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Kris-Alice

Kris-Alice

Member Since 2013
Hey Everyone,
I've actually been a member since the day my kitty was diagnosed with diabetes but I just haven't had the time to post until now. Our short story is that about 4 months ago I had heart surgery and around that time I noticed that my cat was getting skinny. Wasn't sure if it was her feeding off my stress or the change in weather or what was going on. So I took her into the vet to get her yearly shots and to ask about the weight loss. Sadly, though my vet was very competent the entire clinic seriously lacked in customer service skills. They tried holding my cat down to shave her neck and draw blood and she lost it. I now have 3 little scars on my left hand cause I saw that she was going to bite a tech and I stuck my hand in between them cause I'd rather have her bite me than someone else. Other than giving me a link to a video on how to test bg, using scare tactics to get me to buy the AlphaTrak (returned now), and printing up a packet about feline diabetes they did nothing to help me and basically rushed me out of the clinic. I got home and told myself that I could have 5 minutes to just lose it (I actually set the alarm on my phone ;-) ) then I just absolutely lost it. When my alarm went off I pulled myself together and made a list of what I needed to do and started plowing through it.
I now have a new vet, one who not only talked to me for 45 min she also soothed my cat and had her tech walk me step by step through how to give the shots. A week after my visit the new clinic called me to ask how Alice was doing and also to ask how I was doing. Amazing people!!! So, here we are over a month of giving insulin and she has changed SO much. She plays now like I haven't seen her play since she was a kitten. Completely transitioned her from dry food to wet and planning on moving to homemade raw once I can afford a grinder. We still need to get the hang of testing but she handles the shots like a pro.
I usually come to the board about twice a week and each time I see more stuff that I need to do or keep track of but I'm trying to take it a step at a time and not get overwhelmed. If there is anything else I should to add to my signature (other than the spreadsheet) please let me know. I'm sure I'll be coming back with plenty of questions soon enough.
Kris & Alice
 
Hi Kris and extra sweet kitty Alice and welcome to the FDMB. Lot's of experience here to help you.

Your signature looks good. The only thing I would change would be to put the state, city in the user control panel, profile tab, edit profile, location field instead of your signature.

We'll wait a bit on the SS. If you need help just ask. There are a couple of us here in Health that can do the setup for you.

The new vet sounds like a keeper to me. That's what a vet should do.

Hope you have fully recovered from your surgery.

Let us know what questions you have.
 
Welcome to FDMB!

While you get into the swing of things here, like blood glucose testing, check my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for ways to assess your cat in the meantime.
 
Deb, made the change you suggested to my signature. The new vet is a total keeper! :-) I have fully recovered from the surgery and only have twice yearly checkups left.

BJM, I looked at the secondary monitoring tools that you suggested...
Urine Testing ~ She tends to jump out of the box if I get too close, might try the plastic or aquarium gravel ideas.
Water Consumption ~ She drinks a LOT less water now that I've switched her to wet food and started giving her insulin.
Food Consumption ~ She eats about 3-4 cans of Fancy Feast/Purina One a day.
Urine output ~ Seems like she doesn't go quite as much as before.
The 5 Ps,
Purring - Yep
Playing - WAY more than pre-insulin.
Preening - Normal ... though something that seems odd is that she has been hacking up hairballs almost every week. She never really did that before when she was on dry food. Also, I brush her almost every night.
Peeing - Seems regular, less than before food change and insulin.
Poohing - Once or twice a day, seems normal.

Hope that's some information that helps. Thank you both for your replies. :-)
 
Yes! You knew about the 5 P's and gave us a great report. A cat is more than a bunch of numbers, so the WCR or Whole Cat Report including the 5 P's and appetite are very helpful to tell you and us how Alice is doing. Great job on the report and it sounds like Alice is feeling so much better and showing lots of pre-diabetes behavior. Isn't it great when one of our diabetic kitties feels so much better? :-D :-D

Had to look it up on the food chart, but those Purina One pates are nice and low in carbs, 2-5%. As long as you skip the ones in gravy or sauce, those Purina One's are a nice alternative. I wonder if Wink would like any of those? Maybe I'll put a few on my shopping list and give them a try.

Good to hear you have recovered from your surgery and are doing well. Thanks for the update.

There are a couple of ideas in this post on hairball remedies. I'm trying some cocoanut oil with my civie Delta right now. She doesn't love the taste of the cocoanut oil straight up, so I mix a little bit in her food, only about a teaspoon a day for now. Not sure yet how it's working. I only just started this week with the cocoanut oil.
 
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