Hello

[DukesMom]

Hi I'm Patty
I have a 13 year old male cat Duke who was diagnosed Friday Aug 17.
Had blood work done with abnormal labs did a cystocentesis on Thursday and of course Friday got the dreaded diagnosis. We are doing vetsulin 1 unit twice a day. I bought a glucose meter from Walmart and have been working my way up to checking...he is still a nervous kitty.
Intially went to vet earlier last we due to diarrhea put him on antibiotics and a royal canin high fiver wet food.
Finishing it out till Friday then for a gluose recheck. Did buy fancy feast and friskas to start transitioning him and our other cat to. ( they were free feeding purina cat chow) That's been my toughest thing. Not having a prissy kitty because they are on a feeding schedule. I work 12 hr shifts so trying to figure that out and give insulin etc.

 

[Idjit's mom]

Welcome to the board Duke's Mom and Duke. Getting the diagnosis is a bit of a world changer, but I assure you that feline diabetes is treatable and we are here to help you get going on learning about diabetes and treatment.
I encourage you to post questions in the Main Forum, the Introduction forum is essentially the welcome mat on the front porch and I would like as many eyes as possible to get you started on this new "adventure". Just click on the bold blue "Main Forum" link.
It would be helpful for you to take a couple of steps further: 1. Create a SIGNATURE. This is information about Duke that will display with each of your posts, so you won't have to keep answering the same questions. (See Idjit's signature at the bottom of my post). Just click on the SIGNATURE link I have provided for information on how to do that.
2. Get a spreadsheet started. The spreadsheet is a great tool for tracking blood glucose tests, and insulin shots. Then if you have dosing questions, testing questions, the information is right there for the responding advisers. Here is a link that explains the spreadsheet and how to get started: Spreadsheet

A suggestion, start to get Duke used to testing. Find your testing station, with good lighting, and comfortable for both of you, have some low carb treats (Pure Bites Freeze Dried, or some chunks of baked or boiled chicken breast). Rub his ears, and let him know this is ok. Hand over that treat. Do this often and he's going to associate testing with a goody. Don't forget a treat for yourself.
It it a lot to absorb at first, and it's a steep learning curve, but there is a wealth of reading material on diabetes, testing, feeding, the specific insulin you use, as well as tremendous support and answers to your questions. I don't want to overwhelm you with other links to reading materials, but please take a look around at the board.

 

[allie.crain97]

Welcome Duke and Patty!

My baby Sawyer was diagnosed over the summer and although it’s been quite the journey, it’s super manageable. He’s only six which is extremely young for diabetes and his blood sugar was over 600. I work at a restaurant so my work schedule is all over the place as well and there have definitely been nights when Sawyer got his insulin over an hour late. Whenever this happens, i just give him his morning insulin a little later (if possible). It’s better to risk underdosing them than to give them too much and risk a hypoglycemic episode while you’re not home. So, if your work schedule causes you to give the insulin at 11/13 hours instead of 12/12 it shouldn’t be a big deal (but still ask your vet). Sawyers been on insulin for ~2 months and his glucose curves currently have him between 200-400 (better, but not ideal).

My vet doesn’t require me to test his blood sugar and instead has him come in for glucose curves regularly to make sure his insulin is working (although i have a glucose monitor in case of emergency). All vets are different, but my point is that if you can’t get him to put up with daily testing it really isn’t that big of a big deal. Sawyer is kind of tricky to prick and testing twice a day just wasn’t working for us, so don’t beat yourself up if either of you can’t get the hang of it.

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions! I was in your shoes two months ago and I’d love to help talk you through this experience

-Allie+Sawyer

 

[JanetNJ]

Welcome

 

[Idjit's mom]

Welcome Duke and Patty!

My baby Sawyer was diagnosed over the summer and although it’s been quite the journey, it’s super manageable. He’s only six which is extremely young for diabetes and his blood sugar was over 600. I work at a restaurant so my work schedule is all over the place as well and there have definitely been nights when Sawyer got his insulin over an hour late. Whenever this happens, i just give him his morning insulin a little later (if possible). It’s better to risk underdosing them than to give them too much and risk a hypoglycemic episode while you’re not home. So, if your work schedule causes you to give the insulin at 11/13 hours instead of 12/12 it shouldn’t be a big deal (but still ask your vet). Sawyers been on insulin for ~2 months and his glucose curves currently have him between 200-400 (better, but not ideal).

My vet doesn’t require me to test his blood sugar and instead has him come in for glucose curves regularly to make sure his insulin is working (although i have a glucose monitor in case of emergency). All vets are different, but my point is that if you can’t get him to put up with daily testing it really isn’t that big of a big deal. Sawyer is kind of tricky to prick and testing twice a day just wasn’t working for us, so don’t beat yourself up if either of you can’t get the hang of it.

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions! I was in your shoes two months ago and I’d love to help talk you through this experience

-Allie+Sawyer

I beg to differ on the point that not testing is not a big deal and that your vet does not require you to test at home. There are many members here whose vets did not require testing or actively advised against it, instead advising members to bring the cat in for periodic testing or curves, like yours. So, the vet gets to charge you for more services, and you are shooting insulin blind, hoping that it's ok this time. If you had diabetes, or your child or another loved one, would you just inject insulin and hope it was ok? I know it's hard to learn to test at first, we were awful at it, but we learned and caught a hypo happening. I have been on the board so many times when a member posts a 911 because they tested and caught a hypo, some really critical and required a mad late night trip to the ER vet. You are your cat's caretaker, best advocate and ultimately in charge of his/her well being. Testing before every injection and getting other blood glucose measurements thru the day and night, is going to let you know, right then, how the insulin is working and help prevent those very scary and dangerous hypos.
There are members here who have been taking care of their sugar cats for years, they all test and advise testing to keep the kitties safe.

 

[AlphaCat]

Hi I'm Patty
I have a 13 year old male cat Duke who was diagnosed Friday Aug 17.
Had blood work done with abnormal labs did a cystocentesis on Thursday and of course Friday got the dreaded diagnosis. We are doing vetsulin 1 unit twice a day. I bought a glucose meter from Walmart and have been working my way up to checking...he is still a nervous kitty.
Intially went to vet earlier last we due to diarrhea put him on antibiotics and a royal canin high fiver wet food.
Finishing it out till Friday then for a gluose recheck. Did buy fancy feast and friskas to start transitioning him and our other cat to. ( they were free feeding purina cat chow) That's been my toughest thing. Not having a prissy kitty because they are on a feeding schedule. I work 12 hr shifts so trying to figure that out and give insulin etc.

Hi Patty!
It's been a week since you got the diagnosis. I just thought I'd check in and see how things are going with Duke?
How's the diet change going?
Have you got the hang of home testing?
It's still probably a bit early for either of those things, to say with certainty.

Diagnosis can be overwhelming, especially faced with all the new changes and schedules. We had Fabby on Vetsulin and it was very forgiving on the time frame. I tested 4 times a day because I could. But if you only do testing twice a day before your shots, that's fine too.

The best thing is to read through the health boards and even the Vetsulin board and soak in as much info as you can.
I hope you aren't completely exhausted after your first week of this news. It does get easier!