Just Diagnosed Yesterday

[Jennifer T.]

My 13 yo male cat was just diagnosed as diabetic yesterday because of an optional blood test prior to a dental cleaning (glad I always opt to do that bloodwork). His blood glucose was 540-something (of course they didn't give me the written results, and my addled brain has lost the exact number) but his other blood work was all within normal range. He dropped almost 1 lb (from almost 13.5 to 12.5lb) in the week between his checkup and scheduled cleaning but hasn't had any other obvious symptoms. His only previous issue was some ear irritation diagnosed at his checkup (no mites, no yeast) that he was given dermalone ointment to treat. We were told to discontinue the dermalone because of the steroid content.

He is already on a high-protien/low-carb wet food diet, so there isn't much to change there. They started him on 2 units of Lantus twice a day and we are suppose to go back in 7-10 days to do a curve. I got a quick demo on how to do his shots using some saline, some rather basic handouts, and the website for this group written on the top of one of those. Home testing was only mentioned in a dismissive, "not necessary" kind of way, and I don't think she even mentioned watching out for hypo (good thing I have a bit of a clue about some of this already from knowing diabetic humans). Admittedly, I was not at my cognitive peak trying to wrap my head around everything and probably wasn't asking as many questions as I could have, but really it seems like a lot more information should have been volunteered.

We go to a rather large vet office with several docs (we live in a small area and they own half the practices in town), and unfortunately it was my least favorite who was in that office yesterday, and I'll be asking for "not her" as I schedule future visits. I feel underwhelmed with the amount of information she gave me and overwhelmed by what I am finding online. So right now I'm just trying to research everything and figure out where we are going from here. So, hello!

 

[BJM]

Welcome to the message board, the best place you never wanted to be.

We strongly encourage home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This keeps your cat safe and saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference. We record them on a grid; instructions are here.

 

[Kris & Teasel]

HI Jennifer,
We've all been there - totally overwhelmed, wondering how we'll cope and so on. You have come to the right place for sure! There's a lot of info here but take it a step at a time. Home glucose testing and keeping a spreadsheet (see BJM's link above) are the key tools for what we do here. Take some time to read the "Stickies" and then introduce yourself on the Lantus/Levemir forum. The people there can give you excellent guidance.

 

[Critter Mom]

Hi Jennifer and welcome to you and your kitty.

Many of us recognise vets like that and I'm very glad you've found us. (I was in a similar position when I found FDMB a couple of years ago.)

Great that your little fella (name?) is already on the right type of food.

Couple of questions:

1. Did the vets run any urinalysis and any fructosamine test to determine glucose values for those?

2. How much does your cat weigh? (2 units Lantus twice a day is quite a high starting dose for yer average kitty (c. 10lb).)

Because of concerns over point 2 above I strongly recommend you get a glucometer as a matter of urgency so that you can learn to test and make sure the dose is OK for your little one. Lantus builds up its effects over a period of days (3-5) so the sooner you can do home test BG checks the better.

You've already got low carb, wet food. To save you time digging around the site for info on the essential supplies here's a quick shopping list:

* Glucometer, control solution for same and a good supply of test strips. (If you're in the US Relion Confirm and Micro models from Walmart are very popular here and the strips are the most affordable.)

* Lancets for drawing blood samples (go for 27-29 gauge - sometimes labelled as suitable for 'alternate site' testing - as it's easier to get samples with these sizes of lancet, especially in early days of testing).

* Karo, honey, or glucose (needed in your hypo kit)

* Some type of higher carb food with gravy (e.g. Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers) and a small quantity of higher carb food (e.g. dry kibbles) - again for stocking your emergency hypo kit.

* Urine test strips for testing ketones, e.g. Keto-diastix, and I think Walmart may do ketone test strips in their Relion range. (I'm not in the US so can't be 100% certain.)

Here are important safety docs:

How to Manage Hypos (print out and place somewhere easy to lay hands on should it ever be needed).

Hypo Toolkit

I think that's enough for starters.


Mogs
.

 

[Jennifer T.]

Aflac is a big guy and is usually hovering around 13 lbs, although he was at about 12.5 on Monday.

The vet didn't say if she ran a fructosamine test, but she did test for ketones in his urine (she didn't give me the levels). Among the things on my "To Do" list for tomorrow is go by the vet and get the lab values. She had them printed out, and I thought they were going into the pile of paper she was sending home but they did not. I'll also ask about why the started him on 2 units and will be getting the glucometer and other assorted supplies.


A question about testing for ketones - do most of you just try to "catch" the cat going to the litter box, or do you express some urine when you need to check?

 

[Olive & Paula]

Few ways to catch urine.

1. If kitty isn't shy when using box you can just hold a stick in the stream.

2. Some kitties will go in an empty clean pan (my guy will).

3. You can use aquarium gravel, test, and then rinse the gravel to re-use.

4. Put a piece of plastic wrap on top of litter and then dip in the puddle.