New to Diabetes...confused and overwhelmed

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

barbwhite1

Member
Hello,
I'm glad I found this site and hope to learn more about what my 11 yr old Prince is going through. Prince is a tall cat and has carried his 15-16lbs handsomely all these years. He has had no other health issues very easy to care for. While I was preoccupied planning a reunion he tried to get my attention to tell me he wasn't feeling well. Long story short, I feel a lot of guilt for taking time to see his problems until he was @ 11lbs and finally tested to find he is diabetic.

I don't have much money, my husband is gone on 14 hr days and I 10-11hrs/weekdays. Prince is treated at a non-profit organization. I know little about diabetes and the terms and measurements are a bit overwhelming. The vet suggested we 'keep it simple', probably for my nerves and lack of $, and hoping Prince takes to the insulin. He has type 2 diabetes, and was prescribed 1 unit of Prozinc (in a nice kit) 2x day. I give this to Prince in between feeding him 2-3 cans in the morning. He is a very finicky eater - eating ONLY shredded meat in gravy - nothing 'ground'. By the time I get home he is hungry and puts down another 2-3 cans. On the weekend eats an additional 2 cans (serve 1/2 at a time) through the day. On some days, I lock Prince in the bedroom with necessities and extra wet food and his old favorite Purina dry food in hopes if he is hungry he has access to food. He stopped eating dry food a couple months ago (the dry food out is Urinary SO for the male kitten we have).

He was pitiful looking 3 1/2 wks ago, oily fur, looking like skin a bones and depressed. When the vet shaved his fur on his back I could see the vertebrae. Laying in corners except to eat and goto the outside liter box, jitters, weak balance. He had been walking with bent hind legs, yet still on his paws for about 2 wks. After 1 1/2 wks on 1 unit he suddenly started craving and ravishing food, but not in the corners anymore - now laying in open areas with us. The vet suggested increasing the dose to 2 units 2xday. I started with 1 1/2 that evening (last Friday) and he has been on this almost 1 1/2 wks. His appearance is better, and I see him do more 'cat' things with the other 3 in the house. He played with his mouse with me yesterday. I don't see his vertebrae, it appears there is some flesh there now, and he feels a tiny bit heavier (we have a poor scale that I could not get a read on for him Saturday). His back end still looks like a monkey (it did not before). He is socializing more with the other cats too.

I understand this is a long process, so I'm trying to be patient and not 'look too hard' for conditions or false improvements. He is still eating a lot drinking a lot and urinating a lot (something the vet told me he was hoping would change in Prince soon). My question's are:

Is it a death sentence if I'm not checking his glucose? (I'm not home to do this, as writings suggest 'curves' etc)

I read a listing of wet foods, the descriptions are a bit vague to me. Prince is only eating the grilled bite size pieces now in beef and chicken. I wish to try to find something better. His stool stinks like non before (even on his tail end when he comes back into the house). Any suggestions?

Do I dare risk a road trip with him at Christmas? (if he appears stabilized) - family matters are very pressing. He is a quiet traveler - but I'm not sure how he would handle the smells of the other animals where I will be staying. My husband is anticipating 14-16 hr shifts, hence the need for Prince to come with me if I go.

What are Ketones? And what does the measurement indicate?

Thank you for any guidance. If I had the funds and could afford to stay home to take care of Prince, I would in a heartbeat. He has been a great companion these years, I really fear the little I can offer him will work in the long run and cause more expenses than I can handle. I read the poem about 'nothing changing' - found it cute. Prince used to sleep with me - but now due to his legs he sleeps on a rug in the bathroom. He jumps onto the bed only in the morning to tell me he is hungry. Since bringing the kittens in 1 1/2 yrs ago - he wants extra attention to prove his is still #1 (and I give it to him). I spoil him rotten with attention now, guilty from pushing him away when he tried so hard to tell me something was wrong a couple months ago.
 
Oh Barb,

I am so sorry you are facing all this. I hope it helps that we were all overwhelmed and completely scared when we started this journey. The good news is that it does become much easier - after a while the whole thing just becomes part of your routine.

You do need to hometest. It is the only way to keep Prince safe. We figure we would never get a prescription for insulin from the doctor for our children and then go home and give it for a few weeks without testing before each shot. The good news is that we have newbie kits. Lori and Tom will send you a glucometer, lancets and all the things you will need to hometest at no cost. Just follow the directions in this post: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=19541

The other good news is that you are using a good insulin, one that is mild and long lasting. If you hometest, you can eliminate the trips to the vet for blood tests, which can be expensive and inaccurate as Prince is most likely stressed out there. (strange noises, strange people, strange animals)

As for food, wet lo carb is best for every cat, but especially diabetics. Read this website by a vet: www.catinfo.org She explains why dry is not a natural food for cats. Your wet food in gravy is not the lowest carb for Prince, but it is certainly better than dry. You don't have to leave dry out to graze on during the day; you can freeze the wet and leave it out to thaw. You DON'T want to change to a lower carb food until you are hometesting, though. When we changed Oliver from dry to wet, his bg levels went down 100 points overnight. If we weren't hometesting, we would have sent him into hypo.

A couple other resources. This one is about diabetics on a budget: http://felinediabetes.com/vetbills.htm and this one has tips for getting Prince to eat: http://www.felinecrf.org/persuading_cat_to_eat.htm

Keep asking questions and reading. We will help any way we can. If you want to post your city and state, there may be a member nearby who can help in person.
 
Welcome Barb and Prince!

Okay deep breath, you can do this, we were all over-whelmed and scared to death when we first got here. But it does get easier and easier as you start to develop your routine. One of the most important thing you can do for Prince is to learn to home test, it could be the difference between life and death for Prince. It will also save you a lot of $$ that won't be going to the Vet's. As far as curves go, you can fit those in on the weekends or days off if your work schedule that makes it difficult. Other than those the only time you really HAVE to test is right before his shots to make sure his numbers are safe enough to give insulin to. As a newbie we suggest that you don't give insulin is your numbers are below 200. Once you start collecting data and have a better idea on how Prince's boy uses the insulin then you can make a more informed decision to shoot at lower numbers and when to increase or decrease dosage, and we can help you with that. As well as learning to home test.

You are definitely not alone in this, we will hold your hand/paw the whole way through. I have 11 cats (10 civies and 1 sugarcat) they are all free fed canned food, and all eat exactly the same thing...9-lives pate flavors. Now I have a couple that are true gravy lovers so to appease them I add a little hot water to their canned food, this makes them think they are getting gravy and also helps them get more water than the normally would. Now I'm home with them all day so I can give small meals several times a day, but on the occassions when I have to be away from home, I simply freeze their food and put it out frozen so as it thaws they can nibble on it.

This is definitely not adeath sentence for Prince, diabetes is a very easy and treatable disease and it will quickly become a routine. FWIW I would ditch the dry altogether, and go through the link you were given for Binky's list find several low carb flavors that Prince like and go that way. There is no reason to feed the pricey Prescription stuff. In fact with all the cats I have here, all of them found that stuff disgusting and turned up their noses to it. But within a week of starting Max (my sugarcat) on 9-lives he was OTJ (off the juice, off insulin). If it helps Max is my second sugarcat adopted a little under a month ago from this board after my first Sugarcat Muse passed away ( not from diabetes). If this was a difficult disease to treat or if I thought it was a death sentence for a kitty I certainly wouldn't have volunteered to take on another cat with it. But had I not I would have never met and have purring on my lap as I type this wonderful new addition to my home.

Max is about 12 years old and is now a diet controlled diabetic that I am planning on spending many more healthy and happy years with. He is a delight to be with and if you didn't know he was diabetic you would never guess it, nor would you think he was a senior guy. He loves playing with my two 6 month old kittens. With a little extra care you and Prince will have a nice long healthy life together too.

So yes, you can do this and we can help you along the way. So welcome to the FDMB family.

Mel
 
Hi and welcome.

It's pretty scary in the beginning and it can seem daunting, but I promise you it gets easier. Once I got the hang of things I actually adopted a few more diabetic kitties.

Hometesting is really important, but if you can't do curves on your cat because of work, getting a value morning and night before giving a shot would be very helpful. We call those "preshot values." You'll see them noted as AM PS or PM PS, morning preshot or evening preshot.

Getting preshot numbers will tell you that it's safe to give insulin and how your cat is doing. If you can get a few spot checks in on the weekend, that would be even better. Or even a test in before you go to bed could tell you a lot.

The gravy foods your cat likes are higher in carbs, carbs is like sugar to a human diabetic. If you could work on transitioning him over to loaf varieties your cat will do better. We can help you find affordable types of food, whether it's Fancy Feast, Friskies, 9-lives or Walmart brand, just ask.

The neuropathy (weak back legs - hock legs) will get better as insulin is given in the correct amount, insulin regulation. You could add MethylB12, a supplement, that may help move things along and get his legs better faster.
 
hi there

Please, read the faq for more answers including information about ketones. Ketones are a biproduct of burning fat, and unregulated cats are at risk for them and they can be life threatening. You test urine for them on a daily basis if possible.

Jen
 
you've found us and there is much to be hopeful for.
we all felt like you are feeling now when we got here.
none of us feel that way now...it will pass. diabetes is very treatable and cat's bounce back very quickly on the right diet and insulin.
the grilled and sliced foods you are serving are very high in carbs..you want to introduce mr. finicky to lower carb foods. we have a list of every canned food known and the carb count to each flavor. how easy is that? we like to stay under 10 carbs....i like to stay under 8 carbs. keeps a few cans of that high carb stuff around tho. you'll find out why later.
i'll link you to our foods if it has'nt been done so already.
next yes you absolutly need to test. you cannot hope for remission or regulation without testing. you will find it cheaper and easier to test from home instead of bringing kitty to vet and you will get more accurate results (less stress)
it will just become part of your everyday routine after awhile and your cat will become so used to it he may let you know..'hey mom, test me!'
it's true.
order your newbie kit!
lori
 
He is ravenous because his body has not been able to use the glucose; insulin is what makes it available to the tissues for use.
The hunger will calm down as you get the diabetes under control. Until then, feed him what he'll eat, as much low carb as possible - if you switch slowly, he'll get there.

For a listing of foods with nutrition breakdowns see here: Binky's page
 
Thank you! I will read thru the above information and links and get the glucose kit. Tonight was a late night for me. I look forward to understanding more about the glucose testing. I can see there is a wealth of information and a wonderful group here, I look forward to reading more from each. Thank you for your support.

Barbara
west Boca Raton, FL
 
Barbara I just wanted to let you know your kit will be in the mail tomorow morning.
also if by any chance you start feeding low carb food before it arrives, or even after it arrives it is very important to lower your dose. many if not most cats will have much lower bg's with this diet...thus will need less insulin. before kit arrives you don't chance him having a very low number...it's just prudent to do this.
 
Barb, I am going to Personal message you. So at the top of the page check your messages.
My diabetic cat passed away from complications and I have some bags of insulin syringes I can send to you if you live in the usa.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top