Hi from Australia!

[Kira + Violet]

Hi there! My name is Kira and I am new here. My family (me, Husband and 2 daughters aged 17 and 10) have 2 cats, Anya is 10 and Russian Blue mix, who we adopted at 4 years old, and Violet who is 5, and has been with us since 8 weeks old, is a black domestic shorthair who was diagnosed with Diabetes on the 18th of July this year (a few days ago). Both cats are also desexed. My husband is on disability payments and I am his full time carer, so finances are tight but we will do what we can to help Violet live a long and healthy life.

Violet was losing weight fast and we got a home test kit on Friday that showed glucose and ketones in her urine. I took her to the vet on Tuesday (first day I could get her in) and the vet took a blood sample that confirmed she has diabetes.
Tomorrow Violet goes in for a blood glucose curve to be done and insulin to be prescribed.

I have been doing a lot of research since about Wednesday last week (I'm autistic and deep dive into researching things) and have swapped both our cats off dry food and onto low carb wet food diets over the last week.
We are using a Contour Next V1 that my local pharmacy had and we have been practising getting readings from Violet. I got some Neosporin + pain relief for her to try and make it not as upsetting for her while we get everything under control and stable, if we can.

The vet we saw on Tuesday said that ketones in Violets urine means that she is in a stable diabetic state, but that doesn't sound right to me, so I'm hoping he just used the wrong term, or I misunderstood him. The vet doing Violets BG curve tomorrow is a different vet at the same clinic, so hopefully they have a bit more experience with feline diabetes.

What kind of questions should I be asking the vet tomorrow when I drop Violet off? Also what should I be asking when I pick her up tomorrow evening?

I'm thinking:
At drop off -

• What type of insulin are they going to try?
• Do they have experience with FD?
• Will they give me a copy of her blood test results in case she needs to be seen by any other vets in an emergency?

At pick up -

• What is their plan with adjusting her insulin dose?
• When do they want to see her next and what for?
• Are they supportive of me home testing BG? (doesn't influence me doing it, I will be no matter what they respond)
• Will they write a script for her insulin so I can purchase it from a pharmacy?

Any and all advice is very appreciated and thanks in advance!

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

Welcome. Waving from Canada.

Is this what you are looking for?

• Vet Interview/Screening Topics & Check List

Tagging @Bron and Sheba (GA) who lives in AUS.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I live in Sydney. Gosh you are super organised with the spreadsheet and signature already done. That's great!

The vet we saw on Tuesday said that ketones in Violets urine means that she is in a stable diabetic state, but that doesn't sound right to me, so I'm hoping he just used the wrong term, or I misunderstood him.

Hopefully the vet said there were no ketones in the urine because Violet would not be in a stable state if she had ketones. You can buy some Ketostix from a pharmacy to check them yourself. Its a good idea to test a diabetic cats urine for ketones when it is unregulated.

What type of insulin are they going to try?

Hopefully they will prescribe optisulin (glargine) insulin. Don't let them tell you to use a pen where you dial up the dose.
You need to be using syringes and if you are prescribed optisulin insulin you will need U100, 3/10, 30 or 31 gauge, 6 or 8 mm insulin syringes. You cant buy 1/2 unit syringes in Australia. BD ultra fine syringes are good and you should be able to buy them from a pharmacy or they can order them in for you.
The insulin should come in cartridges...they sell them in boxes of 5 and call them pens, because they can be used with the solostar pens (which we advise against because doses can only be given in 1 unit increments)...I hope that makes sense...its all a bit confusing in the beginning.
Don't let them prescribe caninsulin or vetsulin insulin as they are dog insulins and are not suitable for cats

Do they have experience with FD?

Yes ask them if they have much experience with FD. Most vets do not know a lot about FD

Will they give me a copy of her blood test results in case she needs to be seen by any other vets in an emergency?

Yes always ask for the lab results. You paid for them and they are yours.

What is their plan with adjusting her insulin dose?

They will probably want you to take Violet into them for the day for a curve but if you are hometesting that is not necessary. You can do any curve at home and we can help you with dosing. And it will be a lot cheaper for you that way.

Are they supportive of me home testing BG? (doesn't influence me doing it, I will be no matter what they respond)

Tell them up front you are hometesting. If they dont like it, that's tough. Violet is your cat.
If you have not bought the lancets yet buy size 26 or 28 and buy some cotton balls to hold behind the ear when testing.

Will they write a script for her insulin so I can purchase it from a pharmacy?

Some vets will get you to buy it from them but it is much cheaper to by at the pharmacy. You may need to get the first lot from them.
It will also depend what they prescribe. The caninsulin is a vet product and you can only buy it from them.

If you are now feeding a low carb wet diet the starting dose is 0.5 Unit (1/2 unit)

Here is some INFORMATION FOR AUSSIE CAREGIVERS
Bron

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I agree with Bron and I’d cancel the curve. You can do it at home and the results will be more accurate. Cats get stressed at the vet so the bg readings tend to be elevated because of it. No need to spend the money especially if you’re on a tight budget at the moment.

 

[Shelley & Jess]

I got some Neosporin + pain relief for her to try and make it not as upsetting for her while we get everything under control and stable, if we can.

Neosporin is not recommended for use on cats.
Warning about Neosporin
"One of the antibiotics in Neosporin (with or without pain relief) is polymixin. If ingested in sufficient quantity, it can cause a severe allergic reaction -- an anaphylactic reaction."