My first day
- Thread starter shellbell
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Sue and Oliver (GA)
Very Active Member
No problem. We will wait. Keep asking questions, keep reading. This is an international board; someone is on 24/7 to help.
Sweetgrass & the Furries
Active Member
Hi and welcome.
I am here in Victoria
I am Sweetgrass, otherwise known as Kimmee.
it looks like you are trying to form a plan you can feel comfortable with while you learn more on your crash course to Feline diabetes.
If I may add to what has been said, perhaps a goals list is a good start.
Since your sweeter than sweet furry is not yet on insulin, now is a great time to change the diet to wet food, lower carb.
so first off, while you are reading through the faqs..http://www.felinediabetes.com/fdmb-faq.htm
1 -change diet to low carb before starting insulin. more info here... http://www.catinfo.org/
we gave fancy feast grilled chicken feast ( no gravies ) and tuna
ketone testing during this quick changeover is important, you don;t want to hold off insulin if ketones are present at all
then, learn how to hometest, we used an ascencia contour, and were very happy with it..
2 -hometest ( you have been given those inks yes )
ideally hometesting and diet change will happen at same time so you can note the difference from "before" change to "after" change
3 -second opinion?
your vet sounds a little outdated in his thinking, perhaps calling around and seeing if there is a feline specialist with experience with feine diabetes may be the next step? if not, lots of vets are open to learning and hey, he did give you lantus...yay... so read and educate yourself and then share stuff, as gently as you can.
4 -insulin
Should the levels remain higher than normal, ( normal is about 60-120 ) or as we read in Canada 4-7 then a gentle starting dose and check in at the lantus insulin support group would be what I encourage. gentle is much less than 3 units and more like 1 unit, depending on levels, and your hometesting will show you.
So a shopping list...
-meter, lancets, ketodistix ( for testing for ketones) and chocolate ( for you )
-low carb canned food, many samples to tempt your baby, with janet and binky's charts in hand... http://www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.htm
a vet you can work with who is on board
first tip off *vet offices should not be running a 24 hour curve....hometesting shows the levels without the added vet stress.
How does that sound? any questions?
Do you all have snow now?
Kimmee
I am here in Victoria
I am Sweetgrass, otherwise known as Kimmee.it looks like you are trying to form a plan you can feel comfortable with while you learn more on your crash course to Feline diabetes.
If I may add to what has been said, perhaps a goals list is a good start.
Since your sweeter than sweet furry is not yet on insulin, now is a great time to change the diet to wet food, lower carb.
so first off, while you are reading through the faqs..http://www.felinediabetes.com/fdmb-faq.htm
1 -change diet to low carb before starting insulin. more info here... http://www.catinfo.org/
we gave fancy feast grilled chicken feast ( no gravies ) and tuna
ketone testing during this quick changeover is important, you don;t want to hold off insulin if ketones are present at all
then, learn how to hometest, we used an ascencia contour, and were very happy with it..
2 -hometest ( you have been given those inks yes )
ideally hometesting and diet change will happen at same time so you can note the difference from "before" change to "after" change
3 -second opinion?
your vet sounds a little outdated in his thinking, perhaps calling around and seeing if there is a feline specialist with experience with feine diabetes may be the next step? if not, lots of vets are open to learning and hey, he did give you lantus...yay... so read and educate yourself and then share stuff, as gently as you can.
4 -insulin
Should the levels remain higher than normal, ( normal is about 60-120 ) or as we read in Canada 4-7 then a gentle starting dose and check in at the lantus insulin support group would be what I encourage. gentle is much less than 3 units and more like 1 unit, depending on levels, and your hometesting will show you.
So a shopping list...
-meter, lancets, ketodistix ( for testing for ketones) and chocolate ( for you
)-low carb canned food, many samples to tempt your baby, with janet and binky's charts in hand... http://www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.htm
a vet you can work with who is on board
first tip off *vet offices should not be running a 24 hour curve....hometesting shows the levels without the added vet stress.
How does that sound? any questions?
Do you all have snow now?
Kimmee
Randi & Max (GA)
Very Active Member
Hi shellbell
Welcome to the wonderful world of FD.
I am new to this board since Nov. The information you recievd befoe my post is excellent.
It is very overwhelming but there is eonugh info and support to get you through this.
My Max is 18 pounds. He was first on Caninsulin for a few weeks but I wanted to switch to Lantus.
My vet recommended starting at 2 units but all I heard on this board was to start low and go slow.
This is what I told my vet and that I wanted to start at only 1.u. She was okay with that. Now we are at 4.25 but I know we did this the right way.
Your kitty did not become diabetic overnight and it will not go away overnight.
I have been told many times on this board that we must be patient, which is not always easy to do.
Just to let you know, in Canada you do not need a prescription for Lantus or the syringes. The Lantus I purchased at Walmart however I believe Walmarts are hard to come by in BC and the syringes are the BD's. Not the best or cheapest. You could order online from Hocks.
You are in the right place here.
Welcome to the wonderful world of FD.
I am new to this board since Nov. The information you recievd befoe my post is excellent.
It is very overwhelming but there is eonugh info and support to get you through this.
My Max is 18 pounds. He was first on Caninsulin for a few weeks but I wanted to switch to Lantus.
My vet recommended starting at 2 units but all I heard on this board was to start low and go slow.
This is what I told my vet and that I wanted to start at only 1.u. She was okay with that. Now we are at 4.25 but I know we did this the right way.
Your kitty did not become diabetic overnight and it will not go away overnight.
I have been told many times on this board that we must be patient, which is not always easy to do.
Just to let you know, in Canada you do not need a prescription for Lantus or the syringes. The Lantus I purchased at Walmart however I believe Walmarts are hard to come by in BC and the syringes are the BD's. Not the best or cheapest. You could order online from Hocks.
You are in the right place here.
Jen & Squeak
Very Active Member
Where in Canada? I'm in Calgary and there are others across the country.
I know it is tough to hear from complete strangers that your vet's advice is wrong, but it is. 3 units of insulin is a powerful dose and it can affect the first time or the 10th, you don't know. Now if you are feeding a dry food 3 units is a little less risky but it is still too much. The thing is, starting at 1 unit twice a day is like starting at hte beginning and then you work your way up PATIENTLY. By starting too high, you run the real risk of overdosing your cat.
There is a much lower risk at starting at 1 unit and working up to the right dose, than starting too high and risking.
Jen
I know it is tough to hear from complete strangers that your vet's advice is wrong, but it is. 3 units of insulin is a powerful dose and it can affect the first time or the 10th, you don't know. Now if you are feeding a dry food 3 units is a little less risky but it is still too much. The thing is, starting at 1 unit twice a day is like starting at hte beginning and then you work your way up PATIENTLY. By starting too high, you run the real risk of overdosing your cat.
There is a much lower risk at starting at 1 unit and working up to the right dose, than starting too high and risking.
Jen
Karen & Pearl
Active Member
shellbell said:
Well, that's concerning. At any rate, all diabetic parents should have this on hand, printed and on the fridge or at least handy:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1122
I am sure he does fine with other more common things but he just does not seem to be very savvy regarding FD. IT's not uncommon and if he is open minded he can learn a lot.
Jennifer and Porky
Member
Hi Shellbell -
I know this is hard, and confusing at times. I'm a relative "newbie" myself, here since the end of November.
I also was confident that my vet knew what she was doing when she raised Porky's dose of Lantus from 1 unit to 3 units in the course of a couple of days. But after reading, reading, reading all the info here and taking to heart the advice of other members on this board, I decided to start all over with 1 unit, and I'm so glad I did! Take a look at Porky's spreadsheet (the link is below). You'll see that even at 1 unit, he had some hypoglycemic close calls (a blood glucose reading of less than 50), and I continued to reduce his dose until two weeks ago, when I was able to stop giving him insulin. Porky is now officially OTJ (off the juice) - his diabetes is in remission! Check out his party: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1598.
I did immediately change Porky's diet from all high carb dry to low carb canned, but I was home testing at the time, so I felt it was safe. And my Porky is a big guy - he was 20 pounds at the time, down to 18.5 - but like the others have said, weight is not a factor for the insulin dosage.
I just wanted to relate part of my experience here, in the hopes that it helps you in some way. Hang in there - it will get easier!
I know this is hard, and confusing at times. I'm a relative "newbie" myself, here since the end of November.
I also was confident that my vet knew what she was doing when she raised Porky's dose of Lantus from 1 unit to 3 units in the course of a couple of days. But after reading, reading, reading all the info here and taking to heart the advice of other members on this board, I decided to start all over with 1 unit, and I'm so glad I did! Take a look at Porky's spreadsheet (the link is below). You'll see that even at 1 unit, he had some hypoglycemic close calls (a blood glucose reading of less than 50), and I continued to reduce his dose until two weeks ago, when I was able to stop giving him insulin. Porky is now officially OTJ (off the juice) - his diabetes is in remission! Check out his party: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1598.
I did immediately change Porky's diet from all high carb dry to low carb canned, but I was home testing at the time, so I felt it was safe. And my Porky is a big guy - he was 20 pounds at the time, down to 18.5 - but like the others have said, weight is not a factor for the insulin dosage.
I just wanted to relate part of my experience here, in the hopes that it helps you in some way. Hang in there - it will get easier!
Spacey & Ella
Active Member
shellbell said:
Poor thing!
Yes, I was very shaky in the beginning too. My cat was diagnosed Nov, 11th 2009. I'm here since Dec I think. And home testing after she crashed a couple of times. You know... you only know your kitty is suffering, and dealing with powerlessness is so not my thing. I guess that's what made me very shaky. And stressing out about whether I will hurt her with all the things I'm doing. I didn't study pet health did I??
So yep. I was absolutely shaky.
I'm glad to see your cat on Lantus. It seems a more stable kind of insulin than the stuff I have my kitty on (for now).
So already a huge plus for you!
Start your cat on wet food only as soon as you can and let those wonderful people here guide you. It's going to be okay!
Try not to worry too much if you can. You know, my cat has been diabetic and having high number for at least a few months. So a couple of day's before I'm getting it right wont make so much difference. With that in mind I've got myself a bit more relaxed. That way I could better absorb all the info I was giving here (and still get).
Good luck to you. And keep in touch
Spacey & Ella
Active Member
ceil99 said:
I agreed. :smile:
Different topic though... :lol:
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