Miss Dora is Diabetic

[Sumilex]

Hello! One of my four fantastic felines, Dora, age 7, has just been diagnosed with diabetes as of yesterday. We have not yet gone in to the vet for the education and plan of action appointment. We will be going this week. Over the phone he suggested feeding her only wet food and, after reading the information here, now I understand why. I like being educated about any situation that I encounter, so I immediately started researching online and my searches brought me here. I have been reading through the wealth of information and I thank all of you for posting it. I just want to do my very best to make sure to get her healthy so she can live a long happy life.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

That sounds wonderful! Many vets don't understand the value of wet low carb food. Two other important parts of our protocol are testing blood glucose levels at home (as values taken at the vet are often artificially high because of stress) and starting with a low dose of insulin, increasing slowly if your testing indicates.

Let us know how we can help.

 

[Sumilex]

Thank you! We are kind of new with our vet, but my mom takes all of her animals to him. He seems to care about the animals a lot and he seems willing to work with people to get the necessary care while being affordable. I figure that if I learn as much as I can before going in this week, I can make a plan with him that will work out for every one. Also, I will be able to ask the right questions of him.

I see that the Walmart Relion BG testing meter is recommended. I will have to look into getting one of these this week. Dora can be squirmy, so it will be interesting. Does the testing seem to hurt them at first until they get used to it? Also, does anyone use the OneTouch meter?

 

[billysmom (GA)]

Changing the food is much easier before starting insulin. Many here feed fancy feast classic pates, friskies or nine lives pates. Wellness grain free is also an option. You do not want anything with gravy since the gravy is high carb. After a few days off dry Dora's insulin needs may be reduced significantly so you want to make sure you have data so the vet knows this or have him do a spot check.

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

Hi Dora's Mom and welcome. I am going to give you a link for the food chart we use to make sure that the wet food we feed is lower than 10%

foodchart

About the meters, yes the Walmart Relion Micro and Prime are favorite human meters used by many of us. The Prime strips are 1/2 the price of the Micro strips so, I switched to that because I test 6 + times a day trying to get Bubba regulated. Here are two links for home testing which might help you.

http://s106.photobucket.com/user/chupie_2006/media/testingear/sweetspot.jpg.html

http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-home-test.htm

Here, we all home test. It is important to understand how your kitty is reacting to the insulin and the dose. You will want to test before each shot and some additional test in between the 12 hour cycle. Another reason to home test is to keep your kitty safe. Find a place in your home where you will always perform the test and give lots of hugs before and after testing and low carb treats. You can get Dora ready for the testing by taking her to the place where you will perform the test and rub her ears a little bit, give her a treat and then let her do. Do that a few times before you start the testing and she will associate the test place with a treat so when you do start the actual testing, she might be more receptive to it. Remember to breath and be calm yourself as she will sense if you are nervous. It will take a bit to get use to it, it is a learning curve. Ask if you need any help.