Chowder just diagnosed today.

[Kristen&Chowder]

Hello,

Chowder and I are new here. He is a 10 yr old Siamese just diagnosed today.....yikes this is incredibly overwhelming. I have been reading every bit of information I can get my hands on but don't feel like I'm retaining any of it. I'm sure I will learn in time.

Unfortunately I'm pretty low income and had to decline treatment today...so any tips on money saving would be so amazing and incredibly helpful! I also wanted to take time to do some research because the vet I saw was not very informative.....so I'm not sure how I feel about that. He just kind of spit out results of bloodwork at me like he expected me to know what he was talking about so I was very overwhelmed and confused.

I was feeding him a mix of dry and can food both Blue Buffalo brand, but switched him to canned only this week because he wasn't wanting to eat the dry food. There is so much I didn't know about dry food and man wish I would have know from the jump 10 years ago. Anyways, I found the link to the food chart and also bought the Tiki brand....but I'm concerned it will get too expensive so I see many people feed their cats Fancy Feast Classics so I may see how he likes that. Since switching this week to canned only I have already noticed a difference in his drinking and urination habits....less frequent which seems to be a good thing?

He gave me a prescription for Glargine Lantus...dosage 2 units (sq) twice a day. He said it's pretty easy to watch YouTube videos on how to administer the shots and do at home testing. I'm so scared to do insulin shots because I'm afraid I'm going to kill him. I don't know...part of me is considering trying out a diet change for another week or so to see how it helps but I have a feeling it's not going to lower it by much.

Any advice is welcome!!

 

[Sharon14]

Welcome! You’ve come to the right place. We have lots of tips to help you help Chowder and save money at the same time. The Fancy Feast Classic is a good low carb affordable food, you can also use a Friskies Pate for an even cheaper alternative. The best and safest thing you can do is go pick up a human glucometer and start testing Chowders blood glucose at home. It’s really easy and we’ll teach you how. That’s the only way to be sure that it’s safe to give him his insulin. Lantus is a great insulin. Starting dose is 1u, but with the food change, I’d wait to start shots until you start testing as his blood glucose could drop significantly from what the vet saw. We can also help you save on the cost of Lantus. Come to the Main Health forum and we’ll help you with testing, shooting and feeding.

 

[Idjit's mom]

Welcome Kristen and Chowder. She's a beautiful kitty!!

Most of us remember that emotional roller coaster ride when we got that diagnosis. But, you are in the right place for information and help, just like Sharon said. So, take a deep breath and know that we all started out just where you are and we will help you all we can.

You can get a ReliOn Prime meter ($10) and 50 strips ($10) and a box of lancets (26 or 28 gauge) for $2 or $3 at Walmart.
Using a lancet device is going to depend on personal preference. Some members do, some members just free hand. You probably have some Vaseline there in the home, I use it on Idjit's ear to help the blood sample bead up.

I know it's scary to think about testing but you will have plenty of support and suggestions along the way when you start posting on the Main Health forum.

Best wishes going forward

 

[Robert Vittetoe]

Welcome! I’m a rookie here and not experienced enough to give advice but I can share our story. Pinot was losing weight and his litter box was a mess. We took him in for a vet visit in early June and he was diagnosed with diabetes on 6 June. His blood glucose was 607. He started giving him insulin. We only gave him 4 shots: 1 on Friday, 2 on Saturday and 1 Sunday morning. At the same time we discovered this website, changed him to a total wet food diet and purchased the ReliOn Prime Test meter and started testing. All his test were in the normal range. Based on the advice from folks here we did two weeks of testing about twice a day. All the readings were pretty normal as you can see from his SS. After the two weeks we started one a week testing. We did that for 4 weeks and started monthly testing yesterday. All his readings remain normal. He isn’t cooperating with the test right now so I have to feed him and wait for him to go to sleep on my lap. Hopefully you will find your cat can be diet controlled at least for some time. Just continue to follow the advice of the great folks here. I feel very fortunate to have found this site. I think it’s one of life’s little miracles. I like to say take it one test/shot at a time.

 

[JanetNJ]

I wouldn't do more than 1 unit twice a day until you get the hang of testing. Shame on your vet for not giving you a lesson in how to inject and just telling you to watch YouTube. :/

I don't have a video in injecting, but I do have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home. Testing will take some of the anxiety away of her going too low because you won't be guessing what's happening.

Welcome... You've got this and you are not alone

 

[ohbell]

Welcome Chowder and mom!