My 10yo Male Cat Diagnosed Today

[DickensF]

Hello everyone.

My male 10 year old cat was diagnosed with feline diabetes today. After a few months he lost a lot of weight and he has been drinking water like crazy. But after taking him to the vet today, it was confirmed and he starts insulin tomorrow.

I was searching the internet for good foods to give him since the vet sold us some Purina DM wet cat food which was expensive and I saw many people here saying FF pate or Tiki Cat is a good alternative which I thank whomever posted those advices to others in other threads.

Needless to say I know I'll have more questions in the future as I'm terrified I'll screw up my little guys treatment. So I wanted to create an account here and just say hi and thank you for the help so far while I have been lurking today.

 

[Daphne and Aida]

Welcome!

I’m quite new myself, this forum and group is super helpful, you’ll find the appropriate guidance to treat your cat in the best possible manner!

Are you planning on home-testing his/her blood glucose? It is the most secure way to monitor and adjust insulin dose and food intake.

More experienced members will tell you where to look at for what.

You say he’s starting insulin tomorrow, what type of insulin will it be and how many units did the vet recommend to give? My own cat had super high fructosamine at diagnosis and the vet recommended that we start with 3 units, but she never needed so much. It’s best to start lower and increase with home monitoring, you have to avoid hypoglycemia.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I’m so glad you found us. Don’t be terrified, you have come to the best place for help. And it becomes much easier.
I will link a FOOD CHART for you to look at. Look for foods that are 10% or under carbs. Most of us feed carbs around 4-7%.
And fancy feast and Tiki are fine. Just look at the carbs.
As Daphne said, if you can tell us what insulin and dose you are on we can hellp you . It’s important we know if you have one of the long acting insulin or one of the older insulin. I hope the vet is going to prescribe either Lantus or Prozinc insulin for you.
When you have been to the vet tomorrow, let us know how you got on.
I am going to also link HELP US HELP YOU which has links to our spreadsheet and signature and also the hypo kit which I urge you to get set up incase it is needed.
I would strongly suggest you consider hometesting as it is the only way you can keep your kitty safe and it will tell you if the dose of insulin is working or not.
Some vets do not consider hometesting is necessary but I can assure you it is.
I will link the HOMETESTING link for you to have a look at…there is no need to buy a pet meter for testing as the test strips are very expensive. The human meter is perfectly ok and most of us use it here and it is much more economical.
Keep asking questions.
Bron

 

[CORKY]

Welcome!

I’m quite new myself, this forum and group is super helpful, you’ll find the appropriate guidance to treat your cat in the best possible manner!

Are you planning on home-testing his/her blood glucose? It is the most secure way to monitor and adjust insulin dose and food intake.
More experienced members will tell you where to look at for what.

You say he’s starting insulin tomorrow, what type of insulin will it be and how many units did the vet recommend to give? My own cat had super high fructosamine at diagnosis and the vet recommended that we start with 3 units, but she never needed so much. It’s best to start lower and increase with home monitoring, you have to avoid hypoglycemia.

Welcome to the Forum, you are in the right track, I was very scare as you when my Corky was diagnosed January 2, 2023 he is also 10 male, I was frantic, Corky had the same symptoms, he grew up since 8 weeks old on MeauMix dry food, he is an inside cat, when I got home from the hospital, he was there for 8 days, I had no idea what to do with all the stuff I was given, Thank God for This Forum, my Corky today, is as healthy as before the diagnose. My secret is as follow: yes the wet food is very important, you do not need prescribed food, Fancy Feast is a very good choice, not only is USA made, regulated, inexpensive, many flavors to choose from, just be sure you pick foods that are between 0-10 % carbs, normally all pates, also is important that you have at hand what it's called a HYPO KIT, this will contain some medium carb foods and high carb foods in case hi's glucose gets lower than 50 ,home testing is very important, especially before shooting insulin which means AMPS/PMPS, you do not want to shoot not knowing his glucose number, most of us members use the ReliON Premier monitor and strips, inexpensive and reliable, if you can post the Lab work, type of insulin, dose, diagnosis, and also create a spreadsheet , so you can monitor his progress and glucose numbers, as well as the Forum and advise you better and give a better input, below I'm also posting several links to look at and learn how to not go crazy, and make you feel more comfortable We are here for you that important thing is to breath in and breath out, any concerns no matter how small reach out to the Forum, you can trust the experienced members to get your baby back to his better self and no concern is a dumb concerns, I learned step by step, I trusted, read everything and did everything I was told, A lot of new members, have had bad experience with
Vets, since they are not familiar with cat diabetes, be patient with yourself, it will all work out, and before you know it you will be a pro links below, also you can see Corky's spreadsheet by clicking on his name in blue, and scrolling the page to the right you will see his schedule of meals , to get an idea, the links below can help you start, read as many post in the main page FORUM, I also read other post I learn a lot there as well not to panic

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/creating-a-fdmb-profile.159626/
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-shoot-your-cat.290439/
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

 

[DickensF]

Oh my goodness thank you for all the replies.

I am planning to home test, though I'm rather scared to prick the poor boy but I know I have too. My dad is a diabetic so we are just going to use the test strips he has along with the monitor he has as well, though I don't know the exact brand off the top of my head. If needed I'll buy one specifically for Dickens.

We have an appointment to put the freestyle livre on him so we get an accurate curve soon, then I was going to start testing once I hear more about what the vet says afterwards.

He will be starting Lantus soon. It was supposed to be today as well, but the insulin is on order at the vets and they unfortunately ran out, but I started him on his diet at least and there has already been a decent change in his attitude today so hopefully his blood sugar levels have at least dropped from what it was yesterday (it was at 30).

Once I get the lab reports with the insulin I was planning on doing the spreadsheet for him as well to get that all started.

I just put together the hypo kit today as well so that is like 90% done as well. For now we are just waiting for the vet and then everything should be kickstarted very very shortly. If I don't hear anything before the weekend though, I'm going to try to start hometesting him regardless.

Thank you for your stories and the open arms. I'm sure you'll be seeing more of me here while we go on this journey, now together. Everyone here seems like they are amazing and helpful people so I really appreciate everything that's been done so far.

For the links, I really appreciate it too Corky and Bron and Sheba.

But it's nice to somewhat meet all three of you, thank you again Daphne and Aida, Corky, and Bron and Sheba!

 

[CORKY]

Oh my goodness thank you for all the replies.

I am planning to home test, though I'm rather scared to prick the poor boy but I know I have too. My dad is a diabetic so we are just going to use the test strips he has along with the monitor he has as well, though I don't know the exact brand off the top of my head. If needed I'll buy one specifically for Dickens.

We have an appointment to put the freestyle livre on him so we get an accurate curve soon, then I was going to start testing once I hear more about what the vet says afterwards.

He will be starting Lantus soon. It was supposed to be today as well, but the insulin is on order at the vets and they unfortunately ran out, but I started him on his diet at least and there has already been a decent change in his attitude today so hopefully his blood sugar levels have at least dropped from what it was yesterday (it was at 30).

Once I get the lab reports with the insulin I was planning on doing the spreadsheet for him as well to get that all started.

I just put together the hypo kit today as well so that is like 90% done as well. For now we are just waiting for the vet and then everything should be kickstarted very very shortly. If I don't hear anything before the weekend though, I'm going to try to start hometesting him regardless.

Thank you for your stories and the open arms. I'm sure you'll be seeing more of me here while we go on this journey, now together. Everyone here seems like they are amazing and helpful people so I really appreciate everything that's been done so far.

For the links, I really appreciate it too Corky and Bron and Sheba.

But it's nice to somewhat meet all three of you, thank you again Daphne and Aida, Corky, and Bron and Sheba!

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

You should be fine to use your dad’s glucose monitor. I’m glad he has been prescribed Lantus. That s good!
If you don’t get to start the insulin until next week, please test the urine for ketones. Ketones can form when a diabetic cat is not getting enough insulin or enough food. So I would get a bottle of Ketostix from a pharmacy . Collect a urine sample from your kitty and follow the directions on the bottle. There should be no ketones.
And make sure he is eating lots of food.
Keep asking questions.

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

Hi and welcome to the best place you never knew you needed to find. My boy Hendrick was also 10 when he was diagnosed. I am so glad to hear you are starting insulin so soon, my vet was lame and didn't have it for us for another week and my boy had a diabetic ketoacidosis episode. Insulin helps keep it away.

Home testing sounded impossible to me, but if I can learn it, so can you. It took a while but eventually we got the hang of it and with the freeze dried treats, Hendrick would look forward to it! The members here are amazing and will help you along the way if you let them.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I'm not sure why the vet didn't tell you that you can purchase Lantus (or its generic/biosimilar form, glargine) at any pharmacy. It's a human medication and widely used. It comes in two types of packaging. There are vials or pens. The pens come in a pack of 5. You will also want syringes. You do not want to dispense insulin from the pens. They can only dispense in 1.0u amounts and, in addition, you have to prime the pen with every use. (In other words, you have to waste a unit of insulin every time you need to give a shot.) You can fine tune doses and you don't waste that amount of insulin with a syringe. I'd encourage you to call around for pricing. The generic has been dramatically reduced in price. It will also give you a comparison with what the vet is charging. Also, if the vet is repackaging the insulin, I'd suggest getting it from a pharmacy. It's not legal to repackage Lantus. You'll know if it's repackaged if it doesn't have anything that resembles the pharmaceutical company logo on the box or label.

This is a link to our Lantus page. At the top of the page are sticky notes. There is a ton of information about Lantus, how it works, how it's packaged, the syringes you need, etc.

 

[DickensF]

Thank you for the responses. I really appreciate all the kind words.

I'm starting hometesting tomorrow for his blood sugar levels, and his insulin injections also start tomorrow. On Monday I'm planning on making the spreadsheet since I'll have time off to do it and update it with tomorrow's numbers.

I'm really nervous about taking his blood and injecting but I read a lot and I just gotta keep thinking it'll be better for him haha

Thank you for the information about Lantus as well @Sienne and Gabby (GA) . I didn't realize it was sold at pharmacies. I'll definitely be looking into that along with checking out the Lantus side of the forums.

Thank you so much again everyone for everything.