Confused and sad

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Meowchick

Meowchick

Member Since 2015
Hi everyone!
I am a proud mom to 5 beautiful wonderful cats. Last Friday one of my gang was diagnosed with diabetes and I have been freaking out ever since. The vet put him on 1iu of insulin twice a day and gave me a bag of DM dry food which I heard is not good to use. What can foods can I give him and can the other 4 eat it as well because it will be very difficult and traumatic for them if I separate them for meals. I'd appreciate any advice as I am having a breakdown over this
 
Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir.
- And home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!).
 
As we told you in the messages, breathe!!! You have to breathe, even though it is hard, in order to care for your baby. What kind of insulin? 1 unit should be a good starting dose. How much does kitty (what is the name?) weigh? What should kitty weigh? Keep feeding the Friskies, just make sure it is the pate.
 
Shiloh & Rhonda said:
As we told you in the messages, breathe!!! You have to breathe, even though it is hard, in order to care for your baby. What kind of insulin? 1 unit should be a good starting dose. How much does kitty (what is the name?) weigh? What should kitty weigh? Keep feeding the Friskies, just make sure it is the pate.
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I forgot the name of the insulin. My furry son's name is Leroy was suppose to be Elroy from the Jetsons cartoon but I messed it up. He weighs 8lbs should be a bit heavier but he is a small little sweet cuddly fella I'm breathing better than I was at first and Leroy's brother keeps cuddling up to me which us very comforti ng cats are the best!
 
You can do this! Many of us started learning from scratch about giving injections, testing blood glucose, monitoring soft signs (see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools, for example) and more.
 
Ty I'm certainly going to try. My vet does not have me testing his sugar wants me to bring him in at regular intervals to be checked
 
So did my vet, but once I told him I was going to home test, he said he only needs to see Shiloh if I have concerns. I would lose my mind if I wasn't home testing.
 
If you want or need to save your money, testing at home is the way to go for 3 reasons
- less expensive than the vet
- stress won't raise the glucose 100-180 mg/dL at the vet's office, which givies you less reliable numbers there
- you'll always be able to check when he seems off to see if he needs help getting his numbers a bit higher.
 
I want to home test he was kind of opposed to it he is a new vet for me my old one retired if I were to test at home can I use a human glucometer and where would I do the "finger stick"?
 
Yes, you can use a human glucometer such as the Target Up and Up or the ADW Glucocard 01 or 01 Mini (aka the WalMart Confirm or Confirm Micro), matching test strips, and lancets for alternate site testing (25-28 gauge).
You make a small prick between the outer edge of the ear and the vein that runs right along near the edge.
ear veins.jpg

Practice on an apple and yourself to get a feel for it, then test your kitty.
 
Shiloh & Rhonda said:
Would you know the insulin if you saw it? Or can you check the vial/pen? Lantus, Levemir, Prozinc, Caninsulin?
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I have it in the fridge. I threw my back out today catching Leroy and I just got into bed so can't check it now but will let you know tomorrow
 
BJM said:
Yes, you can use a human glucometer such as the Target Up and Up or the ADW Glucocard 01 or 01 Mini (aka the WalMart Confirm or Confirm Micro), matching test strips, and lancets for alternate site testing (25-28 gauge).
You make a small prick between the outer edge of the ear and the vein that runs right along near the edge.
View attachment 15217
Practice on an apple and yourself to get a feel for it, then test your kitty.
Click to expand...
Ty will try
 
BJM said:
Yes, you can use a human glucometer such as the Target Up and Up or the ADW Glucocard 01 or 01 Mini (aka the WalMart Confirm or Confirm Micro), matching test strips, and lancets for alternate site testing (25-28 gauge).
You make a small prick between the outer edge of the ear and the vein that runs right along near the edge.
View attachment 15217
Practice on an apple and yourself to get a feel for it, then test your kitty.
Click to expand...
How often do I test, twice a day after meals like people?
 
Welcome, Felice. At a minimum before each insulin shot. If you can get some tests in between shots to see how he reacts to the insulin that helps a whole bunch!
 
Testing:
1) Always test before giving insulin to make sure it is safe.
For now, your no shot level is 200 mg/dL on a human glucometer (230 for pet-specific); this will lower as you collect data around the middle of the cycle to know how low he is going.

2) Mid-cycle tests between shots - whenever possible, test around the nadir (lowest glucose level between shots) for your insulin, to see how low he's going. For Lantus, this often falls between +5 to +7 hours after the shot. Some folks do this on weekends or set a clock for the middle of the night to get this test done as it helps determine dose adjustments. This number should be at or above 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer (68 mg/dL for pet-specific).

3) a before bed test is helpful in determining if you need to break out some higher carb food and steer the glucose level or go to bed with some peace of mind. Steering means giving 1-2 teaspoons of high carb gravy, waiting 30 minutes, and re-testing (repeating as needed) to make sure the glucose stays above 50 mg/dL.
 
When you have a moment, could you add a few tidbits to your signature? It will help us give you feedback without having to go look in all your past posts.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name,
cat's name,
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
general location
any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.
Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Always click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you have changed anything.
 
Shiloh & Rhonda said:
Felice, I am in Florida. Should be on the same time zone. I am normally online about 6:30 am.
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Do you mean 6:30 pm? Am I'm getting ready for work. Your so lucky to live in fla I always wanted to live there especially after the last few winters in NY! I will definitely look for you tomorrow you have been so nice and Leroy and I appreciate it. I hope he seems a bit better tomorrow
 
I am up and on at 6:30 am. and most days I am home and online by 5:30 pm. AM I am getting ready for work as well. I jump on here, post Shiloh's numbers and look for advice myself.
 
Cat Ma said:
Meowchick, I am quite new here and was freaking out myself a few weeks ago. Trust me, it WILL get easier. FDMB is the best.

Very important to gradually transition your cat to solely low-carb canned food like Fancy Feast Classics or Pate and wean him off the dry food.

And don't forget to breathe and get your rest. You'll feel much better in the morning.
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Ty I hope so. My gang always ate both wet and dry so the transition shouldn't be too bad they just have to get use to no dry food hopefully my freaking out status will decrease in time
 
Shiloh & Rhonda said:
I am up and on at 6:30 am. and most days I am home and online by 5:30 pm. AM I am getting ready for work as well. I jump on here, post Shiloh's numbers and look for advice myself.
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I will definitely be on after work before is always a race out the door for me I'm so glad I found this group
 
Hi everyone! I really appreciated all of your help last night. Leroy and I made it through our first full day of life with FD. He's taking the whole thing better than I am. Good news I didn't cry today only had one panic attack and ran home from work in the middle of the day to make sure my Leroy wasn't in hypoglycemic shock. I took your advice and nixed the dry DM food in favor of the 9 lives pate and some steamed chicken. He still seems a bit lethargic and is drinking a lot how long usually til you see an improvement? Also what is the best way you have found to inject. I have been squeezing the back of his neck and shooting in there but needle is small and only 1iu so I'm not sure I'm getting it in any suggestions?
 
Note: Sudden food changes may provoke nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. If he was already eating some canned of the same kind, he may be OK.
In terms of supplementing with plain meat of poultry, per Dr Pierson of Cat Info, you may add 1 ounce of plain meat of poultry to 5 ounces of cat food, mix well and portion out, without affecting the nutrient profile adversely. Otherwise, adding more plain protein may require the use of supplements to ensure complete nutrition.
 
BJM said:
Note: Sudden food changes may provoke nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. If he was already eating some canned of the same kind, he may be OK.
In terms of supplementing with plain meat of poultry, per Dr Pierson of Cat Info, you may add 1 ounce of plain meat of poultry to 5 ounces of cat food, mix well and portion out, without affecting the nutrient profile adversely. Otherwise, adding more plain protein may require the use of supplements to ensure complete nutrition.
Click to expand...
Ty they actually always ate this wet food my mistake was that I also gave them dry food I think that's what caused Leroy's problem
 
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