Help for a First-Timer - Shots & testing

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Hi All,
My husband & I have been caring for a previously abandoned/feral cat we named Scrappy Doo, for the last several months and he was now diagnosed with diabetes. We have not started insulin yet, but will be in the next day or so and it will be Lantus. We have successfully (thanks to reading the posts on this site) home tested Scrappy yesterday & today...Scrappy did great..thank God! Would love any & all help on the following, since we are very frustrated with our Vet (very long story there):

Recommended Schedule on home testing & what numbers we should see. And what dosage should we use? Yesterday a couple of hours after dinner was 423 and tonight before dinner and about 4 hours after lunch was 350.
{We feed him a can Friskies for Breakfast & one for Dinner and small can IAMS at lunch. Sometimes Scrappy gets chicken, beef, tuna, etc in lieu of the canned food. He is now only eating wet food to reduce the carbs...was hoping since we made him an indoor cat & originally also fed him dry food, we could possibly "fix" things by removing the dry food.}

Any pointers for treating Scrappy and balancing two young children (ages 2 1/2 & 14 moths).

Tips on how to do this alone, when my husband is working.

We thank you in advance for helping us through this,

Amy, Rob & Scrappy Doo
 

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Ann, Congragulations on already testing Scrappy!
Can you tell us what numbers you got? And maybe what foods Scrappy is currently eatting.
Welcome to the family of Sugar Kitties and their loving beans....
Lori
and tomtom
 
So....Scrappy is currently on a mixed diet of dry and wet food right?
 
ooops, I see, he eats wet. And is the wet food on the list of foods under 10% crabs as per Janet & Binky's food list?
Reason I ask is you don't want to change diet after starting shooting if you can help it.
And does Scrappy have any other health issues, teeth, urinary track issue's, been on anti-biotics recently, any steroids given to Scrappy?
 
Hi Lori,
I am not sure on most of the questions. Can you direct me to the food list?

Also, we just met Scrappy about a year ago...he would come to the back deck of our new house and then leave and as time went on he would stay longer and nap, etc. We started to leave out food & water as he looked hungry and when we noticed he was not neutered, we assumed he was feral. In the Winter, he was shivering, so we ordered a heated cat house and then in March we decided to do the right thing for him and brought him to the Vet and got him neutered and checked out and his shots.
He has been on Antibiotics but not for the last month. The Vet did not mention any issues with his teeth and I do not think they ever gave him steroids. I believe he had a UT issue in April, but after antibiotics, the Vet said he was fine. But, as I mentioned, I am not very happy with our Vet, so hopefully Scrappy does not have other issues besides the diabetes.
Thanks,
Amy
 
ok, give me a minute Ann and I will link you to our food list. when you open it look at the carbs column and you will find the carb count for every brand, every flavor of every canned food! most want 10 carbs or less, I personally like 7 carbs or less.
brb
 
Thanks for the info...
The Friskies are all under 10 and most around 7 - it is a variety pack, so 4 different flavors.
The IAMS is a small 3 oz can, and the IAMS listed were the larger can, so I think we should be good there too. I looked on the can and could not find carb info.
 
as long as it's the same flavor it does'nt matter the size of the can. it goes by percent.
and you will NEVER find carb counts on the cans.
sooooo, when do you start shooting the lantus?
I can tell you that we always start on 1 unit....many vets reccomend higher doses for some reason (body weight?) but the truth is 1 unit is frequently enuf and often too much.
It is a much easier process to raise the dose gradually rather than have too much insulin in your sweet Scrappy and try to reduce....that is a headache I hope you won't entertain.
Make sure your vet shows you precisely where on the syringe 1 unit is.
This might seem self evident, and mostly it is....but terrible mistakes have happened. One very recently with a newbie.
It would be nice to get your spread sheet up and ready to go.
See mine below....linked, tom's spread sheet?
If you have trouble with that I can get Sue and Oliver to help you....she is really good with that.

Your shot times are your call. it is important to be able to stick to it, and keep it at a steady 12/12.
And you want to test definetly before each and EVERY shot.
That is really really really really important.

I think your off to a very good start Ann.

Lori
and tomtom

PS the people who use lantus will be stopping by to help you cuz I think I'll post over there that you are a new lantus user.
 
hi amy! lori posted that you were here and i wanted to come by and meet you. there's somewhere upwards of 30 of us who use lantus that post daily on the lantus forum. we can help you with all of it.

Here is the Lantus forum home page - a support group for people using that insulin: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=9

there is a lotta lotta reading to do at the beginning to help you help scrappy (awesome name, btw!)

this is my favorite starting point for info - it's just a great summary for someone starting out: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=18139

you'll want
1. canned food under 10% (which you've already got)
2. home testing (which you're already on - way to go girl!)
3. a spreadsheet set up (it's in the second link i gave you above on how to set one up.)

and then you'll want to come to the lantus forum home page and post a "new topic" and we'll help you from there.

glad you're here, well, not glad for little scrappy, but this is the place that will help him get healthy! you'll be amazed at how quickly he will begin to get better!
 
Just want to say welcome. Your post made my day - you guys have big hearts.

You are in good hands with FMDB. This group kept my feet on the ground when Maverick got his diabetes diagnosis.

Waviing Hi from Lantus Land :cool:
 
Hi Amy, Rob, and Scrappy Doo!!! We're also lantus landers coming to welcome you!!! It will help us immensely to help you if you have Scrappy Doo's spreadsheet set up when you come to Lantus Land. We can better help with dosing once we see what kinds of numbers he's getting.

There's alot of great help here in HEALTH and when you get your feet on the ground, come on over to Lantus Insulin Support Group. We're happy to answer any questions you have.
 
Good Morning Amy, Rob & Scrappy Doo!

Yet another Lantus Lander waving Hi... I have two diabetics both are/were on Lantus, one in remission and the other recently adopted, so working on getting her regulated.

You guys just make me smile, not only for your enormous hearts for taking in a little homeless guy, but for being way ahead of most of us when we arrived here. :thumbup


Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Just wanted to say hi! Cedric was on Lantus for about a month. He is now diet controlled. Being at home during the day will help you when it comes time for you to do a "curve" - hopefully your little ones take naps during the day! :smile: I have done 3 curves on Cedric, and once I stayed home from work, once he came to work for 1/2 day and the last time he spent the day here at the office (I work p/t at Walt Disney World on the weekends, so time off is hard to come by).

You'll want to pick a "shoot" time that works for you - mine was around 6am/6pm (6:15 might be more accurate). Test first, write the number in a log book, then shoot the insulin (unless you are close to being normal-then it's a little tricky). The log book will be VERY important if both you and your hubby are in charge of injecting Scrappy - you don't want him to get double shots.

I don't post daily in the Lantus forum anymore, but I do suggest you head on over there - they are a great group, as is everyone here at FDMB!

Again, welcome!
 
Hi Amy! Welcome! I'm a newbie too -- Star just started Lantus a little less than a week ago. I know her bg levels dropped from around 400 at the vet's office (probably higher than normal because of stress) once we changed her diet. A week after the diet change to low-carb she was sitting around 200 whenever we tested at home. We ended up starting with a 0.25u dose of Lantus twice daily, and I can't believe how very small that looks in the needle. So a diet change could definitely help. By the way, the vet had suggested starting with 2units (she's a LARGE cat) and that was obviously over the mark. I know some kitties eventually get "off the juice" and are just diet controlled.

We're learning to balance the diabetes with two young children too -- ours are 3.5 and 1.5 years. We are so new that I don't have any answers, but so far we're managing. We picked the evening shot time to be shortly after the girls' bedtime, so we would know we'd always be home for it, and the morning is 12 hours earlier by definition. When we started, both DH and I were hands on to do the testing, but the more times we did it the less we needed each other. We can both test by ourselves now. Of course, all those that learn to do it by themselves from the start are just uber-talented in my mind. :-) I have been the lucky one to give the Lantus sticks, though I'm sure DH will get some experience eventually. At least at the moment we have only my interpretation of what 0.25 is so doses are consistent! Our older daughter likes to give the treats after we test, and we learned pretty quickly to try and make sure the younger one is engaged in something else when we are pricking or sticking!

It is a lot to take in, but it's definitely doable.
 
Wow...I really appreciate everyone's support & guidance. It looks like there is a lot I do not know, but it is somewhat comforting that everyone either is or has been where I am right now. I will go to the Lantus board when I get the insulin...so thank you for reaching out to me.

Had another question. Scrappy now has a small cut by the corner of his mouth. I thought it was healing, but he still keep scratching at it..and it feels raised. Is this something we should be concerned about? Wasn't sure if it was related to the diabetes.
 
well....the fact that he keeps scratching at it might make the healing process difficult.
but it is true that an unregulated, high bg cat does not have the ability to heal quickly as he would once you get his numbers down.
the short story of that is this. when there is too much sugar in the blood the consistancy of the blood makes it difficult for the cells which are fed by the blood to absorb the nutrients. that is the reason for the excessive thirst, the body's cells are not getting hydrated because the blood is too thick with sugars.
their bodies are starving and dehydrating no matter how much food or water they get.
you should feed scrappy as much as he wants right now. best not to restrict food.
i also loved your story of taking scrappy in. he is one lucky boy....and that makes me smile.
lori
and tomtom
 
I'll add one more thing. Be sure you get syringes that have 1/2 unit markings on them. Although the vet ordered 3/10 cc syringes with 1/2 unit markings, the pharmacy gave me 1 cc syringes. I struggled with those syringes for a couple of months before I discovered the mistake.

Lana
 
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