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Shawn Barrett

Member Since 2020
I'm a new member with a 10 yr old cat recently (4 months?) diagnosed fur-baby. I am also new to 'boards and posting', so I'm not sure how this works.
 
Well you got a good start! You did your first post!!

Tell us more about your sugarcat! Name?
What type of insulin?
What dose did you start at and where are you now?
What kind of food are you feeding?
Are you home testing at all?
 
Welcome to FDMB!!

You got the first step right. We'll do our best to help you get acclimated. First and foremost, please ask questions. Most of us forget that we use a lot of slang and shorthand so if it seems like we're speaking in a foreign language, we are!

We'll also deluge you with questions:
  • What's your cat's name? (I'm assuming you're Shawn.)
  • What are you feeding you're kitty? We recommend a low carb, canned food diet. This site on feline nutrition is authored by a vet and has a wealth of good information including a food chart listing lots of options for your cat. (Click on the dark blue for the link to the site.)
  • Are you home testing. If not, we will twist your arm to do so.
  • What insulin are you using.
I'm going to stop there and let others chime in.
 
Samson is my diabetic fur-baby (we have 2 more feline fur-babies). He was started on 2 units of Prozinc but had to go to 3 units to achieve a blood sugar between 200-250. I haven't started to check blood sugar at home as the veterinarian discouraged it and recommended monitoring for symptoms of hypoglycemia. When Samson was diagnosed, I had to switch the entire fur family to canned. I will use the chart above to calculate the carbs as soon as possible.
I am totally new this boards and posting adventure, so I ask for patience as I learn.
 
It seems like most vets don't recommend home testing. Unfortunately, by the time you see symptoms you have a medical emergency on your hands. I don't know one human diabetic that takes insulin without testing BGL first. It keeps you safe. So, when my vet didn't recommend home testing, I ignored him and stated testing at home. Saved my Billy's life on day five, and we avoided an expensive trip to the emergency vet with a dangerous hypo.

I can't recommend home testing enough. You don't even need a pet meter. I use an inexpensive Walmart ReliOn meter and it works great.

Think about it. In the meantime, there's some great information on what to do in the event of a hypo event.

Hypo instructions

Hypo toolbox
 
Hi Shawn and Samson and welcome to fdmb!
This is a very supportive and friendly community which I am sure will help and support you.
There is a lot to learn in the first little while but it will soon become routine as you gain knowledge about feline diabetes.
Fantastic you swapped the whole family over to canned. That will make it much easier if they like to eat each other's food.

I also highlly recommend you think about home testing the blood sugars. It sounds scary but it isn't and both you and Samson will soon be old hats at it. My Sheba used to come runnning as soon as she heard me getting the testing meter out as she knew she would get a treat. By the time hypo symptoms appear in the cat, the blood sugars are dangously low. If you are testing you are in control
and can intervene with food or high carb food to stop a hypo from happening. Anyway think about it.
Here is a link to home testing for you to have a look at
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

For the time being, to use this board, all you have to do is click on your post and write, which you have done already so that's good.
If you want to look at other posts just click on them and read them. If you want to talk to that person, just write in the space.

Here is another link for new members.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/

Ask lots of questions. We are always happy to help.
Bron:)
 
Many vets don't recommend home testing due to the belief it will have a negative effect on your relationship with your cat. As Bron noted above, that's far from the case. In fact, cats seem to catch on that our testing is part of the process that helps them to feel better. Well, that and the treats! And as Juls noted, home testing is the best way to keep your cat safe and for you to be informed about how your cat is reacting to insulin. If the vet put this in the perspective of what he/she would do if this were his infant who was diabetic, I bet your vet would be testing each and every time before administering insulin! Home testing is also a lot less expensive than having to take your cat to the vet's office for them to do a curve. (And the results of a curve at the vets office are typically higher than what you would see at home due to the stress of your kitty spending a day in a cage at the vet's office. The high numbers often mean the vet suggests a dose increase which could then put your cat at risk for hypoglycemia.)

We have lots of resources to help you learn how to home test. This is a link to a page that contains links to information on home testing. Many people here use the Relion meter from Walmart. The meter and strips are inexpensive but most glucometers are fine to use. You do not need a meter that is specific to pets. A human meter is just fine and what most of us use.
 
Hi Shawn. There is another thing that might not be obvious at first. You'll notice the lack of ads and pop-ups, this wonderful place is all volunteer driven. It's also gotten a lot bigger since I joined so don't get discouraged if you don't get immediate responses. There is a "board" but it's not a customer help desk, help comes from other members around the world so time zones play a part in that. Sunday mornings can be slow too, you'll catch on to that soon enough.
If you look in a few hours you may notice this thread has sunk to the bottom of the screen and out of sight. That's because so many new posts show up every day. It will go back to the top if anyone replies. You may eventually end up in the Prozinc forum where you'll get help more specific to your needs.
Your profile is not a secret and should have other info in there like roughly where you live, other animals in the house, time and money constraints, previous medical history. Then you won't get nagged for the same answers repeatedly.
We all started like this, don't get discouraged.
 
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