Hi from Charlie and Bigs

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charliemid

charliemid

Member Since 2017
Hi everyone! One of my two cats, Bigcat (official name Jean-Luc) has just come out of hospital after a few days of being very ill and with a new diagnosis of diabetes, on top of the IBS he already had. It's possible this has developed because of the steroids he has been on for his IBS so on top of insulin we are having to taper down one steroid and start him on another that should help.

I'm feeling very anxious about the whole thing, to be honest - we've had a very stressful few months, my husband and I only moved to the US with the cats two months ago, and now this has happened... It seems like a lot to deal with. Bigs's time in hospital has perked him up, he seems very well considering, which is a huge relief of course, but I dread seeing him so ill again, especially now that the responsibility is ours (primarily mine as I legally can't work right now so am at home most of the time). Knowing that if I get it wrong, he could get sick or even die is really scary. Then there's the financial aspect - the cats are everything to us, and we would be willing to pay whatever it took, but that doesn't change the fact that it's worrying to think of how much we are going to have to spend on insulin and stuff. Thankfully we had pet insurance, so at least some of the hospital stay should be covered! But I know this is worrying my other half, which makes it double as worrying! We were already finding life here very expensive and this is just another mental burden (again, I am not saying we aren't willing to pay, because we definitely are, it's just very scary right now!)

Anyway, we picked him up from hospital this morning and now I am feeling strangely nervous about being here alone with him and his adopted sister. I feel so responsible and worried... Please excuse me writing so much, and thanks in advance for all your knowledge and wisdom! I'm now going to read the FAQs :)
 
Welcome Bigcat and his family! :bighug:
There are a few kitties here with diabetes and IBS so you are not alone! We all know the overwhelmed feeling you are experiencing right now. We do have some money saving tips for treating your fur baby so hopefully that can help relieve some stress :). May I ask what Bigcat was hospitalized for? If it was DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) you will want to add that in his Signature information. It's the light grey text that appears below our posts, gives a nice info sheet about Bigcat and helps those of us with bad memories ;): http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

Home testing is the best tool for treating feline diabetes (FD) and can be less expensive and more accurate than glucose curves done at the Vet clinic. Many of us use human glucometer's like Walmart's ReliOn Confirm/Micro since test strips are about $0.36/strip versus the Pet meter (AlphaTrak 2) which can be around $1/strip. I'll leave the Spreadsheet instructions here, so you can find everything in one place: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Lastly, while you are reading, I like to give this to new members. It's better to be prepared and read about Hypos ahead of time but I hope you never need it: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

Feel free to ask any questions on the Main Health Forum once you've at least setup a Signature :cat:. We are a support group for your Bigcat and his humans!
 
Welcome..... You're in the right place. You will get a lot of helpful advise and will answer any questions you have. What insulin has been prescribed? What dose?

Being anxious is completely normal.... We can give some cost cutting tips, and walk you through home testing so you can keep your cat safe! It's a huge relief when you learn how to do that.

Did the vet show you how?
 
Hi Bigs and Charlie...

Meet Jones - his story sounds the same to yours. I am going to say the steroid you are using is prednisolone right and you are going to try budesonide? Pred is known for causing diabetes in cats and is what made Jones diabetic. If you are already using insulin, I would really stress to make sure you are home testing. Low carb food and dose reduction of the pred really helped Jones' numbers. I hope you have better luck with the budesonide - it didn't work out for Jones with his IBD.

That said, this is doable!

Our kitties look alike!
 
Tracey&Jones said:
Hi Bigs and Charlie...

Meet Jones - his story sounds the same to yours.
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Yes, that's exactly right! Sorry the budesonide didn't work out for you. We figured it's definitely worth giving it a go and we'll see what happens! Fingers crossed...

Tracey&Jones said:
If you are already using insulin, I would really stress to make sure you are home testing.
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We aren't testing at the moment. Our vet is going to see him in about a week, then again in about another week or so, to do glucose curves (?), but we are currently researching glucometers and we will be doing it ourselves after that. I also read somewhere that you can check through their urine? Anyway this isn't the right place for all these conversations, but thanks for the response. And yes, our kitties do look alike! Maybe they are distantly related :D
 
JanetNJ said:
We can give some cost cutting tips, and walk you through home testing so you can keep your cat safe! It's a huge relief when you learn how to do that.

Did the vet show you how?
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Hi, and thanks! Actually we haven't learned that yet, they want to see him over the next few weeks to keep track of it until his insulin dose is settled on. They actually said we wouldn't need to test it at home but I want to know how, and it sounds like it's much cheaper that way than taking him in every however many weeks.
 
charliemid said:
Hi, and thanks! Actually we haven't learned that yet, they want to see him over the next few weeks to keep track of it until his insulin dose is settled on. They actually said we wouldn't need to test it at home but I want to know how, and it sounds like it's much cheaper that way than taking him in every however many weeks.
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Once I learned how to test I never brought my cat in for another test. It's a lot cheaper and a lot safer. The numbers are higher at the vet due to the stress of being there.
 
charliemid said:
Hi, and thanks! Actually we haven't learned that yet, they want to see him over the next few weeks to keep track of it until his insulin dose is settled on. They actually said we wouldn't need to test it at home but I want to know how, and it sounds like it's much cheaper that way than taking him in every however many weeks.
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I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat.
 
charliemid said:
They actually said we wouldn't need to test it at home
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Something many of us who hear this would like to ask the Vet, "Would you give insulin to a young human child without testing first?" Although I'm sure many of their comebacks would say, well no but this is a cat. Our fur babies are no different to us
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. Home testing has saved many a kitty life here :)
 
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