New Here: My Introduction

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

gorillahowl

Member Since 2013
Yesterday my 11-year-old cat, Wendell, was diagnosed with diabetes. I rushed him to the vet with a urinary tract infection (that is now under control) and the vet thought his extracted pee looked dilute. Blood work confirmed that my cat had a blood sugar level over 500 and Wendell was a newly minted feline diabetic.

Since it was a Saturday, and they're closed Sundays, the vet's main concern was getting Wendell through the weekend with as little change as possible. For now, I'm giving him 2 units of Lantus 2x a day and only letting him eat at two designated mealtimes. (He is usually a grazer.) Today he is resting comfortably. He took the insulin shots like a champ, and he's using the litter box. We are supposed to go back tomorrow for a blood sugar test.

I live in an urban area without a car. Round trip cab to the vet is about $40. So obviously, I want to keep vet visits to a minimum. How often can I assume to be schlepping to the vet if I test his sugar at home?

How soon should I start testing his bg at home and how often should I expect to do it? I have to go back to work Tuesday, and she seems to think that 2 units is a low enough dose (and his sugar is sufficiently high) that there shouldn't be any danger this week of him getting too much.

Since I'm not testing at home yet, and since he's used to having food to graze on during the day, should I leave a little for him?

The vet wants to put him on prescription diabetic dry food. I have not read a single good thing about dry diabetic food. Does anyone here use it?

The other concern I have with a wet diet is that Wendell does not like wet food. If there is no dry food option, how can I safely transition him to wet?

Wendell has also had problems with constipation. He is currently on a high-fiber dry food (Purina Healthy Weight) that allows him to poop easily. If I switch him to high protein, low-carb, how can I ensure he is getting enough fiber?

Finally, and this is a selfish question: Is my night life over? I work in Manhattan and live in Jersey. I rent here for the price and relative ease of commute. I have a catsitter but he is about half an hour away. My friends are in NYC. Rarely, I have to work late. If I have to be home every night to give a cat insulin at 7:30, I will be. Will missing a dose every once in a blue moon hurt/kill him? Don't get me wrong: I love my cat and I'm committed to his getting well. If it means weeknights at home and weekend days
with friends (the opposite of what I do now) so be it. I'm just wondering if this is my life for the remainder of his.

Sorry this is so long; I just want to do what's best for my baby boy. Thanks for any advice you can offer.
 
The first thing that comes to mind is to suggest that you read the info at catinfo.org. I think that you'll find that the contipation, the urinary problems, and the diabetes are all at least in part due to the dry food. Dr Lisa, who wrote the catinfo site, explains very well why wet food is best for cats and has lots of tips on transition away from dry. Many of us have found that feeding several small meals a day results in better control of the bg, but you need to be testing to see how to adjust his food.

The second thing is that it is never too soon to begin hometesting. 2 units is actually a fairly high starting dose but is perhaps safe b/c of the dry food. Check some videos on you tube and pick up an inexpensive glucometre and lots of test strips, as well as lancets, and start collecting data. If you start adding up the cost of the cab ride and the cost of having the vet test, it will quickly become ridiculous when you get better and more accurate data at home for a few cents each test. I've seen vets charge as much a $30 per test (at usually about 6 or 8 a day) as well as the daily hospitalization charge.

And not to care you, but it would also be a good idea to read over the symptoms of hypoglycemia in a cat.

As for your night life - well, there have been many cats go off insulin. They become diet-controlled diabetics. However, it does take a little diligence and commitment at the beginning.
 
Thanks. I guess I won't start trying to transition foods until I start testing him, which will hopefully be tomorrow.
 
Here's a shopping list for hometesting:


A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. Some members stay away from any meter with True in the name and the Freestyle meters. Some people think they are unreliable and read lower than other meters. 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 the meter out on yourself or someone else before you try it on your cat. You want to be familiar with it before you poke the cat.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 26-28 gauge is good. Any brand will work as long as the lancets match your device.

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. You can also use a prescription bottle filled with very warm water. It provides a good surface to poke against.

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

And some prep work you can do now:

How to get the cat ready for home testing

While you wait, you can get your kitty ready for testing.
First pick a place where you want to test. Some people use the kitchen counter, a blanket on the floor, between your legs while sitting – whatever works for you. Take the kitty there and give him/her lots of praise while you play with his/her ears. Give a treat and release. Next time, add the rice sack (thin sock filled with raw rice, heated in the microwave until very warm but not hot) or a prescription pill bottle filled with very warm water. Lots of praise, treat and release. Finally add the lancet so he/she will get used to the noise. The hope is that when you finally poke, they will be used to the process and know a treat is coming!
 
Hi Wendell and owner - welcome to the best thing that could happen to you.

I am fairly new and can't really offer you any dosing advice. But I agree with the previous posts. I just posted my story on the health board and hopefully it'll give you some good info.
Mego's Success Story

I will tell you it took quite a bit of dedication at the beginning. I was fortunate to be on vacation when I began Mego's treatment but was very worried when I went back to work. I strongly suggest home testing - I believe it actually saved my cat's life at the beginning. If you are concerned about your night life, you may not be able to follow the tight regulation protocol and you may prefer the relaxed regulation protocol. I would read up on both.

Good luck with Wendell and please post any questions you may have. Everyone is here to help!
 
THanks! I'm not really that concerned about my nightlife. . . I'm really a homebody and didn't mean to make it seem like I'd rather be out partying than home with my cat. . . anyone I know will tell you that if anything, I'm TOO attached to him! But I am a bit of a theater fanatic and the idea of never seeing another show until he dies just seems daunting.

I'd rather put in the hard work now in hopes he'll go into remission. Giving up seeing Bobby Cannavale in The Big Knife is nothing when compared to keeping my cat alive. But there ARE nights when I might have to work late, or I get stuck in terrible traffic, and I guess I want to know what happens if I don't get home at exactly 7:30.

Blacksburg--Are you a Hokie?
 
I'm not an official Hokie, just an adopted one. ;-) I didn't go to school here but have lived here for the last 8.5 years. You must be familiar with the area or VA Tech?
 
Hello and welcome to the board!

In terms of food many people here feed Fancy feast classic pates, friskies pates or Wellness grain free but if your cat wont eat wet you can try transitioning him to try with these tips: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf Also you dont need to just feed twice a day - people here do all sorts of things from leaving food out all day or many mini meals. Just take the food away 2 hours before the shot so your reading isnt influenced by food then test, shoot and feed.

Have you started the home tests yet?
 
I haven't started testing yet; maybe tomorrow, but probably Thursday, after the vet gives me a hands-on lesson.

Taking his food away two hours before testing isn't a real option; when I get home from work, I'm going to need to test him and shoot him up right away. For now I'm leaving him food during the day--I'm not changing his food patterns much until I figure out bg testing. There's a lot to think about/decide.
 
Welcome and feel free to ask any questions! Around here, the saying goes that the only bad question is the question that goes unasked.

As to nightlife, I'd perhaps wait a month or so till both you and Wendell get more familiar with home testing. But after that, maybe find a neighbor who lives close by, possibly even a teen or young adult interested in becoming a vet, and offer to pay them to check in on Wendell and test and shoot if necessary. I've trained a few of my friends now to be able to stop by, test Mikey, and give him a shot. Luckily, I have hungry friends so they'll do it for a meal. :lol:
 
For removing food 2 hours, that's to ensure you're getting a pre-shot number that you know is safe to shoot and is not food-influenced. If you can't always pull up food within two hours, what I did was monitor Mikey on the days I could and test him after he ate and see how much higher which foods would spike his BG. That way, if Mikey gave me a 200 and I wasn't sure if he'd eaten his 5% food within the last two hours, I knew from past data that if he had eaten within the last two hours, without the food spike his BG would really be at 180. For me (again because I have the data on how he reacts) 180 is still a safe number for me to give him his shot. For people starting out, we recommend you don't shoot under 200 and post here first.
 
My cat is a grazer and I dont think he would ever transition well to 2 meals a day. Every cat is different though. I leave food out all day for Jupiter and all night for him except for the 2 hours prior to each shot. I use an ice cube tray and take a little canned food and mix it with water and put that mixture into the icecube tray. most people here call these "catsickles". I leave fresh food and a few catsickles out at night for my 3 cats - and after the catsickles start melting its like my cats have some more fresh food. I also sometimes have a hard time removing the food 2 hours prior to testing - I just do it whenever I can - and if I know I wont be able to remove it - I try to estimate how much I think they eat over the next few hours and hope the food runs out at about the right time. I tried this a few times when I was home to test to see how much to leave out on average - so have gotten a little better with this with practice.

I will let the other more experienced members help you with when and how to transition to the wet canned food. Most cats that are on dry food have a significant decrease in BG number when they switch to wet food - so you do want to make sure you are hometesting prior to the switch.

Jupiter was diagnosed on 3-14-13 and I started home testing a few days after that. Instead of taking Jupiter to the vet - I hometest, called the vet with the results, and get advice here on this board. It has saved me a lot of money in vet bills.

I also feel so much more comfortable giving jupiter his shot of insulin after testing and knowing his numbers are in a safe range.

There are so many experienced members here who have helped me learn so many things, and I still continue to ask questions and learn more and more each day. While I cant give you much advice, as I am still new here too, I want you to know that we are all here to support you, encourage you, and help you in whatever way we can. If you ever have any questions, always post them, and there will always be an experienced member who can answer your questions and give you any advice and tips you need.

Welcome to FDMB!!
 
I guess this is the downside of where I chose to live: I have no friends nearby. A river separates us. Very few people in my neighborhood even speak English, and I've never been home long enough to make friends. (Aside from the language barrier, my town is full of people like me, who use their apartments as a place to sleep and hang out in between commutes.) The people I do know, I wouldn't trust to take care of my getting my mail, let alone a living creature. I live where I live because it's cheap enough for me to live without a roommate, because I strongly dislike living in NYC, and because the commute to Manhattan is fairly easy.

I'm seriously thinking I need to move.
 
Some Secondary Monitoring Tools are listed in my signature link.

Ketones, in particular, are important to monitor when the glucose is over 200-300, and/or infection is present and/or the cat is not eating. They are a by-product of fat breakdown. Too many can indicate diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) a potentially fatal complication of diabetes which is very expensive to treat as it requires hospitalization.
 
Thanks. Somewhat ironically, it would have been easier to test his urine for ketones before he went on the insulin, when he was leaving rivers of pee in his litter box.
 
To recruit a suitable person to help, you might check with local churches/temples/synagogues and girl/boy scout type groups, or college-bound high school students for young folks interested in veterinary science to interview for a part-time job learning how to test for feline diabetes, draw and administer insulin, etc. And then have them come in while you are home to demonstrate the skills to your satisfaction before allowing them to work solo.
 
Good idea! This is all so new. For the time being, it's going to be me. I talked to my editor and explained that I have to be home by 7:30 every night (she's fine with it) and for now there's nowhere I'd rather be. But I know I will go crazy if I don't find some help down the line.
 
I found that an easy way to space out my cat's meals was to use a timed feeder. I initially used the 2 compartment with the flip up lids, but switched later to the Petsafe 5. I could then be assured that he was getting a little snack every 4 hours. With the PS 5, I could have programmed it to turn an hour b4 shot time to be sure that he didn't eat just before a test but it wasn't necessary. He had his little wristwatch perfectly synced with the feeder and was waiting for each turn - even at night. The little dishes that come with the feeder can be washed and filled easily. In summer, I used to freeze the later ones so that they would be fresh when the feeder turned.

Really, this all sems like a huge deal at first, but becomes to routine in short order. Testing at home is quick, simple and gives great data. Most people find that the videos are at least as useful than their vet' demo. Lots of lo-carb treat are the key for most cats. And treats every try - blood or not. Its the process that is important to the cat. Freeze dried chicken or shrimp are hits with most cats.
 
I've read a lot about cats who flip over timed feeders. Have you ever had that problem?

Another issue I have is that W. does not eat cat treats. As in, I have tried several brands over the years and he is determined not to eat anything actually made for a cat other than his dry food. And he doesn't eat dried fish, either. If it's not dry cat food or real "human" food, he won't touch it. I'm wondering if I should just buy a bag of shrimp and defrost one or two every day for him.
 
He won't even eat the Halo Liv-a-little freeze dried chicken treats? Mine Love, lurve, luv, more, not enough, feed us the whole jar love them.

You can also try small bites of either raw or plain boiled chicken. It only takes a tiny piece.
If shrimp is a favorite, then little bites of either raw or cooked shrimp might work.

One of my cats did not recognize the freeze dried chicken as being edible but she loves a bite of cooked chicken.

Whole Life makes freeze dried liver treats. My non-treat loving girl Delta likes the liver treats and now has come to love the freeze dried chicken treats too.

Bravo makes little freeze dried treats. Turkey/giblet medley or Fish/Shrimp medley. I got these at my local pet speciality store in a small package to try for the cats.

Sorry, no info for you on the timed feeder. My kitties have their own personal cat slave who is on an automatic timer to provide meals at set times.
 
gorillahowl said:
I've read a lot about cats who flip over timed feeders. Have you ever had that problem?

Another issue I have is that W. does not eat cat treats. As in, I have tried several brands over the years and he is determined not to eat anything actually made for a cat other than his dry food. And he doesn't eat dried fish, either. If it's not dry cat food or real "human" food, he won't touch it. I'm wondering if I should just buy a bag of shrimp and defrost one or two every day for him.
Click to expand...

Never had that problem with the flipped feeders. I haven't actually heard of this problem before so if a cat is flipping feeders, it's making me wonder if the cat is not getting enough food. I've actually stopped using mine because my cats are pretty good self-regulators so I just add extra water and leave the food out for them all day long (I live in a temperate climate year-round).

For treats, basically, you want anything pure protein, like freeze-dried meats (I actually buy the dog treats because they come in bigger quantities and are cheaper than the cat treats). A lot of people also make their own cat treats by boiling cut up chicken pieces or shrimp. I've even given deli meat on occasion as an "extra special" treat. :lol: If your cat likes the shrimp or human food, try that instead.

And here is a perfect example why it's never too soon to home-test. :-D
 
gorillahowl said:
I've read a lot about cats who flip over timed feeders. Have you ever had that problem?

Another issue I have is that W. does not eat cat treats. As in, I have tried several brands over the years and he is determined not to eat anything actually made for a cat other than his dry food. And he doesn't eat dried fish, either. If it's not dry cat food or real "human" food, he won't touch it. I'm wondering if I should just buy a bag of shrimp and defrost one or two every day for him.
Click to expand...


If he likes people food you can make your own high protein treats. I always did for Winnie.
I cooked up some chicken ( boil or bake) and then cut it up into little pieces. Divide those up into little baggies -- enough in each for a couple days of snacks-- and pop them in the freezer.
Take a bag out and put in fridge to thaw whenever I needed them and viola`! cat treats.
Cheaper then any cat treats you can buy too.
ETA: if for any reason you can't or don't cook. You can always buy a rotisserie chicken at the grocery and freeze that per above. Just make sure to get one that isn't flavored, removed skin and bones(duh) .
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top