New member - new diagnosis

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rubygirl1968

Member Since 2016
Hi all, I'm Stephanie from NC and my cat, Jellybean, was just diagnosed with diabetes. I took him to the vet this past Friday because he was lethargic and not eating. They did blood work and called me yesterday with a diabetes diagnosis.

I have an appointment with them again this afternoon but have some questions for folks more knowledgeable than me and with more experience. I don't know his numbers but this is my fault. I let him get fat and now he's paying for it. After seeing his weight on the scales he and his other kitty siblings went on a low carb diet (canned only) on Friday and although they're not happy, they'll survive.

Anyway, after the vet visit and receiving fluids he has perked up and is acting normal now, except for a cold that came on over the weekend with much sneezing and eye discharge. My question is this - since the blood work was done Friday, it's now Tuesday and he's been eating canned only since then, and he's sick, will (or should) the vet run more blood work before prescribing insulin?

I've been reading and doing some research and now that if his number is really high the chances for remission are greater the sooner the numbers go back to normal, but hypoglycemia isn't good either.
 
A couple of thoughts come to mind. First, you don't want him to lose weight too fast as there can be other problems. For more info about weight loss you could check catinfo.com. Second, there are 3 important and equal parts to getting diabetes under control. The are lo-carb food, home testing of his blood glucose, and insulin. You have already started the food change. Testing is important, and you can start this anytime. If you are in the US, you can et a Relion at Walmart. Many people seem to like this metre and the strips are reasonable. If you have a problem figuring out testing there are lots of people on here with great ideas to help. And finally insulin. If you have a say in the choice of insulin, I would suggest Lantus. It has the best chance of remission (as you have probably found in your research) and a fairly gentle action. You could check the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) website for the protocol.

Hope your vet visit goes well. Check back when you are home.


Tony's profile (now GA)


Just as Appy, I pasted your reply here as I will probably get more hits here than the introduction folder. Thank you. I just bought 50 strips for the One Touch Ultra as I had an old One Touch already so for now that's what I'll use. Of course, the old machine doesn't take the new strips but I don't want to waste $80 so I'm going to pick up an Ultra this afternoon so I can use them. A friend of mine uses the Relion and recommended it as well so it's good to get another recommendation for it for the future.

If the vet doesn't or won't re-check the blood work before prescribing the insulin I can at least find out what his numbers are today. If I have to I can check his blood work at home and go from there. I will ask for a Lantus prescription and hopefully order it from Canada.

I just hope all this works with this vet but from past experience with him, he seems pretty old school. I may be shopping for a new one.
 
Welcome.
Most of us here test our cat's blood glucose at home using a human meter. We test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
Here is a link to home testing blood sugar
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

If yo are home testing then you. with help from your vet and from users here, can help determine if the diet change is enough and insulin is not required.

Good insulins are the human Lantus and Levemir and the pet insulins ProZinc and BCP PZI. For those two human insulin it is best to get the 5 pack of 3 ml disposable pens via a 10 ml vial. Although per ml the vial is less expensive most cats will not use up a 10 ml vial before the insulin goes bad/becomes ineffective. The human insulin N/NPH is sometimes prescribed but only lasts 8-10 hours. Same for the pet insulin Vetsulin/Caninisulin.
 
rubygirl1968 said:
A couple of thoughts come to mind. First, you don't want him to lose weight too fast as there can be other problems. For more info about weight loss you could check catinfo.com. Second, there are 3 important and equal parts to getting diabetes under control. The are lo-carb food, home testing of his blood glucose, and insulin. You have already started the food change. Testing is important, and you can start this anytime. If you are in the US, you can et a Relion at Walmart. Many people seem to like this metre and the strips are reasonable. If you have a problem figuring out testing there are lots of people on here with great ideas to help. And finally insulin. If you have a say in the choice of insulin, I would suggest Lantus. It has the best chance of remission (as you have probably found in your research) and a fairly gentle action. You could check the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) website for the protocol.

Hope your vet visit goes well. Check back when you are home.


Tony's profile (now GA)


Just as Appy, I pasted your reply here as I will probably get more hits here than the introduction folder. Thank you. I just bought 50 strips for the One Touch Ultra as I had an old One Touch already so for now that's what I'll use. Of course, the old machine doesn't take the new strips but I don't want to waste $80 so I'm going to pick up an Ultra this afternoon so I can use them. A friend of mine uses the Relion and recommended it as well so it's good to get another recommendation for it for the future.

If the vet doesn't or won't re-check the blood work before prescribing the insulin I can at least find out what his numbers are today. If I have to I can check his blood work at home and go from there. I will ask for a Lantus prescription and hopefully order it from Canada.

I just hope all this works with this vet but from past experience with him, he seems pretty old school. I may be shopping for a new one.
Click to expand...
You seem to be ready to be proactive on Jellybean's behalf. That's great! Getting into this mindset is a large part of the struggle early on when confronted with this diagnosis.
 
Hi all, just wanted to give an update on the vet visit yesterday. It went well and I asked for a prescription for Lantus so she did a quick glucose test to find out what the dosage would be and much to our surprise it was 143 on the first and 140 on the 2nd test.

It was 371 Friday so I'm not sure if the lab made a mistake or what happened but I was thrilled. So for now he is staying on the low carb diet and I'm going to do periodic checks at home.

I made a batch of raw food last night and they like it much better than the canned so at least they are all eating better now. I fed raw for a long time but quit 3 or 4 years ago when one developed CKD and after he passed the 2nd oldest was diagnosed with IBD. I lost him this past summer and got lazy with feeding.

No more lazy and no more kibble! Ive learned my lesson.
 
rubygirl1968 said:
Hi all, just wanted to give an update on the vet visit yesterday. It went well and I asked for a prescription for Lantus so she did a quick glucose test to find out what the dosage would be and much to our surprise it was 143 on the first and 140 on the 2nd test.
Click to expand...
That's awesome!!!! *fingers crossed*
 
Excellent. Sounds like you are on the right track. Since you are already set up for home testing, I suggest you continue testing every few days to be sure that he stays in a good range.
 
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