New here, figuring things out

[MomofBella]

My kitty, Bella, was diagnosed as diabetic this past Thursday. She's always been a big girl. At one time she was 22 lbs. I cut way back on dry food and went to mostly canned with just a sprinkle of dry here and there. She was down to 17 lbs this past week.

We had suspected something was wrong because she was always thirsty and would pee large amounts. I have 3 cats, and one of them began peeing on towels, bath mats, etc. It took me a week to finally pinpoint which cat it was -- Bella of course. I brought her to the vet pretty sure she had a UTI, which she did, but they also said she was 'throwing some ketones' so she was diabetic.

They ran a bunch of other labs and everything came back ok thankfully. I started her on 1 unit of Lantus every 12 hours the next day. We went in for a quick glucose check on Monday and it was 330.

Today Bella went for a glucose curve, and her numbers were 333, then went to the 380s, 340s. They'd like to see her in the 200s, so we are upping the Lantus to 2 units. They want to do another curve in about a week.

I haven't begun home testing yet, but we do have several meters (husband is diabetic, so we are familiar with this disease.) We are still trying to master the insulin shots. I do it while feeding her and while she doesn't run and hide, she does pull away sometimes. It has taken two of us to hold her still.

I know it could be worse and this can be managed, but this is so hard and not something I ever imagined having to do! I won't lie - I'm so scared I will do something wrong and hurt my cat!! It's just very overwhelming and while I want my kitty healthy and happy, I don't want her to suffer either.

 

[JanetNJ]

Shots and testing don't really hurt them. Not treating it would be harmful though. Great that you already have meters. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.

 

[Idjit's mom]

We weren't sure we could manage either, but we learned. We made our station at the kitchen counter, meter, all the stuff. DH holds Idjit while he sits on the kitchen stool/chair. Idjit feels safe in dad's arms. I warm a rice sock, warm his ears, face and chin. I don't use a lancet pen, just the lancet, We became better , not every poke was successful, or graceful. After all, most of us took time to learn to do other things in life : walk, talk, read, write, etc. Look at all the things you know how to do!

 

[Olive & Paula]

You will get there, perseverance pays off. One thing to keep in mind,raising dose by whole unit is not suggested. You could pass the optimal dose. It is best to raise by 0.25 units. You can get syringes with half unit marks at pharmacies or o line. Most vets are not aware they exist and for economical reason only have syringes that cover wide range of uses. Home testing will help you keep Bella safe and save you some money by doing curves at home where she will not be stressed. Office visits can give false readings because of stress. Home testing is one thing you really need to start on.