New kitty diabetic's friend

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Daphne and Jayne

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Hello, everyone. I found this site shortly after finding out about the diagnosis of my kitty last week. She has been prescribed 2 units of PZI insulin twice a day, and the vet gave us Hill's w/d, which she doesn't like very well. I've been continuing to give her Fancy Feast just to make sure she eats something and feeding her three times a day. I am considering switching to a vet who is more specialized in treating diabetes. I also want to switch to a low-carb, higher protein diet for all my cats, given what I know now, but I worry about changing Jayne over while she is taking 2 units of insulin. She came home on Saturday after having a glucose curve done and goes back this coming Saturday for her glucose levels to be tested again (with a glucometer, I assume). I'm trying very hard to understand how best to manage the delicate balance that needs to be maintained. This site has provided a world of valuable information. It has been three days and I am still terribly nervous.
 
Welcome Daphne and Jayne to the FDMB family.

If it helps we have all been right where you are now, scared, overwhelmed and nervous for our furry baby.

I can't help with the dosing on your insulin but I'm sure others that use it will be along shortly to answer those questions.

I can however tell you the very best thing you can do for Jayne is to learn to test her at home. There are lots of reasons for it. First it will tell you within seconds where her blood sugar is and how she is responding to the insulin. It will protect her from ever going hypo. It gives you truer numbers as she is at home and relaxed, rather than at the Vet's and all stressed out. Stress will raise her BGs. And Lastly it save you time and stress of hauling her back and forth to the vet's all the time and keep $$$ in your wallet. We can teach you how to do this, we have taught a lot of folks over the internet. You don't need a fancy pet meter, any human meter works just fine. I personally use the Relion Micro from Wal-mart. I think the whole set up cost me in the neighborhood of $35 for meter, test strips and lancets. Home testing is very easy once you get the hang of it. Basically we just take a small sample of blood from the edge of their ears. It doesn't hurt them, in fact Max looks forward to his tests as he gets treats afterwards and will purr through the whole thing, if he doesn't sleep through it.

Most cats aren't thrilled with the prescription vet foods, I know out of my 11 (only 1 diabetic) not a single one of them would touch it after about 2 days. Also with 11 we don't feed Fancy Feast just because I'm not popping that many cans a day...lol.
But we do feed everyone the same thing our diabetic kitty Max eats. Which at least here is good old Friskies Pate Flavors. I can't begin to tell you how much better all my cats are doing with the diet change. Not only is my Max in remission, but my non-diabetics are softer, sleeker and just in plain better shape.

Let me run off and find you some links to home testing and our food list etc unless someone else beats me to it.

Just breathe, you can do this. I adopted my Max from this board because he was a diabetic. If I can do this with a kitty that didn't know me, think how easy it will be for you and Jayne since she knows you and loves you.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang.
 
Welcome!

We test our kitty's blood glucose at home. It is more accurate than the numbers at the vet (because the kitty is stressed there and stress raises bg levels)and much less expensive. We use a human glucometer and poke their ear: Video for hometesting We have taught hundreds of people how to do it and we would be glad to teach you. It is a great way to really see what is happening and the only way to keep your kitty safe from a hypo.

Once you are hometesting, a change to wet lo carb food would be wonderful. We want you to be on top of her numbers first, because wet lo carb can really reduce blood glucose levels and the amount of insulin needed. (My cat Oliver changed from dry to wet and went down 100 points overnight.)

We would rather you start on one unit twice daily, but if we can get you hometesting, you can see how the 2 units is working and adjust accordingly.

The information here is overwhelming and it is a steep learning curve. But you can do this and we would love to help.
 
One of the best ways to manage your cat's diabetes is to learn to hometest. This means that you test your cat's glucose levels with a glucose meter before every shot. You can use any human glucose meter including the store brands for testing. There are pet glucose meters available, but they are not any more accurate and are expensive to use.

You are already on track with changing your cat's diet to a high protein/low carb diet. A great resource to help you decide on which food is best is Janet & Binky's food list http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html. Look for foods with less than 10 in the carbs column and a high number in the protein column. Many of us feed our cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies. You do not need to feed your cat prescription food and most of it is not good for diabetics anyway.

There is also a lot of good information you should read on our Health Links page http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=14, especially the information about hypos. Print it out and keep it handy. Hopefully you will never need it.

We know it is overwhelming when you first get a diagnosis of feline diabetes, but it is something that is very managable. Most vets are not specialist, especially if they treat more than one type of animal. But many vets are open to understanding more about caring for diabetic pets. Hopefully your vet is one of them. You have to use a little finesse, but many of us have succeeded in training our vets about feline diabetes. :lol:

And you can always ask us any questions you may have. We are not medical experts, but many of us have been caring for diabetic cats for several years and we are willing to help you with what we have found works best for us. Just remember though, ECID, which means Every Cat Is Different. So what may work best for us may be something different with your cat. But we can help you find out what works best for your kitty.
 
Thank you all so much for the warm welcome and encouraging posts. I'm going to check out the resources you mentioned and continue learning all I can. It does seem overwhelming at the moment, but I'm determined -- and encouraged by the number of folks who have been able to successfully manage their diabetic sweethearts. Thanks a million.
 
In a few weeks, my Squeak will have been off of insulin for 7 years thanks to the help of this board.

Try to make it simple...cats need food for nutrients and energy. To metabolize it, they need insulin. When the pancreas isn't working well enough, we help by giving shots. By reducing the carbohydrates in the diet, the work the pancreas and extra insulin needs to do is reduced. And like human diabetics, we can track how well the insulin is working by testing with human glucometers. Balancing food and insulin is tricky at first but things settle down and become a lot easier. And we're here to help :)

Jen
 
I was afraid we scared you off. We do tend to be overly enthusiastic about diabetic cats.

Come back with any questions. We would really like to help you and your cat.
 
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