New diagnosis; what now?

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vcarver

vcarver

Member Since 2016
My 7-year old Simba was diagnosed today. The vet is going to administer first dose of insulin today. We are going to be learning a lot over the next weeks and months. The biggest factor for us is that although Simba is the sweetest, most loving cat, he will NOT be managed. We can't even give him a pill unless we can hide it in his food. He has peed on us and bitten us and sent me to the ER. He is a big, 18 lb. hunk of a cat and he is mortally afraid of any type of meds or med management. And he hates going to the vet so badly that we have to give him Diazepam to calm him before the trip. How are we going to manage all the things involved in treating a diabetic cat? I am overwhelmed.
 
Hello and welcome, sorry you have to be here. :bighug: Many of us have cats that stress a lot at the vets. Fortunately, you will find that giving insulin is easier than giving pills. I think most of us would rather give a medication by shot than pill our cats - I know I would! You can start giving the shot in the scruff where they barely feel it, and you can give the shot when Simba's head is buried in the food bowl. He may barely notice it.

One thing you may need to consider is doing home testing of his blood glucose to help with detemining what dose of insulin to give. We are strong advocates of home testing. Many cats stress at the vet and tests there are much higher blood sugar numbers than when taken at home. You don't want to make an insulin dose question based on an inflated blood sugar number when it'll be too much insulin at home. Plus then you'll save time, money and stress of not having to take the cat to the vet as often. There are lots of tips around on how to do blood testing but start by picking a special spot in the house where you do cuddles that just he gets. Try touching or rubbing his ears and praising him and give him a low carb treat afterwards. Dehydrated all meat is a good option. Soon he'll associate treats with that spot and touching ears. That's a huge first step. Take it slowly, you can do it.:bighug: We've had people with diabetic semi ferals.
 
Would strongly suggest getting Feliway Comfort Spray. Can get it on Amazon. I spray it on rugs, my shirt to calm Elmo. Not to spray on ur kitty but in area where u take BG or shoot insulin. Spray and give a few minutes to dissipate . It works wonders on calming them down
 
Rescue Remedy for pets works for some cats - mine did a 2000 mile car ride aided by it. I have also seen people use calming collars or Thundershirts for cats.
 
Thank you all for the suggestions and comments. We have started Vetsulin (today, Nov 23) 1.5 units twice a day. He has had two shots, one for practice last night at home, and one today at the vet with insulin on board. Both went pretty well so I am hopeful. We have Feliway and have used it on a towel for him to lay on. I have ordered the dehydrated chicken to "treat" him with and we are hoping all goes well. He is particularly difficult to "manage" medically but for some reason he is not as resistant to this as he has been to other things over the years. Our vet, who we have complete confidence in, doesn't want us to do home glucose monitoring to start with because of his behavioral issues. Perhaps in the future.
 
Congrats on getting started. I think our kitties figure out petty quickly that we are trying to help them. The treats help too. :) As for home testing, you can always start be getting him used to rubbing his ears and giving a treat.
 
I agree that it's so much easier to give a cat a shot then a pill. As long as your cat let's you pet him you should be ok. While you're at it, start getting him used to you rubbing his ears now so in a week or so you can start testing his bg on his ears.
 
I wanted to add that if your cat hates going to the vet, home testing will be so much less stressful for him!!! And less expensive because it's a lot less trips there!!!!
 
Here's something I wrote up for others that needed help with testing...maybe it'll help you too!

It can be really helpful to establish a routine with testing. Pick one spot that you want your "testing spot" to be (I like the kitchen counter because it's got good light and it's at a good height....it also already blocked 2 escape routes due to the wall and the backsplash) It can be anywhere though...a rug on the floor, a table, a particular spot on the couch...wherever is good for you. Take him there as many times a day as you can and just give his ears a quick rub and then he gets a yummy (low carb) treat. Most cats aren't objecting so much with the poking..it's the fooling with their ears they don't like, but once they're desensitized to it and learn to associate a certain place with the treats, they usually start to come when they're called! Or even when they hear us opening the test kit!

You also have to remember...you're not poking him to hurt him...you're testing him to keep him safe and understand what's going on inside his body. There's just nothing better than truly understanding what's going on inside your kitty's body and with this disease, the more knowledge you have, the more power you have against it. The edges of the ears have very few pain receptors, so it really doesn't hurt them. Also, if you're nervous and tense, it's going to make your kitty nervous and tense too. As silly as it might seem, try singing! It forces you to use a different part of your brain!

It's also important to make sure his ear is warm. A small sock filled with a little rice and microwaved or a small pill bottle filled with warm water (check temp against your wrist like you would a baby bottle) works well.

When you're first starting, it's also important to use a lower gauge lancet, like 25-28 gauge. Most of the "lancet devices" come with 33 gauge lancets and they are just too tiny to start with. The bigger lancets (that are lower numbers) make a bigger "hole". As you poke more and more, the ears will grow new capillaries and will be easier and easier to get blood from...we call it "learning to bleed"

Finding the right "treat" will be a great help too! Freeze dried chicken, bonito flakes, little pieces of baked chicken...whatever low carb treat you can find that he really enjoys will help him to associate the testing with the treat! China's Achilles heel was baked chicken, so I'd bake a piece, chop it into bite sized pieces, put some in the refrigerator and freeze the rest to use as needed. It didn't take long for her to come any time I picked up the meter!
 
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