Diagnosed in mid-February

[Elissa]

Hello. I am Elissa and my diabetic kitty is Buffy, age 10 (I also have another kitty, Bridget, age 11). Buffy was diagnosed on February 17 when I had a senior blood panel drawn because I noticed that she was drinking and peeing more. Glucose at first measurement was 469. I immediately pulled all treats and dry food (both cats had been on canned Hills Metabolic, 1/3 can 2x/day plus dry food free fed plus some Temptations treats each day); after reading a bit on the boards (not a huge amount because I am a CPA and this is busy season), I switched both cats over 4 days to canned Wellness Core Grain Free, 1/2 can twice a day, and Blue Buffalo chicken & turkey grain-free treats given only as a reward (to both cats) when Buffy needs to get poked. When I brought Buffy back a few days later after making the food change, but before any insulin was administered, her glucose was down to 419, and week after diagnosis, and after 4 days on 1 cc of insulin 2x/day, her glucose was 369. So, moving in the right direction at least. I bought an AlphaTrak2 but so far have had zero luck successfully getting blood out of Buffy's ear myself, so all measurements are from the vet. She'll be going back in in another week to have the vet do the glucose curve (unless I can figure out how to reliably get the blood from her ear myself). Also the first few insulin shots, I didn't feel like I was getting anything in her, but I feel like I am getting a feel for how to do those now. My last cat before I adopted the "B sisters" two years ago was in chronic renal failure for 2.5 years and we managed successful daily subcutaneous fluid administration during that period. I recall it took about 6 weeks before both the cat and I got used to the routine, so I am presuming the same thing will happen again--and of course I have my fingers crossed that the food change and some weight loss will help Buffy normalize not to need insulin.

 

[Jan Radar (GA)]

Congratulations to you for finding us and making the switch to low carb wet food. You've already taken an important stride forward for your cats' health. The fact that you already have experience giving subQ fluids puts you miles ahead of where I was when I first got a FD diagnosis. You've found a place where we have all been in your shoes and understand the steep learning curve that must happen when trying to give the best possible care to our furry kids. So here are a few tips to get you started with the very important and potentially life saving home monitoring of blood glucose.
1. One of the hardest parts for us in the beginning was worrying that we were hurting the cat. Know that there are few pain receptors in the ear so the poking doesn't hurt the cat. My cat had to get used to having us restrain him and having us mess with his ears. So in the beginning we held him ever so briefly in the chosen testing spot, touched his ears and gave him scritches under the chin which he loves, gave him a tiny piece of salmon and then let him go. This very gentle approach got him hooked so to speak. As we moved forward with actually testing him we always gave a treat even when we didn't get enough blood to test.
2. Here's a link to a picture and some information which was enormously helpful to help us know where and how to poke. The "sweet spot"
3. In the beginning you are learning to poke but the cat's ears are "learning" to bleed.
You will soon be a pro at this. It takes a little time and determination so breathe and be patient.
Please let us know what else we can do to help you. We are happy to welcome you to the very best place that you never thought you'd be.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Welcome. It does take a shot time to get into the routine and takes awhile to learn how to get blood from the ear.
You said " 1 cc of insulin". I do not think that is correct since one cc of insulin would kill a cat. I suspect that you mean one unit of insulin

 

[Elissa]

Congratulations to you for finding us and making the switch to low carb wet food. You've already taken an important stride forward for your cats' health. The fact that you already have experience giving subQ fluids puts you miles ahead of where I was when I first got a FD diagnosis. You've found a place where we have all been in your shoes and understand the steep learning curve that must happen when trying to give the best possible care to our furry kids. So here are a few tips to get you started with the very important and potentially life saving home monitoring of blood glucose.
1. One of the hardest parts for us in the beginning was worrying that we were hurting the cat. Know that there are few pain receptors in the ear so the poking doesn't hurt the cat. <cut>

Thank you! Your post was very helpful!

 

[Elissa]

Welcome. It does take a shot time to get into the routine and takes awhile to learn how to get blood from the ear.
You said " 1 cc of insulin". I do not think that is correct since one cc of insulin would kill a cat. I suspect that you mean one unit of insulin

Yes, one unit, thanks