DiegoBones
New Member
Greetings,
I have just this morning begun Insulin injections on my dear-sweet Diego, am new to the board and new to Feline Diabetes altogether. I noticed that the hand-out supplied by my veterinarian appeared to be printed off of this very website which lead me to believe this would be a safe place to ask a few questions
Diego is a BIG boy, about 23 pounds and 9 years old. We caught his Diabetes by chance on his annual visit, he has had no real symptoms (a bit of an increase in drinking and peeing) but no weight loss or behavioural changes. He was a happy playful kitty when he went in for his curve testing yesterday, and was a happy and playful kitty when I injected him this morning. We did a blood test to check his liver and kidney functions and found out his glucose was high, I believe she said 26 (I have little knowledge of what this means), so we did a Fructosamine which came back at 649. I am injecting him (Lantus 100) with 3 doses, every 12 hours - the vet's reasoning being his large size. I have fed him grocery store brand food his entire life as previous attempts at switching him proved to be a challenge. Evo Innova made him quite ill - bloody stools, so I integrated more wet food into his diet and less kibble, all was well. Now with the Diabetes the vet has recommended we attempt diet change again and has given me the Hills M/D. After looking around this site however, I am unsure that this is the best choice for him and was wondering what other members have thought. Diego LOVES wet food, it was something I used to "treat" him in the past when he was only on kibble, now he has been eating primarily wet food for the past 2 years, with kibble available. He would get wet food at 5am and 5 pm. I'm thinking that I should stick with the wet-food diet and eliminate kibble altogether? Because we caught it early, and he has had no real problems I am hoping to do my very best by him and hopefully he won't need injections for the rest of his life. It seems to me something low in carbs and high in protein is the way to go, and the Hills m/d wet food seems to be higher in carbs than MANY other brands, but my vet made it seem as if my only choice is between Hills and Purina prescription diets, she also suggested the dry food (all of these things are sold through her office, so I am skeptical). We feed our other cat Wellness brand kitten food (he is a Siberian and requires kitten food for the 1st 3 years) and we like the brand. I guess I am wondering what is the best route to go here? I dont want to defy my vet's recommendation when I know so little about FD, but I don't want to feed Diego a certain food for the sole purpose of my vet's office turning over more Hills stock. I'm sure it is "good enough" but I would like to give him the best... It is the least I can do as it is my fault that he is Diabetic in the first place
Live and learn.
I was also wondering about "curve testing"... I can't express enough how little I understand this whole process, I had hardly even heard of cats having Diabetes. I have bought a Glucose meter and all that jazz and think that I have a pretty good grasp of how to do it. What I don't so much understand is when to do it..? (Before he eats? After he eats? Both? Midday?) and even then the machine shoots out an arbitrary number that I can't really comprehend. What kind of numbers am I even looking for? (As I type this I realize the extent to which I am in completely over my head, I just can't imagine my life without Diego around! It's all the harder because he has had few physical symptoms and I have no visual proof that he even needs any of this, as glucose numbers and so on are completely foreign to me.. He's playing with a ribbon as I type this and lose all my hair from stress!)
Anyways, incredibly long story short (sorry for the HUGE post), what kind of foods do people recommend? (Especially for a kitty that has had no complications and was caught early) and what times are you supposed to be doing blood-glucose tests? Lastly, I live in constant fear of giving him too much insulin; he likes to sleep after he eats, so this morning I fed him, gave him 10 minutes, injected him, and now he will be asleep for a few hours... Will I be able to tell if he is hypoglycaemic if he is asleep?
Thanks in advance to anyone that can offer me some guidance.
Cheers
Laura and Diego.
I have just this morning begun Insulin injections on my dear-sweet Diego, am new to the board and new to Feline Diabetes altogether. I noticed that the hand-out supplied by my veterinarian appeared to be printed off of this very website which lead me to believe this would be a safe place to ask a few questions


I was also wondering about "curve testing"... I can't express enough how little I understand this whole process, I had hardly even heard of cats having Diabetes. I have bought a Glucose meter and all that jazz and think that I have a pretty good grasp of how to do it. What I don't so much understand is when to do it..? (Before he eats? After he eats? Both? Midday?) and even then the machine shoots out an arbitrary number that I can't really comprehend. What kind of numbers am I even looking for? (As I type this I realize the extent to which I am in completely over my head, I just can't imagine my life without Diego around! It's all the harder because he has had few physical symptoms and I have no visual proof that he even needs any of this, as glucose numbers and so on are completely foreign to me.. He's playing with a ribbon as I type this and lose all my hair from stress!)
Anyways, incredibly long story short (sorry for the HUGE post), what kind of foods do people recommend? (Especially for a kitty that has had no complications and was caught early) and what times are you supposed to be doing blood-glucose tests? Lastly, I live in constant fear of giving him too much insulin; he likes to sleep after he eats, so this morning I fed him, gave him 10 minutes, injected him, and now he will be asleep for a few hours... Will I be able to tell if he is hypoglycaemic if he is asleep?
Thanks in advance to anyone that can offer me some guidance.
Cheers
Laura and Diego.