New Guy Great Kitty

[Nick&JuBear]

Hey Everyone,
I am new to the forums and my cat Ju(Ju Bear,JuJu Bee) recently as of 01/29/11 been diagnosed with Diabetes. The vet currently prescribed Ju 2.5 units of ProZinc, twice daily. With my work schedule, the normal 8-5 job and currently attending college I give him his shots at 7am and 7pm. Like most people I know my age, fed Ju and his non-biological brother Oliver dry cat food(Friskies Dry). I also went the way of free-feeding them. As I look back now, I feel bad for not giving them the proper nutritional guidelines in regards to a more wet diet. I recently (after christmas) purchased these guys a Drinkwell Platinum fountain and they seem to love it as mush as I do I found this site as fast as I could type into google and I am excited about the help that you guys and girls might provide. I am pretty shocked about the whole situation and must admit I shed a tear when I found out. Ju had lost weight when I realized something was wrong. I have had Ju for about 3 years now since I became his caregiver when my room mate left to move back in with her parents. He's a very sweet kitty, always is friendly to people and does not jump on every counter he can (like Oliver). Though I'm nervous about the future of both of us I would like to do everything in my power and financial situation to care for Ju and to make sure he has a happy and healthy life. I'm looking forward to talk with some of you and hope to be a community member for years to come!

Currently my first question and where I need advice is how to slowly move him on to wet food. He loves wet food very much! I purchase it as a kind of treat for the cats so the first step in getting them to eat it will be no problem. I am wondering when it comes to changing his diet gradually if i should mix the wet and dry together, giving them each a certain amount morning and night. What are some way that you guys might suggest I do this? Any suggestions? I read this site(http://www.catinfo.org) and know now that switching quickly while on insulin is a bad idea. I appreciate any help that you people may be able to provide. Also he is taking his injections very well

Forgot to add that I asked about home testing and the vet said it was not necessary. She said they like to see "snapshots" of his blood. My mom luckily has a friend that never used her Home test unit on her cat and that she does not need it. So either way i just need to learn how to use one!

A little bit about me:
I am from Minnesota
Have 3 cats Oliver, Ju, and Puddin(Puddin is my girlfriends)
I have a mouse her name is Crimson(Crimmy) though she is not that color.
I'm 23
I like video games, hiking, traveling, and astronomy...I'm a science guy and am a sucker for space things

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Welcome Nick and JuJu,

Sounds like you have already done a lot of research. Yes, wet lo carb food is best, BUT you shouldn't completely change the diet until you are testing his blood glucose levels at home. When we switched Oliver from dry to wet, his levels went down 100 points overnight. If we hadn't been testing and had given him his usual dose, we would have overdosed him.

ProZinc is a nice mild insulin but we would recommend you start on a lower dose - like one unit twice a day. It is easy to increase the insulin, but if you start over the ideal dose for your cat, it makes the process much harder.

Glad you found us. Keep reading and asking questions.

 

[MommaOfMuse]

Welcome Nick and JuJu to the FDMB Family.

I personally don't know your insulin, but we have many here that do and I'm sure they will be along shortly with more advice and a ton of links for you to read.

At least your vet started you out on a really good insulin from what I have read from the folks here that use it. My guy Max was a Lantus kitty before going into remission.

But I'll try to answer some of your more general question. But first...just breathe, its a steep learning curve at first but you'll catch on fast.

The very first and best thing you can do for JuJu is to learn to test his blood sugar at home, there are many reasons and benefits for doing it at home. First and foremost is that it lets you know his blood sugar is high enough to be safe to give insulin to. Second it gives you truer numbers since all kitties have some stress (even those that love their vets) being at the vet clinic. Stress raises BGs (blood sugar). And third it helps keep money in your wallet and not that of the vet's since you can do your own curves at home and not have to drag poor JuJu back and forth to the vet's all the time.

A lot of us just take in, fax or email our spread sheets to our vet's, rather than take our cat's in. Save the vet time and staff in doing them, you get better numbers and kitty is less stressed..Win-win all around.

We test using just a regular human glucose meter, I like a lot of folks use the ReLion mini or Confirm from Wal-Mart, its a good meter and cheap, and has fairly cheap test strips (strips are where the cost is). Think the whole set-up, Meter,Strips, and Lancets ran me under $30.

As far as food goes, if he already loves wet food then just ditch the dry and start feeding canned wet. I have 10 cats and only one diabetic, everyone here eats the exact same thing, Friskies Pate Flavors. Your other cats will benefit from the change in diet as well...I know mine certainly did. But Don't change JuJu's diet until you are home testing as sometimes just a diet change alone will drop BGs as much as 50-100pts, so an insulin dose that was fine on a dry food diet is way to high on a low carb/high protein diet.

I know it is all over-whelming and scary at first but we will help hold your hand/paw through it all.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang

 

[Nick&JuBear]

Thank you so far for the quick responses. I have yet to pick up that meter but I will also look into our local walgreens and walmart/target.

Sue, should I talk to my vet before changing up the doses. I understand that they may sometimes go to far when it comes to dosing and vet visits. Like humans doctors, dentists, and other medical fields generally are running a business so money of course is first priority. That money of which I do not have a lot of.

I was also wondering about Ju's medical papers if they exist. Is this possible to get from a vet? Something that shows what they tested/results for his overall health? Like those nice big folders you used to see that doctors had before we all went hi-tech. It's the weekend right now so i have to wait until Monday to call again.

I'm ready to have all the cats on a healthier diet in the coming months.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

What a great picture, Nick. Handsome guys!

IMHO, the easiest way to handle the dose is just to tell your vet that this whole thing makes your nervous (which is likely true) and that you want to start on a low dose of insulin until you and JuJu get used to it. Then once you have some hometesting numbers you can share with the vet, you can decide together what to do. As far as the records, you have every right to have them. You can tell the vet that you have decided to keep a record of JuJu's diabetic journey and you would like a copy for your files.

So - homestesting. Here is a good beginning site: Newbie hometesting site and a video: Video for hometesting And here is a list of things you will need:

A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest around. Try it on yourself first so you know how it works before you try it on your cat.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 25-26 gauge is good. Any brand will work.

Ketone strips. (Ketostix) Just like human diabetics use. You will sometimes need to test urine if the numbers are high.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Then heat the ears before poking.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

And some lo carb treats to give your kitty, successful test or not Lo carb treats

Some people get it on the first try; some people like me spend a weekend trying....But we all have tips that helped us. Just ask for help.

 

[Carol-Charlie]

Waving Hello from Minnesota!!!!! :RAHCAT

I'm glad you found FDMB... we're a great family... We're all ages, we're from all over, I mean the world, not just the US.. and we all have a wonderful thing in common... WE LOVE OUR CATS!!!

I too suggest dropping to one unit... twice a day... and ALWAYS.. ALWAYS.. (sorry didn't mean to yell) test blood sugar prior to giving a shot. I know many vets say it's not important... but if anyone ever suggested giving their human child insulin without testing... this vet as all medical doctors would have a screaming fit. An overdose can kill a kitty as fast as a human... so some care is involved. However, with testing of their BG (blood glucose) at home, comes great control over treating your cat. You know where the BG is when you give the shot. I always .. tested Charlie's BG... then I fed him his Fancy Feast... (He didn't realize it was food the first time he tried it... but he sure switched over fast.) 1/2 hour later, I'd check to be sure he'd eaten enough, then he'd get his insulin shot. We did the 7:00 am and 7:00 pm shots also. We had such a system developed... He was a Russian Blue, and the little guy was my very first kitten/cat... He was 12 when diagnosed and I held his head in my hand 6 years later as we eased his pain from a massive blood clot in his brain... His diabetes was doing great... I had hoped he'd live forever...

We did adopt another cat with diabetes, as his caregivers... weren't... they refused to treat the desease.. and wanted him PTS. We adopted him, and he was off the insulin within 10 days... And his dose cut in half after just one two unit injection (he was at 587)... Man... 12 hours later he was 90... Still wonder how low he went... dropped him to one unit... and had to skip doses, as I don't shoot under 100.... had him on 1/2 unit... then scientific name "tad" of insulin for his last shot....

I'm glad you're going to home test and just call vet tomorrow and tell her that you've decided you want to be safe and not risk a hypo, while you're in class, and lowered his dose... Tell her you'll do a curve next week-end and give her the numbers.... She does know that stress raises their BG level, so your numbers at home will be more accurate.

PM me (Private Message) if you have any concerns. We live in Victoria MN... just West of Chanhassen and East of Waconia on MN Hwy 5.

You have two beautiful cats...

 

[Hope + (((Baby)))GA]

vet said it was not necessary. She said they like to see "snapshots" of his blood.

Nick, please pick up a meter ASAP because the vet is so wrong saying it was not necessary. It is the most important tool we use in treating our diabetics. You can send her all the "snapshots" of his blood by taking pictures I have seen over the years on this board, many that have also become complacent about testing because the numbers are fairly the same, so why bother and they'd back off on always testing before each shot. Next thing they knew the cat was hypoing ohmygod_smile

If it is late and you need help, just come on board.....always people on even across the "pond".