New Diagnosis and my work schedule?

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Djamila

Djamila

Member Since 2015
First of all, a huge thanks to all of you who have posted such a wealth of information about how to take care of diabetes in cats! I've learned so much reading through this forum already!

My 10-year-old cat, Sam, was just diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes runs in my family, so I'm pretty familiar with how it works in humans, how to monitor blood sugar, insulin, etc. But that's a big part of my concern, too. I don't know how to manage it with my kitty who stays at home for 10 hours/day while I'm working. I have two cats who adore each other, but the second cat can't exactly call me if Sam goes hypo a few hours after I've given him his shot and left for work! I'm worried that if I begin insulin I could end up killing him due to my inability to monitor him all day! My vet said that treatment is "looser" in cats than in humans (I have an appointment with him later this week to talk more and get everything set up), but I'm wondering if there are other "single-parent" cat owners out there who work full time and can speak to this concern?
 
Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. Do this now since you aren't using insulin yet. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.
 
Hi Djamila and welcome.

I am a single mom who works full time - I am gone for about 10 hours a day also, so I understand your concern.

If you've been reading the boards you already know the huge importance and value of home testing. Do you know what kind of insulin your vet will start Sam on? I myself was lucky enough to be on vacation the week Genghis started on insulin - she started on Caninsulin which can have a very "harsh" or rapid effect and many vets mistakenly start with too high a dose. I was able to do enough testing that I felt comfortable knowing at least roughly what was going on.

It's also important to know what Sam's diet is currently and if you need or are able to make changes to it.

For example, if he's currently eating a high carb dry diet, a low carb wet diet can have a huge impact.

I think if you spend some time, say, over a weekend understanding how Sam reacts to insulin ( or diet change, which I'd suggest doing first, if need be, before you start insulin) you will feel a lot better leaving him for the day. It takes being organized and keeping records - and great advice from the very experienced folks here.

Please do set up your signature to help folks understand Sam's unique situation - it's a big help! The spreadsheet is also an invaluable tool.
 
Hi Djamila and Welcome!!

We have lots of people who work full time jobs and deal with sugarcats! The link Rhiannon provided above should give you lots of ideas to consider

Basically, you do the best you can...you test more on the PM cycle when you're home, and on weekends so you have a good idea of what's going on during the day when you can't be there.

Getting Sam onto a low carb (less than 10%) canned or raw diet can make a world of difference too, and if you haven't started insulin yet, now's the best time to get that done because just changing the diet can drop the blood glucose up to 200 points.

While dropping the carbs, work on learning to home test so that if you end up on insulin, you'll have some data on Sam already and will be as ready as you can be!
 
Thank you all so much! The link to that thread is exactly what I'd been looking for! I really appreciate you getting me pointed in the right direction! I've also made a signature so hopefully that will help for future discussions. I'm going to go this afternoon to get a BG monitor and start (or at least try) to see what his numbers are at home. Thankfully we've already done the food transition. He's lost a lot of weight over the past few months and his BG is better, it just hasn't been enough to get him all the way under control, hence the vet pushing to start him on insulin this week. I'm so thankful for all of your help!
 
Hi Djamila,

Here's a link to how to set up one of our spreadsheets. The spreadsheet is an invaluable aid in tracking of BG trends in order to successfully manage Sam's diabetes. As you accumulate data, it should give you more peace of mind about being able to administer Sam's insulin safely.

How to set up a spreadsheet and link it into your signature

If you measure BG in mg/dL choose the US template. If you measure in mmol/L choose the international template.

It's great that you've completed the food transition. There is the possibility that, with insulin treatment, it may allow Sam's pancreas to heal enough to produce sufficient insulin (diabetic remission). If he does achieve remission, then the worry of being away during the day will be resolved as Sam would no longer need insulin injections.


Mogs
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Well, we just did the first BG test here at home (it would be fair to say he is not happy with me right now!), but he got 177. I think I watched every video possible before I tried it myself. And then of course ended up pricking my own finger and had to get a new lancet. Ah, beginners!

I fed them at about 6am, so it's been almost 7 hours since feeding. It'll be interesting to see how it goes the rest of the day. I'm fighting that optimism that wants to believe the high numbers were just caused by vet-stress and that here at home he'll be okay.

Thanks everyone for helping with these first baby-steps of getting started! I've noticed that many of you have the SS linked to your signatures, so I'm going to go figure that out...
 
Wow Djamila, 177 is a great number! If that was after 7 hours not eating and no insulin then I'd say bravo for Samir!

I'm with you on the finger-pricking - as I like to say, who knew lancets were so pointy and ears so thin! Well done for you. FYI, when I first started, I actually put bandaids on my thumb and forefinger because I was tired of poking myself. It also helps to go at a tiny bit of an angle. You are doing great!

PS what is it about sinks that cats love? He looks so cute in there!
 
Great job on the spreadsheet!!

And Welcome to the Vampire Club!!
vampire smiley.jpg
 
Great #, Djamila, especially for your first time poking!

You are feeding Sam some excellent low carb choices like Stella & Chewy's and Rad Cat Raw. Hill's M/D, however, is a higher carb food (14%) plus it is a expensive prescription dry food. You'll want to aim for a low carb canned/wet food diet under 10% (see Cat Food Nutritional Chart in my signature line below). If Sam is a kibble addict, read about transitioning Dry Food Addicts to Canned Food at catinfo.org.

I couldn't find the carb content for Fussie Cat. Does anyone know what the carb % is for that?
 
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