aspiredact
New Member
Hello, everyone! I'm new here and a little overwhelmed.
My kitty is named Austin, and he is a couple of months shy of 14 years old. He was diagnosed as diabetic about five or six years ago, at which time the vet recommended we start with changing his diet to Purina DM. It seemed to actually work until a few weeks ago, when he suddenly completely lost interest in his food (and he has always been a voracious eater).
We took him to the vet and found out he had an infection and his BG was 309. The vet said it was possible that the infection was causing the glucose spike, so he wanted us to go through the round of antibiotics before determining if his time for insulin had come. He did get over the infection, but he just never really seemed to get back to the "real" Austin. I started doing research (which was when I initially registered for this forum, but didn't post) and realized the DM was actually not that good for him and switched him to Fancy Feast Classics. He was actually eating them at first, but his interest in them started to wane as well. I began testing his glucose at home periodically and it never got lower than 305. Over the last couple of days he's pretty much stopped eating (he's eating about 1/2 a can of food a day). He's lost so much weight and I was terrified that I was going to lose my grumpy old man. So back to the vet he went.
His glucose at the vet's office today was 400. The vet could not find anything else wrong with him other than some dehydration, so he gave him a bag of fluids and sent my husband home with insulin and syringes. We gave Austin his first shot tonight. I was at work when my husband took Austin to the vet, and unfortunately my husband is not the best at asking the important questions or relaying information, so I feel a little overwhelmed and in the dark about what to expect. He is on Prozinc, 1 unit twice a day. I am perfectly willing to give my sweet boy shots if it will save his life, but I feel so overwhelmed. I don't really even understand what a "unit" is. I don't know what kind of reaction I should be seeing from him, and in what time frame. I honestly am not sure if I got the shot in him completely (but I think I did, because he flinched). And of course, there's the worry that my cat will "hate" me for giving him shots all the time, which I know is irrational, but the fear is still there.
I'm sorry if I sound a little nuts...you've all probably heard this plenty of times before. I just love Austin so much and am so worried about him. We always knew that the day for insulin would come, and I always thought it would be rather simple, but now that the time is here it seems like rocket science.
My kitty is named Austin, and he is a couple of months shy of 14 years old. He was diagnosed as diabetic about five or six years ago, at which time the vet recommended we start with changing his diet to Purina DM. It seemed to actually work until a few weeks ago, when he suddenly completely lost interest in his food (and he has always been a voracious eater).
We took him to the vet and found out he had an infection and his BG was 309. The vet said it was possible that the infection was causing the glucose spike, so he wanted us to go through the round of antibiotics before determining if his time for insulin had come. He did get over the infection, but he just never really seemed to get back to the "real" Austin. I started doing research (which was when I initially registered for this forum, but didn't post) and realized the DM was actually not that good for him and switched him to Fancy Feast Classics. He was actually eating them at first, but his interest in them started to wane as well. I began testing his glucose at home periodically and it never got lower than 305. Over the last couple of days he's pretty much stopped eating (he's eating about 1/2 a can of food a day). He's lost so much weight and I was terrified that I was going to lose my grumpy old man. So back to the vet he went.
His glucose at the vet's office today was 400. The vet could not find anything else wrong with him other than some dehydration, so he gave him a bag of fluids and sent my husband home with insulin and syringes. We gave Austin his first shot tonight. I was at work when my husband took Austin to the vet, and unfortunately my husband is not the best at asking the important questions or relaying information, so I feel a little overwhelmed and in the dark about what to expect. He is on Prozinc, 1 unit twice a day. I am perfectly willing to give my sweet boy shots if it will save his life, but I feel so overwhelmed. I don't really even understand what a "unit" is. I don't know what kind of reaction I should be seeing from him, and in what time frame. I honestly am not sure if I got the shot in him completely (but I think I did, because he flinched). And of course, there's the worry that my cat will "hate" me for giving him shots all the time, which I know is irrational, but the fear is still there.
I'm sorry if I sound a little nuts...you've all probably heard this plenty of times before. I just love Austin so much and am so worried about him. We always knew that the day for insulin would come, and I always thought it would be rather simple, but now that the time is here it seems like rocket science.
Before my Fritz was diagnosed 8 years ago, he was walking on his honches, couldn't jump, had lost weight, the list goes on. I took him to the vet, received the diagnosis and was told all these symptoms where from diabetes. I kid you not, within about 6 months, he had full recovery in his legs, started to gain some weight within the first month or so.