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mplsmuse

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Hi - my oldest cat (of 3 cats), 13 year old Gus, was just diagnosed with feline diabetes this morning. Tonight I gave him his first insulin shot and I think it went ok. This feels like a whirlwind couple of weeks. He also has hyperthyroidism and has been treated for that for the last 6 months. I have had him tested for diabetes a couple of times a year and he was always fine, but he lost a bunch of weight over the last month and started drinking and urinating a lot, so I brought him back in for testing...and here I am. I've been crying for days anticipating the diagnosis and while hearing it was really hard, talking with the vet tech, and now reading the information on this site has been so amazing. Thank you! I've calmed down quite a bit and am staying positive for Gus.

I'm in the early stages so the vet said not to change his food or anything else at this point. We are starting with 1 unit 2x/day and then taking him back in for retesting in 3-4 weeks to see if his levels need to be adjusted. Until then, we are just supposed to monitor his behavior for any changes. I think this site is simply wonderful and has been a lifesaver already. Thank you!
 
Dear Gus's Mom,

I know it seems overwhelming and scary now...but we all, hundreds of us, are treating our diabetic cats rather successfully.
And you know what? It really is'nt that hard at all.

I would say the number one thing you want to do at this point is learn to test your cat at home.
Are you interested?

Lori
and tomtom
 
Check out this link, this is how we test.
You will find this to be your most important tool in helping Gus with his insulin.
And you may even find it empowering and interesting to know his numbers on a daily basis.
We test before each shot....and sometimes during the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8
 
Lori - thank you! I will definitely want to start testing at home. I have a good friend whose kitty had diabetes and I saw how good her cat was with being tested, which is taking some of the anxiety away. I've also seen that so many people here are home testing. I actually have to call my vet on Monday so that I can get more information on his numbers and specifics. His blood glucose test results literally just came back this morning and they were able to only get us in with the vet tech today to learn how to give the injections and get set up with insulin and syringes. They were great but I need to talk to the doctor to get the specific info on his numbers, etc.

I really do appreciate the links, information, and support - truly! :smile: This site really is so wonderful!

Robyn
 
Robyn as long as you are already shooting insulin...why not start testing like tomorow....?
People are often amazed with what they find...like shooting too much, even tho it's only 1 unit. Happens alot.
 
here is the basic list of what to get.

1) glucometer (reliOn is a favorite here,,also freestyle, but get one you like. NOT necessary to buy the expensive animal glucometer that the vet may sell you. The strips end up costing a fortune.

2) A vial or two of strips for the meter

3) Lancets -- for poking the ear to get blood. My cat likes them all....some say in the beginning it is good to use a thick one to get the blood easier

4) A baby sock..or some small soft sack that you can put uncooked WHITE rice. this is your rice sockie that you throw in the micro for 10-20 seconds to get warm-not hot- and gently rub on Gus's ear to warm it up for an easier bleed.

5) Some canned high carb gravy food. You want to have this around when testing. You never know when you will need it.
Honey or Maple syrup too.

Here is our food list showing the high and low carb foods. Feed 10% carbs or less....and the high carb is the 16-19 carbs.
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html

Have I overwhelmed you yet? Hope not. Welcome to the Sugar Dance....
 
Good point. No time like the present, right? It looks like a trip to Walgreen's tomorrow for testing equipment. I'm going to have my husband watch the video, too, so that we can both do the testing. He did ok with the test injection but tends to be a little more squeamish than I am.
Thank you for the list, too - wow! This is seriously helpful.
 
Robyn, stay on for a bit........I called Carol.....she lives in Victoria......and she'll also be posting to you. Maybe close enough that she can do a home demo on hometesting.
 
Robyn,
We are a seriously helpful, loving and caring family of sugar kitty mom's and dad's.
I forgot to ask...which insulin are you using?
Lori
btw, we are alot of fun too :mrgreen:
 
Hi its me Carol... My fingers are betraying me... Did I write another post and lose it... Waving hi from Victoria... as Hope said... I'll be glad to give you a demo of testing - if you'd like... Welcome to our wonderful family....
 
The insulin type is called ProZinc (protamine zinc recombinant human insulin).

Hope - thank you. I'll be on for a short bit more.

Hi Carol - thank you! I'll give it a try and see how it goes tomorrow but just knowing there are great, supportive people out there is wonderful. Waving hi back from Minneapolis!
 
well, we are actually international...
does the bottle of insulin say u40?

also....just so you know...
since we are international we never bother with the time when we want to post numbers for review. we simply put the numbers in like this.

amps (am pre shot #) whatever
+4 (this is the # of hours since shot and the number) whatever, say 140
+9 (same as above) 210
pmps (evening pre shot #) whatever it is.

does this make sense? it is the only way we will understand how the insulin is working on Gus and where in the cycle you are.
 
are you feeling more secure with Gus's diagnosis? I know I cried so hard at the vet's about Tom's dx that they had to escort me out the door. I thought for sure he would die. That was 4 years ago...he is totally regulated...spent 2.5 years diet controlled-no insulin.
We are back on insulin now but very very regulated.
And tom and I have never been happier. the dire beasties (that's what tom calls it) really bonded us.
 
I wanted to stop by and say hi from another Robin in Minneapolis. If you would like some help with anything let us know.

PS: I would start shopping at Walmart tomorrow instead of Walgreens, the supplies are less expensive by alot there.

Lori has been giving you great advise and links to get started.

Sorry you have to be here but I'm glad you found us.

Robin
 
The Relion Micro meter (costs $10 - $12) and a pack of 50 test strips is $20. I use three packs of strips per month. The Relion is a Walmart store brand and it is the cheapest meter with the cheapest test strips. It is also quite satisfactory as to accuracy and usage -- a good thing to know since diabetes is not cheap for humans or felines what with meters, test strips, appropriate food, insulin, syringes, vet visits . . . .

Lana
 
Today is definitely a new day. I'm feeling better about things. My husband and I are taking turns giving the injection and working to make the process as easy as can be for Gus: thyroid meds, food, injection. We're hoping soon it will just be routine for him and for us. He's a good little patient and is doing well.

Thank you all so much!

Robyn
 
mplsmuse said:
Today is definitely a new day. I'm feeling better about things. My husband and I are taking turns giving the injection and working to make the process as easy as can be for Gus: thyroid meds, food, injection. We're hoping soon it will just be routine for him and for us. He's a good little patient and is doing well.

Thank you all so much!

Robyn
Click to expand...

Hoping that soon the routine will be:

test BG
treat !
meds
food
insulin
 
Bought the glucometer, test strips, and also ketostrips (if he's having issues, he'll urinate in our shower in front of me, so getting a sample is easy). Testing will begin tomorrow.
 
Good for you Robyn, you jumped right in.
I am excited to see his first numbers.
Perhaps you should prepare him by giving a few ear 'massages' tonight and let him know just how special that little ear of his really is.
 
Welcome! Glad to hear you are doing ok. I felt the same way in April. Used the main site as a grea resource and Cedric is now in remission.
I agree about the Relion meter. That's what we use. After 2 months, i still have trouble with getting blood. He takes after me - the nurses at Quest say the same thing about me! :lol:

Chin up and keep up the great work!
 
Just wanted to welcome you also, Robyn! PLEASE get started with home testing as soon as possible. When I joined this group it was right after my Nigel had a hypo seizure because I was blindly following my Vets advice with the insulin dose. Wouldn't have ever happened had I joined when he was diagnosed as you have done. Good move!! Also want to add that these girls are the BEST. Their support and caring will overwhelm you. Hope that you never doubt them.
 
Dear ms. Robyn & Gus!,

Welcome and hugs to ya..... You will find many great ppl here and Lori is my - Ok Beans saviour - as she talked me thru a very bad situation with my Sugar girl one nite and I wanted to share the story...

I was new, and reading this site, not responding or posting much. I was following the advice of the vet (which upped her dose from 1 unit x2 to 1 units x2) by a curve done 1 week after we were dx.....

I was not home testing as i was too afraid, nervous etc. WELL... I will make this short, I did test +2 hours after 1.25 unit, MY BEAN was only in the 20's! - I posted and got SOOO MUCH SUPPORT YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE! and of course as I said before, Lori on the phone, helping me bring up those numbers for 4+ hours... My Bean finally came up into the 40's.

AFTER THAT NIGHT, I promised her I would NEVER shoot without a test first! She does not mind the testing, and mommy is much better at it too! :-)

And now the good news, she is OTJ..... I know I have not posted for the big party yet, but you can look at her spreadsheet and see that she is doing wonderful~

Just wanted to share my story as I hope it will intice you to test before insulin~

And LORI, miss miss~ we must chat sometime~

Hugs to Robyn and Gus!!!! :razz:

Mommy to Sugar Bean, Civvie Slappy and Heart/CRF Gumpy
 
I must admit, that we chickened out with the testing today but my husband and I sat down tonight together and watched the testing video again, along with a few others and know that we just need to do it. I don't know why it is harder (for us) than giving him the injections, but it is. I don't want to wait until something bad happens and I know that we need to be more proactive about his health.

I guess I'm also wary of adjusting his dosage myself. He's on the lowest dosage he can get right now.
 
Hi and Welcome to the FDMB Family,

I don't know your insulin so I will leave any dosing questions to those that do. But if you are asking what is the normal blood glucose range is in a non-diabetic cat, that I can answer. When working with a human meter, which tends to run just slightly lower than a pet only. Most cats fall somewhere between 40 and 120. I personally have 12 cats, 2 of which are diabetic. My own non-diabetics are usually somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-60 (yes,I periodically test them all :roll: ), Maxwell, my diabetic that is diet controlled usually only runs slightly higher than his non-diabetic housemates, and stays around 60-70. And well Musette is a recent addition to the household so right now she is work in progress to get regulated, so currently her numbers are all over the place... :lol: . But you are more than welcome to look at Maxwell's spreadsheet in my signature to see what numbers he normally gives me.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette and The Fur Gang.
 
Mel, she is shooting pzi.
And I had to laugh when you said Robyn, that you are giving the smallest dose that you can give right now. :lol: The dose can get much much much smaller.
Like get out your magnifying glass and put on your reading glasses small. Yep. Like .1 unit small.
I know it may seem strange or scary to trust internet people on dosing but I will just say this for you to ponder on.
We are 10 years old at least (the board) We have maybe over 1000 members, ALL we do is treat feline diabetes. Many many many people post every single day.
If you want help, and you post daily, and you set up your spread sheet...IMHO, I would trust this board more than my vet on feline diabetes treatment as he could have no where near the experience on that single disease that we as a whole have.

So.....waiting on pins and needles for some numbers from you>>> cat_pet_icon dancing_cat dancing_cat
 
I love my vet but I've absolutely gotten more information from all of you on this board than I have from the vet. I definitely believe that you all know what you are talking about. I am spending tonight reading and watching videos on testing, getting comfortable with the glucometer and just educating myself as much as possible. I've got a spreadsheet ready to go to record his numbers. I will test him. Thanks again for the encouragement and support!

I can't believe the units get smaller! Good thing I'm nearsighted. :)
:shock:
 
Robyn if your spread sheet is ready to go we should all be able to see it's link on the bottom of your page.
See ours...look down, hit on it if you want.
Do you need help with that?
 
and the units don't get smaller :lol: ...you just shoot a fraction of a unit.
you will need to get the orange capped syringes at some point. maybe sooner rather than later.
they are called u100 syringes.
using those makes it easier to shoot the smaller doses.
 
Ok - think I got the link to his spreadsheet in my signature. It is ridiculously long but not sure how to do links with vanity titles in this format. I'll get that figured out later. :)
 
just checked out your SS....that is different, not ours, not the one we all use :?: but we can get to that another day right?
did ya get a pokie in?
hey look at mine to see what it's supposed to look like k.
 
I checked out Tom's ss - I think I have the basic info just a little more, well, basic. ;-) I can always redo that soon. Most importantly, I just want to get the numbers recorded. I like the notes section. We decided to start with the testing in the am before his first shot and then keep at it.
 
Well, we had our first attempt at testing this am. I was able to get blood, but not enough for a test and this was after ear warming and several pokes. At that point, Gus was just not having it anymore, although he was good while I was doing it. He flinched when I poked him. I wonder if I have the right type of lancets. They are 33g.

This lack of bleeding is a recurring theme at the vet's office, as well. Getting blood draws from him is always difficult for them. We're going to give it another go tonight. He is a blond cat, so pretty easy to see the vein. Maybe I'm just not poking it in the right place? I'm discouraged but determined.
 
mplsmuse said:
I love my vet but I've absolutely gotten more information from all of you on this board than I have from the vet. I definitely believe that you all know what you are talking about. I am spending tonight reading and watching videos on testing, getting comfortable with the glucometer and just educating myself as much as possible. I've got a spreadsheet ready to go to record his numbers. I will test him. Thanks again for the encouragement and support!

I can't believe the units get smaller! Good thing I'm nearsighted. :)



:shock:
Click to expand...


Yup, being near-sighted is an asset for this....take OFF your glasses !!!

(Had to laugh....most people can't appreciate this )
 
Yay! We were successfully able to get a blood glucose test on Gus tonight! I've updated his spreadsheet - but will definitely need to revise it to be more like TomTom's. :)

His level was 390 at PSPM +12 from his AM shot. We'll do another test tonight just to see. This one took both of us, but Gus was pretty calm and he actually came to me to get his shot afterward. We definitely feel better about things now. I got some bigger lancets and his meter requires a small sample. Thank you all for the encouragement along the way. (Yes, I know I'm just at the beginning of the journey, but it helps to stay positive.)

Thank you! Thank you!
 
Welcome to the vampire club!!!! :thumbup

You are going to feel so much better and more in control now that you are able to test at home, Nice to see someone just diving in and taking control to help their kitty feel the best they possibly can. Big Congrats!

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Offering the the secret "Vampire Club' handshake and welcome. You will never look at a mere drop of blood the same way...
:lol:
 
Vampire Kitties - lol One of our other cats actually looks like a vampire - fangs always hanging out of her mouth. :)
I love that you guys have a sense of humour. I'm a firm believer in the idea that laughter can help us through tough times. Thank you!
 
Oh yeah we have a sense of humor...sometimes a very warped sense of humor but a sense of humor none the less. Because there are somedays the only thing you have left is to laugh, or go bang your head against a wall...and laughter hurts far less. :lol:

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & the Fur Gang
 
But....the kitty is not the Vampire hon, YOU are! Always seeking the blood.... :twisted:
 
lori and tom said:
But....the kitty is not the Vampire hon, YOU are! Always seeking the blood.... :twisted:
Click to expand...

I'm a little slow on the uptake tonight! Vampires are all the rage now, so I guess it isn't so bad.
 
hey your moving real quick here.
the reason we like a really proper spread sheet is that you will actually have peeps study it. take the time to actually review it and give a dosing opinion.
not just for conformity.
 
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