Lacey Boots

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laceyboots1000

laceyboots1000

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Hi,
I'm new to this message board. My 11 1/2 year old female, Lacey Boots, was diagnosed with diabetes on Wednesday March 14th, 2012. Now currently battling a urinary tract infection and getting used to 2 insulin injections a day. Am looking forward to getting tips on how to cope.

Thanks,
Robin
(laceyboots1000)
 
Welcome!! You've found an excellent source of information by finding this site. My cat was diagnosed just a couple days ago and already this site has helped in more ways than I can count.
Just a few questions then everyone will be able to help even more
What food is she on?
What kind of insulin?
Are you home testing his glucose levels?

Also there is a spreadsheet on here that can help you record glucose levels and injections. You can see mine by clicking the link under my post. My cats glucose level is still pretty high but you'll notice that today it's started to lower and I feel a big part of that change is because I switched him to a low carb wet food (Fancy Feast classics). A routine eating schedule will also help immensely. The last couple days my life has revolved around my cat and will continue I'm sure for quite awhile however I'm already seeing signs of improvement and that makes everything worthwhile! Just remember that everything you're doing is for your cats benefit.

Good luck and I wish the best for you and Lacey Boots

Stephanie and Kale
 
Currently she is eating Hill's W/D dry and canned food. She is getting the glargine insulin twice a day, 3 units. I go back to the vet next week to have her checked again and see if her dosage will change.

So far, her injections are going well. The first few, I had to hunt her down and basically trap her in the bathroom. Now when I know its near the time, I will have it ready and she comes to lay by me. I kinda sneak it in there while she's eating some treats. It's all very overwhelming. Especially when she fights me. She's never been a very trusting cat, always skiddish. So if I come at her for ANYTHING she runs. I have to wait for her to come to me.

I just take it one day at a time :)
 

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She's BEAUTIFUL!!! Is she a dilute calico? I understand the chasing thing - I have a former feral named Nicki who will freak out if she sees the nail clipper in my hand! I need a straight jacket (for her!) just to do her nails. Or I sneak a few at a time... it's pretty crazy! :lol: Don't EVEN think about picking her up!

So Welcome! My boy Grayson is on Prozinc, and we've been here about 2 months now.

You can anticipate that your cat will start feeling better, and hopefully that she'll associate those times she comes for a poke or feels that little prick on her neck, with her improved condition. In theory, at least. You'll read posts by people who, all they have to do is get out the testing kit or the blanket in their testing spot, and the kitty comes running. I don't think Grayson spent much time in the kitchen or dining room in previous years... but now when I come home or pull up the chair in "our spot", he's right there ready to go. I guess I'm fortunate that he was the one diagnosed, and not Nicki!

There are message boards specific to the type of insulin you are using, so you can gleen the best from the experienced users' cumulative knowledge. Ask questions there about the insulin, or basic questions - say relating to the infection - on the health board (here). You'll be amazed at what a tremendous help the board is.

Again, welcome to FDMB!

Lu-Ann
 
What a pretty girl!!! :smile: It was recommended to me to not use the prescription food. I got the Hills from my vet and will be returning it tomorrow for a refund. There are better foods out on the market that aren't prescription and much more wallet friendly. Check this out http://www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.htm My cat is on the Fancy Feast classic. He also no longer gets dry food as that can actually higher the glucose level. I've already seen a drop in bg levels since I switched over to the fancy feast.
I would recommend starting a new thread with the title asking about any suggestions for a feisty feline. I'm sure there are many others that have had the same issue and can pass on some valuable advice. My cat has been really easy going about the whole thing amazingly. I feed him his wet food and while he's eating I give him the insulin. I would highly recommend home glucose testing but you may want to ask how to easily accomplish this with your baby girl since she has such spunk.
Taking it a day at a time is all we can do but the love of your kitty so worth it! And by posting on here you've already started doing one of the best things you can. I know it has been for me

Stephanie and Kale
 
Hi Robin,

Welcome to FDMB! You have a lot of things to learn in order to help that little beauty but you can do it. We all started out where you are, scared and awed at what we didn't know and wondering how we were going to handle all this. You're going to have to do some reading but there are a bunch of us that can and will help you. We all love to help newcomers so just ask away with any questions you may have.

First of all, Lantus Glargine is a wonderful longlasting insulin. A lot of us use it including me. Her dcse is high for a starting dose though. Your vet may have felt she needed it because of the infection, but she looks small. Insulins are usually based in the beginning on weight as well. Most starting doses are 1 to 2 units every 12 hours. Are you testing her blood glucose at home? How much does Lacey Boots weigh? Is the urinary infection the only other condition she has? I'm going to give you a few links but first I'm going to send this so you can answer.

Melanie & Racci
 
If you are not home testing her bg, I highly recommend you do at least pre- shots right now. It can save Lacey Boots' life by preventing you from shooting insulin when her glucose is too low. You can get a meter either at the top of this page just for shipping costs, or at a drugstore, Walmart, online, depending on the one you want. A lot of people use the Relion from Walmart because the strips are cheap. I use the Bayer Contour and buy my strips at Hocks.com for only $25. this page will give a good bit of info on testing
http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-test.htm
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m267/chupie_2006/testingear/sweetspot.jpg
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287 and there are also videos, and several photo & info links here. We all have little tips also. :razz:

For food, many years and thousands of cats have shown that wet food with low carbohydrates will lower their glucose. We have a couple of food lists and try to keep the carbs under 10.
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html and a newer one:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8Uu8g1u8Su9YTgxNGE1MDItM2MyMC00Y2Y3LWI4ODMtMzhkYTkxOGM4NThk/edit

Switching foods has really helped my Racci girl. I'm sure your vet would take back the food you bought which is high carb if you say she won't eat it. Unfortunately very few doctors are really up on feline diabetes because they handle so many other animals they just don't have time to keep studying the new treatments for everything. On this board we have pros that live and breathe FD.

I would also recommend you read the faqs on the first page here also and go visit the Lantus glargine board where the dosing experts on lantus are.

Melanie & Racci
 
Thanks for the warm welcome! Lacey Boots, although may look petite (don't let that fool you) weighs in at 14 pounds. She is a dilute calico, usually long hair, but she's a butt and won't let me brush her so she gets shaved down every 6 or 7 months. She's very muscular though which makes it difficult to find loose skin on her. I am going to ask the vet tomorrow about the food. Because prior to them prescribing me the Hills W/D, I was feeding her Royal Canin Indoor Light, which has higher protein. But I will ask her about the canned food as well. I do need a food that will be safe for my 8 1/2 year old and my almost 4 year old as well, its too hard to feed them separately (plus I'm adopting a kitten in 2 weeks). Cost for food is not really a factor. I'm used to spending $40 to $50 on cat food alone lol. Also, not to mention, she's got a sensitive stomach...so I have to be careful as to what I feed her. Diarreah is no fun. I'll post pictures of my other kitties...Boogie (another long hair calico), Sullivan (long hair orange guy) and the new one who doesn't have a name yet. :-D

Thanks again for the advice, I already feel a little less overwhelmed.
 

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I love pictures! They're gorgeous! She sounds like Racci when it comes to brushing. :lol: Racci is also a long hair calico though not diffuse as you can see. :smile: I just lost her mom to cancer in September, who looked almost like her twin. Brushing time must be even more fun at your house than mine! I have to get Racci shaved & cut periodically also.

Most vets do not take nutrition courses. They make a profit on the special diets and are sold on them by the salespeople and do not really study what is good for feline diabetics. I feed Racci only premium foods. She eats Wellness or Core or Natures Valley and so do a lot of people on this board feed premium human grade canned food. The prescription diets are all by-products. Royal Canin was a better food! except that if it was dry it was not a natural diet for cats. All of your cats would do better with wet diets. This site is by a vet who is a member of this board: http://catinfo.org/. She advocates raw food but has tremendous info about cats and nutrition. This link will give you a lot of info about nutrition:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=115. Ask though, just keep that in mind and do your own research for your baby.

I'm so glad you feel a little better about the fd now. It's really not that difficult to handle once you get over the learning curve. It is very important to do home testing though. I just can't emphasize that enough. You don't know how many times a test has saved the life of one of our babies. We are more than happy to help you with the selection of supplies, teach you how to use them, etc. Just ask any time you have a question.

Melanie & Racci
 
That's great! Which one does he have? A cat's ear is a little more tricky than a human's finger so you want one that has strips that sip the blood up. He can also help you then! You'll want a few things of your own that he may not use. A lot of people like to use their own tho because the meter keeps a memory and does averages for you so you might want to think about that. The expense is in the strips not the meter itself. I use the Bayer Contour & get strips from Hocks.com for $25. A lot of people use the Relion from Walmart because the strips are cheap.

I use an ear warmer - a sock with the top cut off and rice in it aand tie it with a ribbon, microwave it depending on your microwave 30-40 seconds to make it hot enough to warm the ear but not burn it. Just hold it on the ear while talking and giving treats and have your meter ready with the strip half in and the lancet pen right next to you.

Also the lancet pen should be one with a clear top so you can see what you're doing. As far as I'm concerned, the only one worth anything is the freelance light lancet pen with their lancets but NOT their meter.. They.ve had trouble with their meter strips. You can get that pen at American Diabetes.com or amazon.com about $7. Well worth it!

You'll also want small guage 31, syringes with 1/2 unit markings for under 30 units, 3ml 5/16" short are my favorite.

Melanie & Racci

Have to run and get ready for Racci's PMPS test, food and meds so I'll be back in a while.
 
I wanted to say welcome!
I have a sugar baby: Bean. She has been in remission for almost 1 YEAR! Cannot believe it has been that long.

Happy to hear you are familiar with diabetes, I was not. I was sooo scared of it all at first. And very ecstatic about finding this forum. If it were not for here, I just know that I would not have my baby with me today. My vet did one curve at their office, and raised my girl from 1 unit to 2 units. And told me not to test at home.

I took the advice from here on several things, the most important was testing before shooting. I have her spreadsheet in my signature if you would like to view it.

I have not been on the forum much lately, but at first, I lived here. And even after remission, I still lived here. The folks here help with our sugar babies and all other fur family matters.

I did change her food, but only after we learned how to test. After learning the testing, Bean was able to be micro dosed.
What helped us to test as Bean is not a 'get in your lap' when you want her to cat, was to get some freeze dried treats: duck, lamb, fish and find our spot; lay out all the supplies: lancet pen, neosporin, ear warmer, poke against napkin and of course treats!
It took me 5-7 times or so to get the routine down, testing completed and all be a success! Boy, was I happy about that. Once I learned the routine, Bean was much calmer about the whole thing (momma was a wreck) :o

As you will see in her spreadsheet, she was only 27 after 2 hours giving that shot! EEEEEKS.... Boy that was a very very long night and everyone here helped me thru that time! What a relief... I was able to get her number up and she made it! I did promise her not to ever shoot before testing again...she thanks me very day!

I wish you all the luck with your new baby, I love my multi-fur family, but it is a challenge to feed all the same foods, keep this one out of that ones, omg~
Please keep posting, asking and receiving :smile:
 
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