New to feline diabetics

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Gail and evita

Member Since 2013
My cat, Evita, was just diagnosed with diabetics. She has responded to the change from dry food to a high protein diet. Her excessive drinking of water and urination has stopped. I am giving her 1 unit twice a day of Lantus.
 
Hi,
Welcome to the board. Evita and What's your name?
This is an amazing place.... we are a great community to help you help your kitty feel better and have a healthier life.
It is good that you have changed the food.

The next step would for you to begin testing/montoring blood glucose.
Most of us here use human glucometers.
Here is a link to a good place to start... look for the part about monitoring your cat's glucose.

The frequent drinking and peeing slowing down is a good sign.
And it makes me wish for you to start monitoring asap because sometimes even 1 unit can be too much.

This is a link on how to handle low numbers. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=61799

Do you have any test numbers already?
There are many here who can help you set up your own spreadsheet so that you have that tool for yourself and to share.

Please ask questions.
Everyone here wants to pay it forward since we all had to learn how to help our furbabies.
 
Hi sugarkitty Evita and welcome to the message board. Would you please introduce your bean (human being) to us?

Lantus is a nice, long lasting insulin for cats and they often do very well on it.

Where do you live? country, state/province, city/town so we can give you country specific advice.
 
Hi Gail-

Welcome! SO glad you found the board. I know it feels overwhelming with so much new information but you have come to the right place.
There is a wealth of information, knowledge and support to help get your kitty on the right track.

You are on great insulin and doing so much right already. Ask any questions you may have..there are no bad questions. There is so much to digest in the beginning but once you get your arms around it and settled in you will see it really all is very manageable.

And folks...I met Gail at the pet food store just last night when it came up that her kitty had just been diagnosed FD. She was already so smart realizing she needed to be feeding low/carb high protein food and having ditched the dry was searching out new options. We discussed some basics, picked some foods to try (kitty still not eating very well)and I shared links to Dr. Lisa's food charts and FDMB. Told her she owed it to herself to get on and what a valuable resource and great community it was and about all the wonderful people. Before I even got home last night she had signed on and introduced herself!! :-D It is all still so very new but kudos to Gail for jumping in head first and your dedication to Evita.

I plan to help her learn to home test this weekend. I have only tested my own cat and Evita apparently has dark ears so wish me luck!

Good for you Gail for how much you have already done...and again Welcome!

betty
 
Evita and I (gail) live in austin Texas. We are both single and live in a condo. While Mon works Evita enjoys the great view of Barton Creek, as a indoor only kitty since there are bad coyotes in the neighborhood. The 9 lb Evita is not very friendly to visitors and hides under the bed when people come. She has left the condo only two times (to the vet) since coming to live as a baby kitty 10 years ago. Evita's vet is Dr Angie Whitworth, Angie's brother gave Gail the kitty, so Angie is Evita's Aunt, who graduated from A & M about 6 years ago.

Thanks to all for helping this newbie who very concerned about Evita.
 
While you work on home testing, see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for additional ways to assess your cat. In particular, read about ketone testing. Ketones form as a by product of fat breakdown for calories. Too many ketones may indicate diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially fatal complication of diabetes.
 
Welcome to Evita's bean Gail from Austin Texas.

How may we help you get Evita feeling better and help you manage this sugardance the two of you are now doing?
 
So I went to show Gail how to test yesterday evening and Evita's first number (somewhere close to +12) was 58! :o
SO..no insulin for Evita last night! ..and Gail totally gets now WHY home testing is a must.

She has not quite mastered the board and is not sure how to keep her thread active. So I am updating but also 'bumping' up her post.
Gail has a very busy schedule and is gone sometimes 12 hours at a time..so would love to get ideas how to figure out the new routine for Evita and still make it work with her life. Good news is she works really close to home so can swing by at times if needed.

Still getting her meter and other supplies together....accidentally got a couple unintended things so she is exchanging for what she meant to get. She may need help getting her SS together. But we have one number to add!

Dosing advice is tough since that being a single number we don't know where she was in the rest of her cycle or the last few days. But my guess is she may need to lower. Need to clarify the time, but whether +11, +12, +13...still too low for shooting.

Apparently she shot this morning but had some difficulty so no test. It's such a learning curve as we all know. Hopefully she can utilize the great esources here and get some support as she gets acclimated so Evita can feel better.

Such a cute kitty BTW!
 
I tried to test Evita this morning w a borrowed equipment and could not get blood. I freaked out and became afraid I was stressing her out (it was really me stressed) and she would run and hides under the bed which she does when she gets uncomfortable and I would never get her out for insulin. I dropped her dose to 3/4, maybe even 1/2. I bought a new Relion micro and read instructions. Taking her to the vet tomorrow as previously scheduled.

Please share your experience as a new tester.
 
I suggest you start a new thread on testing to get some responses. However many newbies have issues at first - you will get better with patience and practice. Remember to always give a treat whether successful or not... and for yourself too - you dont want her picking up on your stress. Remember the three strike rule - you test three times and fail - try later. But don't forget the treat!

But here are some testing tips that may help : https://docs.google.com/document/d/13c_CPZVKz27fD_6aVbsguadJKvjSrSAkD7flgPPhEag/pub

Wendy
 
Gail did you get tests in today? How is Evita doing?

How did the vetty visit go? As we said it's hard to know with that single number but very likely the dose was too high.
It will be so interesting to see her numbers and how she is responding to the insulin.

Do you need help with the Spread Sheet? It will help so much as everyone can see her progress and be better able to help you with her.

Just remember we all went through same learning curve as you. Testing is like anything else, you just have to try it until you get the hang of it. We all adopt different techniques and find the way easiest for us. Hank now purrs through his tests. That happens to lots of cats. He hears the zipper and runs to assume the position. he knows there are treats involved!

Is she eating better?

Hope so ...what's the update?
 
Changing diet is tremendous improvement

Evita was monitored by the vet all day. Her BG level hovered between 65 and 100. Vet recommended I drop her to half unit once daily and start weaning her off insulin. What everyone says about diet alone lowering BG levels is fact. Her interest in food remains low. I hope to successfully test her tomorrow.
 
Gail if Evita was testing 65-100 at the vet then she was probably running much lower than that if she were being tested in her home environment without stress. It is nearly impossible to get reliable test numbers at the vet.

Also Lantus only lasts 12 hours (appx) in a cat..so needs to be shot 2x daily or the cat is going half the day with no insulin. So you end up with wonky too high or too low numbers. If you want to lower the dose to 1/2 U, then it would be better to shoot .25U twice a day. Same amount of insulin...just given at 12 hour increments since the cat metabolizes it so quickly. She would not feel good high part of the time and low the other.

Here is what .25 looks like:
025unit-1.jpg


I would be reluctant to shoot .50 anyway... and especially unless you are testing/monitoring closely. I suspect she went much lower than the 58 we caught the other night, since that was at +12. She is not eating well enough that you can count on her to feed herself out of low numbers with reliably. And so not only is it better so her levels can be more consistent, but also safer to split that dose and do .25 BID.

It may help to order some of the Fortiflora and use that as a food enticer to get her eating. I sent you the other list pf enticers as well (ask again if you can't find it) We know she loves the chicken treats. Those were a hit! Use that chicken dust sprinkled on her food to get her to eat a little more. Sometimes when you are transitioning you just have to try lots and lots of different foods until you figure out what they'll eat. Maybe leave out more than one variety at a time to give her options.

I think you may find she doesn't need insulin for long at all. I would be careful to test and ween her off slowly depending on what the numbers tell you.
She may in fact have just needed a food change and a little jump start, and you got lucky!! Fingers and paws crossed.
 
Betty thanks for all the information. I will try to test her again, I am having trouble pricking the ear.

Wendy, Evita is probably eating only 6 oz per day and she weighs 8 lbs (started at 9, slightly over weight). I pit down two types of food at each meal for her to pick and chose from she nipples at it and probably eats half or less of each choice. Am using food enticers with some success.
 
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I found better results by going slightly closer to the edge and a little higher than the sweet spots on the picture.
Putting a tiny bit of Neosporin on before the prick helped the blood bead better on my cat's black hair.
And what I still need even now is as much light as I can get directed on the spot. It's hard to see.
A headlight. or a flashlight in the mouth. or just a really great lamp all help.
 
If she is eating 6 oz a day then that's not too bad...I thought she was eating much less than that for some reason.
is she getting 2 whole cans of FF each day?
Don't forget the tuna juice, that's another good enticer.

I can try to show you again if it would help. Watching the videos really helps too. Everyone has a different technique so you can pick up different things.
Be sure you get the lancing device flat on the ear with some pressure from behind with the folded tissue in your other hand.
You could also try free handing..some folks prefer that.
 
My 12 pound civie Monet only eats 6-7 oz a day. My 10 1/2 pound sugardude Wink eats 6-7 ounces a day. Eating 6 ounces a day may be enough for your kitty Evita. Do you have a scale to weigh her? I weigh my kitties twice a week and average the numbers, then adjust the food intake up or down depending on weight gain or loss.

In the beginning, Wink was chowing down on 10-12 ounces a day of canned food but as his BG (blood glucose) levels started to level off, he was able to process the food better and needed less food. That may be what is happening with Evita.
 
6oz of what kind of food?

Although thats a good amount of food for a cat that size. Is she still losing weight? Weigh her every couple weeks and if her weight is not dropping then you don't need to worry!
 
Is she really eating 6oz /day Gail? I had gotten the impression she was barely picking at much smaller amounts than that..
That would = 2 full cans of FF per day. IS she getting that much down? If so i agree you won't need to worry.
If this is wrong, can you let us know?

Any more luck with testing? Is she getting the .25 BID now?
 
Rhiannon: I will try the light, I have a head lamp that I can try. Today she tried to bite me when I free handed and tried to find a spot. I thought about shaving her ears so I can see her skin better, between the black skin and hair when she moves I can never find if and where I thought I had pricked her ear.

See u live in Los Alamos, NM, I was born there. My dad worked for the automatic energy commission, left when I was 2.

Actually she is probably only eating only 4 oz, she picks at her food and I am throwing some away. I am feeding her fancy feast classic. I have am checking foods for carbs. At first I fed her some grilled, which she liked better but I saw they have more carbs. I have given her a dew bites of dry dietetic feline brand - Royal Canine which the vet gave me. Giving her less than 1/8 of a cup. I looked for some friskies but the grocery did not have the low carb ones. I bought her a couple other high priced brands from the pet store but she turned up her nose even more.

Will try to get blood again later tonight or in the am. And I will start checking her weight a few times a week.

Thanks Wendy, Betty, Deb and Rhiannon.
 
NO DRY!!!

Gail you will never be able to transition her to wet food and keep her interested if you continue feeding dry. You just can't do it.
Read Steve/Shadows condo on the Lantus board. He came here less then 6 weeks or so ago with a cat who had been diabetic for a year.
He fed the dry food the vet gave him and was shooting blind about 1-2U twice a day. This cat was his mothers and she had gone to assisted living so he had taken over his care. he showed up here when his cat went hypo, he panicked and gave way too much syrup. Began reading, home testing, changed the diet to all canned.
Cat began coming down the doing ladder quickly and was getting mostly greens (less than 100) on barely any insulin. He worked his way down to 1 drop twice daily.
There were a few days were numbers were too low to shoot then so he skipped a few shots and then had to go out of town. So cat had been running in the 60-80's.
He had a cat sitter come, but wanted to make it 'easy' on them so left and auto feeder with only 1/3 cup twice day of this diabetic dry food he still had from the vet. He came home to a cat in the high 200's and had to resume insulin. He figured out NO MORE ever again. Dry food went in trash. Went back to strictly LC canned, mini meals again- it is 2 weeks later and he just started an OTJ trial.
Gail she is so close. You might have started to ween her but not if on dry food. You just have to really grasp that she cannot have dry food any more. Hank has never had dry food again since his DX.

We don't use Friskies but surprised you had any trouble finding it. I thought it was pretty much everywhere...any HEB, etc..
PS: don't chunk your stuff from Tomlinsons...we would love whatever Evita doesn't want ;-)
 
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