Diagnosed last month, not even near regulation :(

[Meridith and Zeke]

Hi, my daughters rescued Russian Blue is our diabetic furbaby. We were diagnosed April 12th last month. He had lost 5 pounds in about 1 1/2 weeks which is what signaled to us that something was wrong. Since his diagnosis, Zeke has lost another pound. The week before last, his reading was around 326, the vet raised him from 1.5 units to 2 units and last week his reading was 354 so the vet raised him to 2.5 units and with loosing .75 pounds in a week, also told us to increase his food. I found this forum yesterday and have since realized that the vet we had been going to is crap, the phone call this morning confirmed it. We had only been going to that one because none of our cats travel well and he was closer. I now have an appt for Friday morning with the vet I normally go to. Not sure why I hadn't already went to her yet, even my mother asked me why the hell haven't I yet lol. Until then I am going to be doing some heavy reading on this forum and probably will be posting some questions soon also.

 

[Yong & Maury GA]

Welcome Meridith and Zeke!
Sorry to hear about your closer Vet. Unfortunately, that seems to be a more common thing here . Are you home testing? If not, would you be interested? It really is the best tool in our FD kitty tool belts. We use a Spreadsheet template, instructions here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

What insulin is Zeke on? Putting some basic information about Zeke in your Signature can be very helpful and help those of us with bad memories : http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

Lastly, I see you are looking at this now but if you need the link again: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

Feel free to ask any questions on the Main Health Forum. This is a support group for Zeke and his family

 

[Meridith and Zeke]

Thank you. I will get the signature edited here shortly. I printed out the page on hypoglycemia right after posting and it is on my fridge already Another thing the one vet never told us about. Going to be looking into foods which are best yet affordable and we do want to learn about home testing. Will also be going soon and getting ketone test strips too since would be very good to keep on hand. I know I will be having lots of questions and have told my daughter to join up and start reading so she can ask questions too if she needs to.

 

[Yong & Maury GA]

Foods: Most of us feed Friskies pate (non-indoor formulas) and or Fancy Feast classic (pates) for most affordable. Also, Dr. Pierson's food chart, many of us refer to for foods. Ideally you want to stick with <10% carbs.
Meter: Many use a human glucometer like Walmart's ReliOn Confirm/Micro due to better test strip affordability. I think *all* the protocols were written here based on human glucometer readings.
Ketone test strips: At least 1 time a week unless your kitty is in higher numbers for a while, might want to do a few times a week. While you're going to the store, pick up a long handled spoon to help catch the sample and then clearly mark it Zeke's spoon .

And I see your pic of him now! What a cutie! He's like Russian blue / Snowshoe

 

[Meridith and Zeke]

We have been doing the FF but after looking over a chart with the carb levels, looks like the ones we have been giving him have the highest carb count so going to go ahead and go to Friskies since he always wants to eat the other kitties food already lol. Printed out the list so we can make sure to get ones with no more then 10% of carbs. Thanks for the suggestion on the spoon! Was wondering the easiest way on that lol.

Hopefully since we will be starting to feed a lower carb food, we will start seeing better numbers soon. Should help with his weight loss too. Really wish I had started looking into this much sooner then I did. But better late then never. So ready for him to put on at least a couple pounds so he will stop feeling like a skeleton with skin.

Will be reading more on the meters and how to do it ourselves. Though I know he won't like it, he started accepting me doing his shots fairly quick so I think he will adjust well to that with a nice treat of tuna or chicken after

 

[Yong & Maury GA]

You'll definitely want to be home monitoring if changing his diet. Rewarding is important even if you fail getting successful test
Sieden and Peanut

JanetNJ and CC

 

[JanetNJ]

We have been doing the FF but after looking over a chart with the carb levels, looks like the ones we have been giving him have the highest carb count so going to go ahead and go to Friskies since he always wants to eat the other kitties food already lol. Printed out the list so we can make sure to get ones with no more then 10% of carbs. Thanks for the suggestion on the spoon! Was wondering the easiest way on that lol.

Hopefully since we will be starting to feed a lower carb food, we will start seeing better numbers soon. Should help with his weight loss too. Really wish I had started looking into this much sooner then I did. But better late then never. So ready for him to put on at least a couple pounds so he will stop feeling like a skeleton with skin.

Will be reading more on the meters and how to do it ourselves. Though I know he won't like it, he started accepting me doing his shots fairly quick so I think he will adjust well to that with a nice treat of tuna or chicken after

I love that you are willing to jump right in.


That's a lot of weight for him to lose so quickly. You know you don't have to feed him just twice a day, right? Many here feed several small meals throughout the day. And as he's trying to put on weight feed as much as he wants. If we can help with anything let us know.

 

[Meridith and Zeke]

Thank you Janet. Yep I know on the number of feedings, with 3 cats and hectic schedule, 2 times a day is easier to keep up on. We do let him eat all he wants and I am so ready for our appt Friday because he has cut back on his food. He does seem to like his new food better then his old but don't want to do a fast switch on him because I know that causes other problems. I am researching meters so we can test at home so it can be better monitored. I did do a ketone test last night and that was great, so no issues there. That was actually easier then I expected. Bought a ladle to slip under him when he is peeing and it didn't bother him at all lol. I half expected him to get mad the moment I tried to do it lol.