New Member

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Cory G

Member Since 2013
Hello everyone. My name is Cory, and my female cat Freya has just been diagnosed with diabetes. Have not started insulin yet as were dealing with another issue as well. We will be starting the insulin early next week though. I have been reading lots, and yes freaking out a bit. Thankfully I have someone (my roomate) who can help with the injections, and also help in monitoring her. Im sure I will be visiting here often over the next while for more information. Looking forward to reading more, and am happy there is a forum like this to help. I have LOTS to learn I see.
 
Hi Cory!
My name is Justine and my husband and I are praying our Zippit comes home soon from the vet as he was also recently diagnosed (Friday). We have yet to have him home so we are unsure of the start date for insulin but know you are not alone.

Welcome to the group. I just registered today and have also been getting great insight and things to look out for. Lots to learn but hopefully also many great years ahead with our fuzzy loved ones.

Cheers,
Justine
 
Welcome Freya and Cory. When yo get the times you can tell us what you are feeding and what insulin you are giving and how much. It sould like you are going to test Freya's BG at home, That is very good.
If y have any question, feel free to ask.
 
Thank you Justine, Mikael, and Larry and Kitties. I appreciate your comments, and I too hope your cats are doing alright. I already feel more welcome.

I will be doing the first set of BG tests with the vet on Tuesday, which is also the day I learn whats best to feed her, and how much. My vet has a lot of experience with this problem, and I am confident that she will do whats best for Freya.

I will post more information on Tuesday after we have results.

I will definately ask questions, and read as much as I possibly can in the mean time.

Thanks!
 
Welcome Cory and extra sweet Freya! I'm glad you landed here quickly - yes there's a wealth of information here...lots of extra sweet kitties plus lots of experience with other medical conditions too!

We look forward to your update as to type of insulin and food suggested.

BIG HUGS! Welcome to the sugar dance! It's not hard, it's just different....you and sweet Freya will have it down pat shortly!
 
Welcome to the board

here are some things to discuss with your vet

- insulin - you want a good insulin for cats - ie lantus levemir or prozinc. Unless you are in the UK say no to caninsulin or vetsulin

- home testing. Ask the vet how they feel about it but you defnately will need to do this. You dont need the expensive vet meter either - human ones are almost as good and much cheaper - we can recommend ones

- food - the vet may try and sell you prescription dry or wet. Dry is too high in carbs if your goal is regulation and remission. Wet is ok but cats get sick of the flavour fast and its expensive. Say no to that food and buy fancy feast classic pates, friskies pates or wellness grain free instead. Since you havent started insulin you might want to change foods now since the canned food will bring the blood sugar down quite a bit! Can even kick start remission.


Wendy
 
To help you know if your vet is truly up to date, ask the vet if she is familiar with the AAHA guidelines for feline diabetes or if she is aware of the Tight Regulation protocol for Lantus by Vet Dr Jackie Rand of University of Queensland.

Printing out the AAHA guidelines may be helpful to you, too.
 
Well I have not had time to respond till now, with all the info, and learning I needed to do.

I have some updates, we have started insulin injections, and I have even been able to give most of them myself. My room mate has done the few I havent. My vet was VERY knowledgeable in the situation.

The other issue we were dealing with was a growth in her abdomen. After X-Rays and Ultrasound, we decided surgery would be a safe route. We had the surgery done today to explore and remove it. My vet was successful in removing the growth, but is now suspect that it was a pancreatic tumor. We will know for sure in the next day or two when the results return. For now my vet has actually taken my cat Freya home to monitor her overnight. She wants to monitor her blood glucose levels as well as just make sure she is recovering from the surgery all right. I love my vet.

Ill post further updates as I get them. Ive been doing alot of reading on pancreatic tumors, and its not pretty. I may have to make a VERY difficult decision soon.
 
Ok Freya went home with the vet last night, and everything was all right. The vet called me just now and updated me. Freya is doing ok, but the vet is concerned that she is not eating. They have tried to encourage her to do so, but she isnt. So Im heading down to the vet now, going to bring some Tuna, and other cat food I know she loves. Im bringing a sweater that I have worn so it smells like me, and I know she loves to curl up on. Im gong to try to get her to eat some food. The vet has been giving insulin still, but has dropped the dose down to 1/2 till we see Freya is eating and processing food I think Ill keep it that way. Im hoping she eats some, and can come home today. I have setup my room with kitty stairs up to my bed so she does not have jump, there is water and food bowls waiting, and a litter box just outside my door. I can isolate her from the other pets for a few days quite easily. Keeping fingers crossed the results of the biopsy come sooner then later. I will update more later.
 
Ok Freya is at home!! I was able to coax her to eat a little bit of food, and have forced a little more, just to be sure she is getting the food in her. I have several medications to give her: antibiotics, antipain, and appetite encouraging pill. I also have to continue the insulin, but at only 1/2 the normal dose till she is eating more, and normally. I am going to spend some quiet home time with her now. Still have not got results back from the biopsy of the growth in her abdomen. We will cross that bridge when they come in. The vet seems ok with the results thus far. I will post more updates as they come in.
 
It's good to hear Freya is home, you must both be much happier with her there :smile:

Best wishes for her future health, she's lucky to have someone who takes such good care of her cat_pet_icon
 
It sounds like you have an incredible vet. I'm glad she's eating again. Probably was still just not feeling too well after the surgery. Praying for you guys that the results are good! :YMHUG:
 
Sorry I have not posted in a few days, have been very busy. Freya is doing very well. She is eating, and using the litter box. The vet checked her blood glucose on Friday last week, it was high but we expected that, as she was only on half her normal dose. We have increased her insulin dose back to her normal dose over the weekend, and as of this morning were back to her normal dose. We are going into the vet to have her blood glucose checked, and just a general look over, to make sure she is healing from the surgery well. Were still waiting on the biopsy results, hopefully they come today. I will post updates as I get them. Freya is happy to be home, and very content. Sleeping in normal spots, and she is slowly getting around better and better.
 
I have not been able to home test as of yet. I need advice, and instructions on how to do it. Im going to talk to the vet today about it, so far we have only tested at the vets office. I am completely aware what to watch for if Freya goes hypo, and how to treat it. I would prefer to avoid her going hypo if I can though, and realize home testing is probably the way. I also am using caninsulin is there better ones? If I switch what is the steps I would need to take?
 
Just got home from the vet again. Freya's blood glucose were down, and almost within normal levels. We expected them to be a little high, because we only increased back to normal insulin dose today, and a little stress from the visit. Freya seems to be handling all these visits in stride. Yes she is a bit stressed, but not traumatized. It helps that I am more calm about everything, I know Freya picks up on my stress levels.

She is healing well from the surgery, and there seems to be no problems. We are still waiting on results of the biopsy. We have to return Friday to have the sutures removed, and Ill get them to check her blood glucose again. Hoping to get the results of the biopsy soon.

Im still curious about home testing, how to do it, and when, etc etc. Im also curious about the insulin itself, my vet is happy with the results at this point, but has mentioned about other types of insulin out there. The vet is going to do some reading, and research, and then call me later in the week and discuss a possible switch from caninsulin. We do not want to rush it of course, things are working well at this point, and as I always say: "If it isnt broken, dont fix it."
 
This link has lots of great testing tips for you. It's got a great picture of the "sweet spot" where you want to poke. Try using a flashlight shining up from underneath the ear to see this in your cat Freya.

I think the 2 key things I emphasize for testing, is to always give a treat and warm the ears first.

Yes, there are better insulins for cats. Lantus, Levimir and Prozinc all work better for most cats than does Caninsulin, which was developed for dogs. The Merck Veterinary manual recommends Lantus as the first choice for cats but people here have success using the other 2 insulins also. People in Europe must use Caninsulin first and then prove it is not working well enough for their cat.

You might want to read through the AAHA Diabetes Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats. Lots of good information there.

I hope that Freya's biopsy test results come back soon and are good news. Please let us know what the results are too. You are part of our family now and we watch out for our family members.
 
Just talked to the vet, the biopsy results are in. And their GOOD, its NOT CANCER!! Freya definitely has diabetes, which then caused whats called:

Pancreatitis. Which causes her to have upset stomach and throw up, and can flare up at times. This can be maintained with probiotics, and Imodium.

The growth that was removed was a cyst that was caused by the pancreatitis, and was going to cause more problems, so its very good it was removed.

I have to drop by the vet when I have a chance to pick up some imodium and a probiotic that the vet suggested. (This will also help with Freya's runny butt from this morning.) Were going to keep her on insulin of course, and keep the other two on hand for flare ups.

So basically FANTASTIC news!!
 
Yeah for negative biopsy results! :RAHCAT

You might want to read this primer on pancreatitis, written by long time member Marje. Lots of great info in here. (The original post is over in the Health Links forum in case you want to find it again on your own, or want to bookmark this topic.)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top