Newbie- help please!

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Charliemeow

Charliemeow

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My name is Claudia. My 9 year old Charlie was just diagnosed as a sugarcat. We learned how to inject him tonight, but just used saline. We're supposed to start insulin tomorrow morning (pzi- 2 units 1x per day to start.) but Charlie is acting wierd tonight. He is refusing his dinner- which he never does! Do you think he's just feeling stressed out after the vet visit? I obviously won't inject the insulin in the am if he's not eating and we will call the vet. Has this happened to anyone else? I'm so worried about him now!
Thanks!
Claudia and Charlie
 
No real advice here but hang on others should be by shortly. Just wanted to stop by and welcome you and Charlie to the board it is the best place you never wanted to be. These folks have a wealth of info to help you help Charlie. But some of the questions I'm sure the others will be asking is things like what are you feeding Charlie? Is what he refusing to eat what he normally eats or is it something the Vet gave you to feed him, as I know several cats here absolutely refuse to eat the prescribed Vet foods. But do very well on things like Friskies,9 lives or Fancy Feast.

Mel
 
Hi and welcome! More knowledgeable people will be along shortly but I'll get started asking the questions you're sure to get:

Are you testing the blood sugar at home? My vet didn't recommend it either, but I wouldn't have been able to do this without a meter to test my cat's BG levels. It is HIGHLY recommended to get a meter and test at home.

What food are you feeding? Canned or dry?

I know how overwhelming this is, but you've come to the right place. It'll all be habit in no time!
 
I plan on home testing, but haven't gotten a meter yet. I'm switching him from dry kibbles to a wet low- carb diet. I offered him both options tonight when he didn't come running at the sound of the food. He licked at the wet, then laid down in another room and slept. He always eats! And cuddles at night. So he is being double weird. I'm switching his food gradually cuz I know that his insulin dose will need to be closely monitored during the switch. Slow and steady here to avoid hypo.
 
Okay just sent out the ralling cry to get you some more experienced eyes over here. We have help on the way. As far as meters go most of us use just good old fashioned human meters no need to spent the extra $$ on those fancy pet meters, which are way over priced. I know it is really scary when they just don't act like themselves, especially if you have a kitty that lives for food and now is refusing to eat.

But once you get the hang of this it becomes second nature and it is such an easy disease to treat...just hang in there and remember BREATHE!

Mel
 
hi and welcome.

What was your cat's BG at the vet? I am wondering about ketones. Can you go to the the pharmacy and pick up some ketostix to test the urine? Ketones can develop quickly and are very serious. It's probably not, but it sure would be great to be able to rule it out via ketostix.

laur
 
The (human) baby's in bed so I can't run out tonight. He's was 433 bg on Saturday. No ketones in urine then. I front have strips at home yet. This is all so new to us! I will google keto symptoms. I hope that's not it! He was acting normal before the vet.
 
Lori and Tom here on the board runs the newbie kits and all they ask is that you pay for the shipping. These kits are very nice when you are just plain overwhelmed with everything else that is going on with your kitty. You can find a link to the newbie kits at the top of this forum. The kit contains everything you need to get started testing at home, which is highly recommended, it can be the difference between life or death for you baby (furry one) once you start insulin. Shooting insulin blind without testing before the shot is sort of like driving a car with a paper bag on your head.

But you have already made the first step in helping your boy, you found this website, just ask a ton of questions there is almost always around. You may also want to post where you are from, we have members all over the world and there just might be someone close to you that can help you get off on the right foot in person.

I know it maybe hard to trust a bunch of people on the internet but trust me everyone here either has or has had a sugarkitty, and will do everything to help you and Charlie through the process.

Mel
 
just thinking, do you have anything on hand that Charlie particularly likes to eat? Or maybe somethign that might tempt him. Maybe some meat baby food (no garlic or onion though)? Maybe some people tuna? Maybe some deli turkey? Sardines? Mine love chicken breast -- especially good when chunked and simmered in some water to make a nice broth... pork chop works for that too.

any meat is good. It's low carb, high quality protein.

laur
 
We are vegetarian, so the only meat in the house is cat food. He usually loves canned food- he scarfed it down this afternoon. But just nibbled this evening. I know where we will be in the morning if he still hasn't eaten. Funny, my other kitty is a total nibbler, so we never worry about her eating habits. But Charlie is such a scarfer that we worry like crazy when he nibbles. Ugh! These kids will be the death of me!
-Claudia (Cleveland, Ohio)
 
with a glucose number of 433 i would not wait to start insulin. my cat started in the 400s and was so so sick and ended up with DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). it was just at the point after she started refusing food that she got sickest.

cats get liver disease quickly if they don't eat. excessive vomiting or not eating for over a day can do it to them. so it's important to get your cat eating whether it's wet food or dry. i'd be trying wet first, maybe sprinkled with parmesan cheese to make it smellier and more attractive. if you can, don't feed anything with gravy or starch in it like corn or flour. but if that's the only thing you can get him to eat you feed it to him. getting him to eat is your first priority.

even if you cut the dose of insulin to start because he's not eating, please give the insulin. personally i'd rather give the full dose and syringe feed him to get him to eat rather than not giving enough insulin. insufficient insulin, diabetic numbers, inappetance, and possible infection are all things that can lead to DKA, which can be scary and expensive to treat.

cleo started routinely in the 400s and could barely crawl when we started treating her for diabetes. now she ranges anywhere from the double-digits to the 200s, but it's also because she has other health issues. so slowly but surely you can expect to see improvement in the numbers, and the sooner you treat and get him on a low carb canned/wet food diet the likelier your chance of getting him into remission. many many cats here go into remission from diabetes on a low carb wet food diet and only a short course of insulin, which is very hopeful news.

personally i wouldn't wait for a newbie kit IF you can find a rebate on blood glucose meters in your sunday paper. contour (bayer) often has a full rebate for which you'd only pay tax of a couple dollars, so it's even cheaper/quicker than getting the newbie kits here. it's helpful to get the newbie kits, tho, if you're overwhelmed and want someone else to get a few days' worth of supplies to get you started. i remember being that overwhelmed at the beginning. or if you have a wal-mart near you, pick up a relion meter and test strips for it. you need a blood glucose meter, test strips, cotton balls or pads, and lancets (get 29 or 30 gauge lancets). i'd recommend you get a meter immediately and start testing. we can help you with it. the sooner the better, honestly.

welcome aboard. many of us started out here terrified and overwhelmed, and now we know taking care of our diabetic cats is pretty easy, so DO NOT WORRY. eventually it will only amount to 5-10 minutes per day worth of time getting him tested/injected.
 
lol I know the feeling I have 10 kitties here, yes 10. Just no current sugarkitties in the bunch, as my diabetic girl is GA (gone ahead) but I do have one with severe food allergies, so food is a real dance around here, there is the stuff that everyone can have, then the stuff that only Onyx can have. It would be so much easier if everyone would just agree to eat the same thing. Somedays I think they are worse than the human kids, but hey at least they don't wreak the car. =)

Mel
 
fwiw, while i'm thinking of it, there's a few other members here in Cleveland if you find you need some help with the hometesting, etc.....i'll go ahead and send them some pm's (private messages) and just point them here for introductions just in case.

i know you're probably gonna cringe at the idea but you might want to go ahead and buy a couple non-vegetarian things to have on hand, for kitty when he decides to be this way :) i'd stock a little tuna, maybe a can of sardines, and maybe some of those small like 2 or 3 oz packages of lunchmeat. you can keep the lunchmeat in the freezer and then quick thaw it in some warm water if/when it's needed. i'd also, wait, did you say you have a baby? are they up to baby food yet or just milk? all meat baby foods are another good thing to have on hand and try with an inappetant cat.

also, you can warm cat food, or baby food, in the microwave for just a few seconds, maybe about 5-10, which brings out the odor and sometimes will stir appetites.

and i can't move on without addressing your insulin dose. you're gonna find that pzi once a day isn't going to work. i'm not sure how up on diabetes your vet is but cat's metabolize insulin twice as fast as we humans do so i'd perhaps do some searching/gathering data to back you up on that and bring it up with the vet. you don't want kitty to not be getting full day coverage of insulin, tied with inappetance, leading to ketoacidosis which can be very very expensive to treat. you'll find that pzi will need to be shot twice a day, roughly every 12 hours in order to get kitty day long coverage. otherwise there will be a good 12 hours out of the day where they have none to work with and his glucose levels will just be all wonky and regulation will never happen. definitely something to look into in the next day or two
 
I just checked on Charlie. He ate up his can of wet food but is still looking grumpy. But eating is good. Insulin at breakfast tomorrow. If he just refused to eat from being stressed, will it get better? Or will every injection and ear stick make him so stressed he won't eat? I hope that's not the case. I'm going to buy a meter next time I get out of the house. Easier said than done with a 13 month old and (all day) morning sickness from the bun in the oven! I've read good things about walmarts store-brand meter cuz it uses a very tiny amount of blood. The shots are gonna be pretty easy- I'm really worried about the bg testing most!
Thanks for all you mind words and advice! I'll take all I can get!
 
Btw, he goes in Monday for bg levels 3 or 4 times. I guess the vet will adjust the dosage then if needed. She said she always starts pzi on 1x per day, and often, but not always, has to increase to 2. She said they have had many stop needing it after diet change. I hope she knows what she's doing! I love my Charlie!
 
once he learns the routine he won't care anymore.

something to consider, if need be, is a reward system. test him, reward him. shoot him, reward him. whether it be some awesome treat he really likes but only gets at test/shot time or extra loving. he'll tie getting tested/shot with good things and stop with the 'tude :)
 
Yes eating is good, eating is very very good! Yay Charlie!

No once you guys get the hang of this Charlie is more than likely not even notice the shots, and many cats purr through the ear pokes, and if you follow up every attempt with a nice yummy treat pretty soon Charlie will come to you at test time...Cats are smart, they quickly figure out that the shots make them feel better and that ear pokes means TREATS! So there shouldn't be any stress whatsoever.

Plus you are Charlie's mommabean, he loves and trusts you completely. I know I can get my kitties to do things for me that they would shred a stranger or a vet for trying to do. As long as you can stay calm and act confident then Charlie will trust you to do what your are asking of him.

And as always, get scared, unsure or just plain need to kick and scream a little bit...that is what we are here for.

Mel
 
Hi there - I'm in Cleveland too if you need help with home testing or just general support, etc. Can't help with PZI, since I'm a Lantus user, but I can help with home testing, etc. I sent you a PM with my contact info.

You're going to be fine...
 
Good Morning,

And welcome to the best lay-person's feline diabetic place on the internet.

Having a your cat diagnosed as diabetic is overwhelming. Some might say it is not etc., but at first it is. There is a lot to learn from food, to shots, to tests, to symptoms of complications. Most of it is all able to be handled safely...right at home.

The folks on these boards are FANTASTIC, even in a crisis. If you read through some of the threads you'll begin to see some very wise and savy insulin folks.

I am glad to read you are going to home-test. :YMHUG: It is one of the easiest and fastest ways to tell how your kitty is doing. Keep in mind it can take some time to get a routine going and it does sound like you already have your hands full with a baby and new one on the way!!!

I am located in the Southwest Area of Cleveland and am available if you need or would like some local support. I PM'd my information to you too.
 
Omg 13 month old, morning sick and a newly diagnosed cat! I do not envy you.

Cats tend to feel crappy when first diagnosed so they don't eat which opens them up to complications. I agree with starting insulin now and testing as soon as you are able...testing is a lifesaver but you also have a lot on your hands!

Jen
 
He ate a can of wet this morning, and I shot him while he was eating. I hope he starts to feel better soon! He kinda growled at me when I shot him-maybe the insulin stings or burns a little? I guess he'll get used to it.
 
Did you warm the insulin (in the needle) in your hands for a minute or so before shooting? If it's cold, it hurts. (I realized that when I got a cold flu shot once that was very painful; the vaccine is usually warmer and doesn't hurt at all.) Also what gauge is your needle? 29 gauge needles tend to hurt more than the smaller 30 gauge.

Editing to better explain that I meant after the insulin was in the needle. Thanks, Larry.
 
For the amount of insulin typically used in a cat, the room temperature syringe will warm the insulin enough to avoid injection of "cold" insulin. The same is true for some humans who can use 30 or some units at one time. If you must, it is easier/faster to warm the syringe with the insulin rather than trying to worm the insulin vial/cartridge/pen.
 
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