Hello everyone :)

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Jen C

Jen C

Member Since 2017
Hi everyone,

I am here because of my cat Snaebo, a 9 year old female shorthair tortie. She was named Snowball when we got her, after we mispronounced her name a few times it stuck. Now she's Snaebo. :)

We have 4 other cats in the house besides Snaebo. She was just diagnosed yesterday with diabetes. My husband and I took her to the vet because of weight loss, increased drinking, and increased urination. In the last 3 days she had developed weakness in her hind legs. When we got her to the vet her blood glucose was 427 :(

After an overnight stay at the vet, she's now home and hiding under the couch. Her bg was 94 this afternoon when we picked her up. She needs to eat but I don't want to drag her out. The vet ordered 2 units twice a day and 1/2 cup of Purina DM twice a day, but says I don't need to check her sugar at home. He wants me to bring her back in tomorrow (I'll get charged for an office visit) and again in one week. Any ideas on why the vet would rather me stress her out by bringing her back in rather than just checking her myself at home?

I have so many questions, and even though I'm an RN in real life I'm a bit overwhelmed with this diagnosis. The cats have always had a "community" food bowl. Going to five separate bowls wouldn't be so bad if I had some idea of how to keep her from eating their food during the day. My husband and I both work 8-4. I'd like to leave out food/treats for everyone to snack on during the day as that seems like a long time to go without eating, but I have no idea how to keep Snaebo out of the regular food and the other cats out of her diabetic food. I just can't afford to feed them all diabetic food. :(

Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated!
 
The dry dm food is too high in carbs at 14%. Bring it back for a refund and say she didn't like it. Most of us feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods.... All under 10% carb.


Your instincts are right.... You absolutely should be checking her bg at home. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC. The only reason a vet can have for telling a willing person not to test is greed or being a control freak. A dr would never say to give your child insulin without testing, same should go for pets.

The starting dose of insulin is 1 unit twice a day. Esp since you are lowering the carbs, I think 1 is safer. Once you are home testing you can gradually raise it in half unit increases as needed.


Welcome
 
Thanks, Janet. We're off to Walmart this evening to see if we can find a decent glucometer and supplies.

I printed off the AAHA Diabetes Guidelines and highlighted parts for him to see :bookworm: Tomorrow will likely be the last time I see this vet, and it's a shame because I only met him yesterday at Snaebo's appointment. Between everything I've read in the forum and in my own research, I just don't like what the guy is telling me to do for her.
 
Jen C said:
Thanks, Janet. We're off to Walmart this evening to see if we can find a decent glucometer and supplies.

I printed off the AAHA Diabetes Guidelines and highlighted parts for him to see :bookworm: Tomorrow will likely be the last time I see this vet, and it's a shame because I only met him yesterday at Snaebo's appointment. Between everything I've read in the forum and in my own research, I just don't like what the guy is telling me to do for her.
Click to expand...
Here's your shopping list for Walmart

1. Relion micro or confirm (not prime, it takes too big of a sample)
2. box of 28 gauge lancets (the one that come with the meter are much thinner and harder to use on a cat esp. at first.)
3. an extra box of 100 test strips
4. cotton cosmetic rounds for putting behind the cats hear to protect your finger and to squeeze the ear for a few seconds after your reading
5. neosporin ointment with pain relief in case his ears need it after testing throughout the day a few times.
 
hi welcome to this awesome forum, things have been so non-overwhelming after first week for me thanks to the great folks here.

as for your food dilemma, can say we have 10 cats so leaving out dry food is what we do and our diabetic cat has done well netherless. we switched our previous dry food to young again zero and also leave out Evo turkey & chicken out too since two of our chewers ended up with gum/mouth issues with YA harder kibbles. My diabetic cat's numbers have not been affected from it, if anything they have gone down. he also gets fancy feast turkey & giblet for main meals. the two dry foods are on pricey side but, they actually eat a lot less of it (after the first couple days of introducing it), been 21 days and we still have about 1/3 plus of a 25lb bag of YA left and 3/4 plus of a 15.4lb bag of EVO after a week and that's with 9 of 10 cats eating it. dry food is not recommended but, these are better choice than vet recommended ones for those of us who still need to leave some out.
 
Does your vet know you're an RN? You can save yourself a lot of frustration by demonstrating a willingness to learn and the fact you're already s step ahead of the average frantic first-timer. Maybe he thinks you're an un-registered nurse, I've never understood that one. Welcome to the club.
 
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