Hello new friends!! :)

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MrsDudley

Member Since 2012
Hi there. My name is Taylor and my handsome fur baby is Springer Dale. He has been insulin dependent for almost 3 years of his 10 year life thus far.
Short story about us. I was a freshman in high school in 2002. My home economic teacher had a sign on her chalkboard that she had a kitty to give away. I'm not sure what hit me because I have been allergic to cats since I was little, but I called my mother and when I got home from dance that evening I had a tiny black and white fur ball named Springer.
He has been my very best friend since. My fiancé, Wes, joined our life a year ago and on November 17th, we officially add him to our little family. Springer and i have had quite the journey in our lives. I take care of him and he takes care of me.
In fact, I just had surgery today (gallbladder removal) and he is on my feet. Just like he has been for the past 5 years when I had gallbladder attacks.


We look forward to talk to and getting to know all of you and your love bugs!

Taylor, Wesley, & Springer
 
hi Taylor

welcome to the board!

Hope you feel better soon!
My husband had his gall bladder removed a few years ago and recovered well.

Denise
 
Welcome!

Got a few questions for you:

What insulin is he on?

What do you feed him?

Do you home test the glucose levels? If yes, what levels have you seen? (non-US, mutiply by 18)
 
Hello BJM.

Springer currently uses Humulin N.
As for food he eats a Purina brand small can of food with his injections. It was and still is the only thing we can get him to eat. We tried a brand the vet suggested and he refused it. He's very picky which makes both our lives harder.

I don't home test. Our vet is very good with us and when we sense things may be off we take him in.
 
MrsDudley said:
... Springer currently uses Humulin N. ...
I don't home test. Our vet is very good with us and when we sense things may be off we take him in.
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Your vet is likely out of date if he is using Humulin N - it only lasts 6-8 hours in a cat due to their rapid metabolism. This means you have 4-6 hours with no insulin coverage each 12 hours, which means higher glucose levels, which can mean organ damage to the body (renal damage, cataracts, and more) Current diabetes therapy in feline diabetics uses Lantus, Levemir, Prozinc, or BCCP PZI insulins. If you think your vet is open to it, we have a number of veterinary articles that will help get him updated.

We strongly encourage home testing, as it is the best way ro determine if it is safe to give the insulin. I had times with Spitzer where would have overdosed him had I not tested and seen it was unsafe to do...and he looked fine to me. And if you had a diabetic child, you would never give insulin without checking it was safe first; you'd test to be safe. We can help you learn how and you do not need your vet's permission to do so. WalMart carries a relatively inexpensive glucometer, the Relion Confirm which works quite well for monitoring.
 
Thank you so much for your input. I may speak with my vet or a new one soon.
Dr smith actually had mentioned home testing but I am horribly fearful. I have other friends who do and do not home test so we are all in a boat.
As for the insulin, that is a money issue. I actually had a woman who's kitty passed and she has a large amount of insulin and syringe RX built up that she had donated to the hospital. I was actually to the point where we were talking about how to fund to have him put to sleep. That was misrable. But thankfully that donation was gifted to me.
I don't like to speak of money or my situation but I just wanted to briefly touch on the why of that topic.
I hate it because I do know that eventually it will be my lack of funds and not his poor health that will be his downfall.
 
Please start a new thread and give us your city and state. There may be someone near you who could help with hometesting/supplies. You can order a free testing kit from us (click on the picture at the top of the page). There is a group called Diabetic Cats in Need that is sometimes able to help with insulin:

http://fdmb-cin.blogspot.com/p/education.html

I'd urge you to contac them to see if they can help.

You aren't alone anymore. You and your kitty are part of our family and we want to see what we can do to help.
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
Please start a new thread and give us your city and state. There may be someone near you who could help with hometesting/supplies. You can order a free testing kit from us (click on the picture at the top of the page). There is a group called Diabetic Cats in Need that is sometimes able to help with insulin:

http://fdmb-cin.blogspot.com/p/education.html

I'd urge you to contac them to see if they can help.

You aren't alone anymore. You and your kitty are part of our family and we want to see what we can do to help.
Click to expand...


So I just make a thread that just says where I live? Where do I make that?
 
Also, you all that home test. How do you get your cat that calm? Springer is not a snugly thing. He hasn't been in a lap since he was a few months old. All the videos I've seen, these cats just hop up in a lap and sit still. Springer doesn't even sleep still.
 
Use the New Topic button. In the subject line, maybe "Newbie needs hometesting help in ____________________" Highlight and copy the url at the top of this post and paste it into your new topic so everyone can see what you have said so far. (Be sure to highlight the link once it is in your new thread and hit the URL button just under the subject line. That will link it.)

You can start getting Springer used to the idea right now. First pick a place where you want to test. Some people use the kitchen counter, a blanket on the floor, between your legs while sitting – whatever works for you. Take the kitty there and give him lots of praise while you play with his/her ears. Give a treat and release. Next time, add the rice sack (thin sock filled with raw rice, heated in the microwave until very warm but not hot) or a prescription pill bottle filled with very warm water. Lots of praise, treat and release. Finally add the lancet so he will get used to the noise. The hope is that when you finally poke, they will be used to the process and know a treat is coming!

The trick is to find something he loves as a treat and not use it any time but when you test. And if he is not a lap cat, take it slow. Maybe lots of times just working with his ears and a treat before you add the rice sack.

Members have worked with some very difficult cats. I know it is hard to believe but after a month or so, many cats will come to the spot and purr, because they know their treat is coming. If you need it, we have some restraint ideas like the kitty burrito and using clothespins on their necks (like Mom cats carrying their babies by the napes of their necks) but if you can approach it slowly, with lots of treats, that would be the best.
 
There are some ways to work with Humulin N to optimize how it works in a cat.

1) Since it wears off roughly 6 to 8 hours after the injection, you can pick up the food then until its time for the next dose.

2) Or, the total day's dose can be divided among 3 shots given 8 hours apart. It can be tough to schedule that for some folks. Also, for safety, it would mean 3 pre-shot tests, with 3 lancets, 3 test strips, and 3 syringes per day, rather than 2 of each.

You work with what you can and we'll help you do it. Once you are comfortable with home-testing, you will know when it is safe to give insulin and can learn how to safely adjust his dose if/when he needs it.

Take a look at my signature link on Secondary Monitoring Tools. You'll see some ways to test for both ketones and glucose in urine. While they aren't the gold standard, they still give you some data about how well the diabetes is being controlled.
 
MrsDudley said:
Also, you all that home test. How do you get your cat that calm? Springer is not a snugly thing. He hasn't been in a lap since he was a few months old. All the videos I've seen, these cats just hop up in a lap and sit still. Springer doesn't even sleep still.
Click to expand...
My Cleo is the same - she started off literally savaging me whenever I tried to test her. Just in the space of the past week or so things have improved.

Have a look at my thread on this issue - I received some really good advice from people on the subject:

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=81711

Basically, what I've found works best is to be rather opportunistic in my approach to testing her - I think someone coined the phrase "poke and run", which pretty much describes it; I've been quietly sneaking up on her whilst she's sleepy and relaxed, stroking her ears a bit, and then doing the test as quickly and with as little fuss as possible. Then as soon as possible afterwards, I've been distracting Cleo with tinned tuna. She quickly forgets how irritated she is with me. In fact, today was the first time I managed to do a BG test without her trying to attack me, or growl, hiss, run off etc. I think she's finally beginning to associate the tests with the tuna. So it is possible!

Good luck, and I'm sure some more experienced blood glucose testers will have loads more advice for you soon.

H
 
This is proving to be one of those times i feel awful for discouraging him to be a lap cat.
Please tell me I am not the only person who has gone 3-4 years with a diabetic cat and not tested. I currently feel like the most awful person in the world.


Also, is there a place where people still use the Humilin? Where I could read responses?
 
Those in the past years that did use N, like back to '97, are no longer posting or their kitty is now gone (GA). Majority of people used L or U which has been discontinued, than IDEXX PZI came out, then discontinued, so most use either Lantus, Levermir, ProZinc (PZI) or compounded BCP PZI.

With N you need to feed at least 1/2hr. before shooting...food needs to be on board....fast acting and short duration insulin. Vets who start with N are not up to date on insulins for cats. For some cats it did work with close monitoring with a meter.

Don't let your kitty fake you out and make you think testing hurts him.....it doesn't. When you see videos of calm kitties being tested it is because they have become used to it as part of the routine as it shows you that it doesn't hurt the cat at all.
 
Hope + (((Baby)))GA said:
Those in the past years that did use N, like back to '97, are no longer posting or their kitty is now gone (GA). Majority of people used L or U which has been discontinued, than IDEXX PZI came out, then discontinued, so most use either Lantus, Levermir, ProZinc (PZI) or compounded BCP PZI.

With N you need to feed at least 1/2hr. before shooting...food needs to be on board....fast acting and short duration insulin. Vets who start with N are not up to date on insulins for cats. For some cats it did work with close monitoring with a meter.

Don't let your kitty fake you out and make you think testing hurts him.....it doesn't. When you see videos of calm kitties being tested it is because they have become used to it as part of the routine as it shows you that it doesn't hurt the cat at all.
Click to expand...


I can't even remember what we started with. I think it was like vetsilin? Or vet something. Then there was one specific for animals but I don't recall the name, we didn't use it very long because it didn't seem to work correctly. Almost like his body just burnt through it.

I may try the feeding before the shot. I was never told much. To be really honest, I'm not much of a fan of my vet, my cat is just used to him and comfortable there. He had actually only mentioned home testing once and said he had people just go off on their own and pick and choose what to give their pet (which is an understandable concern) and they would accodently overdose them or give way under and leave for work and have a comatose pet. I can see that
But really it was never mentioned besides that one occurrence. Odd
 
MrsDudley said:
I can't even remember what we started with. I think it was like vetsilin? Or vet something. Then there was one specific for animals but I don't recall the name, we didn't use it very long because it didn't seem to work correctly. Almost like his body just burnt through it.
Click to expand...


It was probably Vetsulin. It's a good insulin for dogs but not so much for cats.

ProZinc has pretty much replaced Vetsulin for diabetic cats here in the US. There are many people here who use ProZinc.

To be really honest, I'm not much of a fan of my vet, my cat is just used to him and comfortable there. He had actually only mentioned home testing once and said he had people just go off on their own and pick and choose what to give their pet (which is an understandable concern) and they would accodently overdose them or give way under and leave for work and have a comatose pet. I can see that
Click to expand...

You really need to have a vet that you can comfortably work with. Are there any other vets in the area that you could try? Here are questions to asks new vets about how they would treat diabetic cats: http://gorbzilla.com/decisions_decisions.htm
 
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