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Judy Davis

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Greetings from Australia. Our beautiful rescue kitten Chantilly has recently been diagnosed with diabetes at 5 months of age. She has started insulin but will need monitoring and adjustment as she grows. I am planning to read all I can about diabetes in cats, slowly when I have time but it is nice to know there is so much support out there. I found this site through a facebook group. I have attached a photo of Chantilly.
 

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She's beautiful and also only third young one I've seen on the Board since I've been here.

Is there anything else wrong, any underlying conditions? I hope you will learn to hometest, this will save you lots of money and stress on her because she wont need to go to the vet so often. What insulin are you using?
 
She is beautiful.

I know this is probably overwhelming, but you have come to the right place. We can help guide you in your sugar dance with your sweet little girl and soon you will find your routine.

Can you tell us some more information about her? What test did they use to diagnose her diabetes? What insulin is she getting and dose? Also what is her diet.

There are many things that will help keep her diabetes under control with diet, insulin type, correct dose and hometesting as the top items. If you have not already started reading the info on this site, please start with the items listed above first.

Ask any and all questions you may have. We have all been where you are now and want to help. Caring for a diabetic cat is very manageable and we can share with you what makes it easier for us.
 
Chantilly is absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful picture of her. We have one diabetic cat person that I know of in Adelaide, Australia. Her name is Glenys/Sara. Will try and find someone with her email addy. You will learn so much from FDMB.
 
Welcome to you and your beautiful little girl. This is the best site ever! You'll get lots of good information, help and support. Most important, learn to test then switch to wet low carb foods.
 
Welcome :) There are some Australia members here. I'm not sure how often they post or view threads here, though.

Here's an old thread with links to low carbs foods available in Australia: http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... 68,1863592 The original poster, Andrew and Mim, lives in the Melbourne area. I don't think he has posted here on the new board in a long time.
 
Please feel free to contact me. I am in Melbourne. I know a fair bit about how to set up the right food for the diabetic feline - though still I lag behind with supplements. I've not posted here for a long while as I'm having a difficult time with our Little Boy because his diabete's is of secondary importance though I am still testing him and feeding him for his diabetes. I suspect our boy has regular bouts of pancreatitis which is causing problem with his over all health. I've found a butcher in Melbourne who is willing to grind rabbit and bone and this is a good food for him given his allergies and diabetes. Given the age of your cat if you could get it onto the home made food it would probably be the quickest way to restore his health.

Message me privately if you are in Melbourne and I can tell you where out butcher is. He is very helpful. BTW you aren't THE Judy Davis are you? :lol:

Marilyn
 
Hi Judy,
Just a greeting from over the ditch in Christchurch, NZ.

I have never heard of a diabetic cat so young - it would be nice to think this is something brought on by some other treatment, but that she may go into remission quickly, if you monitor her carefully.
It's good to see there's a fellow-Aussie here, and maybe you are are not far away. She will have good advice about commercial food that is available to you locally.

As has been said, this is a most helpful place to be/ yes, there is a lot to take in, but I hope you will not feel overwhelmed. Treatment is very "do-able" and rewarding.

Chantilly is so gorgeous :smile:
 
Wow, thanks guys, yes it's all a bit overwhelming at the moment. Chantilly is doing fine since she came home from her 5 day stay at the animal hospital, she has no other health problems as all her blood tests came back good. She is very small for her age (6 months now) and weighs 2.2kg, was the runt of the litter of dumped mumma cat & kittens that a friend of mine kindly took in. Our local vet hadnt seen a diabetic kitten before so he referred me to the animal hospital which is about 1 hours drive from our home. The insulin she is on is Caninsulin. She was started on 1ml - not enought, 2ml was too much so she is on 1 1/2ml in the morning. I dont have the chart with me but the vet did explain it all when we picked her up. The dose at the moment isnt lasting the 24 hours but he wants her to settle into her current dose before he starts changing things and feels she will eventually end up on 2 shots/day. At the moment she eats Dine Kitten Food and she also has the Whiskas Kitten Milk with 2 bowls of water always accessible. Diet will change to prescription (Hills Science Diet I think) but once again, vet wants to do this gradually. Thanks for all your support, deeply appreciated xx
 
I have been thru this twice with two Australian ladies with their diabetic cats. Both were given Caninsulin and both changed to Lantus after seeking advice from this forum. One lady is in my suburb in Melbourne but she's not on-line. The other lady is in out-back Australia and she was able to stop insulin after a few weeks on Lantus and a change of diet for Oscar. Her name is Joan and if you look in the history for Joan and Oscar you will see how well Oscar did on Lantus. My vet would not prescribe Caninulin thank goodness. I don't know why they precribe Caninsulin when Lantus is available to them. The lady in my next suburb is a hair-dresser and she found out I had a diabetic cat and contacted me. She seems to think her cat is doing a lot better on Lantus - even though she hasn't taken any other advice from me.

At the end of the day we are each responsible for the well being of our pet. Their success rests with us. Tell your vet that other Aussies you know with diabetic cats are using Lantus and they assure you that it's a much kinder, better insulin for your kitty. It should be given twice daily and with an appropriate change of diet your kitten has a very good chance of a full recovery to normal. You need to take your kitty off dry food too (if you want her to recover to being a healthy cat). Also think about making your own food for your kitten. It's quite a bit cheaper than buying tinned food and a lot healthier for her. But don't worry if you aren't up to that as yet. Please, please learn as much as you can from this site.

warm regards
Marilyn in Melbourne
 
Hi Judy,
As Marilyn has said - Lantus, or it may be known to your vet as Glargine, is definitely a better insulin than Caninsulin. My cat was on Caninsulin because my vet (back in 2005) wasn't familiar with Lantus/Glargine and preferred to stick with what he knew.
Myrtle did OK on it, but she sometimes experienced a sharp drop - not to the point of a hypo, but still, it was disconcerting!
I think for a kitten, a gentler insulin like Lantus would be safer - not that I am personally acquainted with it.
When a workmate of mine had her 18 year old cat diagnosed with diabetes, I strongly recommended Lantus to her, and she did persuade her vet to try it instead of Caninsulin. Her old boy is now 20!! and really doing well on it!
Hope, too, you will not give your kitten that Hills prescription diet (dry or wet)! Not only is it expensive, it has more carbohydrates than you'd want for a diabetic cat. I reckon the Dine pet food (canned?) that you mention would be good to stick with. I'm sure it is the same stuff that we get here in NZ, and it looks good quality to me - just basic meat and fish with very minimal "fillers". In fact they promote it here on that basis.
All the best, Judy!
 
Hi and welcome! Chantilly is beautiful! And so young for diabetes .. You have gotten a lot of good information already .. so just wanted to stop in and welcome you!
 
Chantilly is doing well with no problems injecting her. We go back to the specialist vet next Tuesday and I will speak to him about the other type of insulin mentioned above. I know he will probably start her on the 2nd injection while she is with them. She is a very laid back social kitty and her nature is that of a normal kitten, she has been having fun this morning chasing our other cat around the house rumbling her!! Kahlua, when she has had enough goes to higher ground to get away from her!! She tries to groom Chantilly but Till thinks this is a sign of wanting to play - boundless amounts of energy. Our home also has a Jack Russell Terrier, Australian Kelpie & a English Staffie but Chantilly keeps them nicely in line. It's a relief to know if I have any queries I can come to this site and get advice. So far, so good so hope it all continues along this path.
 
It's been a while but just thought I would update on how Chantilly is going. She is now on 2u of Lantus twice daily. The reason she started on Canninsulin was that because she was only a kitten, the dosage was more suitable to her. Her specialist always intended to change to Lantus once she had grown as Lantus is best suited to adult cats. Chantilly is 9 months old now. As she was born diabetic her body will never produce its own insulin and she will always rely on her shots to give her body the insulin which it cannot produce. She is a very happy little girl who is no trouble to inject. We have had no problems throughout our journey, thank goodness, and I'm confident with the support from our specialist Chantilly will have a long and happy life!
 
Hi there Judy,

another (recent) Melbourne member here stopping by to say hello. I'm glad that Chantilly is doing so well :smile:

Amy
 
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