New Sugar Kitty

[AnneG]

Hi All! My name is Anne and my 12 year old female, gorgeous calico baby, Little, was just diagnosed with diabetes on Monday (6/13/16). I'm completely new to this and will definitely be here a lot seeking advice and, hopefully, one day, giving advice. Little just got started on insulin today and I just gave her my first solo injection. Way easier than expected! I look forward to talking to everyone!

 

[BJM]

Welcome to the message board, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:

- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.

- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This keeps your cat safe and saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference.

- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 found online.

- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.

 

[Dyana]

Welcome Anne. Your girl Little is gorgeous. I hope you will be posting on the Health Forum soon. We are all here to help and support. So post away. Let us know your questions or concerns, so we can help you.