New member - hey folks!

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Lori&Scout

Lori&Scout

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Hey everyone, I've just registered today and wanted to say hello. I've read through some of the posts and already found a lot of useful info!

My name is Lori and my kitty Scout was just diagnosed yesterday. She is 9 years old and I've had her since she was 2 months. She's a DSH, white with tan spots. Once I figure this stuff out I'll post a pic, but trust me, she's adorable and a total sweetheart.

The vet said the diabetes could have been brought on from a cortisone shot she got in December, or it could have just recently gotten a lot worse and she's had it for a while. If it is from the cortisone, there's a good chance she'll get better on a low carb diet.

So to look on the bright side: First, I have a lot of experience with diabetes, having cared for diabetic family members over the years. I also have been pre-diabetic and had a lot of issues with hypoglycemia so I used to have to check my BG fairly frequently. Second, Scout is a really good patient. As long as there is food or sitting on laps involved, she'll put up with just about anything. My other cat, Nipper, is a pain in the ass about any medical procedure, and hates the vet. To be fair, I don't think my vet likes her much either. :lol:

On the downside... I live alone and often have to work long hours or go on business trips. I've canceled my trip scheduled for next week and I will cross future bridges when I come to them, but I already know its going to be impossible for me to do insulin 12 hours apart at the same time consistently each day. I'm shooting for 7 AM / 6 PM for now.

So far I've checked her BG 3 times but it's been really hard to get her little ear to cooperate! My tester (Accu check active) is fine for me, but I think I need to get one for Scout that requires a smaller drop of blood and sucks the blood up. Also I either get a tiny drop of blood or I poke too hard and get blood everywhere. I guess this is something I'll have to work on. I've read some of the advice here and have the rice-in-a-sock earwarmer in effect. She seems to like that whole part of the process. :)

Anyway, looking forward to meeting you guys and getting your advice. Its good to know I'm not alone.

Lori
 
HI Lori, nice to "see" you. I'm a newbie here myself (my kitty Sitka was diagnosed in December) but the folks here are great and there is tons of great info available. I work long days myself and so I do a 5:00am and 6pm shot time that seems to work okay. Its great you already have experience with diabetes so its not as much of a shock and, as you know, manageable. Jan
 
Welcome. I am just across the river from you by Reagan National Airport. Yes, a sipping meter/strip is almost essential compared to the pad meter/strip system you are using.
 
welcome Lori and sweet Scout cat_pet_icon

I use the Relion meter for callie, I am also diabetic so I have a Relion I use for me to :smile: ( callie has her own)
you can get them at walmart with either 50 strips for 20 bucks or 100 for 36.00 , meters are around 9.00 dollars ,I have put callies up against the vet and the vet got a reading of 280 and I got 275 ;-) again callie and I welcome you to the family :YMHUG:
 
Hi Lori,
Just a couple questions - what insulin and what starting dose please? Insulins Lantus or Levemir work well for cats.

I'm glad you're up for the home testing and already knowledgeable about human diabetes, although I'm sure you would rather not be! Home testing will make this a lot more manageable for you, even with an odd work schedule. Some of us have to deal with that too, so we can help with suggestions if you need to make shot schedule changes or find a sitter.

Welcome to FDMB!
 
Wow, thanks for the replies!! Hello to Jan, Marty, Vicky, and Larry! I'm really glad this forum exists as I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed right now. I didn't even want to go to work today, but I compromised and did a half day. Hopefully this will get easier as we get into a routine. I'm just scared about leaving her for more than 5 hours, if I give her a shot before I go, what if she has a hypo when the insulin kicks in? I assume that once she's well regulated I won't have to worry as much, but right now I'm very worried.

Vicky: I switched her to a low-carb diet (Purina DM for now) which the vet recommended she stay on for life. As for her insulin, she's on PZI. The vet started her on 3 units but I only gave her 2 units this morning since her BG wasn't that high. I managed to get a few BG readings despite being hissed at. :evil: I have looked at other posts with readings so I think I am notating this correctly...

PMPS: 459 (gave 3 units)
+5 hrs: 186
AMPS: 291 (gave 2 units)
+6 hrs: 160

I'm happy with the nadir numbers and I am hoping they will drop naturally as she continues to eat the low carb food. I'm waiting for my vet to call me with her CBC results so we can hopefully find out more about how long she's had diabetes and if anything else is wrong with her.

Lori
 
Welcome to you and Sweet Scout & Nipper sis ~ you have found the BEST place to be!! :smile:

You can ask just about anything and receive advice from 'oldies' & 'newbies' as well. We are all here for our sweet and some not so sweet furry ones.

I believe there are lower carb foods out there that are alot cheaper; my girls eat raw and canned - f. feast, friskies and sop. cat by petsmart... I tried the higher end canned and they would not eat it???

But, if you switch, you would probably need to lower the dose of PZI.

Dont forget those low carb treats for pokey poke time! Bean looooves hers
 
Hi Lori. I'm a newbie and sleep deprived this morning from staying up testing my cat. So I have nothing coherent to say, except hi. I can see your spreadsheet, so that worked. This business of sharing spreadsheets is really helpful I'm finding. I learn a lot just from studying spreadsheets of the experienced cat owners. Anyway, its morning here, so "good morning" to yer. ~O)
 
Hi Lori,
Good job getting the SS out there for us to see! It is a very powerful tool on the diabetes management tool belt.

On the downside... I live alone and often have to work long hours or go on business trips. I've canceled my trip scheduled for next week and I will cross future bridges when I come to them, but I already know its going to be impossible for me to do insulin 12 hours apart at the same time consistently each day. I'm shooting for 7 AM / 6 PM for now.
Click to expand...

There is a brightside to this! The insulin your vet gave you is probably the best when adhering to a tight 12 hour schedule is impossible. It is more flexible than lantus, levemir and even prozinc for that matter.

Which of the two vets would be the "primary" vet for Scout? I only ask because it seems they might have different theories on dosing.

My vet thought like Dr. Mitchell, who it looks like gave you a "scale" to shoot by. One dose for one range or BG, and a different dose for another range of numbers. That can work, but it is probably better at least at first to stick to one dose. With a lot of data under your belt, it is easier to evaluate what the dose might need to be. But with only three days of history, Scout is still getting used to even getting any insulin, and the results on one day might be radically different the next day on the same dose with the same sort of preshot test number.

I think I would suggest sticking with 1u for a couple of days at least to see what the numbers are, and then reconsider after looking at that data. It doesn't look like all that much has happened one the 1u doses, but that can change literally overnight. Try to keep in mind that it is better to have high numbers for a couple days than to have a number that it too low for even a few minutes. Once the insulin is "in", you can't take it back out if you find out it is "too much". If you can't be home to test and keep an eye on Scout, it's much safer to undershoot than to overshoot.

Carl
 
Hi Lori, Scout and Nipper. :smile: Poopy and I are just popping in to say welcome.

The folks here are super friendly and ever so helpful! Don't hesitate to ask questions. :smile:
 
Hi Carl... Man I wish I'd read your post before I gave her her shot tonight. I went with 2U as Dr. Mitchell had suggested but now I'm a little worried. Ah well I'm home all night so I can get a +3 reading on her and see if we're likely to have a hypo. She just had a good meal and I'll feed her again before bed. I just wonder what a cat having a hypo looks like. Maybe she'll be crabby and combative like I am when I have a hypo!! :evil:

To answer your question, Dr. Taylor is her normal vet, she spayed her as a kitten and has seen her 1-2x a year since. Scout is of course the model patient and Dr. Taylor loves to see her and even offered to board her when I need to go away for work. Unfortunately she's away for the weekend so I can't call her for help, so I'll probably be on here bothering you guys if that's alright :)

Thank you everyone for your responses. I've been reading your posts on the other forums and appreciate you all taking the time to help us newbies. :smile:
 

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Ah Lori,
I didn't mean to make you worry! I think you and Scout are fine, but if you do get a test or two in, please post the numbers so that if you need advice or help, somebody sees it.

Signs of hypo- sometimes the BG will drop to 50 and even lower and you'd never know it without a meter. Bob went into the 40's a couple of times and didn't look or act any differently. I worried, he couldn't have cared less. He was just loving the extra attention! Sometimes kitties will look dazed and confused, or start to stagger when they walk.

Have you seen the link above that tells you what to do if you think a hypo is happening?
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15887
That tells you about symptoms, and about what to do. It lists things you should have on hand that you can get to if and when you need them.

If you need help quickly, go to the first post in this thread, and click on "edit", then where you see all the icons above the message window? The default says "none". Change that to the next icon to the right "911". That will let everyone who looks on this forum know that you need help right away.

I'll be up for a little while, and those on the west coast will be up for longer I'm sure.
Carl
 
Hi Carl,

Thanks for your reply!

It looks like we're ok tonight!!! Her PMPS was 300 and +3 is 291. I suspect it went up and is now going down because she ate right after her shot and she's eating again now. I'll try to get a +6 if I can but I'm not too concerned. She's perked up a bit and is eating and bathing and that makes me happy. :)

Thanks for the link on the hypos! At least I know how it feels to be hypo so I can kind of empathize. I will keep an eye out for odd behavior and make sure she has food available at all times.

Off to bed!
Lori
 
That's good news, Lori.
Shouldn't need it tonight, but good info to have just in case you need it in the future.

Carl
 
Just a quick update... Scout's AMPS was 375 which is not great, however... she was perky this morning and hungry! Huge improvement from yesterday morning, when I put down her wet food and she sniffed it, looked at me dolefully, then did that thing they do when there's a poo on the floor and they want to bury it. :roll:

One of Scout's favorite pastimes is meowing at the showerhead when it drips after I get out of the shower every morning. This is seriously the only time she meows and it's totally hilarious. She gets really worked up about it and I have no idea why. Sometimes she will actually jump into the tub and try to catch the drops with her paws... Well in the past couple months since she hasn't been feeling well (she has arthritis in her knee as well as the diabetes) she hasn't been doing that as much, but this morning when I went to dry my hair, there she was sitting on the side of the tub meowing away. I'm taking all these little things as good signs and hoping the BG numbers will improve. I'm going to keep her on 2U unless her numbers drop substantially and I think there's a danger of hypo.

Thanks again for the advice and welcomes :)

Lori
 
Question for the group:

Do I need to encourage Scout to eat now her BG is decreasing (190-250 at nadir, see spreadsheet for details) or should I just leave food out all day and let her eat when she wants? She hasn't been eating much today despite me hand feeding her and encouraging her (half a can of tuna and a few bites of wet food). I know she should eat with the insulin but I also know she needs to lose weight and I don't want to interrupt that. I have the Purina DM wet and dry food out for her at all times and she's not a huge fan but she will eat it in general... just not today.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
Lori
 
It is probably best if she does not eat dry food
If you could get her off the dry food
you would reduce insulin
 
Hi Lori,
I saw the notes on your SS. I'll be around for the +3 number. Sorry she isn't feeling like eating today. And yesterday she ate so well....
You can leave food out for her, and while the dry isn't a great thing, it isn't terribly high in carbs (for dry food anyway.) Eventually, you want her off it just because it's dry food and not good for long-term (outside of diabetes) health. But she needs to eat something.
I was going to suggest tuna, but you've already tried that. Do you have any low carb freeze-dried treats? You can try crumbling that on top of wet food to see if it draws any interest.

Carl
 
Hey Carl,

Thanks so much for staying up to chat. :) I want to get her off the dry food but she's been on Science Diet dry food with a little Whiskas wet food and tuna for 8.5 years, it's a tough change for her. Someone is eating a little dry food but I'm pretty sure it's Nipper. I just lured her into eating a bit of Purina DM wet along with some Whiskas Choice Cuts Cod and Shrimp (not specifically on the canned food list but the other Whiskas Choice Cuts are all 15% carbs and I know she likes it). She ate the Whiskas but not much of the Purina, of course.

So do you know what the carb % is for the Purina DM wet and dry food? My vet never actually said! Is there any way to calculate the carb % based on the info that's actually on the can? I'm looking to feed her stuff that's not on the list that I know she likes.

I'm probably going to test her in two hours (+4) to check for possibility of hypo then go to bed.

Thanks again for the replies!
Lori
 
Purina's DM dry comes in at 13% carbs according to Binky's list and the wet is 7% carbs....and for what it is worth out of 13 cats here none of them would eat the prescription stuff after about the first 3 days once the novelty of it wore off...It is a pretty high liver base and most cats burn out on it pretty quickly. One thing I have noticed since switching everyone here to an all wet diet...when they were on dry they would eat the same thing day in and day out forever, but on a wet diet I need to rotate different flavors fairly often to keep them all interested...Right now I rotate through 3 different flavors of Friskies Pate...Mixed Grill, Turkey and Giblets and Ocean White Fish & Tuna, with most of the week being made up of the Turkey & Giblets but throwing in either Mixed Grill which is a little higher in carbs than I like for Musette and the Fishy flavor just to give them a little variety.

I knid of look at it as even if I could eat T-bone steak and lobster every night of the week I would still crave a Big Mac and fries every now and then... :lol:

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
I can safely say the Purina DM wet food has received the Thumbs Down... Scout just went over and did the burying-the-poo thing around the bown of Purina, AGAIN. "Mom, this is sh**." Message received, kiddo! I'll head over to the grocery store tomorrow and see what else I can find. I've never known Scout to be particularly picky so this is a surprise. Glad she's not the only one turning her nose up!

Her +3.5 is 213 and I am off to bed :)

Lori
 
Hahaha, that's hilarious... lots of cats don't like it though... they grow tired of the liver flavor really really fast. If you're on a budget, Walmart's Special Kitty stuff is OK, I feed the Chicken Dinner, Turkey and Giblets dinner, and Tuna and Chicken dinners and they are all less than 7 carbs. Occasionally the beef but he has a mild beef allergy. It is just over $1 a day to feed Scooter with Special Kitty. But it's not the best quality food as expected, lots of byproducts and again liver. So I mix it up a little bit with Sophistacat Supreme (they are changing the brand soon) from Petsmart and a little bit of the Fancy Feast classic flavors. Sometimes Merricks and Wellness when I feel like treating him.

If she's being reluctant to eat straight wet, try try is crumbling a bit of parmesan cheese over the food, adding water from a can of tuna, or warming it up in the microwave... or my preferred method, adding a bit of hot hot water to both warm it up and water it down :)
 
Ry's suggestion worked!!! After a full day of Scout refusing to eat wet food, I mixed 1/3 can Fancy Feast Classic with some warm water and she scarfed down the whole bowl! I will put the rest of the can down at +3 as I have to go out after that. I gave her a reduced dose of insulin since her AMPS was 248 (three yellows in a row, woo hoo!) and I will be gone most of the day.

This site says Fancy Feat Classic is below 10% so that should be OK right? http://www.felinediabetes.com/glutenfree.htm

I want to see how much the Evo costs and see if she'll eat that. I figure it will be worth the cost to at least feed her Evo for now if it gets her slimmed down and lowers her BG. If not, Fancy Feast it is!

You guys rock, I don't know how I would have made it through this week without you all!

Lori
 
Hey, Lori, and Scout, too!

We are new to this (Diagnosed 11/11 - 2nd wk insulin), so I don't have any real advice to share. As you've already found, the people here are super helpful and full of helpful information! Just wanted to say welcome :smile:

Libby (and Hershey, too!)
 
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