you to get your cat regulated. There is a better chance of getting your cat off the juice when they are regulated meaning their preshot numbers are in the low 200's and the nadir (the lowest point the insulin takes them in a 12 hour cycle, 4-7 hours after shot with proZinc) is in the double digits above 50. Go to the Welcome section sometime and read the post from Yikes MY Cat has Diabetes. Thank Goodness the bean listened and went out and got a meter and came back online to report the number and ask if he should shoot and the answer was NO, the number was a perfectly normal number. All we can recommend is what we know saves our kitties lives. Insulin is a very powerful hormone that needs monitoring.
 
SunshineKitty said:
Jackson (sugar kitty) has no other medical issues but my other cat Lucifer (6 y/o) has pancreatitis. Jackson is the largest/heaviest cat, big boned even if he weren't overweight, and he eats his meals perfectly, barely a crumb left over. Lucifer and Jezebel (12 y/o) leave a little bit so what I was considering is giving them those last bites before bed to tide them over. I'll just have to feed separately since Jack will not be pleased at being left out.
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That's a good idea. Bubba is the same, scarfs down everything fast and furious and Forrest lolly gags, eats a few bites, jumps down, goes outside, 15 mins. later at the door to come in and finish and I am constantly picking up his dish and putting where Bubba the Hut can't get it. I am like a short order cook.!
 
Be the first in your group of friends to start home testing...who knows, hopefully they will follow your lead. Read some of the posts here and you will see that if we weren't testing that many owners would be heading to the emergency vet or worse yet digging a grave because testing was not being performed. Read some of the spreadsheets and notice that we all have had to deal with low numbers but we safely have steered our kitties to safety. You never know when your kitty may give you a low number at shot time and, not knowingly, you give a regular dose...it only spells out disaster. Bobbie gave an excellent, recent example and there are many more. I don't want to scare you but kind of want to because we care and we do not want you to experience something that could have been in control. Please consider.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
That's a good idea. Bubba is the same, scarfs down everything fast and furious and Forrest lolly gags, eats a few bites, jumps down, goes outside, 15 mins. later at the door to come in and finish and I am constantly picking up his dish and putting where Bubba the Hut can't get it. I am like a short order cook.!
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Haha, sounds like my house as well! In the past, Jezebel would let the boys go first and then she'd come along and eat her meal. She's quite the princess and, at age 12, pretty much rules the roost around here.
 
I'd love to only feed them twice a day, but I'm afraid they'd gang up on me and I'd become the meal theyso desperately want! No Joke. This morning, at 3:15 am mind you, I woke to one of them laying on myface. Then she started to poke at my eyes with her paws and lick my face. About 1 minute later, 3 more are on the bed, standing on or very near me and meowing. All this because I fell asleep on the couch and didn't give them their bedtime snack before I stumbled off to bed.

Believe me when I say, I'm not going to forget their snack tonite or Id' better go sleep out in the RV.
 
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Bobbie And Bubba said:
That's a good idea. Bubba is the same, scarfs down everything fast and furious and Forrest lolly gags, eats a few bites, jumps down, goes outside, 15 mins. later at the door to come in and finish and I am constantly picking up his dish and putting where Bubba the Hut can't get it. I am like a short order cook.!
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This sounds like Sweetie Cat and Shita. Goof takes his dear sweet time with his own, but likes to steal from the others when he can.
 
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Mogmom and Goofus said:
I'd love to only feed them twice a day, but I'm afraid they'd gang up on me and I'd become the meal theyso desperately want! No Joke. This morning, at 3:15 am mind you, I woke to one of them laying on myface. Then she started to poke at my eyes with her paws and lick my face. About 1 minute later, 3 moreare on the bed, standing on or very near me and meowing. All this because I fell asleep on the couch anddidn't give them their bedtime snack before I stumbled off to bed.

Believe me when I say, I'm not going to forget their snack tonite or Id' better go sleep out in the RV.
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Sounds familiar, If I were to die in the middle of the night and when they would find my body, I am sure it would be 1/2 eaten by Bubba. He starts biting my hand a little before the alarm clock goes off.........
 
I was feeding three times a day (and yes, weaning them off of free feeding was a nightmare!) but I'm finding that, even with a very small lunch, my guys don't finish their dinners, so I think I'm going to go to just twice a day. They don't beg for food at lunctime so I think we'll be okay with that.

I have one cat, of my four, who will not eat his own food (they all get exactly the same thing, lol) but will go from bowl to bowl and steal from someone else's, and will also polish off anyone else's leftovers. Then the others all share what was in his bowl, that he would't eat. It used to drive me crazy and I'd be constantly chasing him away from food that wasn't his; I finally just learned to let it go, he's not going to change his habits so I stopped stressing over it!
 
Squalliesmom said:
I was feeding three times a day (and yes, weaning them off of free feeding was a nightmare!) but I'm finding that, even with a very small lunch, my guys don't finish their dinners, so I think I'm going to go to just twice a day. They don't beg for food at lunctime so I think we'll be okay with that.

I have one cat, of my four, who will not eat his own food (they all get exactly the same thing, lol) but will go from bowl to bowl and steal from someone else's, and will also polish off anyone else's leftovers. Then the others all share what was in his bowl, that he would't eat. It used to drive me crazy and I'd be constantly chasing him away from food that wasn't his; I finally just learned to let it go, he's not going to change his habits so I stopped stressing over it!
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Jackson (my sugar kitty) is the one who does that in this house! He's bigger than the other two and kind've a bully but we love him anyway. ;) Last night I gave them a little bit more dinner, just another couple of bites, and it seemed to help tide them over. They didn't wake us at all last night but seemed ready to eat when the alarm went off at 6 am. So maybe that's the key, thinking it's hard for me when I "diet" and cut calories drastically.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
That's a good idea. Bubba is the same, scarfs down everything fast and furious and Forrest lolly gags, eats a few bites, jumps down, goes outside, 15 mins. later at the door to come in and finish and I am constantly picking up his dish and putting where Bubba the Hut can't get it. I am like a short order cook.!
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That's my Candy, she almost never eats a whole meal at once, she's got to wander around and do kitty things halfway through, then after 15-20 minutes she'll come back and finish it, if Vinnie hasn't gotten to it first, in which case she will go eat his, or anyone else's she fancies, lol!
 
Squalliesmom said:
That's my Candy, she almost never eats a whole meal at once, she's got to wander around and do kitty things halfway through, then after 15-20 minutes she'll come back and finish it, if Vinnie hasn't gotten to it first, in which case she will go eat his, or anyone else's she fancies, lol!
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How do you monitor it with Squallie so that he doesn't eat his and then eats her or won't he do that?
 
Squallie isn't really a dish-hopper like the others are. Sometimes he'll decide he doesn't want to finish a meal and I just take his bowl with me, sprinkle some crushed Pure Bites on it, and monitor him so no one else eats it.
 
Squallie isn't really a dish-hopper like the others are. Sometimes he'll decide he doesn't want to finish a meal and I just take his bowl with me, sprinkle some crushed Pure Bites on it, and monitor him so no one else eats it. Occasionally he'll polish up someone else's leftovers but it's not usually enough that I worry about it.
 
Reading these posts makes me laugh. I hear from people all the time that don't like cats, they say "they're all the same, they have no personality". Ha, they don't know what they're talking about, and of course I just HAVE to tell them that!
 
Hi Michele, welcome! Jackson is gorgeous, and you are wonderful for caring for him as well as your other kitties, must be hectic at dinner time in your kitchen!

Did I read correctly that you said Jackson's first injection went without a hitch? Because wow, I'm impressed! Our Ivana has been on insulin since the end of August, and I still suck at shooting her. I even got the shakes this morning! Awesome work :-)

I also want to second (or third, fourth...) what others have said about home-testing. Our initial plan was to wait until the vet showed us how to home-test, but on advice from here we started earlier and visited another FDMB sugarcat mum who showed us how to do it. Turns out it's a cinch! It also turns out that in that time we would have been waiting to learn home-testing, we caught Ivana in an asymptomatic hypo which we wouldn't have known about if we hadn't been testing - she got down to 1.3/23, and I hate to think what would have happened if we'd stuck to the vets schedule and waited to start home-testing. Ivana now waits by the testing equipment ready for her treat, it's really not a big deal for them.

Good luck with the journey, you really are in wonderful hands here at FDMB :-)
 
Tara & Ivana said:
Hi Michele, welcome! Jackson is gorgeous, and you are wonderful for caring for him as well as your other kitties, must be hectic at dinner time in your kitchen!

Did I read correctly that you said Jackson's first injection went without a hitch? Because wow, I'm impressed! Our Ivana has been on insulin since the end of August, and I still suck at shooting her. I even got the shakes this morning! Awesome work :)

I also want to second (or third, fourth...) what others have said about home-testing. Our initial plan was to wait until the vet showed us how to home-test, but on advice from here we started earlier and visited another FDMB sugarcat mum who showed us how to do it. Turns out it's a cinch! It also turns out that in that time we would have been waiting to learn home-testing, we caught Ivana in an asymptomatic hypo which we wouldn't have known about if we hadn't been testing - she got down to 1.3/23, and I hate to think what would have happened if we'd stuck to the vets schedule and waited to start home-testing. Ivana now waits by the testing equipment ready for her treat, it's really not a big deal for them.

Good luck with the journey, you really are in wonderful hands here at FDMB :)
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Thanks so much! Oh, your Ivana is gorgeous!!

Update on Jackson: Tuesday was first glucose test (at vet) since beginning insulin. His numbers were much better, dropped almost 200 points to 303. Of course that's far from normal, but progress. They increased his dose to 2 units twice daily which I guess is pretty standard.

I have not started home testing yet, I understand that most of you do and feel it's very important and I'm sure that has merit. Again, just listening to my vet and watching/learning as I go.

Jackson's behavior has definitely improved! He's jumping around and playing more, breaks my heart to think that the was suffering and I didn't know. I feel like I"m getting my "old" kitty back again!
 
Hi Michele! That's a nice drop in numbers for Jackson. Keep in mind, that while he was at the vets his numbers were probably higher than normal due to stress. Jumping up to 2 units is a lot. We promote the Go Low, Go Slow approach with raising the insulin. If it were my kittie, I would not raise to that amount especially because you have not started home testing. I wouldn't raise it at all with the number of 300 from the Vet visit which is probably high. Please think about getting a meter from Walmart, the Relion Prime using strips that are half the price of the Relion Micro. Then we can help you get set up with a Spread sheet for members to help you with the dosing. I know you want to trust you vet but believe me, this board has more experience with feline diabetes than most vets. Glad he is improving, that is great news. Please don't jump up a whole unit without home testing . My cat went hypo the other night from a small .20 increase. Thank God I was testing.
 
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